EDWARD WALDO EMERSON AND EMERSON FAMILY PAPERS, [ca. 1850]-1987
Vault A45, Emerson, Unit 6
Edward Waldo Emerson on a horse
EXTENT: 2.5 linear feet (4 containers)
ORGANIZATION AND ARRANGEMENT: Organized into five series:
I. Edward Waldo Emerson correspondence, [ca. 1850]-1925
II. Other family letters, 1870-1915
Subseries:
II.A. Letters to Edith Emerson Forbes, 1870-1915
II.B. Letter to William Hathaway Forbes, 1882
II.C. Letters to Ellen Tucker Emerson, 1874-1905
II.D. Letters to Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson, 1880, 1895
II.E. Letters to Lidian Jackson Emerson, 1880
III. Edward Waldo Emerson manuscripts and papers, 1856-1936
IV. Raymond and Amelia Forbes Emerson papers, 1894-1974
Subseries:
IV.A. Letters to Raymond and Amelia Forbes Emerson, 1894-1974
IV.B. Concord Free Public Library Corporation records accumulated by Raymond Emerson during his service as a Trustee, 1873 (in transcribed form), 1934-1956
V. Emerson family documentation of the papers and their use, [1940s?]-1987
Material within series and subseries is arranged chronologically, insofar as possible.
BIOGRAPHY: Edward Waldo Emerson (1844-1930)—the youngest child of philosopher, lecturer, essayist, and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and his second wife Lidian (Jackson) Emerson—lived most of his life in Concord, Massachusetts. As a child, he grew close to Henry David Thoreau, who presided over the Emerson household as a live-in caretaker while R. W. Emerson traveled and lectured abroad. Edward attended Frank Sanborn’s progressive, coeducational Concord private school and entered Harvard College in August 1861, only to return home in fragile health soon after. In May 1862, he set out for California. Restored by the trip, he returned to Harvard in the fall of 1862. He was rejected for Civil War service because of his precarious health, but graduated from Harvard in 1866. (He was the class poet.)
Although artistic, Edward bowed to practical considerations. Following his graduation from college he took a job with the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad in Burlington, Iowa, but once again became ill. He worked in the Quincy vineyard of his brother-in-law William Hathaway Forbes and eventually entered Harvard’s medical school. He spent a year in Berlin and London while enrolled at Harvard from which he received his M.D. degree in 1874. Back in Concord, he assisted Dr. Josiah Bartlett, eventually taking over Bartlett’s practice.
After Ralph Waldo Emerson’s death in 1882, Edward left the practice of medicine and spent his time writing, lecturing, editing his father’s papers and manuscripts, and painting. He wrote a biography of his father for the Social Circle in Concord (1888), Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (with Moorfield Storey; 1911), Henry Thoreau as Remembered by a Young Friend (1917), and Early Years of the Saturday Club (1918), and edited his father’s correspondence with John Sterling (1897), the Centenary Edition of Emerson’s works (1903-1904), and (with Waldo Emerson Forbes) the 1909-1914 edition of Emerson’s journals. He also taught at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
Edward Emerson served Concord as Superintendent of Schools and on the Board of Health, the Cemetery Committee, and the Library Committee. He was a founding member of the Concord Antiquarian Society as well as a member of the Social Circle. He was also an accomplished horseman.
In 1874, Edward married Concord girl Annie Shepard Keyes (1847-1928), daughter of John Shepard and Martha (Prescott) Keyes. They had seven children: William (1875-1875); Charles Lowell (1876-1880); John (1878-1879); Ellen Tucker (later Mrs. Charles Milton Davenport; 1880-1921); Florence (1882-1906); William Forbes (1884-1909); and Raymond (1886-1977).
Throughout his life, Edward corresponded with members of his family—his father, mother (who died in 1892), sisters Ellen Tucker Emerson (1839-1909) and Edith Emerson Forbes (1841-1929), brother-in-law William Hathaway Forbes (1840-1897), his own children, and his Forbes nieces and nephews.
SCOPE AND CONTENT: An organic collection of personal papers generated by several generations of the Emerson family, [ca. 1850]-1987, centered around Edward Waldo Emerson, in particular. Edward’s letters to his sisters Edith and Ellen and to other family members form the bulk of the collection. Aside from correspondence, material types within the collection include manuscript essays and lectures, typescripts, printed items, clipped articles, biographical and genealogical materials, photographs, notes, an oil painting on canvas (unframed), Concord Free Public Library Corporation records (gathered by Raymond Emerson during his service on that board), and documentation of family history and use of this collection (notably its use by Edward Waldo Forbes and Ellen Emerson Cotton). For more specific detail about contents, consult the container list, below.
