Manuscripts

Mary E. Copeland letters to H. Emma Bull

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Description: 17 letters from Mary E. Copeland (1838-1898) in National City, San Diego, California, to her cousin H. Emma Bull in Harvard, Massachusetts. The letters begin in January 1870, when the Copeland family had recently moved from Harvard to the San Diego area. The letters focus on news relating to family and acquaintances both in San Diego and Harvard, and include references to Mary's interest in the Southern Pacific Railroad; the newspapers and magazines the family is reading; Mary's various illnesses; Mary's husband Fred Copeland (1833-1906) and his surveying work in Mexico; the Copeland children's education; the desire of Fred's sister to leave Shakerism; and the family's New-Churchmen religious beliefs. Also includes two letters from Mary to other members of the Bull family and one letter from Fred Copeland to "Brother Bull" (T.Bull).
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Production date: 1870-1878.
Call number: mssHM 72812-72831

Mary E. Fisher letters to Mary Beach

Manuscripts

Four letters from Mary E. Fisher to her friend Mary Beach. The first three letters are written from Fisher's home in Huron, South Dakota, where she had just moved with her husband from the nearby smaller town of Cavour. She describes her delight at living in a larger community with a nicer house; local news such as elections, temperance movements, the local economy, crop failures, and the weather; and also family issues including the work of her husband and children and the traveling they had to do. She also relates her concern for the impoverished families of Huron, and her efforts to help with food and clothing donations for Christmas. Fisher's final letter in 1899 is from Minneapolis, where the family moved due to her husband's constant traveling to the area for his work.

mssFisher

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Copeland family genealogy

Manuscripts

This collection primarily consists of Lura Whitlock Porter's research concerning her family history. The families include: Copeland, Green, Hogins, Percival, Pool, Porter, Tousey, and Whitlock. There are some earlier letters that belonged to Porter's family and they relate to farm, religious, and social life in Illinois.. There are also some oversize letters found in boxes 4 and 5. The bulk of the photographs are identified, but they are not arranged in any particular order. Boxes 4 and 5 also contain hundreds of pages of genealogical notes related to the Green, Percival, Tousey, Pool, Porter, and Whitlock family.

mssPortercollection

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Mary E. Fisher letters to Mary Beach

Manuscripts

mssFisher

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Mary Martin correspondence

Manuscripts

Mary Martin is the most prolific figure in the collection. Fifty-four of the eighty-two letters in the collection were penned by her, eight were addressed to her, and much of the remaining correspondence is about her. The vast majority of Mary's letters are addressed to her husband, Robert Campbell Martin, who also authors some of the collection's letters and accounts. Other significant authors and addressees in this collection include Mary's children and her sister, Maria H. Robertson. The letters are primarily domestic in nature, focusing on familial health, relationships and visits. Some of Mary's attention, when at home and abroad, lingers on outside events such as plantation life and local news, although the familial focus is never lost. Topics briefly addressed are the condition of Louisiana's enslaved people, fugitives from slavery, alcoholism, and educational practices.

mssHM 60994-61075

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Notes in an unknown hand and two silhouettes of Mary Martin

Manuscripts

mssHM 60994-61075

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Mary Martin correspondence

Manuscripts

HM 61039-61075

Mary E. Copeland letters to H. Emma Bull

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Mary E. Fisher letters to Mary Beach

Copeland family genealogy

Mary E. Fisher letters to Mary Beach

Mary Martin correspondence

Notes in an unknown hand and two silhouettes of Mary Martin

Mary Martin correspondence