WHIPPLE AND SCANDRETT FAMILIES:

Henry Benjamin Whipple was born in Adams, New York, on February 15, 1822, the son of John Hall and Elizabeth (Wager) Whipple. After education at local schools and at the Oberlin Collegiate Institute, he engaged in the mercantile business with his father from 1840 to 1848. In 1848 he began studying for the ministry, was ordained deacon in 1849 and priest in 1850. He was rector of Zion Church, Rome, New York, from 1850 to 1857, and of the parish of the Holy Communion on Chicago 's South Side from 1857 to 1859.

On October 13, 1859, Whipple was consecrated Bishop of Minnesota and moved with his family to Faribault, where he lived the rest of his life. As Bishop of Minnesota he was known for his missionary work among the Ojibwe and Dakota Indians, his advocacy of Indian administration reform, and his espousal of interdenominational harmony among Christians, and was instrumental in founding and developing St. Mary 's Hall, the Seabury Divinity School, and the Shattuck School, all in Faribault. He made frequent trips to Europe, for his health and to attend ecclesiastical conferences, and was acquainted with most of the Episcopal church leaders of his day.

Whipple married Cornelia Wright in 1842; they had six children. Cornelia Whipple died in 1890, and in 1896 the bishop married Evangeline Marrs Simpson, widow of industrialist Michael Hodge Simpson. Bishop Whipple died on September 16, 1901. Several years later, Evangeline Whipple moved to Italy to live with Rose Cleveland, a sister of President Grover Cleveland, and was well known for her war refugee work. She died in 1930.

Whipple's daughter Elizabeth (Lizzy) married Charles Augustus Farnum in 1864. His daughter Cornelia (Nellie) married William Wilkins Davis on his deathbed in 1866; in 1875 she married Francis Marion Rose, a Faribault physician. Frances Whipple married Frank G. Craw in 1873 and Freedom Ware Jackson in 1891.

Charles Henry Whipple, the bishop's older son, was a career army officer, serving as paymaster in Montana, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines. In 1907 he was promoted to brigadier general and made paymaster general of the army. He married Evelyn McLean in 1871 and they both died in 1932.

The bishop's son John Hall (Jack) Whipple died unmarried in 1878.

George Brayton Whipple was a brother of Bishop Whipple. He was for many years an Episcopal priest in Faribault, and also served as a missionary to the Sandwich Islands.

Bishop Whipple's daughter Jane (Jennie) married Henry Alexander Scandrett in 1872; shortly thereafter Scandrett moved to Faribault, entered the real estate and insurance business, and was elected judge of probate in 1877 and 1879. He died in September 1883. Both of the Scandretts' sons became well-known railroad executives.

Henry A. Scandrett was born in Faribault on April 8, 1876, attended Shattuck Military Academy, and received his LL.B. from the University of Minnesota in 1900. From 1901 to 1911 he was assistant attorney for the Kansas and Missouri Railroad. He then joined the Union Pacific Railway system, first as an interstate commerce attorney (1911 -18), then as valuation and commerce counsel (1919-25). From 1925 to 1928 he was a Union Pacific Vice President, and in 1928 was elected president of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, holding office in 1928-38 and 1945-47. He died in 1957.

Benjamin Wright Scandrett was born in Faribault on March 3, 1883, and educated at Shattuck Military Academy, the University of Minnesota, and the Washburn College of Law in Topeka, Kansas, receiving his LL.B. in 1906. From 1906 to 1908 he served as assistant court reporter for the State of Kansas. Between 1908 and 1917 he was assistant attorney for the Union Pacific Railroad in Topeka and Omaha. In 1917 he moved to Saint Paul as general attorney for the Northern Pacific Railway Company, was promoted to assistant general solicitor in 1919 and to general solicitor in 1925. He was elected vice president of the Northern Pacific in 1928 and held that post until his retirement in 1948. He died in 1954.

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Correspondence among Henry B. and Cornelia Whipple, their children, and other relatives discusses family affairs and the children's education, travel, marriages, and families, and Bishop Whipple's travels in Europe on ecclesiastical business. He occasionally discusses other church matters, his work with Indian missions and advocacy of Indian administration reform, the Peabody Fund for Education in the South, and public affairs in general. Two reminiscences (1890s) record incidents and anecdotes of his life and ministry. His correspondents included a number of prominent public, business, and cultural figures. There are a number of intimate letters between Rose Cleveland and Whipple's second wife, Evangeline.