PROVENANCE: This collection was passed down through the Emerson family and at several points consulted extensively by family members. Edward Waldo Forbes sorted the collection into packets (in the 1940s?) and transcribed some letters, summarizing their highlights. He annotated the envelopes into which he sorted materials with details about content and incorporated information from the collection in his biography of Edward Waldo Emerson for the 1958 book The Saturday Club: A Century Completed. Ellen Emerson Cotton read through Edward Emerson’s letters and recorded extensive notes about them in 1987.
SOURCE OF ACQUISITION: Gift of Ellen Emerson (daughter of David and Mary Emerson; granddaughter of Raymond and Amelia Emerson; great-granddaughter of Edward and Annie Emerson), as executor for the David and Mary Emerson Estate, February 20, 2019.
PUBLICATION BASED ON USE OF THE COLLECTION: Edward W. Forbes and John H. Finley, Jr. (editors), The Saturday Club: A Century Completed, 1920-1956 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958).
NOTES/COMMENTS: The information recorded by Edward Waldo Forbes on the envelopes into which he sorted the collection was photocopied during processing. The original envelopes were discarded, the photocopies of each filed with the letters contained when donated. Most folders in the collection as processed include undated materials and fragments that were in the original envelopes when they arrived at the CFPL. During processing, these items were kept with the groups of material with which Edward Waldo Forbes had placed them when he sorted the papers. Some of these undated or fragmentary materials might be further identified and possibly relocated within the collection. The collection was accessioned June 14, 2019 (AMC 278).
ASSOCIATED MATERIALS: Edward Waldo Emerson and Emerson family papers, 1845-1971 (bulk 1876-1922), William Munroe Special Collections, Concord Free Public Library (Vault, A45, Emerson Unit 3).
PROCESSED BY: Leslie Perrin Wilson; finding aid completed June 14, 2019.
Edward Waldo and Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson, July 4, 1923
CONTAINER LIST
SERIES I. EDWARD WALDO EMERSON CORRESPONDENCE, [ca. 1850]-1925:
Box 1, Folder 1:
[Circa 1850]-1859.
Undated notes written to sister Edith in Concord by mother Lidian on behalf of young “Eddy”; and letters and notes (1856-1859) written by Edward from Concord, Staten Island, and the Adirondacks to Lidian and Edith.
Box 1, Folder 2:
1861.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Newport, Longmeadow, Concord, the summit of Mount Monadnock, Naushon, Cambridge, and Milton. Some letters include sketches. Edward’s April 12, 1861 letter to “Dear sisters both” refers to the suicide and funeral of Ellen Hunt.
Box 1, Folder 3:
1862.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, written by Edward from Concord, Cambridge, and Newport; three letters from Lidian to Edward (one in an envelope addressed to “Great Salt Lake City”); and a letter from John Murray Forbes to RWE about Edward (October 16, 1862).
Box 1, Folder 4:
1863.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Cambridge, Concord, and Newport.
Box 1, Folder 5:
1864.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, father RWE (one letter), and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Concord, Cambridge, Boston, Medford, and Stoughton. One letter includes a sketch.
Box 1, Folder 6:
1865.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, brother-in-law Will, and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Cambridge and Naushon; one letter to Edward from Col. Samuel C. Armstrong (“In the Field, Va. Mch 9 1865”); and one from Ellen to Edward (“August 1865”). Three letters include sketches.
Box 1, Folder 7:
1866.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, brother-in-law Will, mother Lidian, and father RWE (multiple letters), written by Edward from Cambridge, and Iowa—Burlington, Ottumwa, “Camp 2 ½ miles S. E. of Afton,” “Camp on Twelve Mile Creek 2 ½ miles S. of Afton,” “Camp at Highland,” “Camp on Long Creek, Somewhere within a dozen miles of Osceola,” “Camp at Headley’s 11 miles S. W. of Osceola on Long Creek,” and Frederic. Two letters include sketches. Many letters accompanied by typed transcripts.
