Collections : [Connecticut Museum of Culture and History]

Wherever possible, folders in this collection have been arranged in chronological order by birth year of the person whose papers they contain. Furthermore, folders have been arranged by family names and familial relation (with family lines grouped together and parents coming before their children). Items within folders have been arranged chronologically.

The correspondence in this collection is arranged alphabetically by name of recipient, with a few exceptions, which will be noted below.

The collection is made up primarily of correspondence and legal, financial and personal documents relating to Timothy Dimock. Family correspondence includes letters to Timothy from his nephew D.D. Clark, and from son Henry to his mother Laura Dimock. General correspondence to Timothy follows the family letters. Legal documents consist of agreements and indentures, insurance records, court documents, and summons. Among the financial records are receipts, accounts, tax records and an account book. Timothy settled his father Daniel’s estate, and those records are part of the collection. Timothy’s medical career is represented by medical prescriptions and lists of ingredients for various treatments. Henry Dimock is represented by a composition entitled “Brotherhood of Man” and by financial records, 1865, 1886-1887. A number of items cannot be attributed to any one person. These include several compositions and French lessons, a wallet with an inked inscription containing several small documents and some human hair, and a small notebook and an account book. Of note in the collection are a Dimock family genealogy and a newspaper pattern for a shirt.

The collection consists primarily of business correspondence concerning court cases to collect debts, selling land in Connecticut and Wisconsin, proposing a development project, discussing financial issues, and investing and divesting of shares in different companies. The letters have been arranged chronologically.

The collection had been partially but incompletely processed shortly after receipt. Some of that initial arrangement has been retained. The materials are arranged in roughly chronological order, with the eldest generation first followed by children in their birth order. The papers of John Ripley Tracy, 1844-1858) primarily relate to his business interests, including the New Jersey Zinc and Copper Company, the railroad, the lead trade, the gun trade, and investments in a shot manufactory in Britain based on the purchase of a patent from David Smith. Among the more significant documents are those related to the consignment of guns to Australia in 1853, with Edward Wadsworth serving as Tracy’s agent in Australia, and another venture to sell Colt pistols in Callao, Peru. The earliest of his letters announces the birth of his first son in 1844. In addition to correspondence, John’s papers include financial documents and legal records, including a copy of his will, and deeds. John’s wife Charlotte Gray Tracy is represented by correspondence, some with friends but the bulk with family, namely Sarah Jane Gray LeRoy, Margaret Sophia Tracy, and her son John F. Tracy. John F. Tracy’s papers include legal documents and correspondence, 1861-1925. Samuel G. Tracy is represented by correspondence, 1912-1913 including letters to his sister Sophie, and records related to his interest in pearl cultivation, including the incorporation records of the American Pearl Corporation, 1905. Financial and legal records and product formulae of the Lovell & Tracy Oil Co. of Hartford, document Samuel’s interest in a local business. Newbold and Charlotte are represented by correspondence, primarily from family members. Of note is a series of letters to Anne Tracy from Genevieve Cowles, written from Palestine in 1909. Documents related to related families are arranged alphabetically and include genealogical notes on those families as well as original documents from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Unidentified correspondence is arranged at the back of the collection, along with a unique group of cards with images of birds created by real feathers

This collection, which encompasses the accession numbers 81604, 81605, and 81606, contains materials dated from 1759 to 1953, but the bulk of the collection was created between 1770 and 1850. It has been arranged according to the individuals who produced the records and, to the extent possible, proceeds chronologically with more general records in the later folders.

The majority of the collection concerns the activities of Samuel Wadsworth, a merchant and landowner of Hartford. Among his legal records are bills of sale for one Negro woman and two Negro men, 1756-1766, and a document in which Sarah Boardman gives her man Peter “liberty to work for” Samuel Wadsworth. Deeds comprise another substantial portion of Wadsworth’s legal papers and these instruments of transfer include leases for “farm letts”, and the sale and purchase of partial interest in several sailing vessels. Accounts among Samuel’s financial records indicate he traded horses for rum and sugar in Barbados. There are also bills for services rendered by what appears to be a maid, one for schooling Gurdon, and one for making britches for Samuel and his son and repairing britches for his Negro. An account of the distribution of Samuel’s estate illustrates the extent of his wealth and land holdings. In 1826, someone made an inventory of land owned by Gurdon and George Wadsworth with exact measurements of each plot. Gurdon’s papers also include a copy of a document setting out his widow’s third. Several plot plans accompany the land inventories. Samuel’s daughter Hannah married John Bigelow. When Bigelow died, Samuel settled his estate. The estate records and several earlier documents, such as a bill dated 1777 for eleven months service in your company, indicate Bigelow served during the Revolution.

The museum and library jointly purchased this collection. Uniforms, a duffle bag, and patches went to the museum. Photographs were transferred to the Graphics Department and the printed and manuscript material went to the library.