Thoreau and Sewall Families Papers

The collection contains correspondence and manuscripts chiefly of the Sewall family of Massachusetts in the 19th century. However, there is also correspondence from the the Ward family and members of the family of author Henry David Thoreau, as well as a scrapbook of the Thoreau family. The correspondence covers the years of 1790-1876, with the majority between 1831 and 1876. The majority of the correspondence is to or from Ellen Sewall Osgood, who wrote mostly to her mother Caroline Ward Sewall and received most of her correspondence (within this collection) from Sophia Thoreau. However, there is also correspondence from the Sewall family, the Ward family, and the Thoreau family. Several letters, within this collection, make references to Henry David Thoreau, John Thoreau, Jr., Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Amos Bronson Alcott.

The collection also contains a scrapbook kept by several members of the Thoreau family. It was first kept by John Thoreau, Jr. and contains poems written by John, poems by other authors copied by John into the journal, photographs, hair fob, and a poem by Henry David Thoreau to his brother. The scrapbook was then turned over and started in the opposite direction as a dedication to Henry David Thoreau, after his death. Sophia Thoreau continued to add to the scrapbook until just before her death, at which point she sent it to Ellen Sewall Osgood. Ellen added to the contents as did her daughter, Elizabeth Osgood Davenport. This side contains letters and newspaper clippings about Henry, after his death, and the Thoreau family.

There is a rock labeled opal that was sent to Ellen Sewall Osgood by John Thoreau. This opal is mentioned in the letter from John Thoreau to Ellen's brother, George, on Dec. 31, 1839 (HM 64928).

The last item is a three-ring binder. It contains photocopies of typed transcriptions of the letters and manuscripts in the collection. There is a brief introduction written by George Lyman Davenport, Jr., Ellen's grandson by her daughter, Elizabeth. It has a table of contents for the Thoreau scrapbook. It also has a brief family tree for both the Sewall and Ward family showing only the direct ancestors of Ellen Sewall Osgood. However, the family trees end with Ellen's generation. The transcriptions are not in chronological order, but remain in the order arranged by Mr. Davenport. Some of the items mentioned in Mr. Davenport's introduction (the mineral specimen box and the seven-volume set of Thoreau's works) are not a part of this collection.