1727-1965
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of four generations of the Hale family of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, as well as related families.
Biographical Sketches
Hale family
Joseph Hale (1729-1814) of Alstead, N.H. was the father of David Hale (1758-1822) of Alstead, who married Hannah Emerson. The couple had 14 children, among them Salma Hale (1787-1866), editor, historian, congressman, president of the Cheshire Railroad Company, and trustee of Dartmouth College and the University of Vermont. He married in 1820 Sarah Kellog King (1798-1865).
Their son George Silsbee Hale (1825-1897) was a graduate of Harvard in 1844, a lawyer, author, philanthropist, president of the Boston Common Council, founder of Associated Charities of Boston, counsel for Boston & Worcester and Boston & Albany railroads, president of the Massachusetts Reform Club, and member of the Massachusetts Historical Society. He married in 1868 Ellen (Sever) Tebbets. They had two sons, Robert Sever Hale (1869-1942) and Richard Walden Hale (1871-1943), lawyer, author, lecturer, state legislator, secretary and treasurer of the Selden Society, and senior partner at Hale & Dorr. He married in 1903 Mary Newbold Patterson. Their son was Richard Walden Hale (1909-1976), a historian, teacher, and Massachusetts state archivist, who married in 1940 Elizabeth Fairbanks.
Sever family
John Sever (1792-1855) married in 1825 Anne Dana (1800-1864). The couple's children were: John B. Sever (1826-1827), Anne Dana Sever (1828-1896), Herbert Sever (1829-1830), Charles William Sever (1831-1831), Mary Sever (1832-1919), Emily Sever (1834-1925), Ellen Sever (1838-1904), and Martha Sever (1839-1864).
Ellen Sever married (first) Theodore Tebbets (1831-1863). They had one son, John Sever Tebbets (1858-1901). Ellen Sever Tebbets married (second) George S. Hale in 1868. They had two sons, Robert Sever Hale and Richard Walden Hale.
Collection Description
This collection consists of papers of the Hale family of Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts, and related families, including the Emerson, Dana, King, Patterson, Sever, and Tebbets families. Correspondence of N.H. congressman Salma Hale relates to his literary, journalistic, and political activities, including his service on the commission to settle boundaries under the Treaty of Ghent (1815). Correspondents include John Bailey, Samuel Bell, William C. Bradley, Josiah Butler, Arthur Livermore, Nathaniel Silsbee, John W. Taylor, and Nathaniel Upham. Papers of his wife, Sarah Kellog (King) Hale, include correspondence with her guardian William Gay and Catherine Fiske, who raised her. Correspondence of Salma's son George Silsbee Hale is primarily with his parents, other family members, his wife Ellen (Sever) Tebbets Hale, and later his sons Robert S. and Richard W. Hale and others, concerning his schooling at Harvard University, his travels in Europe, his philanthropic efforts, and family matters. Correspondents include William Barstow, George S. Emerson, Harry Hibbard, Francis Parkman, Josiah Quincy, Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Schurz, Nathaniel Silsbee, Jared Sparks, Charles Sumner, Daniel Webster, and Edward A. Wild.
The collection contains Sever family correspondence between Ellen and her sisters Martha and Anne Sever, who were nurses during the Civil War, and other Sever family members, including Ellen's father Col. John Sever, members of the Dana family, and Ellen's mother Anne (Dana) Sever. Family papers of Theodore Tebbets (Ellen's first husband) include items for Theodore, some earlier Tebbets family members, and Ellen and Theodore's son John Sever Tebbets. Papers of George and Ellen's son, the lawyer Richard W. Hale, relate to his business, legal, and literary activities and include many files of his research and writing. Some particular topics include a biography of Lady Sarah Lennox, Duchess of Richmond; Hale's great-great-aunt Sarah Josepha Buell Hale and her authorship of the verses for "Mary Had a Little Lamb"; the murder trial of Samuel Gallo and Gangi Cero; the Supreme Court cases of Douglas C. Macintosh and Marie A. Bland concerning the citizenship oath for immigrants; and the history of Roxbury Latin School, among many other subjects. R. W. Hale's correspondents include, among others, his brother Robert Sever Hale, Learned Hand, Oliver W. Holmes, Jr., William D. Howells, Charles E. Hughes, Harold Laski, Roscoe Pound, and his colleague Charles P. Howland. There is also correspondence with his wife Mary Newbold (Patterson) and some Patterson family members and one box of correspondence concerning Richard and Mary's wedding in 1903.
