HEYWOOD FAMILY PAPERS, 1735-1932 (BULK 1825-1932)
Not to be reproduced without permission from the Concord Free Public Library.
Vault A45, Heywood, Unit 1
EXTENT: .62 linear feet (one container).
ORGANIZATION: Seven series: I. Abiel Heywood papers, [1822?]-1838; II. George Heywood papers, 1851-1897; III. Charles Fay Heywood papers, 1895-1932; IV. Heywood photographs, ephemera, etc., [ca. 1870-1875]-1931; V. Heywood genealogy, 1735-1851; VI. Papers of other Heywoods and allied family members, [before 1822]-1928; VII. Volumes from Heywood family library, 1864-1907.
BIOGRAPHIES:
The Heywoods: John Heywood (d. 1701) lived in Concord before 1650. His son Deacon John Heywood (d. 1718) had thirteen children. John Jr.’s son Samuel (d. 1750) had thirteen children. Jonathan Heywood was one of Samuel’s children. Jonathan married Sarah Stone, with whom he had six children. Their third son was named Abiel. Abiel, his son George, and George’s son Charles Fay—the three Heywoods most represented in this collection—were all influential in Concord’s business, political, and social life.
Abiel Heywood (1759-1839): Born in Concord on December 9, 1759, third son of Jonathan and Sarah Stone Heywood, Abiel Heywood graduated from Harvard in 1781. He began practicing medicine in Concord in 1790. In 1796, he succeeded Ephraim Wood as Concord Town Clerk, which position he held until 1834. He also served Concord as a selectman and assessor. In 1797 and 1807, Abiel Heywood was appointed a justice of the peace, in 1800 an associate justice of the Court of Sessions, in 1802 a special justice of the Court of Common Pleas for Middlesex County. He was a director of the Concord Bank from its incorporation in 1832 until his death in 1839 and president of the Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Company from 1826 until shortly before his death. He became a member of the Social Circle in Concord in 1825. In 1821, at the age of sixty-three, Abiel Heywood married Lucy Prescott Fay, with whom he had two sons, Abiel and George. He died at the age of eighty on October 29, 1839.
George Heywood (1826-1897): George Heywood, second child of Abiel and Lucy Prescott Fay Heywood, was born in Concord on May 24, 1826. Educated at the Concord Academy and at Milton Academy, he graduated from Harvard in 1848. Trained in the law office of Samuel Hoar and Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, he was admitted to the bar in 1850. Through his subsequent law practice, holding of public office at both the town and state levels, and business involvements, he played an important role in Concord community life. In 1853, he became Town Clerk, holding the office for four decades. He served the town as treasurer, assessor, and tax collector, as a member of the Town Library Committee and of committees of arrangements for local celebrations, and through his efforts to introduce water service into Concord. He was engineer of the Concord Fire Department for several years. During the 1860s, he represented Concord in the Massachusetts Legislature, in the House of Representatives and the Senate both. Between 1880 and 1883, he served on the Executive Council. In 1852, he was first quartermaster of the first regiment of artillery, in 1856 captain of the Concord Artillery. He was involved with the annual Middlesex Cattle Show and was a member of the Social Circle in Concord. George Heywood was a highly successful businessman. He was elected a director of the Concord Bank in 1852 and president on October 15, 1860. He was treasurer of the Middlesex Institution for Savings from 1869 until 1893 and president of the Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Company from 1869 until 1896. He was a director of the American Powder Company and its president for four years. He was also a director of both the Eastern and the Fitchburg Railroads. George Heywood married Eliza Pierce of Concord in 1861. They had five children, two of whom died young. He died January 31, 1897.
Charles Fay Heywood (1867-1938): Charles Fay Heywood was born in Concord to George and Eliza Pierce Heywood on November 10, 1867. At the age of nineteen, after graduating from high school, he began working for the Concord National Bank. In 1896, he was made cashier at the bank, in 1930 vice president, and in 1938—the year he died—president. He was a director of the Middlesex Mutual Fire Insurance Company in Concord and president of the Middlesex Coal and Grain Company in Bedford. He was also active in the First Parish in Concord, a member of the Corinthian Lodge of Masons, the Concord Rotary Club, the Concord Country Club, the B.C. & W. Club, and, from 1910, of the Social Circle of Concord. Known as a shy and modest man, C. Fay Heywood was nevertheless a respected community member and benefactor. A life-long bachelor, he lived in the family home on Lexington Road until the last few years of his life, then next door in the house of his sister, Mrs. Edith Heywood Sellors. He died on May 13, 1938.
