1798-1908
Guide to the Microfilm Edition
Collection guide supported by the Sedgwick Family Charitable Trust.
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of author Catharine Maria Sedgwick, primarily correspondence with Sedgwick family members and friends, as well as diaries and reminiscences. Correspondents include many renowned 19th-century writers, artists, reformers, and political figures.
Biographical Sketch and Timeline
Catharine Maria Sedgwick was a 19th-century American author. Born in Stockbridge, Mass. on 28 December 1789, she was the third daughter and sixth child of Theodore and Pamela Dwight Sedgwick. In 1822, she anonymously published her first novel, A New-England Tale; or Sketches of New England Character and Manners, inspired by her recent conversion to Unitarianism. With her novels Redwood (1824), Hope Leslie (1827), Clarence, or a Tale of Our Own Times (1830), and The Linwoods, or "Sixty Years Since" in America (1835), she earned a place as one of America's most popular authors and one of the most well-known women of her time. She associated with many famous writers, poets, actresses, political figures, religious leaders, and reformers and counted among her friends and acquaintances Fanny Kemble Butler, Harriet Martineau, William Cullen Bryant, Orville Dewey, Henry Bellows, the formerly enslaved woman Elizabeth Freeman (Mumbet, who worked for the Sedgwick family), William Ellery Channing, Harriet St. Leger, Anna Murphy Jameson, Italian exiles Gaetano de Castillia and Federico Confalonieri, Charles L. de Sismondi, Hungarian patriot Lajos Kossuth, Charles and Eliza Follen, and Frances and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1857, she published her last novel, Married or Single?
Although courted by several men, Catharine chose to remain unmarried and devote herself to her writing. She lived alternately in New York City and in the Stockbridge/Lenox region of the Berkshires at the various homes of her brothers and nieces. All her life, she maintained close relationships with her siblings Eliza, Frances, Theodore, Henry Dwight, Robert, and Charles and their families. She also traveled widely in the United States, Canada, and Europe. She was active in the work of the abolitionist movement, the Unitarian church, and the Women's Prison Association, and she took a special interest in mental health issues, due to both her mother's and her brother Henry Dwight Sedgwick's struggles with mental illness. Catharine Maria Sedgwick died in West Roxbury at "Woodbourne," the home of her niece Katharine Sedgwick Minot, on 31 July 1867.
For a detailed Sedgwick family tree, see the appendix to the Sedgwick family papers collection guide here.
1785 |
Sedgwick family settled in Stockbridge, Mass. |
1789 |
Catharine Maria Sedgwick born Dec. 28, the sixth of seven children; daughter of Theodore
Sedgwick, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives during the administration of George
Washington. |
1807 |
Death of her mother. |
1813 |
Death of her father. |
1820 |
Met William Cullen Bryant, the beginning of a close friendship that continued throughout
her life. Her niece Katharine Maria Sedgwick born in Stockbridge. |
1821 |
Joined the Unitarian Church; growing friendship with Frank and Susan (Higginson)
Channing. |
1822 |
Published A New-England Tale, originally intended as a
religious tract for Unitarians. |
1824 |
Published Redwood, her first major work. |
1825 |
Published The Travellers, a book for children; published
"The Catholic Iroquois" in The Atlantic Souvenir, the first of
more than 100 stories and sketches over the next 37 years. Redwood reviewed by Bryant for The North American
Review. |
1827 |
Published Hope Leslie, her best-known novel. Death of
sister Eliza. |
1828 |
Moved to Lenox, Mass. to live with her brother Charles, whose wife had opened a school
for girls. |
1829 |
Death of Elizabeth Freeman (Mumbet). |
1830 |
Published Clarence. Beginning of friendship with writer
Harriet Martineau. |
1831 |
Death of brother Henry. |
1832 |
Beginning of friendship with Fanny Kemble, Shakespearean actress. Published "Le Bossu"
in Tales of Glauber-Spa; other contributors included
Bryant. |
1834 |
Featured in The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished
Americans. |
1835 |
Published The Linwoods. |
1835-1837 |
Published Home, The Poor Rich Man
and the Rich Poor Man, and Live and Let Live, a
trilogy of didactic tales and her most popular works; also published "A Memoir of Lucretia
Maria Davidson" and Tales and Sketches and translated 95 pages
of Silvio Pellico's memoirs from the Italian. Increasing interest in the abolitionist
movement. |
1835-1860 |
The years during which the "American Lake District" in western Massachusetts was
especially popular with American writers. |
1837 |
Beginning of friendship and lifelong correspondence with Anna Jameson. |
1839 |
Published Means and Ends, or Self-Training. Death of
brother Theodore. |
1839-1840 |
Traveled in Europe with brother Robert and his family, including England, Belgium,
Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy. Published Stories for Young
Persons. |
1841 |
Published Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home. Death
of brother Robert. |
1842 |
Death of sister Frances. |
1844 |
Published Tales and Sketches: Second Series (a.k.a.
Wilton Harvey and Other Tales). Increasing interest in women's
rights after reading Margaret Fuller's Woman in the Nineteenth
Century. |
1848 |
Published The Boy of Mount Rhigi and Facts and Fancies for School-Day Reading. Became first director of
New York Women's Prison Association. |
1851 |
Began writing autobiography for great-niece Alice Minot. |
1853 |
Published "Slavery in New
England," an account of Mumbet's life, in Bentley's
Miscellany. |
1856 |
Death of brother Charles. |
1857 |
Published Married or Single?, her last novel. |
1858 |
Published Memoir of Joseph Curtis, her last book. |
1862 |
Published "A Sketch from Life," her last known short story. |
1863 |
Suffered major epileptic seizure. |
1865 |
Visited Stockbridge for the last time; remainder of her life spent principally in the
home of her niece Katherine Maria Sedgwick Minot outside Boston. |
1867 |
Died July 31; buried in Stockbridge cemetery with her brothers and parents. |
1871 |
Life and Letters of Catharine M. Sedgwick
published. |
Sources
Damon-Bach, Lucinda, and Victoria Clements, eds. Catharine Maria Sedgwick: Critical Perspectives. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 2003.
