Parsons family papers

The collection documents the business and personal activities of several members of the Parsons and Howson families, including Hosmer B. (Buckingham) Parsons (1846-1908), his wife Clelia Howson Parsons (1845-1931), and their daughter Emma Parsons Adams (1872-1961). Hosmer Parsons's materials include correspondence with Mexican banker Enrique Creel and senator John Sherman, and other letters related to his mining and land interests. There are also several letters to his sisters, including one written when he was a child. Clelia Howson Parsons's papers include additional family correspondence, notebooks and bankbooks, and estate documents. There are also letters from family friend Phoebe Apperson Hearst to both Clelia Howson Parsons and Emma Parsons Adams, as well as a notebook kept by Hosmer Parsons presumably related to Hearst's finances. The collection also includes a notebook kept by Hosmer Parsons's father Benjamin Booth Parsons (1810-1887), written while he was attending Amherst University in the 1830s. Materials related to Clelia Howson Parsons's sister Emma Howson (1844-1928) include a fan letter, a Howson family performance advertisement, and estate documents. The collection also includes family photographs, clippings, and genealogy correspondence and research. There are also photographs of a Mexican mine, and ephemera related to the Homestake Mine in South Dakota and railroads in Colorado, presumably related to Hosmer B. Parsons's business interests.