Scandrett family papers (1871-1928) consist largely of correspondence among Henry A. Scandrett, his wife Jennie (Whipple), their sons Henry A. and Ben, and their families, discussing family activities. From 1928 to 1948 the collection comprises Benjamin Scandrett's personal papers, primarily outgoing letters concerning his family and financial affairs, social activities, business contacts, civic involvements, and related matters. There is some mention of Northern Pacific Railway matters, including personnel, legal cases, the economic effects of depression and World War II, and rail services and facilities.

The correspondence is supplemented by a file of clippings, largely on Bishop Whipple and his ministry but also including birth, marriage, and death notices and articles about other family members.

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Whipple and Scandrett Families Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession number: 10,990; 17,257

Processing Information:

Catalog ID number: 990017337120104294

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A folder of undated materials includes a little data on the Ward and Whipple families; coats of arms; calling cards from the bishop's European and American acquaintances; notes taken on trips to Europe; a few poems that may have been written by family members; and a ten page story entitled "Chronicle of the voyage of Benjamin the Whiphand, and his companions…," author not identified.

Whipple family letters from 1829-1859 relate to personal and family affairs and include correspondence between H.B. Whipple and his father; letters to H.B. Whipple from his uncle, the Reverend George Whipple, his wife Cornelia, and members of the Wright family; a few letters written by H.B. Whipple while studying for the ministry; and other Whipple and Wright family correspondence. Also of interest are letters to Whipple from the Reverend William Heathcote Delancey, Bishop of Western New York (1848, 1850, 1859), and from Whipple's cousin Henry Wager Halleck at West Point (1837).

The papers spanning Whipple's years as Bishop of Minnesota (1859- 1901) consist primarily of correspondence among Bishop and Cornelia Whipple, their children and other relatives, discussing family affairs and the movements and activities of various members of the family; comparatively little relates directly to his ministry or to his missionary activities.

During the 1860s and 1870s the Whipples and their four oldest children, Lizzy, Nellie, Jennie, and Charlie, correspond frequently as the children attend school in the East, travel, marry, and begin raising their own families. In letters to Jennie in the early 1860s Whipple writes about his work among the Indians and the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. Letters sent by the bishop from Europe describe his ecclesiastical activities and his travels. There are a few letters from the Whipples' son Jack in Florida (1876-1877), bills and receipts for the bishop's clothing purchases in London (1864-1865) and for church expenses (1865-1866), some of Whipple's notes on Indian matters (1874-1875) and a paper by him entitled "The True Policy Toward the Indian Tribes” (1877). Letters to Whipple from several other American bishops, including William Rollinson Whittingham of Maryland, Frederic Dan Huntington of Central New York, Charles P. McIlvaine of Ohio, Horatio Potter of New York and John Williams of Connecticut give advice regarding his call to the Sandwich Islands episcopate in 1871.

Correspondence with the Whipples' married children and other family members continues through the 1880s and 1890s. The bishop and his wife write from their winter home in Maitland, Florida, as well as from Europe. Frequent letters to the bishop (1876-1894) from former Massachusetts congressman Robert C. Winthrop, President of the Board of Trustees of the Peabody Fund for Education in the South, discuss church, Peabody Fund and public affairs. Letters from Phillips Brooks of Massachusetts (1867 through the 1890s), from Reverend Basil Wilberforce of England, probably the son of Bishop Samuel Wilberforce (early 1870s), from Bishop Samuel Cook Edsall of North Dakota (May 1901), from Reverend Francis Palmer of Stillwater (1890s), and occasionally from other clergymen, also mention church and mission affairs. Several notes from Mr. and Mrs. J. Pierpont Morgan (1879-1901) accompany contributions to Whipple's mission work and discuss philanthropies and personal matters. There is a letter to Whipple from Henry Hastings Sibley (November 26, 1886) regarding an appeal by the Younger brothers for a reduction in their term of imprisonment, several brief notes from Hallam Tennyson, son of Alfred Lord Tennyson during the 1890s, and an occasional letter from the English authoress Mrs. H. Sidney Lear. Two transcripts of personal reminiscences dictated by Bishop Whipple to George C. Tanner in 1892-1893 and November 1893 record incidents and anecdotes of his life and ministry. Also of interest are a few of Bishop Whipple's major sermons and addresses, a memorial sermon for Cornelia Whipple by Reverend John Steinfort Kedney (July 27, 1890), a letter from Whipple (December 18, 1890) describing his audience with Queen Victoria of England, and several letters written by the bishop to Evangeline Simpson in the year before their marriage. During their trips to Europe and again after Bishop Whipple's death, Evangeline Whipple received several personal notes from church leaders and members of the English gentry.