Foster, Edward Halsey. Catharine Maria Sedgwick. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1974.
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria. The Power of Her Sympathy: The Autobiography and Journal of Catharine Maria Sedgwick. Ed. Mary Kelley. Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1993.
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria. Life and Letters of Catharine M. Sedgwick. Ed. Mary E. Dewey. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1871.
Collection Description
The Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers consists of three separate groups of papers, acquired by the Massachusetts Historical Society at different times and filmed together as one microfilm edition. The collection contains correspondence with Sedgwick family members, including Sedgwick's niece Katharine Sedgwick Minot (1820-1880); her parents Theodore (1746-1813) and Pamela Dwight Sedgwick (1753-1807); her brothers Theodore (1780-1839), Henry Dwight (1785-1831), Robert (1787-1841), and Charles Sedgwick (1791-1856); her sisters Eliza Sedgwick Pomeroy (1775-1827) and Frances Sedgwick Watson (1778-1842); her sisters-in-law Susan Ridley Sedgwick (1788-1867), Jane Minot Sedgwick (1795-1859), Elizabeth Ellery Sedgwick (1799-1862), and Elizabeth Dwight Sedgwick (1801-1864); and her many nieces and nephews; as well as correspondence with contemporary literary figures. Additional correspondents are Henry W. Bellows, William Cullen Bryant, Susan Higginson Channing, William Ellery Channing, Orville Dewey, Charles Follen, Eliza L. C. Follen, Mary Griffith, Anna Murphy Jameson, John Kenyon, Harriet Martineau, William Minot, Mary Russell Mitford, and Elizabeth P. Peabody. Subjects of the correspondence include Sedgwick's career as a writer, her works, family matters, the abolitionist movement, Unitarianism, and her social position as a single woman. For a list of all the correspondents in this collection and the locations of their letters on the microfilm, see the Index of Correspondents below.
The collection also contains volumes of reminiscences (1853-1860) and diaries (1811-1812, 1826-1839, 1849-1854, and 1857-1863) kept in New York City, Stockbridge, and Lenox, Mass., and on trips to New York and Canada (1821) and Europe (1839-1840). Subjects include Sedgwick's daily activities; family matters; the progress of her work; political issues; and her friendships with Harriet Martineau, Anna Jameson, Fanny Kemble, and others.
Arrangement
The Catharine Maria Sedgwick microfilm consists of three separate groups of papers given to the Massachusetts Historical Society at different times. Although combined for the purposes of this microfilm edition and filmed as the Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers I, the Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers II, and the Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers III, each of the three distinct parts retains the integrity of its original order and provenance. Researchers will find a significant amount of overlap in names, dates, and subjects across the three sections. For a list of all the correspondents in this collection and the locations of their letters on the microfilm, see the Index of Correspondents below.
Acquisition Information
Part I deposited by Katharine Minot Channing, Jan. 1954, Mar. 1956. Part II given by the Katharine Minot Channing estate, May 1963, 1965. Part III removed from the Henry Dwight Sedgwick papers (part of the Sedgwick family papers).
Other Formats
Digital facsimiles of the Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers are available on Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Religion, Spirituality, Reform and Society, a digital publication of Gale/Cengage. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. This publication is not available in the MHS library.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Part I. Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers I, 1798-1897
Part I contains correspondence, journals for the years 1811-1863, some miscellaneous writings, an autograph album, a Sedgwick genealogy, and other papers of Catharine Maria Sedgwick. The majority of the papers cover her adult years. Subjects include family matters; Sedgwick's daily life; her career as a writer; 19th-century social conditions, especially the treatment of orphans, enslaved people, prisoners, and the poor; religion (Unitarianism in particular); theater, art, and music; attitudes toward women; local, national, and foreign political issues; and health and medical developments, such as the treatment of diseases and broken bones, mental health issues, childbirth, and the introduction of ether. The papers also document Sedgwick's travels in the U.S. and abroad, including her observations on economic and social conditions, as well as Sedgwick's relationships with renowned 19th-century authors, political figures, reformers, etc.
A. Loose papers, 1798-1870
These papers consist primarily of correspondence between Catharine Maria Sedgwick and her niece Katharine Sedgwick Minot for the years 1830-1863. Other correspondents include Catharine Maria Sedgwick's parents Theodore and Pamela Dwight Sedgwick; her sisters Eliza Sedgwick Pomeroy and Frances Sedgwick Watson; two of her brothers, Robert and Charles Sedgwick; her sisters-in-law; her niece Elizabeth Sedgwick Rackemann; William Minot (1817-1894); other family members; and close friends Susan Higginson Channing, William Ellery Channing, Orville Dewey, Eliza Cabot Follen, Anna Murphy Jameson, Frances Appleton Longfellow, and Harriet St. Leger. Most of the letters were written by Sedgwick. Among the topics discussed in the correspondence are family, health, travel, household routine, religion, the arts, and political issues. Also included are accounts of Sedgwick's progress as a writer and her dealings with publishers, as well as fragments of both her published and unpublished works.
Correspondence, 1798-1837
Correspondence, 1838-1845
Correspondence, 1846-1851
Correspondence, 1852-1856
Correspondence, 1857-1864
Undated letters from Catharine Maria Sedgwick
Letters to Charles and Elizabeth Dwight Sedgwick
Letters to William Minot
Letters to Anna Murphy Jameson
Letter to Alice Woodbourne Minot and Katharine Sedgwick Minot
Miscellaneous writings, [1820-1870]
These papers include Sedgwick's manuscript about Mumbet (later published as "Slavery in New England"); writings on slavery, the Revolutionary War, Helen Lee, Irish orphan children in New York, and the presidential contest between Jackson and Adams; and fragments of and notes on her published works, including Married or Single?.
Correspondence with Susan Higginson Channing and William Ellery Channing, 1819-1863
Most of these letters were written by Sedgwick to Susan Channing.
