GEORGE STREET BISCOE AND FAMILY:
An Inventory of Their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For
details, please see restrictions.
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Biscoe, George Street, 1836-1922, creator. | |
| Title: | George S. Biscoe and family papers. | |
| Dates: | 1840-2007 (bulk 1840-1957). | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Correspondence, obituaries, household budgets, genealogical information, sermons, and miscellaneous papers of a Cottage Grove, Minnesota Congregational minister and his family. | |
| Quantity: | 0.90 cubic feet (3 boxes). | |
| Location: | P1424: See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
George Street Biscoe was born September 22, 1835 in Cambridgeport, Massachusetts, the son of Thomas Curtiss and Ellen (Putnam) Biscoe. He studied for the ministry at Amherst College and at Andover Theological Seminary and was ordained in 1861 in Grafton, Massachusetts, where his father was a minister in the Congregational church.
George Biscoe served as pastor in Cottage Grove, Minnesota from 1861 to 1867 before going to Tipton, Iowa in 1868. In 1863, he was appointed as chaplain to the Republican caucus in the Minnesota House of Representatives. In the 1870s he served churches at Shullsburg, Wisconsin and at Waverly, Nebraska. In 1900 he returned to live in St. Paul Park, Minnesota.
Biscoe married Martha Eliza Dodge (1837-1870) in 1861. They had three children: Horace Adams (1862-1930), Ellen Dodge (1865-1912), and Lucy Wood (1866- ).
In 1873 he married Emma Roehsa Ensign (1849-1946). Their children were: Eliza Mae (1875-1968), Clara Ensign (1877-1877), Thomas Curtiss (1878-1969), Grace Fairchild (1883-1979), Dolly Bertha (1885-1885), and Bertha (1888-1960).
SCOPE AND CONTENTS
The bulk (1860-1866) of the letters were written by George S. Biscoe while living in Cottage Grove, many to his sister, Ellen, in Grafton, Massachusetts. Topics include family life, local news, the weather, and his endeavors to build an active congregation. The 1867-1939 correspondence is fragmentary, focusing primarily on family matters, including moves to Arborville, Nebraska and to St. Paul Park. Also included is the sermon given at Biscoe's funeral (February 1922).
The six sermons (1862-1905) were written by Biscoe and delivered at churches in Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Each sermon develops a theme taken from a different biblical text.
The household budgets (1949-1957) were kept by Mary, Grace, and Bertha Biscoe while living in St. Paul Park.
The collection includes a genealogy of the Nathaniel Biscoe family, written by George Biscoe (1905); a bound set of correspondence of Walter Stanley Biscoe, a brother of George, containing congratulations on retirement from library service (1929); and a Biscoe family history (circa 2007) compiled by Margaret Crippen Eberspracher, a great-granddaughter of George Biscoe.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Access Restrictions:
Original sermons are closed to general use. Researchers are directed to use the photocopies.
Access Restrictions:
The Nathaniel Biscoe family genealogy may only be used at the Special Use table. Consult the reference staff for more information.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Biscoe, George Street. George S. Biscoe and family papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 3865; 3905; 13,207; 14,363; 16,870
Processing Information:
Processed by: Bonnie Palmquist, June 1983; additions by David B. Peterson, June 2014
Catalog ID number: 990017138230104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1424 | 1 | Biographical and miscellaneous papers. | |||||||||
| Includes genealogical notes compiled by the cataloger, information supplied by the donor, newspaper clippings, and a childhood carte de visite photograph of Grace F. Biscoe. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, undated. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1840, 1844. | |||||||||||
| Mary Putnam (mother of Ellen Biscoe) inquires about George, Ellen, and Thomas, and Ellen's sister, Mary P. King, writes about a Fourth of July picnic with Daniel Webster as speaker (July 18, 1840). On May 2, 1844, Ellen, who has been ill, writes to Thomas from her mother's home. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1860. | |||||||||||
| In June, 1860, Thomas and Ellen Biscoe with a Mrs. Stockwell travel to St. Paul for health reasons, describing the journey through Buffalo and Chicago and their arrival in Winona. Ellen tells of the drowning deaths of missionaries Henry M. and Nancy Nichols, their son Henry, Arba Cleaveland, and his two daughters in Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis (July 6). Descriptions of St. Paul, their lodgings, prices at the Winslow House and International House, "western" meals, cost of horse and carriage, and the house the party rented can be found in letters (some with illustrated letterheads) of July-August. | |||||||||||
| Other activities include a fishing expedition to Bass Lake (Owasso), driving through Lake Como to get there (July 21); a trip to Fountain Cave, at the foot of Randolph Avenue (August 2); and a description of a German beer garden (by brewery with lattice houses seating 8-12 people), including music by the St. Paul Brass Band and the games played by young boys (August 14). | |||||||||||
| In September, Thomas goes with Mr. Stockwell to St. Cloud and describes accommodations, meeting with Mr. McClure, a banker, and a night spent at Silver Creek Hotel (September 8). | |||||||||||
| By September 24, Thomas and Ellen are returning East and describe their journey down river with Judge Goodrich and other dignitaries. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1861-1863. | |||||||||||
| The letters are now written by George S. Biscoe, mainly to his sister, Ellen. He has been ordained and married and is now on his way to Minnesota. Two letters (November 4 and December 6, 1861) relate his first days in Cottage Grove and his church. He describes a snowstorm that left two feet of snow in the woods and people's hardships in getting to church (March 2, 1862). Letters from 1862 also describe the prairie in spring (May 29) and discuss the cost of raising wheat (July 3), flowers and fields (June 21), the U.S.-Dakota War (September 23), the birth of Horace A. (October 1), and the massacres at New Ulm, Minnesota (December 9). | |||||||||||