The collection includes a large number of Rose Cleveland's letters to Evangeline Whipple from 1890 to 1909. Written from her New York country home, The Weeds, from Europe (1891- 1900) and from several other places, they discuss Cleveland's daily life, her friends, and her writing. Several letters were written by Cleveland's companions Amelia Candles (1895) and "Evelyn" (otherwise unidentified); there are letters to Cleveland from Edna Dean Proctor (July 10, 1893), Matilda Coxe Stevenson (circa 1897) and others.

The period from 1900 to 1920 is sparsely represented; among the papers for this period are Whipple family letters, particularly to Jennie Scandrett from her brother Charles and his wife (1902-1932); letters to Evangeline Whipple from the Ojibwe priest Enmegahbowh (1902), missionaries at the White Earth Mission (1900-1910), and Samuel Cook Edsall (1906-1907); a copy of a letter from Roman Catholic Archbishop John Ireland of Saint Paul for Jennie Scandrett's use in Rome (1909); letters to Jennie from Evangeline; and a 41-page report entitled "Missions to the Indians in the U.S.” (circa 1916-1920), including several pages on Minnesota.

The papers also include copies of Evangeline Whipple's wills of September 1906, October 1908, April and November 1929 (disposing of her Italian property) and May 1930, plus a listing of items in her Italian home (circa 1929).

The Scandrett family correspondence and miscellaneous papers begin in 1871 with letters from H.A. Scandrett to his fiancée Jennie Whipple. Until a few months before his death, he and Jennie exchanged frequent letters, discussing family matters, Scandrett's health, and his visits to Indian agencies in 1874 and 1875. Letters from the Scandrett children, Henry A. (Buzz), Jeanie and Ben, begin in the 1880s. Also included is an 1861 muster roll containing Henry Scandrett's name.

From 1910 to 1928 the Scandrett papers consist almost exclusively of letters to Jennie Scandrett from her son Ben, his wife Bertha, and their daughters Cornelia and Betty. The letters give family news and follow the activities, travels and vacations of family members; Scandrett's letters often make passing mention of his legal work for the Union Pacific and Northern Pacific railroads.

From 1928 to 1948 the collection is made up of Benjamin Scandrett’s personal papers. They include letters and telegrams from friends and business associates as well as from members of his family, his brother Buzz, and other relatives, but are dominated by carbon copies of his outgoing correspondence, covering all years except 1932 and 1933. The letters relate to Scandrett's personal contacts with friends and associates, invitations to attend meetings and dinners, his membership in businessmen's and civic clubs, his presidency of the Minnesota Club in 1934, granting of free Northern Pacific passes (particularly to clergymen), receipt of free passes on other railroad lines for his family's use, his recommendations of applicants for jobs with the railroad, national politics, his own financial affairs, annual statements of his personal income, donations to charities and civic functions, his acknowledgments to businessmen for complimentary Christmas gifts, and his involvement in the affairs of St. Mary's Hall, Shattuck School, Seabury Divinity School, and St. John's Church in Saint Paul.

Although the letters concentrate on Scandrett’s personal affairs, there is occasional mention of Northern Pacific Railway matters, including personnel, legal cases, finances, rail services and facilities, economic effects on the railroad of depression and war, and brief biographical information (1939-1940) on the board of directors. Letters from August to September 1939 center around the illness and death of Northern Pacific president Charles Donnelly and later correspondence touches on Donnelly's financial affairs. Letters from 1940 to 1945 frequently relate to the railroad's credit rating and to its purchases of Northern Pacific Refunding and Improvement Mortgage bonds.

Some of Scandrett's more frequent correspondents, besides his brother and his immediate family, include his sons-in-law, Saint Paul insurance executive Jack E. Hanstein and Saint Paul lawyer Cole Oehler; author and historian Alfred Hoyt Bill, his brother-in-law; his cousin Richard Scandrett, a New York lawyer; and Edward C. Brown of the First National Bank of Saint Paul, who handled his personal loans and mortgages (1945-1948). Folders dated September-December 1928 contain letters of congratulation from personal friends, Twin City businessmen, and railroad executives upon Scandrett’s election as vice president of the Northern Pacific, with copies of his acknowledgments. There are scattered letters from Conrad H. Gesner, Bishop Coadjutor of South Dakota, from Edward M. Cross, Bishop of Spokane, and from John Cowles, President of the Minneapolis Star Journal and Tribune (1944-1947), and one from Harold Stassen (May 24, 1947) acknowledging Scandrett 's support in his campaign for President.

Other items of interest include a serial from The Cathedral chimes on the history of the Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior in Faribault by Reverend Francis L. Palmer (September 1939-May 1940), a sermon on Bishop Whipple by Reverend Phillips Endecott Osgood (February 15, 1931), a pamphlet entitled "Makers of Faribault" by Anna Cole Theopold (1926), and a memorial paper on Senator Dwight Whitney Morrow by Richard B. Scandrett (October 1932).