Papers of Warwick Greene, a public official and businessman whose letters were edited by R. W. Hale, are mostly concerned with financial investments and household matters, but also include some papers relating to his work with the New England Oil Refining Company in Venezuela and some papers relating to personal and financial interests of his colleague in the Philippines, Eugene de Mitkiewicz. The collection also contains miscellaneous notes and genealogical materials for the Hale, Cox, Gilbert, Hansen, Liddon, Newbold, Patterson, and Singer families, and other related families. Bound volumes include (but are not limited to) diaries of George S. Hale, John S. Tebbets, and two unidentified women; school volumes and scrapbooks of George S. Hale; scrapbooks of John S. Tebbets; and miscellaneous volumes of Richard W. Hale and others.
Acquisition Information
Gift of the estate of Richard Walden Hale, Jr. 1976.
Other Formats
Digital facsimiles of the John Sever Tebbets diary are available on Life at Sea, a digital publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS makes this resource available onsite; see a reference librarian for more information.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Family correspondence and loose papers, 1727-1965
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains correspondence and other papers of the extended Hale family, mainly Salma Hale, George Silsbee Hale, and Richard Walden Hale, along with papers of the connected families of King, Sever, Dana, Tebbets, Patterson, and miscellaneous others. Early papers include items for Joseph Hale, David Hale, and some Emerson family material.
Salma Hale's correspondence pertains to his editorship of the Walpole, N.H. Political Observatory and his work as clerk of the Court of Common Pleas for Cheshire County. Other letters illuminate his activities as a U.S. Congressman and member of the commission to settle boundaries under the Treaty of Ghent (1815), including correspondence with William C. Bradley, representative from Vermont, and Cornelius Peter Van Ness, governor and representative from Vermont, both of whom served with Hale on the commission, as well as Ward Chipman, British agent to the commission. Other correspondents include New Hampshire political figures with whom Hale served during his two years in Congress (1817-1819): Samuel Bell, Josiah Butler, Arthur Livermore, William Plummer, and Nathaniel Upham. Also included is correspondence with Nathaniel Silsbee, John Bailey, and John W. Taylor. These letters treat both state and national politics, touching upon such issues as the Missouri Compromise of 1820, foreign affairs, and current debates and legislation, as well as politicians such as James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Lewis Cass, Martin Van Buren, and Zachary Taylor.
Salma's correspondence concerns, secondly, his association with various publishing houses regarding his History of the United States, which was first published at Keene, N.H. in 1823 and passed through many subsequent editions.
This series also contains materials concerning Sarah King (Salma's future wife), 1816-1821, including letters with Catherine Fiske, who raised and educated her, and William Gay, her guardian.
George Silsbee Hale papers include letters with friends from Keene, the Phillips Exeter Academy, and Harvard University, among them William Barstow, Francis Parkman, Edwin A. Wild, and George S. Emerson. His school papers for the years 1839-1844 include notes, essays, compositions, and college themes. There is correspondence with numerous family members and a large series of letters between Hale and Ellen (Sever) Tebbets, whom he married in 1868, among them letters written home during his many European travels. Other correspondents include A. M. Chalmers, in whose Virginia school he taught for a year; Harry Hibbard, U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire (who married George's sister Sarah King Hale Bellows); and various public figures such as Josiah Quincy, Jared Sparks, Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner, Carl Schurz, and Theodore Roosevelt. Hale's philanthropic activities are documented in his correspondence with many of Boston's institutions and organizations in which he was active or an officer.
The series also contains papers of George's wife Ellen (Sever) Tebbets, including a large amount of Sever family correspondence, early Sever papers, and some items related to Ellen's first husband John Tebbets and her son John Sever Tebbets. Earlier Sever family members represented here include William Sever (1729-1809); John Sever (1766-1803), merchant and shipbuilder; and John Sever (1792-1855), first president of the Old Colony Railroad. Sever family materials include some items pertaining to the Dana family (who were related to the Severs) and correspondence among the Sever sisters, two of whom served as nurses in the Civil War.
Richard Walden Hale's correspondence and papers mainly concern his personal research and writing about the law, historical topics, and current affairs, but include family correspondence. There is a box of materials relating to his engagement and marriage (1903) to Mary Newbold Patterson. Among his correspondents are Charles Evan Hughes, Learned Hand, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Harold Laski, Roscoe Pound, and William Dean Howells.
1727-1828
1829-1842
1843-1848
1849-1867
1868-1885
1886-1902
Wedding papers, Richard W. Hale and Mary Patterson, 1903
1904-1924
1925-1932
1933-1941
1942-1965 and undated
George S. Hale school papers, 1839-1844
II. Genealogy, ca. 1830-ca. 1950
This series contains genealogical materials apparently collected by several family members, including small volumes of genealogies for the Hale family and memoirs for various family members. There is also a box of genealogies and notes on the related Cox, Gilbert, Hansen, Liddon, Newbold-Smith, Patterson, Sever, Singer, and Tebbets families.
