1710-1939
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of papers from the Wister, Channing, Clark, Kittredge, and Endicott families of Massachusetts, as well as miscellaneous papers, 1710-1939, collected by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts.
Collection Description
The Colonial Society of Massachusetts collection, 1710-1939, consists of papers from the Wister, Channing, Clark, Kittredge, and Endicott families, as well as miscellaneous papers.
Wister family papers include those of William Rotch Wister (1827-1911), a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and a prominent lawyer. He was known as the "father of American cricket" for his role in organizing and promoting the sport in the United States. He married Mary Channing Eustis of Milton, Mass., granddaughter of William Ellery Channing. Their children included Francis A. Wister, Ella E. Wister, John Caspar Wister, and Mary Channing Wister. Wister family papers include family correspondence, household account books, a travel journal, property lists, obituaries and clippings, a memorial for Mary Channing Wister, and ephemera (greeting cards, invitations, and calling cards).
Channing family members represented in this collection include William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), his father William Channing (1751-1793), and his nephew William Henry Channing (1810-1884). Channing family papers include genealogical notes, appointments, a passport, a letter, clippings, engravings, and ephemera.
Papers of the Clark family of Tewksbury and Lowell, Mass. include those of Jonas Clark and Jonathon Clark. Their papers include deeds for property in Tewksbury and Chelmsford, a bill from Jonathan Clark to the estate of Henry Kittredge, and an appointment of Jonathan Clark as a justice of the peace.
Papers of the Kittredge family of Tewksbury and Lawrence, Mass. include those of Henry A. Kittredge and T.A. Kittredge. Papers include correspondence, and a division of swampland.
Endicott family papers include a diploma and several membership certificates of William Crowninshield Endicott, Jr., 1860-1936.
Miscellaneous papers include two charters for the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, promissory notes, a pauper notice, an unidentified paper on the 56th congress, clippings, a folder of poems, and printed ephemera.
Acquisition Information
Deposited by the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, Oct. 1991.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Wister family papers, 1846-1939
Arranged chronologically.
Wister family papers include family correspondence, household account books, a European travel journal, property lists, William Rotch Wister obituaries and clippings, a memorial for Mary Channing Wister, and ephemera including greeting cards, invitations, and calling cards. Correspondence includes letters between Mary Channing Eustis Wister and her sister Ella Eustis prior to Mary's marriage to William Rotch Wister, letters to William Rotch Wister from University of Pennsylvania classmates, and letters to William Rotch Wister from his brother John Wister, Jr., from Duncannon Iron Works.
Three Mary Channing Eustis Wister household account books, 1868-1887, record daily expenditures on household supplies, services, and food. Mary Channing Eustis Wister's European travel journal, 1883, records her itinerary and brief notes on places such as London, Cologne, Geneva, Paris, and Edinburgh.
Property lists include an undated record of the disposition of the property of Sarah Logan Wister (mother of William Rotch Wister) and property schedules for Mary Channing Eustis Wister and her children Francis A. Wister, Ella E. Wister, John Caspar Wister, and Mary Channing Wister, 1884-1894.
II. Channing family papers, 1770-1891
Arranged chronologically.
Channing family papers include genealogical notes, William Channing, 1751-1793's, bar admission and appointment as a justice of the peace, Mr. and Mrs. William Ellery Channing's passport to France and Holland, 1822, a letter to William H. Channing from Marianne G. Jackson regarding William Ellery Channing, clippings, engravings, including two of William Ellery Channing, and ephemera including bookplates and calling cards.
III. Clark family papers, 1751-1905
Arranged chronologically.
Clark family papers include correspondence to Jonas and Jonathan Clark, bills, deeds for property in Chelmsford and Tewksbury, and a commonplace notebook kept by Mary Clark containing original poetry.
IV. Kittredge family papers, 1710-1900
Arranged chronologically.
Kittredge family papers include family correspondence, a copy of the constitution and by-laws of the First Baptist Society of Tewksbury, miscellaneous bills, a division of swamp land listing Kittredges, 11 Mar. 1710, and Republican City Committee of Lawrence materials.
V. Endicott family papers, 1878-1932
Arranged chronologically.
Endicott family papers include seven oversize documents, including William C. Endicott, Jr.'s diploma from Salem Classical and High School, his life membership certificates for the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, the Bostonian Society, and the Boston Society for Natural History. Also includes surveyed plans for two farms in Danvers, Mass.
VI. Miscellaneous papers, 1800-1872
Miscellaneous papers include two charters for the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, the first incorporating it in 1892 as the Massachusetts Society and the second changing the name in 1893 to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, a notice to the Selectmen of the Overseers of the Poor in Tewksbury that Ebenezer Flint is a pauper, ca. 1800, two promissory notes to James F. Puffer, 1869 and 1872, a folder of unidentified poetry, an unidentified paper regarding the 56th congress, clippings, two unidentified notebooks, the embroidered initials M.C.W., twelve hand-colored marine bird picture cards, engravings and silhouettes, travel brochures, and printed ephemera.
Photographs Removed from the Collection
Photographs have been removed from this collection to the Colonial Society of Massachusetts visual materials collection, ca. 1860-1961. Photo. Coll. 53.
Preferred Citation
Colonial Society of Massachusetts collection, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.