SCOPE AND CONTENT: Personal, financial, and professional papers, 1735-1932 (bulk 1825-1932), generated by members of three successive generations of Concord Heywoods—Abiel Heywood, his son George, and George’s son Charles Fay. The collection also includes some photographs, ephemera, genealogy, several volumes that once belonged to members of the Heywood family, and some material generated by individuals related to the Heywood family by marriage (Fay, Pierce, and Sellors).
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS:
Series I. Abiel Heywood papers, [1822?]-1838: Professional and personal papers, [1822?]-1838. Professional papers (1825-1838) consist largely of material relating to guardianship (that of Lucy Conant in particular) and to court cases, and include Abiel Heywood’s account (1834-1835) with Middlesex County for "medicine & attendance on sundry Convicts, and others charged with crimes, in the jail in Concord, and for liberating from prison several Convicts," and other financial records. They also include templates for several types of legal forms. Personal papers ([1822?]-1837) contain listing of former Fay properties "now to set to Abiel Heywood" and miscellaneous financial papers (receipts, accounts, etc.).
Series II. George Heywood papers, 1851-1897: Professional/business and personal papers, 1851-1897. Professional/business papers (1851-1896) include: an [1865] invitation from the Mayor of Boston; materials (canceled check and court notes, 1877 and 1896, respectively) reflecting Heywood’s role as administrator of the estates of Aaron and Cyrus Hunt; a receipt for a rent payment made by Heywood in 1886 on behalf of a client; a file of receipts (1851-1854) for the refurbishment of the "Yellow Block," a Lexington Road tenement in which Heywood apparently had a business interest; and a series of promissory notes (1854) by S.S. Reilly and Benjamin C. Bedell to J.S. Lounsbery & Co., New York (the nature of Heywood’s involvement with which is unclear). Personal papers (1864-1897) include: an undated invitation from Mrs. E.R. Hoar; an engraved invitation (1864) from Jonathan E. Field to a gathering at the United States Hotel, Boston; a receipted invoice (1866) for purchases from Buttrick & Pratt of Concord; three Massachusetts Horticultural Society awards (1896) for asparagus; a manuscript letter ([ca. 1883]) from David Edwards Tenney, a convict in the Massachusetts State Prison in Cambridge, to George Heywood, in part recalling Tenney’s early residence in Concord and his youthful acquaintance with Heywood; and the Rev. George A. Tewksbury’s typescript funeral sermon for George Heywood, delivered at the First Parish in Concord on 1897 Feb. 3.
Series III. Charles Fay Heywood papers, 1895-1932: Personal and professional papers, 1895-1932, largely financial. Series includes correspondence, canceled checks, receipted invoices, a bank statement, used checkbooks (1895-1914; containing balances and check stubs for Heywood’s personal account), and a holiday card.
Series IV. Heywood photographs, ephemera, etc., [ca. 1870-1875]-1931: Carte de visite photograph of George Heywood in middle age ([ca. 1870-1875]); photograph of an unidentified man; newspaper clipping (1885) about the historical tablets being readied for placement as part of the 250th anniversary celebration of Concord’s incorporation; program (1890) for Easter services at St. Paul’s Church, Boston; printed photograph of the First Parish in Concord building destroyed by fire 1900 Apr. 12; program for graduation exercises at Lawrence Academy, 1931 June 6; three starched shirtcuffs; and State of Ohio one cent "Prepaid Sales Tax Consumer’s Receipt."
Series V. Heywood genealogy, 1735-1851: Transcription of birth, marriage, and death records (from 1687 to 1733) for the Samuel and Elisabeth Hubbard Heywood family, copied 1735 Jan. 14 by Concord Town Clerk Jonas Heywood; and transcribed births, marriages, and deaths (1753-1831) of the Jonas Heywood family, addressed to Sophia Heywood (Mrs. Jonas Heywood), with later pencil note (1851) recording her death.
Series VI. Papers of other Heywoods and allied family members, [before 1822]-1928: Undated envelope addressed to Abel Heywood; "A schedule of Sundry articles reserved by Mr. John Fay to his own use … in the agreement with Mr. Bulkley," also undated; undated manuscript prayer addressed to Lucy P. Fay (before 1822, when she became Mrs. Abiel Heywood); slip of paper with herbal remedies in manuscript, dated "1856 and 1857"; newspaper obituary of Jonathan Fay Barrett, 1885; summary business account (1901 Oct. 26), F.W.B. Sellors & Co.; undated Easter postcard (not later than 1925) from Lucile Fletcher to "Aunt Eliza" [Eliza Pierce Heywood]; and receipted invoice (1928 Nov. 15) for payment by Frank Pierce to E.N. Rand.