Correspondence with Eliza Cabot Follen, 1822-1857
Most of these letters were written by Sedgwick to Eliza Follen.
Miscellaneous letters, undated and 1835-1863
Most of these letters were written by Sedgwick to Frances Appleton Longfellow.
B. Volumes, 1811-1897
Volumes include an autograph album; a genealogy of the descendants of Theodore Sedgwick (1746-1813); two undated volumes entitled "Notes and Anecdotes" and "French Exercises"; and several journals of Catharine Maria Sedgwick covering the years 1811-1863, including journals of trips in the U.S. and Europe and two journals of "reminiscences."
Note: Blank journal pages have not been microfilmed.
Autograph album, undated and 1824-1861
This volume also contains miscellaneous artwork, including watercolors, pencil sketches, graphic art items, and a photograph.
Note: The autograph album is cased volume #25.
List of lineal descendants of Judge Theodore Sedgwick, 1897
"Notes and Anecdotes," undated
Diary, 19 Dec. 1811-ca. Feb. 1812
Kept primarily at New York, this diary describes Sedgwick's daily activities, social calls, and religious beliefs. The volume also contains miscellaneous memoranda, literary extracts, notes, and anecdotes, including anecdotes of her father's acquaintance with George Washington and notes on Native Americans and the history of New England.
"French Exercises," copies of letters, and extracts, ca. 1821
Journal of a trip to New York and Canada, 22 June-18 July 1821
Entitled "Trip through N.Y. to Niagara down St. Lawrence & back via L. Champlain," this journal was written as a series of letters to Jane Minot Sedgwick, Charles Sedgwick, Elizabeth Dwight Sedgwick, and others. Entries describe in detail sights Sedgwick visited and people she met, as well as her thoughts on nature, religion, the War of 1812, the Canadian people, and other subjects.
Journals, 1826-1839
These journals, kept primarily at the various Sedgwick family homes in Massachusetts and New York, contain sporadic but lengthy entries describing Sedgwick's daily activities and those of friends and family members, including her niece Katharine Sedgwick (later Minot); social calls and correspondence; health matters; her religious beliefs and the preaching of William Ellery Channing; her love of nature; her writing career; publication of Hope Leslie, Clarence, and The Linwoods; her reading habits; marriage and her position as a single woman; women authors; slavery and the abolitionist movement; the death of Mumbet (1829); the mental illness and death of her brother Henry Dwight Sedgwick (1828-1831); trips to Washington, D.C. in 1831, Virginia in 1833, Niagara in 1834, and other places; and the Great Fire of New York (17 Dec. 1835). Included are entries about friends and acquaintances like Chester Harding, Arabella Wharton, Harriet Martineau (whom Sedgwick met in 1834 and describes in detail), Federico Confalonieri and other Italian exiles, and Anna Murphy Jameson. Beginning in 1833, Sedgwick writes at length about her close friendship with actress Fanny Kemble, Kemble's career, her writing, and her marriage to Pierce Butler. Included are a few miscellaneous memoranda.
29 Oct. 1826-6 Sep. 1827
16 Sep. 1827-1 June 1830
7 June 1830-15 Dec. 1832
18 Dec. 1832-31 Dec. 1833
28 Apr.-31 Dec. 1834
9 Apr. 1835-24 July 1837
26 July 1837-7 Apr. 1839
Journal of a trip to Europe, 1839-1840 [3 vols.]
These three volumes describe Sedgwick's trip to Europe with her niece Katharine Sedgwick (later Minot) in 1839-1840. The journal begins with an account of her trans-Atlantic crossing on the St. James and includes descriptions of fellow passengers, incidents on board, and the weather. Sedgwick visited England (including the Isle of Wight and London), Belgium, Germany (including a trip down the Rhine), Switzerland, and Italy (including Rome). She describes sights seen, their history, art and architecture, and the customs and manners of people she met. Included are accounts of meetings with Joanna Baillie, Thomas Carlyle, and other notable figures, and transcriptions of two letters by Federico Confalonieri in Italian.
Note: Some passages have been obscured by flowers, leaves, stalks, etc. stitched into the volume that could not be removed for microfilming.
7 May-28 July 1839
3 Aug.-29 Nov. 1839
1 Dec. 1839-6 May 1840
Journal, 2 Jan. 1849-28 Dec. 1854
Kept in Massachusetts and New York, this journal describes Sedgwick's daily activities, social calls, reading, and news of friends and family, including Katharine Sedgwick Minot and Fanny Kemble Butler. Sedgwick briefly discusses the Parkman-Webster murder case. The volume also contains literary excerpts, memoranda, anecdotes, and sketches.
Journal of reminiscences, 1853-1860 [2 vols.]
This two-volume journal contains an unfinished autobiography by Sedgwick, addressed to Katharine Sedgwick Minot's daughter Alice Woodbourne Minot (1847-1883). The journal begins on 5 May 1853 and ends on 26 Apr. 1860. Sedgwick writes about her Sedgwick family ancestors; New England history, Federalism, and early American politics; the lives of her father and mother, Theodore and Pamela Dwight Sedgwick, including excerpts of letters; her childhood; her relationships with Mumbet and her siblings Eliza, Frances, Theodore, Henry Dwight, Robert, and Charles; her education and literary opinions; and her friendships with Anna Murphy Jameson and others.
5 May 1853-ca. 1854
10 Mar.-26 Apr. 1860
Diaries, 1857-1863
These diaries, kept primarily at the various Sedgwick family homes in Massachusetts and New York, consist of small pocket volumes with brief entries describing Sedgwick's daily activities, social calls, the weather, health, progress on Married or Single? (1857) and other writings, attendance at sermons and lectures, travel, financial matters, letters written and received, news of family members and friends, births and deaths, and events of the Civil War (1861-1863). The diaries include some memoranda and many blank pages.