Hale family
Related families
III. Richard W. Hale papers, 1830-1954
This series consists of the research, writing, and subject files of Richard W. Hale. Hale was a prolific writer and dedicated researcher, and his interests were wide-ranging, including legal topics, historical topics, and current affairs.
A. Research and writing files, 1830-1954
Article file, 1863-1942
Arranged chronologically.
Richard W. Hale's "article file" contains articles, briefs, essays, editorials, speeches, lectures, addresses, etc. Included is one 1863 manuscript article, possibly written by George S. Hale, but Richard's writing dates from 1897 to 1942.
1863-1912
1913-1920
1921-1925
1926-1931
1932-1934
1935-1939
1940-1942 and undated
Specific topics, 1830-1954
Included is Richard W. Hale's research and writing pertaining to particular topics: a proposed biography of Lady Sarah Lennox (never completed); files devoted to proving the authorship by Sarah Josepha Buell Hale of the verses for "Mary Had a Little Lamb'; materials gathered for a proposed article in the American Trials series (Alfred Knopf) on the complicated cases of Gangi Cero and Samuel Gallo in the murder of Joseph Fantasia (1927); and correspondence and writing for briefs in the cases of Douglas C. Macintosh and Marie Averil Bland before the Supreme Court (1930) and more generally on the topic of modifying the Oath of Allegiance for citizenship in the U.S.
Lady Sarah Lennox biography, correspondence and source material, 1924-1926
Included is a letter from Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland (1705-1774), to Sir Henry Bunbury respecting marriage settlements, 9 Mar. 1762. This letter was apparently purchased by R. W. Hale from an autograph dealer for his research.
Lady Sarah Lennox biography, miscellaneous drafts, 1927-1934
Lady Sarah Lennox biography, miscellaneous drafts, 1935-1942 and undated
Mary's Lamb files, 1830-1941
Included are papers regarding R. W. Hale's efforts to prove that his great-great-aunt Sarah Josepha Buell Hale was the author of the verses for "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Early research materials date from 1830.
Cero-Gallo cases, 1927-1940
Included are materials gathered for a proposed article on the cases of Gangi Cero and Samuel Gallo in the murder of Joseph Fantasia in Boston's North End (1927) for the American Trials series (Alfred Knopf).
Macintosh case, 1930-1939
Included are materials gathered for writing Brief in Behalf of American Friends Service Committee by Hale and Charles P. Howland (Supreme Court, October term, 1930, nos. 504, 505); correspondence with Howland and others; and other writing on "qualified allegiance" and oaths of allegiance in general, particularly in the cases of Douglas Clyde Macintosh and Marie Averil Bland.
Roxbury Latin School history, 1944-1954
Included are research materials and drafts for Hale's Tercentenary History of the Roxbury Latin School, 1645-1945 (Cambridge, Mass.: Riverside Press, 1946).
B. Subject files, 1898-1941
This subseries contains Richard W. Hale's Schooner Head files, which consist of correspondence, work specifications, inventories, and other papers related to the Hale house at Schooner Head, Bar Harbor, Maine, with some material related to other properties. Also included is a box of correspondence and other papers pertaining to his interest in gardening, flowering shrubs, and fruit tree and nut tree cultivation. In addition, there are subject files for maps (mainly Norfolk County), Samuel Pepys (apparently a research interest), and Dorothy Quinn, his typist and research assistant.
Schooner Head files, 1898-1937
Included are letters, inventories, and other papers regarding the house at Schooner Head (Bar Harbor, Maine), along with inventories of other Hale property.
Gardening, fruit tree and nut tree cultivation, 1916-1941
Included is correspondence with people concerning Hale's gardening efforts, mainly shrubs, fruit trees, and nut trees.
Maps (mostly Norfolk County)
Samuel Pepys research, 1929-1935
Dorothy Quinn work/pay records, 1934-1935
IV. Warwick Greene papers, 1915-1929
This series consists of personal papers of Warwick Greene, a public official who served in the Philippines (1910-1915), as director of the War Relief Commission of the Rockefeller Foundation (1916), on the Red Cross Commission in France and Belgium (1917), as major of the Aviation Section (1917), as major of the Signal Corps (1917), and later as lieutenant colonel (1918-1919). After the war, he became president of the New England Oil Refining Company and later vice-president of the Petroleum Heat and Power Company of Boston. He died in Boston in 1929. Richard W. Hale edited a volume of the Letters of Warwick Greene, 1915-1918 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1931), which is probably the reason this material appears among Hale's papers.