Box 1, Folder 8:
1867.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, brother-in-law Will, and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Concord, Milton, Cambridge, “Yacht Azalea off Seaconet,” and Naushon.
Box 1, Folder 9:
1868.
Letters to mother Lidian, sisters Ellen and Edith, and brother-in-law Will, written by Edward from Concord, New York, Naushon, and Milton; on letterhead of Brevoort House, Gilmore House (Baltimore), “Office of Consolidation [Consolidated?] Coal Co.,” Willard Hotel (Washington, D. C.), and Miles House (Charleston, S. C.); “Steamer Lizzie Baker, Island Passage for Florida, Off St Catharine’s Isle,” Fernandina, Florida, “St Johns River, 6 miles above Jacksonville, Steamer ‘Lizzie Baker’,” Union House, Jacksonville; and “Azalea’s Cabin.” Some letters include sketches.
Box 1, Folder 10:
1869.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, brother-in-law Will, and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Concord, Milton, Naushon, and Boston. Two letters include sketches.
Box 1, Folder 11:
1870.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Boston, Concord, Milton, Monadnock, and Glen House (Gorham, New Hampshire). Some letters include sketches.
Box 1, Folder 12:
1871.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, brother-in-law Will, mother Lidian, father RWE (two letters), and “Alice,” written by Edward from Concord, London, “Antwerp Steamer, North of the Thames,” Cassel, and Berlin. Some letters include sketches.
Box 1, Folder 13:
1872.
Letters to brother-in-law Will, sisters Edith and Ellen, mother Lidian, and father RWE, written by Edward from Berlin, Broadford (Skye), Keswick, London, Ilfracombe, Plymouth, Westgate-on-Sea, and the Steamer Batavia. The folder also includes letters to Edward from Ellen and from Annie Shepard Keyes (then the future Mrs. Edward Emerson)—notably, a July 5, 1872 letter from Annie in Concord describing the fire that severely damaged the Emerson home on the Cambridge Turnpike—and two telegrams to Will from Edward. Some letters include sketches.
Box 1, Folder 14:
1873.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, mother Lidian, and brother-in-law Will, written by Edward from Boston, Concord, and Woods Hole. In a letter of March 19, 1873, Edward refers to the upcoming March Concord Town Meeting at which William Munroe’s Concord Free Public Library was to be discussed. Some letters include sketches.
Box 1, Folder 15:
1874, 1875.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, mother Lidian, and brother-in-law Will, written by Edward from Boston, Concord, and Naushon.
Box 2, Folder 1:
1876-1878.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, brother-in-law Will, and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Concord, Boston, Brookline, and Naushon. Folder also includes a telegram, a letter (July 3, 1876) from Edith (with addendum from W. H. Forbes) to Edward and Annie, offering congratulations on the birth of a son, and a letter (October 29, 1876, to “Dear Sir”) from John Shepard Keyes relating information on Edward’s breaking a leg when his horse Billy fell while Edward was riding.
Box 2, Folder 2:
1879-1881.
Letters to brother-in-law Will, sisters Edith and Ellen, nephew Edward Waldo Forbes, mother Lidian, and nephew William Cameron Forbes (“Cam”), written by Edward from Concord, Milton, Brookline, “Kansas, at large,” “Desert between Yuma & Los Angeles,” San Rafael, San Francisco, and “Nevada, Desert near Humboldt River.” Folder also includes one letter (May 18, 1881) from Ellen to Edward. Some letters include sketches.
Box 2, Folder 3:
1882-1884.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, mother Lidian, and brother-in-law Will, written by Edward from Concord, Keene Valley, Lakewood, Delaware Water Gap, Richmond, (Massachusetts), Naushon, and Brookline. Folder also includes typed letter (October 27, 1882), George Hoadley to Edward W. Emerson, from Cincinnati, on “Hoadley, Johnson & Colston, Attorneys at Law” letterhead, regarding a check deposited in Moncure D. Conway’s account, with a penciled note on reverse from Edward to Edith and Will. In an April 21, 1882 note to Edith, Edward refers to the illness which ultimately led to his father’s death on April 27. Some letters include sketches.
Box 2, Folder 4:
1885, 1886.
Letters to brother-in-law Will, sisters Edith and Ellen, mother Lidian, and wife Annie, from Concord, Coffins Beach (West Gloucester), Naushon, Boston, Wayland, Richmond (Massachusetts), Far Rockaway, South Lincoln, Annisquam, and Annisquam Hotel. Some letters include sketches.
