JOHN BENJAMIN:
An Inventory of His Family Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Benjamin, John, 1823-1902, creator. | |
| Title: | John Benjamin and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1840-1951. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, genealogical notes, legal and financial papers, and memorabilia concerning the career of Benjamin, a Welsh immigrant who settled at Hutchinson (McLeod County), Minnesota in 1857; other family members; and the Welsh family of his wife, Elizabeth Garner. | |
| Quantity: | 2 cubic feet (2 boxes, including 3 volumes; and 14 oversize items in 1 folder). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
John Benjamin, the son of Robert and Sarah (Perry) Benjamin, was born in England in 1823. He lived in Bagillt, Wales until 1849 when he and his friend Thomas Price emigrated to the United States, settling in Milton and Dedham, Massachusetts. Benjamin married Elizabeth Garner in 1851.
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
There is considerable information on the emigration from Wales of members of the Benjamin and Garner families (1849-1870s), and correspondence (largely 1840s-1850s) with friends and relatives there discussing social and economic conditions in Wales, and especially a cotton mill at Flint. Information is also found on the output of the mill, accidents in the mill and in the collieries, Welsh musical ceremonies, and the cholera epidemic.
The papers also contain data on John's settlement and life in Nashua, New Hampshire (1849), Dedham, Massachusetts (1850), Rockford, Illinois (1855), and Hutchinson; his farm and real estate business in Hutchinson and his management of other farm properties and landholdings for nonresident owners; and his work as manager of the Roseland Colony Company, Roseland, Louisiana (1890s).
Included are material on his brother Edwin's activities in furniture manufacturing and inventions of wood-working machinery in Chicago (1860s-1870s); the career of John's son, Arthur E., a Minneapolis surgeon (1892-1951); Minneapolis medical facilities; and the family of Arthur's wife, Blanche Grimshaw.
Letters from Richard G. and Mary Wait (1858-1861) mention life in Kansas Territory. Other correspondents include James E. Chesley, Thomas Gleave, Horace Greeley, Asa B. Hutchinson, Richard B. Jones, William Jones, George W. Macbeth, Thomas Price, and Robert Williams.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. John Benjamin and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession number: 6111; 7495
Processing Information:
Catalog ID number: 990017174450104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| 129.E.16.4F | 1 | Correspondence, undated, 1847-1952. 35 folders. | |||||||||
| Early correspondence includes letters written by Joseph Garner to his father and sister. From 1849-1954 the letters are from Robert Benjamin to his son John and detail the financial difficulties of the Benjamin family and the activities of the family and mutual friends. Two of the correspondents, James and Edwin Benjamin, were brothers of John Benjamin and emigrated to the United States in 1853. | |||||||||||
| Letters from 1852-1854 give information on John Benjamin's career in the United States. Many of the letters are from his friend Thomas Price and give data on economic conditions and the struggles of immigrants trying to find employment in America. Both men seem to have been employed in the furniture and woodworking industry as wood carvers. | |||||||||||
| The letters dated 1855-1862 are concerned with the emigration of John Benjamin from Dedham, Massachusetts, to Rockford, Illinois, as well as continued correspondence with family and friends both in Wales and America. Letters in 1855 reflect the move of John Benjamin's family to Rockford, Illinois and employment in the furniture business with George W. Macbeth. John's brother Edwin was also in the furniture business in Belvidere, Illinois. Letters in 1857 reflect the move of John Benjamin's family to Hutchinson, Minnesota. During this period there is also some correspondence with George Macbeth who writes of the garrisoning of troops in Washington, D.C. during the Civil War. | |||||||||||
| Letters from 1863-1900 are concerned with John Benjamin's financial interests in Hutchinson, Minnesota, and those of his correspondents. Family correspondence concerns a nephew of John Benjamin emigrating to the U.S. to live in Chicago with Edwin Benjamin, who remains in the furniture manufacturing business and is also attempting to patent inventions and improvements on wood working machinery. The letters also contain the correspondence of John Benjamin concerning the payment of claims made by John Benjamin for property he lost during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence after 1900 is primarily concerned with the career of Dr. Arthur Edwin Benjamin (1868-1953), the son of John who was a surgeon in Minneapolis City Hospital, an assistant professor of gynecology at the University of Minnesota and also worked at Minneapolis General Hospital. There are also letters concerned with the genealogy of the Benjamin family, the life of Arthur's nephew and sons in the army, and the wedding anniversary of Arthur and his wife. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| 129.E.16.5B | 2 | Biographical and genealogical data: Benjamin family. 2 folders. | |||||||||