Included are papers and correspondence with various financial investment companies: W. H. McKenna and Company (1921-1922), North American Company (1921-1927), and the Old Colony Trust Company (1924-1926); correspondence relating to the New England Oil Refining Company and its work in Venezuela (1925-1927); passports and travel documents (1915-1926); general papers and correspondence about banking and household matters (1920-1929); and papers concerning the finances and personal legal matters (1921-1924) of Eugene de Mitkiewicz, a colleague in the Philippines.
Correspondence and miscellaneous papers, 1920-1929
W. H. McKenna & Co., 1921-1922
North American Company, 1921-1927
Eugene de Mitkiewicz, 1921-1924
Household accounts, 1925-1927
Old Colony Trust Co., 1924-1926
Passports, 1915-1926
Venezuela (New England Oil Co.), 1926-1927
V. Bound volumes, 1831-1960
This series consists of 11 bound volumes of George Silsbee Hale, three volumes of John Sever Tebbets (first husband of Ellen Sever), and 12 volumes of other Hale family members, including Richard W. Hale, Ellen (Sever) Tebbets Hale, Thomas F. King, and Sarah King Hale. John S. Tebbets's volumes include a diary of two voyages to the Azores aboard the bark Azor and the bark Kate Williams in 1874 and 1875, as well as scrapbooks, one pertaining to the Duquesne Mining Camp and one concerning Harvard. George S. Hale and Richard W. Hale also have Harvard-related volumes, including school work, expenses, and some diary entries.
A. George S. Hale volumes, 1837-1895
Arranged chronologically.
Diary, Keene, N.H., 23 Jan.-31 Mar. 1837
Daily activities.
Diary, Phillips Exeter Academy, 4-16 Mar. 1840; commonplace book, 1840-1841
Commonplace book and Latin exercises, 1840
College expenses, Harvard, 1840-1844
Diary, 10 Sep. 1842–16 Oct. 1845
Very intermittent entries.
Diary, Niagara Falls, 18-24 July 1844; diary, Richmond, 12 June-24 Dec. 1847
Two diaries in one volume.
Passport, issued 1848
Court cases, 1846; other legal notes, to 1858
Diary and memoranda, Schooner Head, 1876-1893
Summer entries for Schooner Head.
Scrapbook, 1887-1890
Mostly clippings about the Unitarian Club, with some material on charities, women's suffrage, the Bostonian Society, Harvard, Phillips Exeter Academy, and the Reform Club. NOTE: This item was badly mildewed, so was photocopied and discarded.
Scrapbook, 1889-1895
Miscellaneous clippings.
B. John Sever Tebbets volumes, 1874-1896
Scrapbook, 1896
Clippings, mainly concerning the Duquesne Mining Camp. NOTE: This scrapbook was mildew-damaged, so was photocopied and discarded.
Diary, 6 Apr.-7 Aug. 1874 and 22 Mar.-1 June 1875
Two voyages to the Azores. Detailed narrative diary entries kept onboard ship and on land. Also cash records, 3 Apr.-10 July [1874], and latitude/longitude records for the first voyage. The first voyage was a journey to Fayal, St. Michael, and return on the bark Azor, and the second voyage was a journey to Fayal, Flores, and return on the bark Kate Williams, commanded by Capt. L. R. Hale.
Digital facsimiles of the John Sever Tebbets diary are available on Life at Sea, a digital publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS makes this resource available onsite; see a reference librarian for more information.
Scrapbook, 1876-1890
Harvard ephemera, with a few work-related items at the end of the volume, 1890.
C. Hale family miscellaneous volumes, 1831-1960
Thomas F. King autograph album, 1837
Unidentified [Sever family woman's] diary, 1867-1868, 1888
Ellen Sever Tebbets Hale "Book of the Two Rs," 1873-1877
Memoranda about her two sons.
Richard W. Hale journal and school exercises, 19 June-28 Sep. 1882
Richard W. Hale suretyship notes, vol. 1, 1894-1895
Richard W. Hale suretyship notes, vol. 2, 1894-1895
Richard W. Hale and Mary N. Patterson Hale wedding book, 1903
Gertude Mary Reynolds Hughes diary [typescript], 1939-1945
[Mary N. Patterson Hale] address book, to 1960
Unidentified [woman's] diary, undated, [19th century]
European travel.
Unidentified woman's scrapbook, Keene, N.H., [1831-1865]
Possibly kept by Sarah King Hale. Includes articles, poetry, commonplaces, obituaries, etc., mostly in the form of newspaper clippings.
Richard W. Hale scrapbook of college essays, 1888-1893
VI. Oversize material
This box contains oversize materials from other parts of the collection. All items were dummied out from their original positions.
Preferred Citation
Hale family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Organizations:
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Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs from this collection have been removed to the Hale family photographs (Photo. Coll. 500.51).