1857
1858
1859
1860
1861
1862
1863
Part II. Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers II, 1813-1908
Part II contains correspondence, primarily letters from Katharine Sedgwick Minot to her aunt Catharine Maria Sedgwick. Subjects include family, education, American and European literature, social life in Boston and New York, the anti-slavery movement, the Civil War, travel and transportation, the treatment of the mentally ill, and women's rights. Katharine Sedgwick Minot also wrote about her daily activities and those of her husband William Minot (1817-1894), their children, other members of the Sedgwick and Minot families, and prominent Boston friends and acquaintances, including members of the Forbes, Lowell, Longfellow, Howe, Davis, Channing, and Quincy families. William Minot advised Catharine Maria Sedgwick about investments. Some letters describe the construction and furnishing of the Minot family home, "Woodbourne," completed in 1846. Also included is correspondence with Alice Woodbourne Minot, Louisa Davis Minot, Elizabeth Sedgwick Rackemann, and Charles and Elizabeth Dwight Sedgwick.
Many letters discuss Sedgwick's literary career, including topics for novels; the public reception of her work; the admiration of her contemporaries, such as Lucy Aikin, Andrew Combe, Maria Edgeworth, S. Cummings Fitzwilliams, Eliza Cabot Follen, Horace Mann, Harriet Martineau, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, and John Greenleaf Whittier; her election as an honorary member of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Nu Pi Kappa Literary Society of Kenyon College in Ohio; requests from Harvard University for copies of her works; the sale of Life and Letters of Catharine M. Sedgwick, edited by Mary Dewey; and Charles Sedgwick Rackemann's efforts to publish a new edition of her works in the 1890s.
Among the correspondents are many leading 19th-century ministers, writers, educators, actresses, European political exiles, and others, including Henry W. Bellows, William Cullen Bryant, James Freeman Clarke, Orville Dewey, Charles Follen, John Kenyon, Mary Russell Mitford, Henry Ware, and William Ware. Correspondence with the English actress Fanny Kemble Butler discusses Butler's personal life and marital problems. Also included are lists of Sedgwick's works and other miscellaneous lists, autographs, and fragments.
Undated fragments, letters, and autographs
Undated letters to Catharine Maria Sedgwick
Arranged alphabetically.
Bellows - Mermet
Minot, Alice W. - Minot, Katharine Sedgwick
Minot, Francis (Frank) - Valerio, Katherine Sedgwick
Undated papers related to the publication of a new edition of Sedgwick's works
Correspondence, etc., 1813-1841
Correspondence, etc., 1842-1849
Correspondence, etc., 1850-1857
Correspondence, etc., 1858-1908
Lists of books by Catharine Maria Sedgwick, etc.
Part III. Catharine Maria Sedgwick papers III, 1798-1867
Part III consists primarily of correspondence between Catharine Maria Sedgwick and her sister-in-law Jane Minot Sedgwick, as well as other relatives and friends. Family members represented include her brothers Theodore (1780-1839), Henry Dwight (1785-1831), Robert, Charles, and their wives; her sister Frances Sedgwick Watson; her nieces Susan Sedgwick Butler, Elizabeth Sedgwick Child, Katharine Sedgwick Minot, Frances Susan Pomeroy, Elizabeth Sedgwick Rackemann, Jane Minot Sedgwick (1821-1889), and Frances Sedgwick Watts; her nephews Theodore (1811-1859), Henry Dwight (1824-1903), and William Ellery Sedgwick; Henrietta Ellery Sedgwick; and Louisa Davis Minot. Also among the correspondents are Edward Tyrrel Channing, Susan Higginson Channing, William Ellery Channing, Lydia Maria Child, William Ellery, and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody.
Subjects include Sedgwick's writing and her attitudes toward publication; the publishing and re-issuing of editions of her work; the support of her family; her views on religion, marriage, and "maidenly independence"; health and old age; travel; her interest in European political exiles, such as Giovanni Albinola, Gaetano de Castillia, and Federico Confalonieri; the financial demands of Penelope Russell Sedgwick after the death of Theodore Sedgwick and other financial matters; the treatment of Henry Dwight Sedgwick (1785-1831) for his mental illness during the 1820s; the treatment of childhood diseases and broken bones; the abolitionist movement in Boston; and the Unitarian Church. The letters document Sedgwick's relationships with other 19th-century literary figures, including William Cullen Bryant, Mary Griffith, Harriet Martineau, and Mary Russell Mitford, as well as her interest in works by contemporary authors Nathaniel Hawthorne and Sir Walter Scott. Correspondence with Eliza Cabot Follen discusses Follen's early romantic interests, her marriage to Charles Follen, various literary works, and Sedgwick's writings.
Also included are fragments, memoranda, notes on Sedgwick's life, receipted bills for her studies at William Payne's school, and a handwritten journal entitled "Female Chronicle," or "Omnia Vanitas" (Box 1, Folder 1), most likely kept by Sedgwick as a young girl.
Undated fragments
Undated receipts
Undated letters from Catharine Maria Sedgwick
Arranged alphabetically.
Letters to Susan Sedgwick Butler
Letters to Elizabeth Sedgwick Child
Letters and notes to Henrietta Ellery Sedgwick
Letters and notes to Henry Dwight Sedgwick (1785-1831)
Letters to Henry Dwight Sedgwick (1824-1903)
Letters and notes to Jane Minot Sedgwick
Letters to Louisa Minot Sedgwick
Letters to William Ellery Sedgwick
Undated letters to Catharine Maria Sedgwick
Arranged alphabetically.
Anonymous letter
Letter from Anna Bridgen
Letter from Lydia Maria Child
Letters from Eliza Cabot Follen, etc.
