Manuscripts
Esther Baldwin York letter to Mrs. Burk
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Alice Blackwood Baldwin letters to Frank D. Baldwin
Manuscripts
Alice Blackwood Baldwin (c.1845-1930) was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and in 1854 traveled with her parents to Sacramento. Following her mother's death, Alice and her sister moved back to Michigan to live with their aunt and uncle Robert and Rebecca Blackwood, and they remained permanently when their father died soon after. In 1867 Alice married Frank Dwight Baldwin and moved first to Fort Harker, Kansas, and then to the New Mexico Territory. While traveling through Trinidad, Colorado Territory, Alice gave birth to her daughter Juanita Mary in 1867. Alice moved back to Northville in 1869 while Frank served in the Sioux War, and spent the next several years living with relatives. In 1878-1879 Alice and Frank made a European tour (while Juanita was at boarding school in Detroit). Frank retired from the military as a major general in 1906, and the Baldwins moved to Denver. Juanita Baldwin married Ambrose C.G. Williams-Foote, a native of Cornwall, in 1893.
mssHM 75335-75360
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Typescripts of letters by Margaret Short Hereford Wilson
Manuscripts
Typescripts of letters by and relating to Margaret Short Hereford Wilson from originals held by the Huntington Library. The letters span 1840-1892 and include those written to Margaret's first husband Dr. Thomas A. Hereford, second husband Benjamin Davis Wilson, mother Esther Short Sale, and other family members. The majority of Margaret's letters were sent from California, but others were written from Tuscumbia, Alabama; during her travels in Mexico (1850); and during her trip to New York on the steamer Illinois and subsequent stay in St. Louis (1856). Also includes some letters from family members to Margaret. Included with the letter transcripts are genealogical notes on the Herefords, Pattons, Wilsons, and Shorbs, a biography of Benjamin Davis Wilson, and an index. Bound.
mssHM 78052
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Ella P. Starkweather letter to "Mrs. Dwight and Family,"
Manuscripts
This letter was written by Ella P. Starkweather, a school teacher, living in the town of Bridgewater, now part of South Dakota. Starkweather describes her experiences in Dakota Territory to her friends back home. To her surprise, she likes the school where she is teaching. There are new series of books, a school room that is large and pleasantly furnished. She writes that some of her students could benefit from a lesson on cleanliness: "...a few would be rendered much more attractive by a vigorous application of soap suds..." Regarding life on the frontier, she writes: "You may imagine the people here are sick of the country, and I can hardly give you an idea how happy and contented they all seem to be. They say the most scant time for provisions they have known is since I came and I know of no one suffering." She also touches upon the weather and the farmers. "The country looks lovely, farmers who had seed here and sown find everything encouraging." Near the end of the letter, she describes her layover in Sheldon, Iowa for five days and her amusement regarding a car half-filled with Bohemian immigrants.
mssHM 80839
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Miss Dodge letter to Mr. Maltbie
Manuscripts
Intense letter about gynecology and women's medical issues, possibly including abortion, from a Miss Dodge in New York City to a Mr. Maltbie. Dodge's letter concerns her friend (Maltbie's female cousin) who is "in a state of despondency & distress". It appears that this cousin, Miss Boynton, is the victim of an inept obstetrician. Miss Dodge appeals to Maltbie to get proper medical car for Boynton. In a post-postscript, the letter contains a reference to gynecologist Dr. Thomas Addis Emmet (1828-1919), co-founder of the Women's Hospital of New York.
mssHM 82989
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Ellen Nowlan letter to Mrs. R.D. Clark
Manuscripts
A six-page letter by Ellen Nowlan to Mrs. R. D. Clark of South Fallsburgh, New York. This letter includes substantial commentary by a transplanted New Yorker about life in northern California, including reference to Oakland and to the new state university in Berkeley. In her letter, Nowlan makes extensive reference to the Chinese, whom she considered a social and epidemiological danger.
mssHM 83592
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George Willing Clymer letter to Mary Willing Clymer
Manuscripts
Letter sent by George Clymer to his mother while he sailed on the Constellation for his first deployment as a US Navy apprentice surgeon. The Constellation set sail from New York on August 14, 1829, and arrived in the West Channel near Cowes, England, on September 11. Clymer begins by briefly recounting the "gloomy epistle of a landsman" that he had sent to his father regarding the difficult ocean crossing, and relating his excitement at finally spotting land off the Isle of Wight. Much of Clymer's detailed and eloquent letter is devoted to describing the scenery and towns he saw in England, along with historical anecdotes. After being allowed to go ashore he explored Cowes, which he noted was "different from the towns I had seen in America, and wears and air and aspect of a city." He was also struck by the "roast-beef and porter corporations, and the ruddy faces of the well-fed Englishmen," and widely praised the island's roads and means of transportation. He visited West Cowes Castle and the Royal Yacht Club and gives an extended description of attending afternoon tea at a hotel. After being denied permission to travel to London, Clymer returned to the Isle of Wight, seeing Carisbrooke Castle, Appuldurcombe Park and Mansion, Parkhurst Forest, the Albany Barracks, Newport, and Norris and East Cowes Castles. On a subsequent shore leave he briefly traveled to Portsmouth Harbor, Portsea, Portsmouth, and Southampton. On returning to his ship for the last time, he wrote that "I can now declare that I have passed [in England] fifty of the happiest hours of my life." He later cooled his opinion somewhat, lamenting the "extravagant beyond expectation" costs in England (which he recorded in some detail) compared to those in the United States, the "knaves" who charged higher prices to Americans, and the necessity of tipping servants. He concluded that he found the English "polite, but grossly ignorant of America." After being refused a gun salute by British naval officers, the Constellation circumnavigated the Isle of Wight and set sail south on September 21. Clymer compares the Spanish and African coasts, writes of being impressed by the town and fortress of Gibraltar, describes the Mediterranean Sea, and notes passing the islands of Formentera and Majorca. The Constellation approached Mahon Harbor in Minorca, where they were to meet the ship Delaware, on October 15, but a major storm blew the ship back out to sea. It finally reached the harbor on October 18, and Clymer concluded that "we had performed a voyage of 1500 miles in 28 days; the time we required in sailing twice that distance from New York to Cowes."
mssHM 79957