Box 2, Folder 5:
1887, 1888.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, brother-in-law Will, and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Concord, Chambersburg (Pennsylvania), Sharpsburg (Maryland), Coffins Beach (West Gloucester), Monadnock, Naushon, South Lincoln, Wachusett House (Princeton, Massachusetts), and South Framingham. Folder also includes a note (November 6, 1887) from James E. Cabot to Edward Emerson. Edward’s August 3, 1887 note to Edith is appended to a letter in pencil by his daughter Ellen to her Aunt Edith. His March 10, 1888 letter to Edith refers to the deaths of Bronson and Louisa May Alcott. One letter includes sketches.
Box 2, Folder 6:
1889, 1890.
Letters to brother-in-law Will, sisters Edith and Ellen, and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Concord, Isle au Haut (Maine), Monadnock, Naushon, Coffins Beach (West Gloucester), and Far Rockaway. Edward’s May 29, [1889?] note to Edith is appended to a letter he wrote for his son William. His [October 15, 1889] letter to Edith refers to the vandalism of his father’s (RWE’s) grave. One letter includes a sketch.
Box 2, Folder 7:
1891, 1892.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, brother-in-law Will, and mother Lidian, written by Edward from Concord, Wayland, Coffins Beach (West Gloucester), South Lincoln, Naushon, Xenia (Ohio), “Crossing Missouri; say 30 miles w. of St. Louis,” “Cars on the way to Winona Minnesota,” “R.R. to Duluth,” Menomonee (Wisconsin), and Monadnock. Two letters include sketches.
Box 2, Folder 8:
1893.
Letters to sister Ellen, written by Edward from Milton, Fitzwilliam (New Hampshire), and Concord. Some letters include sketches.
Box 2, Folder 9:
1894, 1895.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, brother-in-law Will, and Woodward [Hudson], written by Edward from Antibes, Paris, Mont Saint Michel, Moret-sur-Loing, Chester, Edinburgh, Durham, Southampton, Ilfracombe, Exmouth, Fitzwilliam, “Fitchburg R.R.,” Concord, and Chicago. Folder also includes a November 2, [1894] letter written to Edward by his daughter Florence. Some letters include sketches.
Box 2, Folder 10:
1896, 1897.
Letters to wife Annie, “My dear MacKintosh,” sisters Edith and Ellen, and brother-in-law Will, written by Edward from Concord, Monadnock, and Fitzwilliam.
Box 3, Folder 1:
1898, 1899.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, written by Edward from Concord, Lincoln (Nebraska), Jaffrey, Fitzwilliam, Hyde Park (Chicago), Monadnock, and Naushon. One note to Edith (dated May 15, [no year]) is appended to a note to Edith from Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson.
Box 3, Folder 2:
1900, 1901.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, written by Edward from Concord, Monadnock, Fitzwilliam, and Vineyard Haven. Folder also includes a letter (August 7, 1900) written from Annisquam to “Dear Papa” by Edward’s son Raymond, to which is appended a note from Ellen Tucker Emerson to sister-in-law Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson.
Box 3, Folder 3:
1902, 1903.
Letters to sisters Edith and Ellen, written by Edward from Concord, Ojai Valley, Monrovia, Surf, San Rafael, Troy (New Hampshire), Monadnock, “The morning workshop,” Fitzwilliam, Naushon, and the “Wayside Inn” ([Sudbury]). Folder also includes a February 19, 1903 letter from Robert J. Thompson (Gramercy Park) and three typed letters (December 12 and December 26, 1902 and March 24, 1903; Philadelphia; on Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts letterhead) from Harrison S. Morris to Edward Emerson.
Box 3, Folder 4:
1904-1908.
Letters to sisters Ellen and Edith, Charles E. Perkins, and Mackintosh, written by Edward from Tallahassee, Fitzwilliam, Monadnock, Antibes, and Concord. Folder also includes a guest list [for the 1904 wedding of Florence Emerson—daughter of Edward and Annie—and Gerrit Forbes?] and a typed letter (July 9, 1907; on Department of Commerce and Police, Manila, letterhead) from nephew William Cameron Forbes to Edward Emerson. One letter includes a sketch.
Box 3, Folder 5:
1909-1912.