Letter from Mary Griffith
Letter from Ralph Hepburn
Letter from Mary Howard
Letters from Susan Pomeroy
Letters from Eliza Robbins
Letter from Henry Dwight Sedgwick (1824-1903)
Letters from Jane Minot Sedgwick
Letter from Theodore Sedgwick
Letter from Katherine Sedgwick Valerio
Letter from Frances Sedgwick Watts
Letters from Arabella Wharton
Undated notes on the life of Catharine Maria Sedgwick
Correspondence, receipts, expenses, etc., 1798-1821
Correspondence, etc., 1822-1833
Correspondence, etc., 1834-1838
Memo of the property of Catharine Maria Sedgwick, 1838
Correspondence, receipts, etc., 1839-1853
Correspondence, etc., 1854-1867
Index of Correspondents
Listed below are the names of all known correspondents appearing in this collection. The numbers following each name indicate where on the microfilm letters to or from that individual are located. The first digit is the microfilm reel number, followed by box and folder numbers in brackets. (The papers are organized on the reels according to their original box and folder locations.) Targets on the microfilm indicate where each box and folder begins. For example, correspondence with Lucy Aikin can be found on Reel 10 after the target reading Box 1, Folder 7. Keep in mind that although a folder is listed in this index only once, there may be more than one letter in that folder written or received by a given correspondent. Also note that the index refers only to letters in the collection and does not include writings, receipts, or other papers.
For a select index of subjects discussed in the correspondence, see the MHS Reference Librarian.
A
Aikin, Lucy, 10 [1.7]
Albinola, Giovanni, 10 [1.12]
Allen, F., 12 [3.10]
Appleton, Mary, 16 [3.14]; 17 [4.1]
Appleton, Nathan, 4 [4.21]; 16 [3.4]
Arbuthnot, Anne, 2 [2.5]
Arbuthnot, George, 2 [2.4]
Arbuthnot, Jane, 2 [2.5]
Arbuthnot, Miss, 2 [2.4]
Arnold, George B., 10 [1.13]
Ashburner, Anne, 14 [1.24]; 17 [4.3]
Ashburner, Grace, 3 [3.11]; 6 [7.8]; 17 [4.3]
Ashburner, L., 15 [2.12]
Ashburner, Sara, 10 [1.10]
Austin, Sarah, 7 [10.1]
B
Babbage, Mr., 2 [2.4]
Baillie, Joanna, 7 [10.1]; 11 [2.1]
Balestier, Joseph N[erée], 17 [4.3]
Banyer, M[arie], 16 [3.6]
Barbauld, Anna Letitia, 7 [10.1]
Baring, Marianne T., 13 [4.8]
Bartol, Elizabeth Howard, 4 [4.21]
Bellows, Henry Whitney, 5 [5.21]; 10 [1.2, 1.5]; 13 [4.11]
Bleecker, Harmanus, 16 [3.3]
Boddington, Mr., 2 [2.4]
Brace, C. L., 4 [4.19]
Brandeis, Louis D[embitz], 13 [4.12]
Bremer, Fredrika, 7 [10.1]
Bridgen, Anna, 4 [4.22]; 14 [1.14]
Bristed, Grace Sedgwick, 5 [5.10]
Bryant, Julia, 13 [4.10]
Bryant, William Cullen, 7 [10.1]; 10 [1.10]; 12 [3.4, 3.11-12, 3.14]; 13 [4.7, 4.9-11]; 16 [3.12]; 18 [5.4]
Butler, Frances Kemble, 2 [2.7]; 10 [1.2, 1.13]
Butler, Susan Sedgwick, 14 [1.3]; 17 [4.6-10, 4.12-14]
Byington, Cyrus, 5 [5.12]
Byron, Anne Isabella Noel, 7 [10.1]
C
[Cabot, Mary C.], 16 [3.5]
[Cabot, Susan C.], 14 [1.16]
Callender, Fanny, 17 [4.3]
Carlyle, Jane, 2 [2.5]
Castillia, Gaetano de, 10 [1.2]; 17 [4.5-6, 4.14]
Channing, Edward Tyrrel, 15 [2.6, 2.8, 2.11-13]
Channing, Susan Higginson, 4 [4.22]; 6 [7.1-8, 8.3]; 15 [2.14-16]; 16 [3.1]
Channing, William Ellery, 1 [1.12-13, 1.15, 1.22]; 2 [2.3]; 6 [7.5]; 7 [10.1]; 16 [3.13]
Chantrey, M. A., 2 [2.4]
Child, Elizabeth Sedgwick (Lizzie), 2 [2.9]; 10 [1.5]; 13 [4.11]; 14 [1.4]; 16 [3.13]; 17 [4.6-8, 4.14]