| Newly appointed as chaplain of the Minnesota House of Representatives (January 7, 1863), George relates his impression of a reception at Governor Ramsey's home (2 letters, January 16). A meeting with Mr. Bull, a chaplain at Fort Snelling, and description of his living quarters, the meal served them, and George's impressions of the Indian encampment (behind a 12 foot fence) with the expectation of an Indian War in spring are discussed on March 2, 1863. | |||||||||||
| In the spring, George begins to build a house and plant a garden. Also at this time, the future site of Carleton College (with several towns vying for the college) is under consideration. Several letters deal with these subjects. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1864. | |||||||||||
| Many of the letters of this period relate to everyday events, information about neighbors, and the weather. | |||||||||||
| A hunting expedition near Anoka is related (September 23) and Eliza writes her sister telling of an anniversary menu (October 28). | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1865. | |||||||||||
| George's letters include discussion of a severe winter and the birth of Ellen(January 16), a well-attended prayer meeting (January 22), washing procedures (February 26), and a surprise birthday party for Eliza given by the Sunday School (April 27), his request for an additional $200 in salary (September 18), and a trip he and Eliza took into St. Paul when it was 27 degrees below zero and describe a circle around the moon with "mock moons" on either side that they saw (December 26). | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1866-1868. | |||||||||||
| The winter of 1866 continues to be a bitter one (January 20) on January 30, George, Eliza, and Horace take a 22 mile trip to Hastings and Prescott, Wisconsin, crossing the Mississippi River four times and having the sleigh upset. Other letters during that year recount the selection of Northfield as the site for Carleton College (April 16 and November 13), Eliza's birthday and the planting of the garden (April 26), a visit by George's sister Ellen and brother Dwight (late July) and their return East after only a week due to a heat wave, and the birth of Lucy Wood and George's ability to cope with household matters (September 18). | |||||||||||
| Eliza and Nellie (Ellen) are back in Eliza's home in Grafton on June 28, 1868. Eliza has not been well. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1870-1877. | |||||||||||
| Letters to Emma Roehsa Ensign (future wife of Thomas Biscoe) begin in circa 1873. George reports a dust storm in Arborville, Nebraska on February 6, 1875. By January 26, 1876, George writes from Shullsburg, Wisconsin to his children. | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1881-1894. | |||||||||||
| George writes Emma about a trip to Marietta, Ohio to see his brother, Professor Thomas (Dwight) Biscoe (August 24, 1883). On September 2, 1883 Mary Putnam King writes to her sister, Ellen Putnam Biscoe (mother of George) about Ellen's 50th wedding anniversary. On September 29, 1894, George writes to Emma from Norris, Marathon County, Wisconsin, where he has gone to secure a house for his family (who are in Arborville, Nebraska). | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1900-1919. | |||||||||||
| April 4, 1900, George writes to Bertha describing her cousin Nina's funeral. By June, 1900, George and Mae (Eliza Mae) are readying a house in St. Paul Park for the rest of the family in Arborville to come to live. He is no longer a pastor. In 1912 his daughter Nell (Ellen) dies. A 23-page letter about a hunting trip in northern Minnesota is marked "Winter, 1913." Emma's father, Dr. Samuel Ensign, dies on August 24, 1917. Thomas C. Biscoe recounts his escape from the forest fire near Moose Lake, Minnesota (October 16, 1918). | |||||||||||
| Correspondence, 1920-1939. 1920-1939. | |||||||||||
| George S. Biscoe dies in 1922; the sermon preached at his funeral is included. A letter of March 12, 1932 to Emma Biscoe from Lucy Dodge Riggs, the sister of George's first wife, expresses love and admiration. | |||||||||||
| Household records, 1949-1957. | |||||||||||
| Detailed records kept by Mae, Grace, and Bertha Biscoe while living in the St. Paul Park house. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1424 | 2 | Sermons, 1862-1905. | |||||||||
| Photocopies of six sermons, each developing a theme taken from a different biblical text. Themes include the role of Christ as propitiation for human sin, the patience of Christ, the role of man and God in the development of the sinner in contrast to the righteous person, the nature of the blessing at the table and the obligation to perform it, the meaning of bearing one's cross and following Christ, and the nature of God as depicted in the story of creation. | |||||||||||
| Biscoe history compiled by Margaret Crippen Eberspracher, circa 2007. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Appreciations from some of the friends of Walter Stanley Biscoe on retirement from active library service, 1929. 1 volume. | |||||||||||
| Includes a newspaper obituary. Walter Biscoe, of Albany, New York, was senior librarian at the New York State Library. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P1424 | 3 | Sermons, 1862-1905. | |||||||||
| Access Restricted: Original sermons are closed to general use. Researchers are directed to use the photocopies. | |||||||||||
| Nathaniel Biscoe family genealogy, 1905. | |||||||||||
| Access Restricted: The Nathaniel Biscoe family genealogy may only be used at the Special Use table. Consult the reference staff for more information. | |||||||||||
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:
- Bible -- Sermons.
- Bible -- Theology.
- Congregational churches -- Clergy.
- Congregational churches -- Sermons.
- Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865.
- Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota -- Washington County.
- Home economics -- Accounting.
- Hunting -- Minnesota.
- Salvation -- Biblical teaching.
- Sin -- Biblical teaching.
- Persons:
- Biscoe, Thomas Curtis, 1810-1894, author.
- Briscoe family.
- Organizations:
- Carleton College (Northfield, Minn.)
- Places:
- Cottage Grove (Minn.)
- Minnesota -- Climate.
- Saint Paul Park (Minn.)
- Document Types:
- Sermons.
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