Letters to sister Edith, Mackintosh, daughter Ellen Tucker Emerson, and Bessie [Keyes Hudson—Mrs. Woodward Hudson], written by Edward from Concord, Magnolia, Fitzwilliam, Milton, 106 Marlborough Street, Houston, Monrovia (California), and Tryon (North Carolina). Edward’s November 4, [1909] note to Edith is appended to a note from Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson. Folder also includes a typed letter (May 23, 1910; on Office of the Governor-General of the Philippine Islands letterhead) from nephew William Cameron Forbes to Edward Emerson. One letter includes sketches.
Box 3, Folder 6:
1913-1916.
Letters to sister Edith and one letter to Miss [Emma] Hathaway, written by Edward from Dallas, Monrovia, Fitzwilliam, Concord, Camden, Tryon (North Carolina), “Sears Building,” Mountain House (Jaffrey, New Hampshire), Charleston, and Monadnock.
Box 3, Folder 7:
1917-1925.
Letters to sister Edith and one letter to nephew Edward Waldo Forbes, written by Edward from Tryon (North Carolina), Fitzwilliam, Concord, and Daytona (Florida). Folder also includes a July 17, 1918 letter from nephew William Cameron Forbes to Edward Emerson (on Gay Farm letterhead), and a hand-written 1925 Christmas card.
SERIES II. OTHER FAMILY LETTERS, 1870-1915:
Subseries II.A. Letters to Edith Emerson Forbes, 1870-1915:
Box 3, Folder 8:
Letters written by sister Ellen Tucker Emerson, sister-in-law Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson, and nephew Raymond Emerson.
Subseries II.B. Letter to William Hathaway Forbes, 1882:
Box 3, Folder 9:
A single letter, April 22, 1882, describing RWE in his final illness, [written by his sister-in-law Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson].
Subseries II.C. Letters to Ellen Tucker Emerson, 1874-1905:
Box 3, Folder 10:
Letters written by sister Edith Emerson Forbes, sister-in-law Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson, Sarah S. Goodwin, nieces Ellen Tucker Emerson and Florence Emerson, and nephews Raymond Emerson and William Forbes Emerson.
Subseries II.D. Letters to Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson, 1880, 1895:
Box 3, Folder 11:
Two letters, one written by sister-in-law Edith Emerson Forbes in 1880, one by sister-in-law Ellen Tucker Emerson in 1895.
Subseries II.E. Letters to Lidian Jackson Emerson, 1880:
Box 3, Folder 12:
Five letters written by daughter Edith Emerson Forbes to her mother, one of them (October 7, 1880), addressed to “My dear family.”
SERIES III. EDWARD WALDO EMERSON MANUSCRIPTS AND PAPERS, 1856-1936:
Box 4, Folder 1:
Early writings and sketches, 1859, plus undated.
Box 4, Folder 2:
Class of 1866. Decennial Dinner, June 27, 1876 (four-page printed piece containing verse by Edward Waldo Emerson).
Box 4, Folder 3:
Three versions in manuscript of Edward Waldo Emerson’s poem “Julius Caesar,” one with sketches, accompanied by the unattributed article “Caesar’s Art of War and of Writing,” removed from the Atlantic Monthly for September 1879.
Box 4, Folder 4:
Manuscript and typed transcript of “Welcome to the Convention of Librarians at Concord” by Edward Waldo Emerson, September 1892?.
Box 4, Folder 5:
“In Memoriam. The Death of Colonel William H. Forbes; by James B. Thayer, Moorfield Story (E. W. E. added a little)” (typescript, with manuscript additions, of piece for the [Boston] Transcript, October 25, 1897).
Also, “Mosby on Forbes. An Incident of the Civil War” (typescript of piece in the Boston Evening Transcript, October 28, 1897).
Box 4, Folder 6:
Typescript verse by Edward Waldo Emerson for the Game Club (including one item with manuscript additions), 1897, 1898, and undated.
Box 4, Folder 7:
“John Murray Forbes: A Sketch” by Edward Waldo Emerson (reprinted from the Atlantic Monthly for September 1899).
Box 4, Folder 8:
Manuscript and typescript versions of “Concord Fight” (typescript poem by Edward Waldo Emerson for Concord’s celebration of the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary in 1900 of the Concord Fight).
Box 4, Folder 9:
“The First Church in Concord Restored. October 3, 1901” (manuscript poem by Edward Waldo Emerson.