Child, Francis James, 4 [4.23]
Child, Lydia Maria Francis, 14 [1.15]; 16 [3.5-8, 3.12]; 17 [4.2]
Clarke, James Freeman, 10 [1.2]
Coles, Mr. [B.U.], 16 [3.2]
Combe, Andrew, 10 [1.12]
Confalonieri, Federico, 7 [10.1]; 10 [1.13]
Copeland, Charles T., 10 [1.5]
Coutts, Miss, 2 [2.5]
Cozzens, William, 10 [1.10]
Curtis, Anna, 4 [4.22]
D
Dacre, B., 7 [10.1]
Dacre, Lord, 2 [2.4]
Davis, Margaret, 5 [5.14]
Delavan, Edward, 10 [1.12]
Dewey, Judge, 1 [1.1]
Dewey, Orville, 4 [4.20-22]; 7 [10.1]; 12 [3.5, 3.13]; 13 [4.11]
Dickens, Charles, 11 [2.4]
Dillingham, Abigail, 15 [2.12]
Dillingham, W. H., 10 [1.7, 1.10]; 16 [3.5]
Downing, A[ndrew] J[ackson], 17 [4.11]
Du Ponceau, Peter Stephen, 10 [1.8]
Dwight, M. U., 11 [2.9]
Dwight, R[ichard] Henry W[inslow], 13 [4.12]
E
Edgeworth, Maria, 11 [2.13]
Ellery, William, 16 [3.12-14]
Emerson, R[alph] W[aldo], 12 [3.10]
F
Field, Henry M., 4 [4.21]
Fitch, A. J. H., 4 [4.22]
Fitzhugh, Emily, 2 [2.5]; 10 [1.14]
Fitzwilliams, S. Cummings, 12 [3.4]
Fleeming, Admiral, 2 [2.5]
Follen, Charles, 14 [1.16]; 17 [4.2]
Follen, Eliza Cabot, 1 [1.22]; 2 [2.8, 2.10, 2.13]; 4 [4.21]; 6 [8.1-9]; 10 [1.8]; 13 [4.2]; 14 [1.16]; 16 [3.1-7, 3.9-10, 3.12]; 17 [4.2, 4.7]
Forbes, John Murray, 5 [5.2]
Forbes, Sara[h], 10 [1.1]; 12 [3.1, 3.15]; 13 [4.3]
Foresti, Eleuterio Felice, 7 [10.1]
"A Friend to Humanity," Boston, 10 [1.12]
G
Gallatin, Albert, 10 [1.10]
Gaskell, Mary, 2 [2.4]
Gibbons, Abigail Hopper, 5 [5.14, 5.20]
Giles, William Mason (Nu Pi Kappa, Kenyon College), 10 [1.13]
Gow, Miss, 16 [3.14]
"Grecian Ladies," Canandaigua, N.Y., 10 [1.9]
Griffith, Mary, 14 [1.17]; 16 [3.4, 3.8, 3.11, 3.13]
Grote, Mrs., 2 [2.4]
H
Hall, Basil, 1 [1.11]; 10 [1.7, 1.14]
Hall, Margaret, 2 [2.4]; 10 [1.14]
Hamilton, Captain, 2 [2.6]
Harness, William, 2 [2.4]
Harper and Brothers, 13 [4.12]
Hathaway, [W.] H., 10 [1.11]
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 7 [10.1]
Hemans, Charles, 2 [2.5]
Hepburn, Ralph, 14 [1.18]
Hill, Laura Porter (Worcester Asylum), 17 [4.7]
Hillard, George Stillman, 12 [3.4]
Hopkins, Albert, 4 [4.21]; 13 [4.8, 4.11]
Hopper and Howland, 18 [5.3]
Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 13 [4.12]
Howard, Mary, 14 [1.19]
Howe, Samuel, Northampton, [Mass.], 10 [1.6]
Howe, Sarah L., 4 [4.21]
I
Ingham, Charles Cromwell, 4 [4.21]
Inglis, Robert, 2 [2.6]
J
James, Daniel, 15 [2.14]; 16 [3.1, 3.6]
Jameson, Anna Murphy, 1 [1.22]; 2 [2.1-3, 2.5-7, 2.9-13, 2.15-18, 2.20, 2.22]; 3 [3.2, 3.10, 3.12-13, 3.16]; 4 [4.9, 4.12-13, 4.16]; 5 [5.2-3, 5.21]; 6 [6.3]; 7 [9.1]; 10 [1.2]
John Wilson and Son, 13 [4.12]
Jones, M. C., 15 [2.10]
K
Keep, John, 15 [2.12]
Kendell, Julia, 12 [3.4]
Kenyon, John, 2 [2.8]; 7 [10.1]; 10 [1.2, 1.14-15]; 11 [2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.16]; 12 [3.1]
L
Lacaita, Giacomo, 11 [2.2]
Lansdowne, Lady, 2 [2.5]
Lansdowne, Lord, 2 [2.5]
Lazarus, Rebecca, 10 [1.6]
Livingston, Margaret, 10 [1.12]
Longfellow, Frances Appleton, 4 [4.22]; 7 [9.2-4]; 17 [4.3]
Lyndsay, Frances Sedgwick, 4 [4.22]; 7 [9.1]
M
Macintosh, Mary, 4 [4.23]
Mann, Horace, 11 [2.1]
Manque, Alexander, 7 [10.1]
Martineau, Harriet, 10 [1.10]; 11 [2.1, 2.11]; 17 [4.2]
Mermet, Mr. (French officer in the DeWattville regiment during the War of 1812), 10 [1.2]; 15 [2.8]
Metcalf, Julia, 4 [4.23]
Miller, John, 16 [3.11]
