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Correspondence, diaries, letterbooks, financial papers, writings, scrapbooks, and memorabilia of the Farnam family of New Haven, Connecticut, 1721-1929. The papers of Henry Farnam (1803-1883), and two of his sons, Henry Walcott Farnam (1853-1933) and William Whitman Farnam (1844-1929) form this collection. The papers of Henry Farnam include personal and professional correspondence concerning his family, life in New Haven, and the building of several canals and railroads in Connecticut and the Midwest. Materials documenting the New Haven and Northampton Company, Chicago and Rock Island Railroad, Mississippi and Missouri Valley Railroad, Northern Indiana Railroad, and Peoria and Bureau Valley Railroad is arranged here. The papers of Henry Walcott Farnam include personal and professional correspondence, financial papers, writings, subject files and scrapbooks relating to his family, life in New Haven, student and teaching experiences at Yale, membership in local, state, and national academic and reform organizations, and philanthropic activities on behalf of educational and charitable institutions. The papers of William Whitman Farnam include correspondence and topical files relating to family matters, Yale University, and New Haven Park Commission activities.

The early papers relate to Walcott's business concerns and his game preserve. The bulk of the collection covers the period from 1915-1919 when Walcott was with the Rockefeller Foundation War Relief Commission and the U.S. Food Administration. Beginning with 1929 there is some correspondence from his career as Republican Senator from Connecticut. The remainder of the collection relates to Walcott's work in Polish relief (1939-1940) and his interest in conservation. Other persons represented include William Henry Welch (1850-1934); Herbert Hoover, with whom Walcott worked regarding Belgian relief, the Food Administration, and later as Senator; William Howard Taft; and many leaders of the American business community.

The papers consist of correspondence, writings, genealogical notes, and other papers, principally of Edward Elbridge Salisbury, philologist, orientalist, and genealogist. Included are materials on various branches of Salisbury's family gathered in his genealogical research. Also included are papers and correspondence of Josiah Salisbury (1781-1826), Abigail Breese Salisbury (1780-1866), and business papers of Samuel Salisbury (1739-1818) and Stephen Salisbury (1746-1829). In addition there are also letters and papers of other family members.