Box 4, Folder 10:
Printed “Remarks by Dr. Edward Waldo Emerson” (at the dinner of the Free Religious Association, Boston, 1902).
Box 4, Folder 11:
“The Law. An Address given July Fourth, 1905, in the Orthodox Church, at the request of its Pastor, Rev. Mr. Tewksbury . . . by E. W. Emerson” (manuscript and typescript; also, a sheet of printed music).
Box 4, Folder 12:
“Speech at the Opening of Emerson Hall, December 27, 1905” (typescript with manuscript additions); also, mounted clipping—“Emerson’s Ideas of Teaching Literature (To the Editor of The Dial),” by Edwin Mims, Trinity College, Durham, N. C., February 10, 1896.
Box 4, Folder 13:
Manuscript funeral address for Moncure D. Conway by Edward Waldo Emerson, [1907]; also, printed version clipped from the Christian Register, [1908].
Box 4, Folder 14:
Typescript “Letter Testementary [i.e. Testamentary]”, Edward Waldo Emerson, February 25, 1910.
Typescript “Suggestions for disposition of small things,” [Ellen Tucker Emerson (later Davenport)], January 1919.
Box 4, Folder 15:
Manuscript preface written by Edward Emerson for the published history of the Saturday Club [1918] (marked “Not printed in Volume I”).
Box 4, Folder 16:
“Rally to the Standard” (manuscript and typescript piece for the Harvard Endowment Fund campaign, [1920]).
Box 4, Folder 17:
Undated manuscript notes by Edward Waldo Emerson on his father RWE (draft sketch or lecture?).
Box 4, Folder 18:
Undated, unidentified manuscript biographical sketch of RWE (including some typed portions) by Edward Waldo Emerson; accompanied by manuscript notes and a second undated manuscript on RWE.
Box 4, Folder 19:
Undated, unidentified manuscript by Edward Waldo Emerson on social and historical matters relating to Concord, New England, and America.
Box 4, Folder 20:
Largely undated manuscript notes and clippings on death, immortality, physicians, and Mary Moody Emerson (one clipping dated 1899).
Box 4, Folder 21:
Clippings relating to Ralph Waldo Emerson and to the Centenary Edition of RWE’s writings ([1903-1904]).
Box 4, Folder 22:
Biographical material on Edward Waldo Emerson: typed list of the writings of EWE; typed transcript of a letter from William James to brother Robertson James, September 20, 1874, describing the wedding of EWE and Annie Shepard Keyes; biographical notes connected with the Social Circle and Massachusetts Historical Society memoirs of EWE; a reprint of Allen French’s memoir of EWE in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Volume 65), and materials gathered for its writing; a brief Emerson family genealogy (typed); EWE obituaries ([1930]); and the typescript for and a reprint of Edward Waldo Forbes’s biographical sketch of EWE for the Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Volume 70, Number 10, 1936).
Box 4, Folder 23:
Biographical material on Edward Waldo Emerson: manuscript notes copied from Grace Keyes’s diary entries for the winter of 1894, referring to EWE, Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson, Ellen Tucker Emerson, and others in Antibes; manuscript recollections of Edward and Annie Emerson by Bessie Keyes Hudson; typescript biographical sketch of EWE by Amelia Forbes Emerson.
Box 4, Folder 24:
Ephemera: printed list (undated) of lecture subjects offered by EWE; printed 1896 listing, Pictures and Sketches by Edward W. Emerson. On Exhibition at the Gallery of J. Eastman Chase; engraved certificate of election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Boston) for Edward Emerson, May 9, 1917.
Box 4, Folder 25:
Photographs: primarily portraits on paper (some mounted) of Edward Waldo Emerson and Annie Shepard Keyes Emerson.
Box 4, Folder 26:
Notes (typed and manuscript) on miscellaneous subjects, including Mary Moody Emerson.
Box 4, Folder 27:
Concord Independent Battery roster (on letterhead), June 1, 1889.
Box 4, Folder 28:
Edward Waldo Emerson’s copy of A Sermon, Preached in the First Church, Concord, November 9, 1856, Being the Sunday Succeeding the Death of Hon. Samuel Hoar . . . by the Pastor, Barzillai Frost . . . (1856).
Box 4, Folder 29:
Monadnoc (oil painting on canvas) by Edward Waldo Emerson.