| Fairy Glen Farm: Correspondence and deeds, 1896-1910. | |||||||||||
| Legal and financial papers, undated, 1840-1900. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous papers, 1849-1908. | |||||||||||
| Includes biographical and genealogical data. | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous papers on medical matters. | |||||||||||
| News clippings, 1871-1951. | |||||||||||
| Printed materials, undated, 1855-1951. | |||||||||||
| Volume 1, H. A. Bacon and Company journal, Norwich and Hutchinson, Minnesota, October 1874-April 1883. | |||||||||||
| Volume 2, John Benjamin ledger and cash book, June 1893-February 1896. | |||||||||||
| Volume 3, John Benjamin ledger, September 1896-May 1901. | |||||||||||
| Contents pertain to Fairy Glen Farm | |||||||||||
| 105.F.4.1 | Oversize Material: | ||||||||||
| Land patent: Township 117, Range 29 (Dassel Township, Meeker County), Green B. Davidson to John Benjamin, July 1, 1861. | |||||||||||
| Probate court document concerning the estate of Georgiana Higham, Liverpool, England, August 13, 1864. | |||||||||||
| Diploma issued to Helen Dorcas Jordan by the Minneapolis Public Schools, January 18, 1909. | |||||||||||
| Diploma issued to Helen Dorcas Jordan by the Minneapolis Public Schools, January 31, 1913. | |||||||||||
| Commission to Arthur Edwin Benjamin, Captain, Medical Section, Officers' Reserve Corps, Army of the U.S., July 30, 1918. | |||||||||||
| D.A.R. certificate issued to Mildred Salome Jordan, June 5, 1919. | |||||||||||
| Certificate issued to Arthur E. Benjamin as a life member of the Army and Navy Stores, Inc., May 2, 1921. | |||||||||||
| Passport issued to Mildred S. Jordan, April 21, 1923. | |||||||||||
| Membership certificate issued to Arthur E. Benjamin as a Master 32nd Degree Mason, Scottish Rite, June 22, 1923. | |||||||||||
| D.A.R. membership certificate issued to Maude Grimshaw Jordan, November 30, 1923. | |||||||||||
| Dr. of Science degree issued to Charles Morrison Jordan, Tuften, Massachusetts, July 12, 1927. | |||||||||||
| Medical license issued to Arthur E. Benjamin, August 17, 1927. | |||||||||||
| Medical license issued to Arthur E. Benjamin, 1931. | |||||||||||
| Certificate of share of stock in the building of the Plymouth Congregational Church, Minneapolis, bought by Dr. and Mrs. Arthur E. Benjamin, April 27, 1949. | |||||||||||
RELATED MATERIAL
CATALOG HEADINGS
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
- Topics:
- Agriculture -- Minnesota.
- Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865.
- Epidemics.
- Genealogy.
- Hospitals -- Minnesota -- Minneapolis.
- Inventions.
- Medicine -- Practice -- Minnesota.
- Slavery -- United States.
- Woodworking machinery.
- World War, 1914-1918.
- Persons:
- Aldrich, Cyrus, 1808-1871.
- Benjamin family.
- Benjamin, Arthur E.
- Benjamin, Blanche Grimshaw, 1870-1951.
- Benjamin, Edwin Grimshaw, 1905-
- Benjamin, Edwin.
- Benjamin, Elizabeth Garner, 1830-1900.
- Benjamin, F. A.
- Benjamin, Harold Garner, 1907-
- Benjamin, James.
- Benjamin, Mac.
- Benjamin, Robert. 1795-1873.
- Chesley, James E.
- Cooke, H. Hamilton.
- Garner family.
- Garner, Joseph, 1827-1898.
- Garner, Richard, 1839-
- Gleave, Thomas.
- Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872.
- Grimshaw family.
- Hutchinson family.
- Hutchinson, Asa B. (Asa Burnham), 1823-1884.
- Hutchinson, J. J. (Judson Joseph), 1817-1859.
- Jones, Richard B.
- Jordan family.
- Lane, Robert P., 1818-1891.
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
- Macbeth, George W.
- Pendergast, William Wirt, 1833-1903.
- Perry family.
- Price, Thomas.
- Sweet, Jannette Sykes DeCamp, 1833 or 1834-1920.
- Wait, Mary, -1861.
- Wait, Richard G., -1861.
- Zeleny, John.
- Organizations:
- Hutchinson Musical Union.
- National Grange.
- Titus Bros. Wholesale Groceries (Minneapolis, Minn.).
- University of Minnesota. Medical School.
- Places:
- Bagillt (Wales).
- Dedham (Mass.)
- Holywell (Wales)
- Hutchinson (Minn.)
- Illinois -- Economic conditions.
- Kansas -- Description and travel.
- Lawrence (Kan.)
- Minnesota -- Economic conditions.
- Rockford (Ill.)
- United States -- Description and travel.
- United States -- Economic conditions.
- United States -- Emigration and immigration.
- United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
- Wales -- Economic conditions.
- Wales -- Social life and customs.
- Document Types:
- Deeds.
- Prescriptions.
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