ROBERT BOWNE HAINES:
An Inventory of His Letters at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Haines, Robert Bowne, 1827-1895, creator. | |
| Title: | Robert B. Haines letters. | |
| Dates: | 1838-1849 (bulk 1848). | |
| Abstract: | Photostatic copies and transcripts of 12 letters from and to Haines, largely while he served as a secretary on David Owen's U.S. Geological Survey exploration of areas of Minnesota along the Minnesota, St. Croix, and Mississippi rivers (1848). A few personal letters give family information and a few details of other explorations in the Upper Midwest region. | |
| Quantity: | 1 folder. | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description section for shelf location. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Robert B. Haines was born in Pennsylvania on February 16, 1827; graduated from Haverford School (now College) in 1844; bought a nursery near Germantown (Philadelphia, Penn.); and lived there until his death on August 9, 1895. He was married to Margaret Vaux Wistar.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Robert B. Haines Letters. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 3680, 3707
Processing Information:
Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, October 1997
Catalog ID number: 990017347840104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| P2251 | Letters: 1839-1849 (bulk 1848). | ||||||||||
| Copies of twelve letters from and to Haines while he was a secretary on David Dale Owen's United States Geological Survey exploration of areas of Minnesota along the Minnesota, St. Croix, and Mississippi rivers in order to locate mineral resources, supplemented by a small amount of unrelated personal correspondence. There is a typescript and photostatic copy of each letter written by Robert B. Haines. | |||||||||||
| In addition to the survey correspondence are two early personal letters: one to Haines from W. Russell (1838) describing his house in Boston, and one from Haines (1844) while a student at Haverford School to his sister, with information on his activities there. Two other family letters, from his sisters J.R.H. [Jane Reuben Haines] (July 8, 1848) and Margaret Haines (July 14, 1848), contain information on family activities, the weather, news of friends, and other matters. | |||||||||||
| The letters (June 24, 1848 - November 8, 1848) relating Haines' experiences on the Owen survey contain detailed descriptions of his life and activities written from the Blue Earth River, Stillwater (Minn.), and St. Louis (Mo.). The June 24 letter has detailed information on the 700-mile trip up the Minnesota River and back to Fort Snelling, noting contacts with Indian tribes, food, the weather, geographical features, hunting expeditions, portaging, trees, flowers, birds and waterfowl, and a wealth of related information on a largely unsettled frontier region. | |||||||||||
| Upon its return to Fort Snelling, the company proceeded east to Stillwater, where they began the Mississippi River journey to St. Louis. Letters (August 18, October 14 and 26) describe the country around the Mississippi and St. Croix rivers, with information on Winnebago Indian villages; a sawmill in Osceola (Wis.); geographical features; the weather; flowers; farming prospects; and, further down river, descriptions of Prairie du Chien (Wis.); the presence of jasper and other minerals; Indian mounds; Mississippi River bluffs; Bloomington, Dubuque, and Davenport (Iowa); Rock Island (Ill.); and his arrival in St. Louis on October 26, at which time the survey company disbanded. | |||||||||||
| A letter written from Vincennes (Ind.) (December 10, 1848) describes his trip there from Louisville (Ky.) citing cities in the region, a flood in Paoli (Ind.), the Wabash River, and general descriptions of the region. One from Green Bay, Wis. (June 11, 1849) tells of his journey there from Detroit, across Lakes St. Clair, Huron, and Michigan, and across Mackinac Island to Green Bay, with much information on woodland areas, flowers, fruits, the weather, the Fox River and its potential for transportation, Old Fort Howard, and the rumored removal of the Winnebago Indians whose lands were being given to speculators. | |||||||||||
RELATED MATERIALS
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:
- Geological surveys -- Middle West.
- Geological surveys -- Minnesota.
- Quakers -- Pennsylvania.
- Winnebago Indians -- Minnesota.
- Places:
- Blue Earth River (Minn.) -- Discovery and exploration.
- Germantown (Pa.).
- Green Bay (Wis.).
- Illinois -- Description and travel.
- Iowa -- Description and travel.
- Michigan -- Description and travel.
- Middle West -- Description and travel.
- Minnesota -- Description and travel.
- Minnesota River (S.D. and Minn) -- Discovery and exploration.
- Mississippi River Valley -- Exploring and expeditions.
- Pennsylvania -- Description and travel.
- Saint Croix River (Wis. and Minn.) -- Discovery and exploration.
- Saint Louis (Mo.).
- Stillwater (Minn.).
- Wisconsin -- Description and travel.
- Persons:
- Haines family.
- Owen, David Dale, 1807-1860.
- Organizations:
- Haverford College.
- Geological Survey (U.S.).
- Occupations:
- Explorers -- Minnesota.
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