Series VII. Volumes from the Heywood family library, 1864-1907: Two volumes inscribed by George Heywood and one that apparently belonged to C. Fay Heywood.
SOURCES OF ACQUISITION: Multiple; not fully established. Tenney letter to George Heywood (Series II, Folder 9) presented by Steven R. Shelburne (1989?). Much of the Abiel Heywood material and some George Heywood material purchased at online auction from Paper Trails, Charlton, MA, 12/2000. (A list of the material purchased at auction is included with the collection.)
PROVENANCE: Tenney letter to George Heywood formerly in the collection of Mrs. Shelburne (Stephen R.’s mother).
NOTES/COMMENTS: Abiel and George Heywood material purchased at auction accessioned 12/09/2000; accession no. AMC 048.
PROCESSED BY: D.J. Berson. Finding aid completed November 13, 2002; edited and rev. by LPW 12/2003.
CONTAINER LIST
Series I. Abiel Heywood papers, [1822?]-1838:
Folder 1:
Professional papers, 1825-1830:
Court record and testimony, "The examination of Benjamin Hutchinson charged with threatening the life of Leonard Foster on the 13th day of July 1825."
Elisha Fuller, pleas in the case French vs. Potter, 1826 Mar. 11.
Account of expenses in guardianship of Lucy Conant, 1806-1827.
"Asa Biglow’s information," 1828 Oct. 27. (Includes "Offences and forfeitures at the Company training Sept 27th 1828" and "Offences and forfeitures at the Weston muster Octr 2d 1828.")
"The examination of Ephraim Wolcott – charged with stealing a cloak from Abel Moore," 1828 Dec. 29.
"Rect. [receipt] of T. P. Meriam for fees," 1829 Sept. 16.
"Rect. [receipt] Saml. Wyman … Settled Jan. 14, 1830."
Account of expenses in guardianship of Luther Gilman Osborn, 1818-1830.
Folder 2:
Professional papers, 1831-1838:
Account of expenses in guardianship of Lucy Conant, 1806-1831.
"John Nelson vs. John M. Hodgman & Varnum Nickles Trustee. Interrogations proposed to the Trustee in the above suit. Proposed August 4th 1832."
Account for sums owed by Abiel Heywood to Solomon Weatherbee, 1832 July 27.
Receipt for sums paid by Abiel Heywood as guardian of Lucy Conant to William Whiting as administrator of Conant’s estate, 1832 Aug. 18.
Promissory note, paid to William Whiting by Abiel Heywood for balance on account as guardian of Lucy Conant, 1832 Aug. 18, marked paid 1832 Aug. 21.
"Duebill, Abigail S. Brown, settled Aug. 29, 1832" (payment noted by Merritt N. Hall).
"Rect. [receipt] of Jno. M. Cheney for debt & costs Thos. Dean vs. Aaron Kittredge," 1832 Sept. 12.
"Acct. Abiel Heywood vs. County of Middlesex, Duplicate, Settled" (for "medicine & attendance on sundry Convicts, and others charged with crimes, in the jail in Concord, and for liberating from prison several Convicts"), 1834-1835.
Document wrapper, labeled "Interrogatories proposed to Daniel Stevens. Memo: The subscriber, on the seventh day of March 1837, delivered the said Interrogations to Mr. Bruce of Shirley. Abiel Heywood."
"Witnesses. Travel & attendance in the case Comonwlth. vs. Jonas Hastings & wife," 1838 Aug. 22.
Document wrapper (no document contained within), labeled "A. Davis’s receipt to Durant," [undated].
Folder 3:
Professional papers: templates for legal forms, 1825-1838, and undated:
"Assignment & Release of a Mortgage," [undated].
"Form of a life lease," 1825.
"Assignment of a Mortgage," 183-.
"Assignment of a Mortgage," 183-.
"Discharge of a Mortgage Deed," 1835.
"Discharge of a Mortgage," 1836.
"Form of taking possession of a mortgaged estate &c.," 1836.
"Certificate of witnesses who saw a creditor take possession of Real estate mortgaged and of their oath", 1836.
