WOODBURY FAMILY:
An Inventory of their Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
OVERVIEW
| Title: | Woodbury family papers, | |
| Dates: | 1854-1931. | |
| Abstract: | Photocopies and typed typescriptions of photographs, diary entries (1854-1904), census records (1860, 1870), school board notes (1865, 1869-1871), correspondence (1890-1927), a poem, obituaries (Feb. 1901, July 1908, Apr. 1925), estate settlement papers (Jan. 16, 1926), biographical sketches, and a telegram (Feb. 12, 1901) documenting the experiences of a family of early settlers in western Minnesota. The collection, while largely concerned with family matters, also provides a general description of life in the Midwest and West during the second half of the 19th century and early 20th century. | |
| Quantity: | 0.6 cubic feet (2 boxes). | |
| Location: | P2028: See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Availability:
The collection is open for research use.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here] Woodbury Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 14,467; 14,600; 14,945; 15,443; 15,507
Processing Information:
Processed by: Frank Hennessy, July 1992; Dennis Meissner, June 2003
Catalog ID number: 990017295020104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Box | |||||||||||
| P2028 | 1 | Diary of Charles W., Martha E., and Martha A. Woodbury, August 1954-June 1885. 5 folders. | |||||||||
| Photocopies and typescript copies of a diary (Aug. 1854-Nov. 1892) kept by Charles Wesley Woodbury, his wife Martha, and their daughter Martha Alice, which provides a daily account of the family's homesteading and business experiences in Eden Prairie (Hennepin County) and Franklin (Renville County), Minnesota (Aug. 1854-Nov. 1892). Topics include the weather; births, illnesses, and deaths; farm activities, including types of crops, planting dates, and harvests; grasshoppers (1857); the founding of the Rush River Grange (1873); teachers and school events; buildings and improvements; livestock; local fauna; family and social life; problems with the Indians, including the Dakota Conflict (Aug. 1862); the family's move to Franklin where they established a creamery (1885); and the construction (1887) and operation of a mill in Franklin. Interfiled with the diary entries are photocopied lists of individuals mentioned in the diary, census documents (1860, 1870), maps, and school board notes (1865, 1869-1871). | |||||||||||
| Charles E. Woodbury diary and poem, 1875-1925. | |||||||||||
| Entries from a diary kept by the Woodburys' son Charles Edmund Woodbury (Aug. 1875-Nov. 1896), which contain his descriptions of everyday life during those years, and a poem he wrote (1875) describing the 1862 Dakota Conflict in Minnesota. | |||||||||||
| David Woodbury letters, 1884-1925. | |||||||||||
| Letters sent primarily from Kalispell (Mont.) by a brother, David Willard Woodbury, portray the settlement of the West as David experienced it while working on an unspecified railroad. A brief biographical sketch is included with each group of letters. David Woodbury's obituary (1925) is also included, together with a copy of his estate settlement (1926). | |||||||||||
| Charles Wesley Woodbury, Benjamin Woodbury, and Gertrude Woodbury Erickson letters, 1890-1927. | |||||||||||
| A group of letters to Charles Edmund from his father, Charles Wesley Woodbury, his mother, Martha E. Woodbury, a sister, Gertrude Woodbury Erickson, and a brother, Benjamin Woodbury. Some genealogical information is provided with the letters. | |||||||||||
| Box | |||||||||||
| P2028 | 2 | Martha Alice Bundy letters, 1890-1919. 2 folders. | |||||||||
| Letters sent from Franklin, Minnesota by Martha Alice to her brother Charles Edmund Woodbury, in College View (Neb.), South Dakota, and Sebastopol (Calif.). In addition to family matters these letters generally describe the lives of Franklin people at that time. | |||||||||||
| "Woodbury Family: Old Letters, 1855-1931," 1855-1886, 1896, 1908-1931. | |||||||||||
| A spiral-bound volume containing typescript copies of Woodbury family letters, compiled by Woodbury descendant Joy L. Shreyer in 1997. The compilation contains four sets of letters, the first comprising Charles and Martha Woodbury's correspondence (1855-1869) with Charles' sister and brother-in-law Clarissa (1826-1868) and Timothy Jacobs in Manchester, New Hampshire. The letters concern the development of the Woodburys' Eden Prairie farm, weather and natural events, and family news--especially illnesses and deaths. The second group (1881-1886) are from Charles and Martha Woodbury to Clarissa's surviving child, Myra Jacobs Brown (1862-1947), all of which deal with miscellaneous family news. The third set (1896-1927) are from sisters Martha Alice Woodbury Bundy (1847-1926) and Gertrude Woodbury Erickson (1863-1943) to Myra Brown and focus on family news, especially infirmities and deaths. The final set (1930-1931) are from Ella Gertrude Woodbury Bradford, Salem (N.H.) to Myra Brown, Chicago. Her letters contain a good deal of Woodbury genealogical information. The correspondence is supplemented with an annotated list of Woodbury family members whose letters are in the volume, abbreviated genealogical charts of the three children of David (b. 1796) and Clarissa Woodbury, a township map of the Eden Prairie area, and an obituary of Charles W. Woodbury (1908). The volume is accompanied by photocopies of four (1855-1862) of the letters that it transcribes. | |||||||||||
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:
- Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865.
- Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota.
- Schools -- Minnesota -- Sibley County.
- Railroads -- United States.
- Persons:
- Brown, Myra Jacobs, 1862-1948.
- Bundy, Martha Alice, 1847-1926.
- Jacobs, Clarissa Woodbury, 1826-1868.
- Woodbury, Charles Edmund, 1854-1927.
- Woodbury, Charles Wesley, 1823-1908.
- Woodbury, Martha Elizabeth, 1823-1901.
- Woodbury family.
- Organizations:
- Sibley County (Minn.). School District No. 36 (Sibley : Township).
- Places:
- Sibley (Minnesota : Township).
- Kalispell (Mont.).
- Eden Prairie (Minn.).
- Franklin (Renville County, Minn.).
- West (U.S.) -- Description and travel -- 1880-1950.
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