SERIES IV. RAYMOND AND AMELIA FORBES EMERSON PAPERS, 1894-1974:
Subseries IV.A. Letters to Raymond and Amelia Forbes Emerson, 1894-1974:
Box 4, Folder 30:
Letters to Raymond Emerson from his father Edward, his mother Annie, his aunt Ellen Tucker Emerson, and Harry Rowe Mimno (Gordon McKay Professor of Applied Physics, Harvard University); letters to Amelia Forbes Emerson from cousin William Cameron Forbes, [first name indecipherable] Hart (Framingham, Massachusetts), Sarah S. Goodwin, and Marguerite W. Truslow; letters to both Raymond and Amelia Forbes Emerson from father/father-in-law Edward, Reverend Robert Dale Richardson, Joan N. Harris (staff member at the Concord Free Public Library; thanking the Emersons in 1974 for a gift of Edward Emerson papers), and Jocelyn Brodie (Director of the Louise E. Thorne Memorial Art Gallery; thanking the Emersons in 1974 for the loan of an Edward Emerson painting for exhibition). All letters in the folder are arranged by date.
Subseries IV.B. Concord Free Public Library Corporation records accumulated by Raymond Emerson during his service as a Trustee, 1873 (in transcribed form), 1934-1956:
Records consist of transcribed act of incorporation and by-laws; probate and trust documents; correspondence; investment, financial, tax, insurance, and gift information; treasurer’s reports; information relating to election of Corporation officers; property documents; material relating to repairs and improvements; printed annual reports of the Concord Free Public Library; Librarian’s report; and listings of gallery exhibitions.
Box 4, Folder 31:
Typed transcript of March 25, 1873 act of incorporation for the Concord Free Public Library; typed transcript of by-laws of the Concord Free Public Library Corporation as amended through 1931; typed transcript of the by-laws of the Concord Free Public Library Corporation (certified true and correct, December 22, 1939).
Box 4, Folder 32:
Records, 1934-1949.
Box 4, Folder 33:
Records, 1950-1952.
Box 4, Folder 34:
Records, 1953-1956.
SERIES V. EMERSON FAMILY DOCUMENTATION OF THE PAPERS AND THEIR USE, [1940s?]-1987:
Box 4, Folder 35:
Manuscript note (undated) regarding Shepard-Keyes-Emerson genealogy, headed “For David Emerson”; sheet of undated manuscript notes (in pencil) on Keyes and Emerson genealogy.
Box 4, Folder 36:
Two manuscript notes identifying the collection, reading: “Letters of Edward Waldo Emerson—as sorted and arranged by Edward W. Forbes at Gerry’s Landing, Cambridge, Mass. Later stored at Estabrook Farm by Raymond & Amelia F. Emerson. D. Emerson, 09-16-87, Concord, Mass.”; and “Suitcase of letters of Edward W. Emerson (all read by Ellen E. Cotton, July, Aug. Sept. 1987). Sorted and packaged by Edward W. Forbes at Gerry’s Landing, Cambridge, Mass. The letters which are noted to have been typed are all included in typed version in Edward W. Forbes file used to prepare his “Life of Edward W. Emerson”—biography for the Saturday Club. Most of the untyped letters are of little significance except to record day-to-day life and correspondence of the times. D. Emerson, Concord, Mass., Sept. 16, 1987.”
“Ellen E. Cotton’s Notes on Reading Letters of Edward W. Emerson, June 1987-Sept. 15, 1987 @1061 Monument St., Concord Mass. / D. E. [Dan Emerson]” (notes in spiral-bound steno notebook).
Several sheets of loose notes by Ellen Emerson Cotton.
Stapled pages of manuscript Forbes genealogy (1987) and manuscript list (undated) of subject highlights of Edward Waldo Emerson letters, by Ellen Emerson Cotton.
Typed note (undated) regarding sketch of seventeenth-century house built by Thomas Emerson.
Undated list headed “Emerson Family Photograph Album, as noted by Edward W. Forbes.” (List identifies subjects of images in the album.)
Box 4, Folder 37:
“E. W. F. [Edward Waldo Forbes] Notes on E. W. E. Letters” (typed notes about Edward Emerson’s 1861-1891 letters, prepared [1940s or 1950s?] by Edward Waldo Forbes for use in writing his biography of Edward Emerson for 1958 book The Saturday Club: A Century Completed.
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