"Form of a writ of Possession", 1838 (this an actual document recycled for template purposes).
Folder 4:
Personal papers, [1822?]-1837:
Listing of former Fay properties "which are now to set to Abiel Heywood" [following his marriage to Lucy Prescott Fay; 1822?].
Miscellaneous financial papers (receipts, accounts, etc.), 1825-1837.
Series II. George Heywood papers, 1851-1897:
Folder 5:
Professional papers, [1865]-1896:
Engraved invitation to call on the Mayor of Boston [Frederic W. Lincoln] on Wed. evening March 1, [1865], with envelope (addressed to "Hon. George Heywood, Senate Chamber, Boston").
Canceled check (deposit), signed by George Heywood as administrator for A. Hunt, 1877 Aug. 1.
Receipt for rent payment by R. Proctor to Lillian Atwater "by the hand of George Heywood" (in Heywood’s hand), 1886 Jan. 12.
Court notes in case regarding estates of Aaron Hunt and Cyrus Hunt, which George Heywood administered, 1896 Nov. 23.
Folder 6:
Professional papers: financial papers relating to refurbishment of Yellow Block (Lexington Road tenement building), 1851-1854:
Wrapper labeled "Yellow Block Receipts."
Seven receipted invoices for work on Yellow Block (documenting payments by Heywood and Pierce or George Heywood to Reuben Rice, J.M. Billings, Francis Buttrick, Cyrus Benjamin, Patrick McManus, and Julius M. Smith), 1851-1854.
Folder 7:
Professional papers: promissory notes to John S. Lounsbery & Co., New York, 1854:
S.S. Reilly to J.S. Lounsbery & Co, New York, 1854 Mar. 8.
S.S. Reilly to J.S. Lounsbery & Co., New York, 1854 Mar. 18.
S.S. Reilly to J.S. Lounsbery & Co., New York, 1854 Mar. 28.
S.S. Reilly to J.S. Lounsbery & Co., New York, 1854 Apr. 1.
Benj. C. Bedell to John S. Lounsbery & Co., New York, 1854 July 31 (with records of payments on reverse).
Separate slip of paper marked with records of payments on promissory notes to Lounsbery.
Folder 8:
Personal papers, 1864-1896, and undated:
Manuscript invitation, Mrs. E. R. Hoar to George Heywood, [undated].
Engraved invitation from Jonathan E. Field to 1864 Jan. 14 gathering at United States Hotel, Boston, 1864 Jan. 12.
Receipted invoice for payment by George Heywood to Buttrick & Pratt , Concord, 1866 Sept. 18.
Three Massachusetts Horticultural Society awards to George Heywood for asparagus, all stamped 1896.
Folder 9:
Personal papers: letter to George Heywood from David Edwards Tenney, [ca. 1883]:
Photocopy from 1880 federal census for Concord showing David Edwards Tenney among the convicts in the state prison in Concord..
ALS, David Edwards Tenney to George Heywood, Massachusetts State Prison, Cambridge, [ca. 1883] (the first two of a total of ten pages lacking). Includes recollections of Tenney’s early residence in Concord and his youthful acquaintance with George Heywood. The letter was evidently prompted by Heywood’s visit to Tenney in jail in Cambridge.
Typed transcript (1989 Apr. 26) by Bradley P. Dean of Tenney.
Folder 10:
Personal papers: George Heywood’s funeral sermon, 1897:
Typed sermon [by Rev. George A. Tewksbury of the Trinitarian Congregational Church in Concord—see Memoirs of Members of the Social Circle in Concord, Fourth Series, p. 164], delivered in the First Parish 1897 Feb. 3 (three copies).
Series III. Charles Fay Heywood papers, 1895-1932:
Folder 11:
Personal and professional papers (in one file), [190-]-1932, and undated:
TLS (letter of solicitation), L.C. Irvine, Secretary of Grant Cabin Association, to "Dear Sir" [C.F. Heywood], 190-, on Grant Cabin Association letterhead.
Canceled check, C. Fay Heywood as agent for Concord National Bank to Arthur Pierce, 1928 Jan. 1.
Receipted invoice, Middlesex Insurance Partnership to the heirs of Susan Pierce, signed by C. Fay Heywood as agent, 1928 Dec. 5.
TLS, Henry H. Briggs to C. Fay Heywood (invitation to dinner in honor of John H. Symonds, Vice President of Second National Bank of Boston), 1929 Apr. 13, on Second National Bank of Boston letterhead.
