EDWARD GRINDALL REYNOLDS PAPERS, 1866-1878

Vault A45, Reynolds, Unit 2

EXTENT : .25 linear ft. (1 container)

ORGANIZATION : Organized into three series: I. Correspondence to Edward Grindall Reynolds, 1868-1877; II. Business Papers, 1876-1878; III. Biographical Material, 1866, 1875, and undated.

BIOGRAPHY : Edward Grindall Reynolds (EGR) was born on April 3, 1850 in West Roxbury, Massachusetts, the only son of Concord clergyman Grindall Reynolds and Lucy Maria (Dodge) Reynolds. EGR had two sisters: Alice (Reynolds) Keyes and Lucy G. (Reynolds) Richardson. He was a member of the Harvard College Class of 1873, but left after his junior year without obtaining a degree. EGR undertook civil engineering projects in the West before becoming a partner in Buttrick & Reynolds, a retail grocery business in Concord, Massachusetts. On November 29, 1878, EGR married Lottie A. Batchelder of Hampton, New Hampshire. The marriage produced two daughters: Lottie Dodge, born November 20, 1879, and Elizabeth, born April 30, 1881. EGR moved to the Midwest and settled in Kansas City, Missouri, where he died on November 15, 1898.

SCOPE AND CONTENT :  Papers consist mainly of personal and business correspondence to EGR, 1868-1878. Series I contains personal correspondence, 1868-1877. Family correspondents include his father Grindall Reynolds, his mother Lucy Maria (Dodge) Reynolds, and his sisters Alice and Lucy Reynolds; these letters reveal concern for EGR's well-being and his business while documenting the domestic life of EGR's family. Other correspondents include Harvard professor and historian Henry Adams, Edward Jarvis Bartlett, Horace E. Deming, Clifford Devens, H. R. Hagar, R. H. Ham, Charles Emerson Hoar, S. A. Hosmer, Arthur J. King, David Loring, James C. Melvin, and Francis B. Shepley; their letters often refer to two Concord social clubs, the Young Men's Club (in which EGR served as treasurer) and the B. C. & W. [i.e., Billiards, Chess & Whist] Club. Series II includes business papers, 1876-1878, relating to Buttrick and Reynolds, a retail grocery business based in Concord in which EGR was a partner; these items record transactions with H[enry]. L. Whitcomb (Concord , Mass.), Rodney J. Hardy & Co. (Boston , MA), Boardman & Stuart (Rochester, NY), and George McDonald. Series III includes items of general biographical interest, such as a juvenile manuscript (“General Sheridan”), geometry notes, a pencil sketch of EGR, and two printed notices issued by the Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, Company C, 5th Regiment.

SOURCE OF ACQUISITION: The Papers of Edward Grindall Reynolds were delivered to CFPL on October 19, 1995 by Judith Funkhauser and formally donated on December 26, 1995 by Elmer Funkhauser.

ASSOCIATED COLLECTIONS: The Papers of Grindall Reynolds, 1870-1888.

PROCESSED BY : Simmons College intern Peter X. Accardo; finding aid prepared fall 2006. 

CONTAINER LIST

SERIES I. Correspondence to EGR, 1868-1876 (40 items):

Folder 1:

Adams, Henry (1 item):

Letter, [n.d.] June 6 (Cambridge, Mass.); with envelope “Mr. E. G. Reynolds / Rev. K. Atkinson's.” Wishes to schedule an appointment with EGR.

Bartlett, Edward Jarvis (1 item):

Letter, 1877 Jan. 2 (Boston, Mass.); with envelope. Mentions bill and lower profits.

Brown (1 item):
Letter, 1874 Feb. 11 (Saint Paul, Minn.); with envelope.

“Cousin Johnnie” (1 item):

Letter, [187-] Jan. 15 (North Bridgewater, Mass.); with envelope.

Deming, Horace E. (1 item):

Letter, 1876 Feb. 8 (Cambridge, Mass.); with envelope. Concerns the rates for copying.

Devens, Clifford (2 items):

Assessment, 1875 Sept. 1 (Concord, Mass.). Issued by the Young Men's Club to Clifford Devens; returned by Devens with ms. notation that he no longer considers himself a member. With envelope addressed to “Treasurer” (i.e., EGR), [1875] Sept. 13.

