DeGrasse-Howard papers, 1776-1976 ; bulk: 1852-1883.

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DeGrasse-Howard papers, 1776-1976 ; bulk: 1852-1883.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/43874460

Manuscripts and family papers relating to several African-American families, the DeGrasse, Howard, Downing, and Asbury families. The collection also includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, photocopies of published sources, and research notes about various individuals in those families collected by Rev. Howard DeGrasse Asbury, a descendent. The collection includes the account book, 1852-55, kept by John Van Surley DeGrasse, a doctor who lived and practiced medicine in Boston; papers relating to DeGrasse's service in the Civil War as a medical doctor in the 35th Regiment, North Carolina Colored Infantry; and a journal, 1865, kept by Edwin Clarence Howard while he was a medical student at Liberia College. Correspondence in the collection includes typescripts of three letters from Charles Sumner, one to DeGrasse, 1866, and two to the abolitionist George T. Downing of Newport, R.I., 1855 and 1872. Additional correspondence to Downing includes one letter, 1866, from James Lynch, editor of The Christian Recorder; one letter, 1869, from Charles Lenox Remond; two letters, 1870, from Ebenezer Bassett, U.S. minister to Haiti; and one letter, 1885, from John Boyle O'Reilly. Collection also contains Downing family correspondence, and letters and clippings documenting Reverend Howard DeGrasse Asbury's research activities and his participation with exhibits about African-American history. Photographs in the collection include cartes de visite depicting John Van Surley DeGrasse and Cordelia Howard DeGrasse taken by the Boston photographers J.W. (James Wallace) Black and John A. Heard.

2 boxes.

Massachusetts Historical Society

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7535045

Massachusetts Historical Society

Related Entities

There are 17 Entities related to this resource.

United States. Army. Colored Infantry Regiment, 35th (1864-1866)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rw1dj4 (corporateBody)

Organized at Newbern, NC, June 30, 1863 as the lst Regiment North Carolina Volunteers. Changed to the 35th Regiment United States Colored Troops on February 8, 1864. From the description of Muster rolls, 1865, Oct. 31-Dec. 31. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 22767981 ...

De Grasse, John V., 1826-1868

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68x455f (person)

John van Salee de Grasse (sometimes written as DeGrasse) was born in 1826 in New York City. He had a sister, Serena, and older brother Isaac. Their mother was Maria Van Salee of New York, a free woman of color. (Her surname was sometimes recorded as Van Surly.) They were descendants through their mother's family of Jan Janszoon of Haarlem, Netherlands, and Margarita, a Moorish woman. That couple had four sons, who were mixed-race: two, Abraham Janszoon van Salee, and his brother Anthony, the bet...

O’Reilly, John Boyle, 1844-1890

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6t54j1k (person)

John Boyle O'Reilly was born in County Meath, Ireland, and apprenticed with a newspaper at the age of eleven. He joined the English army to persuade Irish soldiers to join the Fenian movement, and was so successful he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted, and he was exiled to Australia, but escaped to America and after numerous adventures settled in Boston. He lectured, wrote poetry, and joined the Boston Pilot, which he later co-owned, turning it into Am...

DeGrasse family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mh6s45 (family)

Black, James Wallace, 1825-1896

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60v8hs0 (person)

Illustrator; Philadelphia, Pa. From the description of F.O.C. Darley [graphic] / J.W. Black. [ca. 1870] (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220203675 ...

Howard, Edwin Clarence, 1846-1912.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jt265j (person)

Downing, George T. (George Thomas), 1819-1903

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6029dct (person)

Businessman and abolitionist active in Newport, R.I., New York, N.Y., and Washington, D.C. From the description of Papers, ca. 1840-ca. 1930; (bulk ca. 1860-ca. 1890). (Moorland-Spingarn Resource Center). WorldCat record id: 70941108 ...

Remond, Charles Lenox, 1810-1873

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w67397r6 (person)

Charles Lenox Remond (1810-1873) was born in Salem, Massachusetts into a prominent African-American family. His father John had emigrated from the Dutch colony of Curacao in 1798 and owned a successful catering business, while his mother Nancy's father was a Revolutionary War veteran. Both his parents were active abolitionists and Charles followed suit (as did his sister Sarah), speaking on the anti-slavery lecture circuit from an early age. In 1840, he gave a lecture at the World A...

Asbury, Howard DeGrasse

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6pg26sd (person)

Downing family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69979nm (family)

Lynch, James, 1839-1872

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66q4dqt (person)

Bassett, Ebenezer Don Carlos, 1833-1908

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6805347 (person)

Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett (born October 16, 1833, Derby, Connecticut – died November 13, 1908, Brooklyn, New York), United States Ambassador to Haiti from 1869 to 1877. He was the first African American diplomat and the fourth U.S. ambassador to Haiti since the two countries established relations in 1862. His mother was Pequot. From 1857 to 1869 he was the principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia. Ebenezer Bassett was appointed as new leaders emerged among free African A...

DeGrasse, Cordelia Howard, d. 1823.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rb9njj (person)

Heard, John A.,

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rv49z2 (person)

Liberia College

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6g21f12 (corporateBody)

Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x34xv4 (person)

Massachusetts lawyer and U.S. Senator, 1851-1874. He was an ardent abolitionist who attacked the south in his "crime against Kansas" speech in 1856. Two days later he was assaulted in the Senate, receiving injuries that took him years to recover from. From the description of Letters, 1858-1869. (Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library). WorldCat record id: 55768315 Born in Boston, Mass., the U.S. statesman Charles Sumner studied law at Harvard and practiced law in his native ci...

Howard family.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6551r7q (family)