Canceled check, C. Fay Heywood as agent for Concord National Bank to Middlesex Insurance Partnership, 1930 May 23.
Receipted invoice, Patrick Mansfield to C. Fay Heywood (for mowing and teaming hay), 1930 Sept. 23.
Postmarked envelope (empty) addressed to C.F. Heywood, 1931 Dec. 24.
Concord National Bank envelope containing monthly bank statement and twenty canceled checks on personal account of C. Fay Heywood, 1931 Dec.-1932 Jan.
Second National Bank of Boston holiday card, Henry H. Briggs to C. Fay Heywood, [undated].
Folders 12-18:
Personal papers: used checkbooks (containing balances and check stubs), 1895-1914:
Folder 12:
1895 July 1-1897 Nov. 24.
Folder 13:
1898 June 3-1899 Dec. 1.
Folder 14:
1903 Sept. 1-1904 Dec. 2.
Folder 15:
1904 Dec. 2-1906 Apr. 2.
Folder 16:
1909 Apr. 26-1911 Jan. 6.
Folder 17:
1911 Jan. 7-1912 Dec. 2.
Folder 18:
1912 Dec. 10-1914 Nov. 4.
Series IV. Heywood photographs, ephemera, etc., [ca. 1870-1875]-1931:
Folder 19:
Photographs, [ca. 1870-1875], and undated:
Carte de visite photograph of George Heywood in middle age, [ca. 1870-1875], by T. McCosker, Boston.
Photograph, unidentified man sitting at office desk, [undated].
Folder 20:
Ephemera, etc., 1885-1931, and undated:
Newspaper clipping ("Our 250th") about historical tablets being readied for placement as part of the 250th anniversary celebration of Concord’s incorporation, dated in pencil "Aug. 7, 85."
Easter program, 1890, St. Paul’s Church, Boston.
Printed Middlesex Patriot photograph, "First Parish Meeting-House Destroyed by Fire April 12, 1900."
Program, "Graduating Exercises of Lawrence Academy," 1931 June 6.
Three starched shirtcuffs.
State of Ohio one cent "Prepaid Sales Tax Consumer’s Receipt," [undated].
Series V. Heywood genealogy, 1735-1851:
Folder 21:
Transcription from the "Concord Book of Records" of birth, marriage, and death records (from 1687 to 1733) of the Samuel and Elisabeth Hubbard Heywood family, copied 1735 Jan. 14 by Concord Town Clerk Jonas Heywood.
Transcribed births, marriages, and deaths (1753-1831) of the Jonas Heywood family, addressed to Sophia Heywood (Mrs. Jonas Heywood), with later pencil note (1851) recording her death.
Series VI. Papers of other Heywoods and allied family members, [before 1822]-1928:
Folder 22:
Envelope (empty) addressed to Abel Heywood, 38 Burling Slip, [undated].
"A schedule of Sundry articles reserved by Mr. John Fay to his own use and disposal, in the agreement with Mr. Bulkley," [undated].
Manuscript prayer, attributed to Sir W. Jones, addressed to Lucy P. Fay, [before October of 1822, when she married Abiel Heywood].
Slip of paper with two herbal remedies in manuscript, dated "Concord 1856 and 1857" (the handwriting unrecognized).
Newspaper obituary of Jonathan Fay Barrett (photocopy of incomplete, damaged original, the original discarded), 1885. (Jonathan Fay Barrett died 1885 Jan. 23.)
Summary business account, F.W.B. Sellors & Co., 1901 Oct. 26.
Easter postcard from Lucile Fletcher to "Aunt Eliza" [Eliza Pierce Heywood], [undated; not later than 1925, E.P.H.’s year of death].
Receipted invoice for payment by Frank Pierce to E.N. Rand, 1928 Nov. 15.
Series VII. Volumes from the Heywood family library, 1864-1907:
Folder 23:
The New Testament … (New York: American Bible Society, 1864), inscribed by George Heywood.
Folder 24:
The Holy Bible … (Oxford: Printed at the University Press, 1868), inscribed by George Heywood.
Folder 25:
Rockwood Hoar (Late a Representative from Massachusetts): Memorial Addresses. Fifty-ninth Congress, Second Session. House of Representatives, February 10, 1907. Senate of the United States, February 23, 1907 … (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907). No inscription; apparently C. Fay Heywood’s.
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