Papers relating to the Adams family of Litchfield, including Joseph Adams (1764-1856); one of his sons, Charles Adams (1805-1883); and others, consisting primarily of genealogical materials and obituaries.
Papers relating to the Adams family of Litchfield, including Joseph Adams (1764-1856); one of his sons, Charles Adams (1805-1883); and others, consisting primarily of genealogical materials and obituaries.
This collection documents the Adams family descended from Nathaniel Adams (1716-1784) from the late 18th century to the mid 20th century. The Adams family settled in Fairfield in the 1650s and later moved to the Green's Farms and Westport area. They were landowners and farmers in the early days with later generations were involved in education, commerce, and the church. Regular detailed letters between parents and children, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins show how this New England family stayed in close touch even as branches of the family moved to the Midwest or California. The Adamses were pillars of Westport area society and the collection shows their interconnectedness with other area families, including the Davies, Jennings, Wakeman, and Hyde families. From 1837 until his retirement due to ill health in 1867, Ebenezer Banks Adams Sr. was head of the Adams Academy, which had been built by his future father-in-law Thomas F. Davies, Pastor of the Green's Farms Congregational Church. Adams Academy was a successful college preparatory school that played a major role in Westport. Writings from various generations of the Adams family, legal and property documents, financial records, biographical documentation and collected memorabilia are a treasure trove of detailed information about civic and family life in the Westport area.
The personal papers of the Adams Family, including Joseph Adams (1767-1856); his son, Charles Adams (1805-1883); children of Charles Adams, including Julia Adams How Wessells (1842-1904), Mary Adams Wheelock (1838-1895), and Charles Adams Jr. (1845-1864); other family members; and friends and business associates. The collection consists primarily of correspondence.
A silk badge printed with the busts of John Adams, born Oct. 19, 1735 and Thomas Jefferson, born April 2, 1743. Both died July 4, 1826. Engraved by "Bown and Hoogland, sculpt "
Adam T. Raczkowski, a World War I veteran of the American army, was gassed by Germans in France in 1918. He received the Purple Heart 65 years later. Mr. Raczkowski was active in the Polish Falcons in Southington, CT and participated in their numerous sports events. Collection includes a unique photo from a Falcon's field Day in Meriden CT in 1915.
The Addie Stephens Ray friendship album (1966-09-0) was given to Addie Stephens (later the wife of William Ray) by Leonard W. Bacon in Litchfield, Connecticut on September 7, 1860. The album contains signatures and versus from friends. The signatures were collected from the year 1860 through 1862 in various locations such as Litchfield, CT, Saratoga Springs,NY, Hartford, CT and New Marlboro, MA.
Chiefly account books kept by Addie W. Hale, wife of Charles Reverdy Hale, of Meriden, Connecticut recording her household expenses. Also in the accounts is her income from mending and from giving music and arithmetic lessons, together with notes on her allocation of time and on her arithmetic assignments. Her husband is frequently mentioned in the accounts as is a sister-in-law, Ida Hale Whitlock. An account book kept by Bryant Burwell Glenny, Jr. and a diary by L. S. Stocking are also in the papers.