Letter, 1875 Sept. 4.; with envelope. Explains protocols for dropping out of the Young Men's Club during his tenure as treasurer.

Griffin , Frederick W. (1 item):

Letter, 1877 June 29 (Detroit, Mich.); with envelope. Written on Law Offices of Griffin & Dickinson letterhead.

Hagar, H. R. (3 items):

Letter, 1875 June 10 (Salem, Mass.).

Letter, 1875 July 3 (Boston, Mass.); with envelope.

Letter, 1875 July 4 (Salem, Mass.); with envelope. Mentions visit to “camp.”

Ham, R. H.? (1 item):

Letter, 1875 Oct. 16 (Boston, Mass.). Invites EGR to visit Salem.

Series I, Folder 2:

Hoar, Charles Emerson (6 items):

Letter, 1871 Oct. 22 (Burlington, Iowa); with envelope. Mentions Young Men's Club debt; Chicago fire; David Loring's recent visit.

Letter, 1871 Nov. 11 (De Witt, Nebr.); with envelope. Life in De Witt.

Letter, 1871 Nov. 26 (De Witt, Nebr.); with envelope. Mentions club, David Loring; death of Concord resident Mary B. Fay.

Letter, 1871 Dec. 10 (De Witt, Nebr.); with envelope. Mentions S. A. Hosmer, David Loring; club debts and proposed protocols.

Letter, 1872 Feb. 4 (Plattsmouth, Nebr.); with envelope. Mentions Lucy Reynolds' marriage to Charles S. Richardson.

Letter, 1875 Oct. 27 (Rancho Simi, Calif. ); with envelope. Describes his life in California ; alludes to EGR's “previous Western experience.”

Hosmer, S. A. (1 item):

Letter, 1873 Sept. 12 (Concord, Mass.) References to camp life; opening of the Concord Free Public Library.

K., W. C. (1 item):

Letter, signed “Patsy Boliver, W.C.K.,” 1867 Aug. 27 (Boston , Mass.). Mentions “Lulie.”

King, Arthur J. (4 items):

Letter, 1875 Nov. 26 (Washington, D. C.); with envelope. Describes life in Washington , work at the Navy Department; inquires about Young Men's Club.

Letter, 1875 Dec. 13 (Washington, D. C.); with envelope. Plans a future game of whist with EGR and others.

Letter, [1875] Dec. 27. Written on a letter sent by EGR to Arthur J. King, 1875 Dec. 27.

Letter, 1877 Jan. 8 (Washington, D. C.). Quotes a letter recently received by his sister.

Loring, David (1 item):

Letter, 1874 Sept. 30 (Concord, Mass.). Plans to visit Omaha, Nebraska ; written on Young Men's Club letterhead.

Melvin, James C. (2 items):

Letter, 1876 Sept. 2 (Concord , Mass.). Informs EGR of his election to B. C. & W Club; written on B. C. & W. Club letterhead. With enclosure (broadside), “Constitution of the B. C. & W. Club”: housed outside folder.

Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Co., Concord Mass. (1 item):

Policy expiration notice issued to B. C. & W. Club, 1877 Dec. 14; with envelope addressed to treasurer (i.e., EGR).

“Minnie” (1 item):

Letter, 1876 Apr. 24 (Lincoln, Mass.); with envelope. Accepts EGR's invitation to meet in Boston.

Series I, Folder 3:

Reynolds, Alice (2 items):

Letter, signed “Spud,” 1876 Jan. 16 (Greenfield, Mass.); with envelope. Mentions German translations; sister “Lu”; Bessie Pearson, a student at Wayside School.

Letter, 187[6] Feb. 20 (Greenfield, Mass.).

Reynolds, Grindall (2 items):

Letter, 1868 Aug. 5 (Concord, Mass.). Loans EGR $2.00 to cover debt.

Letter, 1876 Aug. 10 (Weston, Mass.); with envelope. Inquires about EGR's business.

Reynolds, Lucy [Nicknames: Lulie, Lu] (2 items):

Letter, from “Lulie,” 1876 Jan. 31 (Concord, Mass.); with envelope marked, “Care of Prof. D. B. Hagar, Salem Mass. ”

Letter, from “your aff. Sister Lu,” 1876 Aug. 9 (Weston, Mass.); with envelope.

