Papers, 1800-1872; 1899.

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Papers, 1800-1872; 1899.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/207181571

The majority of items in this collection are letters, 1846-1872, written to Susan Winchester Baldwin by members of her family. After the death of her first husband, Harriette moved her family to Florence, Italy, and the early letters to Susan were written to her there by her grandmother Catherine Marshall Raymond Mears (1778-1867) and her aunt ("Aunty") Catherine Mears (1808-1892). The six sisters returned to the United States in 1856 and lived in Boston with their grandparents. Susan attended the Temple Place School for Young Ladies, where whe was a friend of Julia Romana Howe (1844-1886). The collection includes letters from Julia and letters from mutual girl friends of Julia and Susan describing the Howe household in Boston and near Newport, Rhode Island. Many of Susan's friends and family members were active in the Unitarian Church and there is information in their letters about James Freeman Clarke (1810-1888) and Ezra Stiles Gannett (1801-1871). There are also a few letters to Susan from Kate Gannett Wells (1838-1911). The sisters' lives were very unsettled until they married. Their mother, who was evidently an erratic person, suffered severe financial losses, and the older girls were forced to help support the family with teaching jobs. Much of the correspondence to Susan for the late 1850s and early 1860s concerns their jobs and financial situation. There are letters from Fanny who had a job as a governess in Cincinnati and letters from Susan's school friends, some of whom also taught after their graduation. There are a few letters from her Temple Place teacher Henry Williams ( - ) and many letters from his wife. There are also letters from Susan's cousin Granville Mears, Jr. ( - ) who writes about his position as a clerk at Jordan, Marsh & Company, a retail store in Boston. In the early 1860s Susan and Fanny taught in Miss Dutton's Seminary in New Haven, Connecticut. In New Haven Susan became acquainted with her future husband, Simeon Eben Baldwin (1840-1927), Yale Law School professor, 1869-1919, and Connecticut governor, 1910-1914. In the folder for 1865 there are many courtship letters he wrote to Susan which also include news about his law practice and activities in New Haven. Baldwin's sister married Dwight Foster (1828-1884) and the correspondence after 1865 includes references to Foster and his family. Throughout her life Susan had suffered from periods of despondency, and there are many passages in her family's letters trying to encourage and cheer her. After her marriage severe depression and worry gradually incapacitated her and she began to spend her time visiting various health resorts. There is no evidence as to what happended to her after 1872 but she did outlive her husband. Her sister Charlotte took her place as mother to her children. During the early years of Susan's marriage, there are letters from her mother-in-law Emily Perkins Baldwin, Mrs. Roger Sherman, (1796-1874) trying to encourage her in her wifely duties. Scattered throughout the collection are a few letters written by friends to Charlotte Winchester. There are also a few letters from Susan to Charlotte, 1863-1864. Folder 3 of Box 1 contains undated (probably 1840s) letters from Harriette to Edmund Winchester who was travelling on business. The folder also contains three letters from Edmund to Harriette, 1843-1844, one business letter written by him, and a memorandum book kept by him, 1837-1844, with most of the entries for the year 1837. The folio volume is an account book, 1800-1821, for Edmund (1772-1839) and Amasa Winchester's (1775-1846) wholesale provision company in Boston. The volume includes some entries by a William Winchester ( - ).

2 boxes.1 v. (200 p.) ; folio.

American Antiquarian Society

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7000754

American Antiquarian Society

Related Entities

There are 15 Entities related to this resource.

Clarke, James Freeman, 1810-1888

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68f0mp6 (person)

James Freeman Clarke (April 4, 1810 – June 8, 1888) was an American theologian and author. Born in Hanover, New Hampshire, on April 4, 1810, James Freeman Clarke was the son of Samuel Clarke and Rebecca Parker Hull, though he was raised by his grandfather James Freeman, minister at King's Chapel in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended the Boston Latin School, and later graduated from Harvard College in 1829, and Harvard Divinity School in 1833. Ordained into the Unitarian church he first became...

Winchester, Edmund, 1811-1845.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x93p2m (person)

Foster, Dwight, 1828-1884

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pn9487 (person)

Baldwin family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6454kjh (family)

Gannett, Ezra S. (Ezra Stiles), 1801-1871

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6j10j9s (person)

American Unitarian divine. From the description of Autograph letter signed : Boston, to Messrs. Monroe & Co., 1850 May 9. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 269564796 Ezra Stiles Gannett (1801-1871) graduated from Harvard College in 1820, and from Harvard Divinity School in 1823. He served as an overseer of the University from 1835 to 1858. Ordained in 1824, Reverend Gannett became an assistant minister at the Federal Street Church (Unitarian) in Boston and became its pastor...

Hotchkiss, Fanny Winchester, 1838-1912.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f209c6 (person)

Jordan, Marsh and Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rc22bh (corporateBody)

Jordan, Marsh and Co. was established in Boston in 1851 by Eben Jordan and Benjamin Marsh. From the description of [Invoice]. 1856. (American Textile History Museum Library). WorldCat record id: 50774737 ...

Howe, Julia Romana, 1844-1886.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s483pk (person)

Winchester, Edmund, 1772-1839

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6s19d6c (person)

Mears family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c62k03 (family)

Winchester family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6m70jf8 (family)

Harriette Henchman Mears (1816-1868) of Boston married three times: Edmund Winchester (1811-1845), Nicholas Théodore de Karajan ( - ), and Giuseppe Carlo Matteini ( - ). She had six children: Marion Winchester Kingsbury (1836-1902), Fanny Winchester Hotchkiss (1838-1912), Susan Winchester Baldwin (1840- ), Charlotte Winchester (1846-1904), Florence Winchester de Karajan Sargent (1848- ), and Harriet Winchester de Karajan Swan (1849- ). From the description of Papers, 1800-1872; 1899...

Winchester, Amasa, 1775-1846

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65t4xc8 (person)

Wells, Kate Gannett, 1838-1911

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r500k0 (person)

Author. Born Catherine Boott Gannett. From the description of Kate Cannett Wells correspondence, circa 1887. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70981337 Philanthropist, reformer, writer. From the description of Manuscript fragment, n.d. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 62524008 Philanthropist, reformer, and writer. From the description of Letter, [1905] June 7, Boston, to Charles M. Green. (Boston Athenaeum). WorldCat record id: 1726...

Yale Law School

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60g7mxv (corporateBody)

In the first decade of the nineteenth century, Seth P. Staples (Yale 1797) opened a school for law students in New Haven. In 1824 the school became affiliated with Yale College. The college conferred its first law degrees in 1843. The course of study originally extended for two years, and in 1896 it was lengthened to three years. Subsequently a college degree became a prerequisite for the Bachelor of Laws degree. Graduate courses leading to advanced degrees began in 1876. In 1926 honors courses ...

Baldwin, Simeon E. (Simeon Eben), 1840-1927

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hq4dzr (person)

Simeon Eben Baldwin (1840-1927) graduated from Yale University in 1861, became a member of the bar in 1863, and was founder of the American Bar Association in 1878 and its president in 1890. He served as the Association's Director of the Bureau of Comparative Law (1907-1919), as an Associate Justice and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut, as the state's governor (1910-1914), and produced numerous articles and books. From the description of Diaries, 1851-1924 [microform...