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Newspaper and magazine clippings relate primarily to Bishop Whipple and his ministry, and include articles on conventions of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Indian mission work, Whipple's participation in the Lambeth Conference in London in 1888, the 25th and 40th anniversaries of his election to the episcopate, many of his sermons, anecdotes of his life, histories of Faribault, reviews of his book Lights and shadows of a long episcopate (1900), accounts of his death and funeral, and published letters from Whipple reminiscing on his church work or urging interdenominational harmony. Reminiscences of the bishop's life, articles on Faribault and on Minnesota church history, and accounts of the dedication of memorials to the bishop continue through the 1930s. Other clippings relate to Bishop Jackson Kemper, to Charles Henry Whipple (1884, 1898, 1907), to Evangeline Whipple's work with Italian refugees (1920, 1924), and to the Scandretts (1940s and 1950s).

A large number of birth, marriage and death notices and tributes to family members are included with the clippings; considerable genealogical data on the Whipple, Scandrett and related families can be gleaned from them, as well as from the family correspondence.

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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:

Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865.

Lesbians -- United States -- Correspondence.

Missionaries -- Minnesota.

Religion.

Persons:

Bill, Alfred Hoyt, 1879- , author.

Brooks, Phillips, 1835-1893, author.

Brown, Edward Clevelend, 1897- , author.

Cleveland, Rose Elizabeth, 1846-1918, author.

Cowles, John, 1898-1983, author.

Cross, Edward Makin, 1880-1965, author.

De Lancey, William Heathcote, 1797-1865, author.

Donnelly, Charles, 1869-1939, author.

Edsall, Samuel Cook, 1860-1917, author.

Enmegahbowh, J. J. (John Johnson), 1812?-1902, author.

Farnum, Elizabeth Whipple, 1843-approximately 1918, author.

Gesner, Conrad Herbert, 1901- , author.

Halleck, H. W. (Henry Wager), 1815-1872, author.

Hanstein, Cornelia Scandrett, 1912- , author.

Hanstein, Jack E., author.

Huntington, F. D. (Frederic Dan), 1819-1904, author.

Ireland, John, 1838-1918, author.

Kedney, John Steinfort, 1819-1911, author.

Lear, H. L. Sidney, author.

McIlvaine, Charles Pettit, 1799-1873, author.

Morgan, Frances Tracy, author.

Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, author.

Morrow, Dwight W. (Dwight Whitney), 1873-1931.

Oehler, Bertha Reid, 1914- , author.

Oehler, Cole, 1915- , author.

Osgood, Phillips Endecott, 1882-1956, author.

Palmer, Francis Leseure, 1863-1949, author.

Potter, Horatio, 1802-1887, author.

Rose, Cornelia Whipple, 1845-1884, author.

Scandrett family.

Scandrett, Benjamin Wright, 1883-1954, author.

Scandrett, Bertha Reid, 1883- , author,

Scandrett, H. A. (Henry Alexander), 1876-1957, author.

Scandrett, Henry Alexander, 1843-1883, author.

Scandrett, Jane Whipple, 1847-1932, author.

Scandrett, Richard Brown, 1891- , author.

Sibley, Henry Hastings, 1811-1891, author.

Stassen, Harold E. (Harold Edward), 1907-2001, author.

Stevenson, Matilda Coxe, 1850-1915, author.

Tennyson, Hallam Tennyson, Baron, 1852-1928, author.

Theopold, Anna Cole, author.

Victoria, Queen of Great Britain, 1819-1901.

Whipple family.

Whipple, Charles Henry, 1849-1932, author.

Whipple, Cornelia Wright, 1816-1890, author.

Whipple, Evangeline Simpson, 1857-1930, author.

Whipple, Evelyn McLean, 1851-1932, author.

Whipple, George Brayton, 1830-1888, author.

Whipple, George, 1805-1876, author.

Whipple, John Hall, 1795-1859, author.

Whittington, William Rollinson, 1805-1879, author.

Wilberforce, Basil, 1841- , author.

Williams, J. (John), 1817-1899, author.

Winthrop, Robert C. (Robert Charles), 1809-1894, author.

Wright family.

Organizations:

Episcopal Church -- Minnesota.

Episcopal Church.

Minnesota Club (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Northern Pacific Railway Company.

Saint Mary's Hall (Faribault, Minn.)

Seabury Divinity School.

Shattuck School (Faribault, Minn)

St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church (Saint Paul, Minn.)

Places:

Faribault (Minn.)

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