Rowland family correspondence, 1811-1852.

ArchivalResource

Rowland family. Rowland family correspondence, 1811-1852.

Rowland family correspondence, 1811-1852.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/540607359

Extensive correspondence among members of a Windsor, Connecticut, family. The majority of the letters were written to Frances Bliss Rowland, the daughter of Reverend Henry Augustus Rowland and Frances Bliss of Windsor. Henry and Frances Rowland had eight children, seven of whom are represented in the collection: Frances Bliss, Henry Augustus, Elizabeth Newberry, William Sherman, Edward, George, and James Edwards. Reverend Rowland led a pious life and in his letters admonished his children to live upright, Christian lives. Henry Augustus Rowland Jr., a Yale graduate, served at the Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, North Carolina, for three years in the 1830s before returning north. His letters from that time described life in the ante-bellum South and included a description of a brutal incident involving slaves. George described his journey through Panama to California in 1849 and the difficulty making a living during the Gold Rush, warning his siblings not to follow him. William Sherman Rowland described an 1840 Democrat and Whig procession in New York City, discussed society and empathized with Frances about the limited options for women, and discussed his disappointment in not accompanying brother George to California. Edward Rowland described a slave auction in Fayetteville, North Carolina, in 1833, discouraged Frances from taking a job at the McLean Asylum, and mentioned his marriage of convenience in 1841 to Elizabeth Avery. In letters to his brothers, he described his collection of plants, flowers and herbs. Of particular interest is a letter dated October 23, 1840, from Rosetta, a servant who came into cousin Mary Elizabeth Rowland's family at the age of 9 and was educated by the family. In the letter she discussed prejudice, the frustrating need to get free papers to move west, and her desire to live in free air, or not at all.

2 linear feet (4 boxes).

Connecticut Historical Society