Minot, Alice Woodbourne (Pea Blossom), 5 [5.19]; 6 [6.4]; 10 [1.3]; 12 [3.7, 3.9, 3.11-12, 3.15-16]; 13 [4.2-6, 4.8-9, 4.11]
Minot, Francis (Frank), 10 [1.3]
Minot, Henry Davis, 13 [4.8, 4.10]
Minot, Jane Sedgwick (Posey), 2 [2.23]; 11 [2.10]
Minot, Julia, 4 [4.22]; 11 [2.15]; 13 [4.1]; 17 [4.12]
Minot, Katharine Sedgwick, 1 [1.8-22]; 2 [2.1-24]; 3 [3.1-23]; 4 [4.1-23]; 5 [5.1-20]; 6 [6.4, 8.4]; 7 [10.1]; 10 [1.1, 1.3, 1.6-13, 1.15]; 11 [2.1-16]; 12 [3.1-16]; 13 [4.1-11]; 14 [1.5, 1.9-10]; 16 [3.3]; 17 [4.6-8, 4.10-11]; 18 [5.4, 5.9]
Minot, Louisa Davis, 4 [4.21]; 10 [1.6-7, 1.14]; 11 [2.1, 2.3]; 15 [2.10, 2.13, 2.16]; 16 [3.1, 3.3, 3.5, 3.7, 3.12-13]
Minot, Robert Sedgwick, 5 [5.17, 5.19-20]; 13 [4.10]
Minot, William (1783-1873), 11 [2.3, 2.6]; 12 [3.14]; 15 [2.13]
Minot, William (1817-1894), 1 [1.22]; 2 [2.9-10, 2.12-14, 2.16, 2.20]; 3 [3.5, 3.15, 3.18, 3.22-23]; 4 [4.2, 4.6, 4.12-13, 4.17-20, 4.22-23]; 5 [5.2-3, 5.8, 5.11-12, 5.15, 5.18]; 6 [6.2]; 10 [1.1, 1.3-5, 1.14-15]; 11 [2.1-2, 2.4-5, 2.7, 2.10, 2.12-16]; 12 [3.1-4, 3.6-8, 3.11-12, 3.14, 3.16]; 13 [4.1-4, 4.8-11]; 17 [4.6]
Minot, William (1849-1900), 4 [4.9]; 5 [5.12]; 12 [3.9]; 13 [4.2, 4.5, 4.8-10]
Mitford, Mary Russell, 10 [1.4, 1.11-13]; 16 [3.11, 3.13-14]; 17 [4.2-3]
Montagu, Anne D. B., 2 [2.4]
Morier, Mrs. James, 2 [2.4]
Murray, Charles A., 2 [2.4, 2.5]
N
Norton, Catherine Eliot, 10 [1.6]
O
Ord, Mr., 2 [2.5]
Ord, Mrs., 2 [2.5]
Osborn, L. T., 16 [3.11]
P
[Parker, Catharine Eliza Pomeroy], 16 [3.13]
Parker, Samuel P., 10 [1.9]
Payne, Eloise R., 1 [1.4]
Peabody, Elizabeth Palmer, 10 [1.11]; 17 [4.3]
Pellico, Silvio, 7 [10.1]
Penington, [Jonathan] (Historical Society of Pennsylvania), 10 [1.15]
Pomeroy, Eliza Sedgwick, 1 [1.1, 1.3, 1.6-7]; 15 [2.7]
Pomeroy, Frances Susan, 11 [2.7]; 14 [1.20]; 16 [3.5, 3.12, 3.14]; 17 [4.2-3, 4.6]
Pomeroy, George Williams, 10 [1.6]
Pomeroy, Mary, 16 [3.13]
Pomeroy, Thaddeus, 1 [1.13-14, 1.16]; 17 [4.1, 4.3]
Porter, Jane, 2 [2.6]
Procter, A. B., 2 [2.5]
Procter, B. W., 2 [2.5]
R
Rackemann, Charles Sedgwick, 10 [1.5]; 13 [4.12]
Rackemann, Elizabeth Sedgwick (Bessie), 2 [2.11, 2.15-16, 2.19-20]; 3 [3.9, 3.22]; 4 [4.14]; 5 [5.6, 5.21]; 10 [1.5, 1.12]; 11 [2.2, 2.4-5]; 12 [3.2, 3.7]; 13 [4.6-7, 4.12]; 14 [1.11]; 17 [4.7, 4.13-14]
Rackemann, Felix, 10 [1.5]
Reed, Thomas C., 4 [4.22]
Reeve, Henry, 2 [2.6]
Robbins, Eliza, 14 [1.21]; 16 [3.10]
Robie, Miss, 16 [3.5]
Rodini, Katharine Sedgwick, 4 [4.23]
Rogers, Emily, 16 [3.3, 3.5, 3.11]
Rogers, J. Smyth, 3 [3.8]
Rogers, Samuel, 7 [10.1]
Rogers, Sarah, 2 [2.5]
Romilly, E., 2 [2.6]
Romilly, J., 2 [2.4]
Romilly, Joseph, 13 [4.4]
Romilly, Mrs. E., 2 [2.6]
Russell, Catharine, 15 [2.8]
Russell, Lucy C., 4 [4.22-23]; 5 [5.7, 5.12, 5.14, 5.16, 5.18-19]; 16 [3.2]
S
St. Leger, Harriet, 2 [2.6-12]; 11 [2.3]
Schlegel, August Wilhelm von, 7 [10.1]
Scott, Sir Walter, 7 [10.1]
Scudder, Horace E., 13 [4.12]
Sedgwick, Adam, 13 [4.4]
Sedgwick, Arthur, 18 [5.5]
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, 1 [1.1-22]; 2 [2.1-24]; 3 [3.1-23]; 4 [4.1-23]; 5 [5.1-21]; 6 [6.1-4, 7.1-8, 8.1-9]; 7 [9.1-4]; 10 [1.1, 1.6-11, 1.13-15]; 11 [2.1, 2.3, 2.5, 2.10, 2.12, 2.16]; 12 [3.1, 3.3, 3.12-16]; 13 [4.1-4, 4.7-11]; 14 [1.1, 1.3-12]; 15 [2.1-16]; 16 [3.2-3, 3.5-14]; 17 [4.1-15]; 18 [5.1-9] [NOTE: Listed here are only letters written by Catharine Maria Sedgwick, not letters she received.]
