Collection Description

The Barker-Edes-Noyes family papers consist of 10 document boxes, 1 narrow box, 8 pamphlet boxes, 1 oversize box, and 35 cased volumes spanning the years 1655-1953, with the bulk dating from 1700 to 1900. The collection consists of the papers of the interrelated Barker, Edes, and Noyes families, and has been divided into three series: Personal and family papers; Business and military papers; and Printed material and ephemera. Materials in the collection include family and business/military correspondence, diaries, financial records, ships' logs, and genealogical information on the Alden, Barker, Burnham, Edes, Fuller, Hatch, Loring, and Noyes families. Members of the families were shipbuilders, sea captains, landowners, and served in the Navy and Army during the Revolutionary and Civil Wars.

The personal and family papers make up the bulk of the collection and include legal documents (numerous deeds and land surveys, summons, wills and estates, testimonials, appointments, powers of attorney, and guardianship papers), correspondence, diaries and day books, financial records, genealogical information, and drawings, poems, and writings. Of particular interest are the papers of Edward Tobey Barker, consisting of diaries and correspondence produced while serving as paymaster aboard a number of naval vessels during the Civil War from 1862 to 1864. A group of letters written to his mother, Sally (Fuller) Barker, gives an account of his activities and includes first-hand accounts of the blockade of Charleston, S.C. and the events preceding the Battle of Mobile Bay. Barker writes of speaking with Admiral Farragut and Fleet Captain Percival Drayton aboard the Hartford on 7 June 1864 and writes on 5 August as the battle is being fought. In a 6 August letter, Barker gives a first-hand recap, with hand-drawn illustrations, of the fighting from aboard the USS Kennebec, which was lashed to the larger Monongahela.

Other items of interest are the diaries of Sophia and (Sarah) Ellen Waldo, mother and daughter, whose writings span 1850 to 1893 and illustrate the everyday life of women during this period. Entries in Sophia Waldo's four diaries chronicle day-to-day occurrences, weather conditions, and household expenses, as well as the significant milestones in life including births, marriages, deaths, illnesses, and household moves. Her daughter (Sarah) Ellen writes extensively from 1872 to mid-1890 (completely filling 10 volumes) and then very sporadically until 1893, chronicling her daily life in New York City and a move to Salem, Ore. after her mother's death in 1892.

Another significant portion of the collection relates to the extensive genealogical research conducted by James Atkins Noyes, including correspondence with the Norroy King of Arms at the Herald's College in London regarding the pedigree and coat of arms of the Noyes family. Also included are historical papers relating to Harrison Gray Otis (transcribed letters from 1791 to 1848), Alfred (photostats of an 1833 journal of a whaling voyage on the schooner Columbia), and Dennis Townsend (photostats of letters from 1833 to 1853).

The remainder of the collection consists of business and military papers, primarily correspondence and papers relating to business issues and military service (including Judah Alden and Josiah Barker's involvement with the Society of the Cincinnati and Revolutionary War claims), ships' logs, financial records, and account books. Finally, the printed material and ephemera series contains whole newspapers (dated 1775, 1790, and 1791), clippings of military and genealogical articles, brochures, pamphlets, programs, and advertisements from the 1860s and 1870s.