Reynolds, Lucy Maria (4 items):

Letter, 1876 Aug. 6 (Weston, Mass.). On domestic subjects.

Letter, [1876] Aug. 11 (Weston, Mass.); with envelope.

Letter, [1876] Aug. 20 (Weston, Mass.) “Tell Alice Lu is coming tomorrow.”

Letter, [1876] Aug. 24 (Weston, Mass.); with envelope annotated “Revere House, St. Paul Minna.”

Shepley, Francis B. (1 item):

Letter, 1876 July 17 (Fitchburg, Mass.); with Shepley & Baker Wholesale Stationers envelope.

Unidentified (1 item):

Letter, 1868 Dec.; with envelope. Mentions Alice Reynolds; invitation to visit at Christmas.

SERIES II. Business Papers, 1876-1878, (7 items):

Folder 4:

Receipt issued by H. L. Whitcomb (Concord, Mass.) to EGR, 1876 Jan. 3.

Letter from the Office of Rodney J. Hardy & Co., Commission Merchants (Boston, Mass.) to Mssrs. Buttrick & Reynolds, 1876 Sept. 4.

Letter from Boardman & Stuart, Cultivators and Dealers in Nursery Stock (Rochester, New York) to Mssrs. Buttrick & Reynolds, 1878 Feb. 27; with envelope.

Letter from S. A. Hohner, 1878 Mar. 29 (Clinton, Mass.); with envelope. Proposes that EGR leave Buttrick & Reynolds to work for Hohner, or that he buy out Buttrick and hire Hohner and his son.

Postcard, from P. Tarbell? to Charles Thompson, 18[--] Mar. 23 (Concord, Mass.). Seeks $10.00 and receipt to cover cost of trip to Concord, Buttrick and Reynolds.

Receipt for work issued to George McDonald, 1876 Dec. 29. Possibly sent as an enclosure with letter from Edward Jarvis Bartlett to EGR, 1877 Jan. 2 (see Series I, Folder 1).

Two leaves from business ledger with penciled annotations.

SERIES III. Biographical and Other Manuscript Material, 1866, 1875, and undated (21 items):

Folder 5:

Farman, Ella (1 item):

Letter, to Miss E. S. Reynolds, 18[--] May 20 (Bedford, Mass.). Mentions “pretty little French story” in Wide Awake; doesn't pay for translations.

Loose envelopes (8 items):

Envelope to EGR postmarked Concord , Jan. 8. Envelope to Mr. E. G. Reynolds, embossed “W” on flap.

Envelope to EGR postmarked Cambridge Station, Jan. 24, and inscribed “Care Prof. Hagar.”

Envelope to EGR postmarked Concord , May 18.

Envelope to EGR postmarked Concord.

Envelope to EGR postmarked Mass.

Envelope to EGR with indecipherable postmark.

Envelope inscribed to EGR.   

Envelope inscribed, “This is your property.”

Massachusetts Volunteer Militia, Co. C, 5 th Regiment (2 items):

Printed notice, 1875 Jan. 30. Concerns election of a new treasurer.

Printed notice, 1875 May 7; with envelope addressed to EGR, postmarked 18[--], May. Concerns forthcoming Centennial Celebration of the 19th of April in Concord .

Reynolds, Edward Grindall (2 items):

Document signed by EGR et al., 1875 Dec. 30; with envelope. Liquidates the debt of the Young Men's Club.

Manuscript, 1866: “Gen. Sheridan.”

Unidentified (5 items):

Manuscript note, “Reception Committee for invited guests,” undated; with envelope addressed to EGR. Contains specifications for a banner.

Manuscript note to “Reynolds of Cressy” (i.e., EGR), undated: “You are requested to hand in your choice of profession at the Dean's office. It is reported that you intend to be a preacher: if so state it. Pick yer teeth Bite yer toe. Chew yer cud. Cut yer corns. Paint yer face, and lick Storie?” Accompanied by a pencil sketch of EGR inscribed: “Reynolds as Troubadour, Molly Atk. in the window.”

Sheet containing whist scores.

Sheet of geometry notes.

Sheet with four names (A. B. Warren, John Ready, George H. Hopkins, Pat Turney) with dollar amounts beside.

c2006 Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.
Not to be reproduced in any form without permission of the Curator of Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library.

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Mounted 18th November 2006.    rcwh.