Sedgwick, Charles (1791-1856), 1 [1.2, 1.4, 1.7-14, 1.18-20, 1.22]; 2 [2.3-4, 2.6-11, 2.13-14, 2.16-17, 2.19-21]; 3 [3.4-5, 3.8-9, 3.11-12, 3.14, 3.18, 3.20, 3.23]; 4 [4.1, 4.5]; 6 [6.1]; 7 [9.1]; 10 [1.4, 1.7-8, 1.11-13, 1.15]; 11 [2.2, 2.5]; 12 [3.4, 3.7, 3.11]; 14 [1.8, 1.21]; 15 [2.6-7, 2.10, 2.12]; 16 [3.11-12]; 17 [4.4, 4.7, 4.9, 4.14]
Sedgwick, Charles (1822-1841), 2 [2.7-8]; 10 [1.14]
Sedgwick, Charles B., 4 [4.20]
Sedgwick, Elizabeth Dwight, 1 [1.6-11]; 2 [2.3, 2.5-10, 2.12-13, 2.16, 2.22]; 3 [3.4, 3.11-12, 3.23]; 6 [6.1, 8.4, 8.9]; 10 [1.6-9, 1.11-13, 1.15]; 11 [2.5, 2.12]; 13 [4.3]; 16 [3.4, 3.13]; 17 [4.3, 4.7, 4.11, 4.13-14]
Sedgwick, Elizabeth Ellery, 2 [2.7-9, 2.14]; 5 [5.14]; 10 [1.1]; 14 [1.1]; 16 [3.2, 3.8, 3.13]; 17 [4.3-6, 4.8-9, 4.12-13]; 18 [5.4-7]
Sedgwick, Emily, 4 [4.21]; 13 [4.5]
Sedgwick, Helen Ellery, 17 [4.12-14]
Sedgwick, Henrietta Ellery (Netta), 14 [1.3, 1.5]; 17 [4.13]; 18 [5.4-9]
Sedgwick, Henry Dwight (Harry) (1785-1831), 14 [1.6, 1.8]; 15 [2.1-13, 2.15-16]; 16 [3.2-3, 3.5, 3.7, 3.9-12]
Sedgwick, Henry Dwight (Hal) (1824-1903), 2 [2.8]; 3 [3.6]; 10 [1.9]; 14 [1.1, 1.5, 1.7, 1.22]; 16 [3.13-14]; 17 [4.1, 4.3, 4.6-7, 4.11-12, 4.14]; 18 [5.4-9]
Sedgwick, Jane Minot (1795-1859), 1 [1.19]; 2 [2.3, 2.6, 2.8-9]; 6 [8.5-6]; 11 [2.1]; 14 [1.1, 1.6, 1.8-10, 1.23-24]; 15 [2.8-16]; 16 [3.1-5, 3.7-14]; 17 [4.1-15]; 18 [5.1-4]
Sedgwick, Jane Minot (1821-1889), 2 [2.8]; 14 [1.10]; 16 [3.12-13]; 17 [4.2, 4.13]; 18 [5.5]
Sedgwick, Jane Minot (Blossom) (1859-1918), 18 [5.9]
Sedgwick, John, 13 [4.4, 4.6]; 15 [2.11]
Sedgwick, Louisa Minot, 14 [1.11]; 17 [4.6]
Sedgwick, Louisa Tellkampf, 5 [5.14, 5.21]; 10 [1.3]; 13 [4.2, 4.7, 4.11]
Sedgwick, Maria Banyer, 2 [2.6]
Sedgwick, Pamela Dwight, 1 [1.1]
Sedgwick, Robert, 1 [1.2-12, 1.15-16]; 2 [2.6-7]; 10 [1.12]; 14 [1.8, 1.10]; 15 [2.1-2, 2.7-8, 2.10-16]; 16 [3.2, 3.8, 3.13]; 17 [4.3-5]
Sedgwick, Sarah Ashburner, 14 [1.10]; 16 [3.10]
Sedgwick, Susan Ridley, 2 [2.11, 2.20]; 13 [4.6]; 14 [1.6]; 15 [2.11]; 16 [3.14]; 17 [4.5]
Sedgwick, Theodore (1746-1813), 1 [1.1-2]; 15 [2.1-5]
Sedgwick, Theodore (1780-1839), 14 [1.10]; 15 [2.1, 2.13, 2.15]; 16 [3.10]; 17 [4.5]
Sedgwick, Theodore (1811-1859), 3 [3.3]; 4 [4.20]; 14 [1.25]; 16 [3.13]; 17 [4.11]
Sedgwick, William Dwight, 11 [2.12]; 12 [3.3, 3.5]; 13 [4.4-5]; 17 [4.7]
Sedgwick, William Ellery, 10 [1.4]; 14 [1.12]; 17 [4.8-15]; 18 [5.1-4]
Sergeant, Clarissa, 15 [2.12]; 17 [4.3]
Sever, Anne, 10 [1.4-5]; 13 [4.11]
Sharpe, Catharine, 2 [2.3]
Siddons, Sarah, 7 [10.1]
Sismondi, Charles L. de, 1 [1.11]
Sismondi, Mrs. Charles L. de, 11 [2.12]
Smith, T., 3 [3.9]
Sparks, Jared, 10 [1.12]
Sprague, Rev., West Springfield, 16 [3.9]
Stevenson, Mrs., 2 [2.4]
Stevenson, S. C., 2 [2.5]
Storrs, James H. (Storrs and Sedgwick law firm), 14 [1.1]; 18 [5.3]
T
Taylor, Katharine (Kate), 10 [1.14]
Tellkampf, A[dolphe], 13 [4.6, 4.10]
Thornden, ___, 11 [2.1]
Tinelli, L., 10 [1.12]
Todd, Eli (Hartford Asylum), 16 [3.11]
Travers, Fanny, 7 [10.1]
Tucker, Mary, 2 [2.6]
Tuckerman, Joseph, 10 [1.11]
Tyler, Moses Coit, 13 [4.12]
V
Valerio, Katherine Sedgwick, 7 [9.1]; 10 [1.4]; 14 [1.26]; 17 [4.14]
W
Wallace, S., 15 [2.7]
Wallenstein, Mr. de, 10 [1.6-7]
Ware, Henry, 10 [1.10]
Ware, William, 10 [1.11-12]
Watson, Ebenezer, 1 [1.1]; 15 [2.5, 2.7]
Watson, Egbert Pomeroy, 5 [5.20]
Watson, Frances Sedgwick, 1 [1.1-7, 1.9-15]; 14 [1.27]; 15 [2.2, 2.7, 2.11]
Watson, Mary Hathaway, 4 [4.22]
Watson, Robert Sedgwick, 1 [1.4, 1.10]; 4 [4.22]; 13 [4.3]
Watson, Theodore, 15 [2.5]
Watts, Frances Sedgwick, 14 [1.10]; 16 [3.14]; 17 [4.1-2]
Webb, Catharine Watson, 1 [1.6-7]
Wedgwood, F. E., 2 [2.5]
Wharton, Arabella, 14 [1.28]
Whittier, John G[reenleaf], 13 [4.11]
Wilcox, H. T. (Nu Pi Kappa, Kenyon College), 10 [1.13]
Wilde, S. S., 12 [3.6]
Williams, E., 10 [1.6]
Williams, J. E., 4 [4.22]
Williams, S. G., 10 [1.5]
Wilson, Ellen, 4 [4.23]
Woodbridge, Miss, 4 [4.23]
Woodward, Samuel Bayard, 17 [4.7]
Preferred Citation
Catharine Maria Sedgwick 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.