COLLECTION GUIDES

1805-1958

Guide to the Collection


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of the papers, primarily correspondence, of the interrelated Bowen, Langdon, Schroeder, Stone, and Stout families.

Biographical Sketches

Bowen Family

Charles Bowen (1747-1809) of Northfield, Massachusetts, married in 1775 Dinah Field (1745-1835) and had four children: Lucy, James, Charles, and Fanny. Their son Charles Bowen (1787-1874), then of Middlebury, Vermont, married in 1813 Esther Smith Houghton (1794-1868) and had 14 children, some of whom moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Their daughter Lucy Pomeroy Bowen (1814-1873) married James Robbins Langdon in 1836.

Langdon Family

Stephen Robbins (1758-1847) of Lexington, Massachusetts, married in 1779 Abigail Winship (1759-1850), and their daughter was Abigail "Nabby" Robbins (1783-1842). In 1809, she married Col. James Hooker Langdon (1783-1831) of Montpelier, Vermont, and had a son James Robbins Langdon (1813-1895), who married Lucy Pomeroy Bowen. Their daughter was Lucy Langdon (1841-1921), who married Francis Schroeder in 1868.

Schroeder Family

Henry Schroeder, Jr. (1787-1870) of Baltimore, Maryland, and Newport, Rhode Island, married in 1809 Henrietta Maria Ghequiere (1787-1871). They had three children: Henry Alfred (1810-1892), Susan Harriet (1812-1846), and Charles Francis (1814-1886), known as Francis. Henry Alfred Schroeder married in 1845 Martha Vincent Schuyler (1816-1878) and had three children: Henry Alfred (1846-1852), Gilliat (1847-1914), and William Francis (1848-1918). Susan Harriet Schroeder married in 1831 John Henry Gilliat (1807-1873) and had ten children. Francis Schroeder married Caroline Seaton in 1847 and had two children; their son Seaton (1849-1925) married Maria Campbell Bache Wainwright (1856-1925) and had five children. Francis Schroeder then married Lucy Langdon in 1868. They had four children together: James Langdon (1869-1949), Lucy (1870-1948), Henrietta Maria (1875-1942), and Henry (1879-1952). Henrietta Maria Schroeder married Charles H. Stout in 1899.

Stone Family

Ellen A. Robbins (1817-1890) of Lexington, Massachusetts, married Abner Stone (1812-1872) in 1853. Stone was originally of Lexington, but lived in St. Louis, Missouri, for many years. The couple had two daughters: Ellen A. in 1854 and Mary R. in 1860. In 1859, the family returned to Lexington.

Stout Family

Francis Secor married Hannah Carpenter and had a daughter Sarah Ann Secor (1814-1875). In 1831, she married John G. Merrell (1806-1872). Their daughter Honora Frances Merrell (b. 1836) married Charles Stout (1815-1889). Their son Charles Herman Stout (1864-1925) lived in Baltimore, Maryland, and married Henrietta Maria Schroeder, with whom he had one child, Merrell Langdon Stout (1903-1964). He married in 1929 Helen Scarlett (b. 1903) and had two children: Charles Langdon Stout (b. 1931) and Merrell Langdon Stout, Jr. (b. 1936).

Collection Description

This collection consists of the papers, primarily correspondence, of the interrelated Bowen, Langdon, Schroeder, Stone, and Stout families. Also included are diaries, commonplace-books, cookbooks, genealogical material, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks. Principal correspondents include James R. Langdon, Lucy P. Bowen, Lucy Langdon, Francis Schroeder, Henrietta Maria Schroeder Stout, Ellen A. Stone, and Merrell Langdon Stout, Jr.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Merril Stout, December 1985.

Detailed Description of the Collection

I. Family papers, 1805-1958

Arranged alphabetically by family.

A. Bowen family papers, 1810-1872

Included is correspondence between Bowen family members and correspondence of the Dickinson, Field, Heaton, and Houghton families. Box 3 contains typed transcripts of Dinah (Field) Bowen letters and other Bowen family correspondence.

See also I.B. Langdon family papers and I.C. Schroeder family papers.

Box 1

Bowen family correspondence, 1811-1833

Box 2

Bowen family correspondence, 1834-1868

Box 3Folder 1-3

Bowen family transcribed correspondence, 1810-1860

Box 3Folder 4-6

Bowen family miscellaneous papers, 1853-1872

B. Langdon family papers, 1805-1873

Included is correspondence between James R. Langdon and Lucy P. Bowen (Box 3), Robbins family correspondence (Box 4), and a commonplace-book and funeral sermon of Lucy P. (Bowen) Langdon (Box 4).

See also I.C. Schroeder family papers.

Box 3Folder 7-16

Langdon/Bowen family correspondence, 1835-1836

Box 4Folder 1-24

Langdon family correspondence, 1805-1868

Box 4Folder 25-27

Langdon family miscellaneous papers, undated, 1873

C. Schroeder family papers, 1840-1925

Included is correspondence between Francis Schroeder and Lucy Langdon (Box 5), Francis and Lucy (Langdon) Schroeder and Langdon family members (Box 6), Lucy and the Bowen family (Box 8), and Francis and Lucy with Louisa (Fenwick) Hall, Francis's cousin (Box 8). Box 9 contains correspondence between Schroeder family members and cousins in Baltimore, Maryland. Among the correspondents are members of the Hobson family, Carrie Kimball, the Gilliat family, and many others.

Box 9 also contains school papers of Lucy Langdon. Box 10 includes an autobiography of Henry Schroeder (b. 1764), a biography of Francis Schroeder discussing his education at the Round Hill School and his relationship with Dr. Joseph Cogswell, an autograph album of Henrietta Maria Schroeder, and a commonplace-book and recipe book of Lucy L. Schroeder.

Box 11 contains four diaries kept by Henrietta Maria Schroeder, 1889-1890 and 1897-1903. Diaries kept as an adolescent describe travel through Europe, cultural institutions visited, social engagements with family and friends, and daily activities. Schroeder also used the diaries as scrapbooks which include photographs, menus, postcards, and drawings, among other things. Other diaries describe travel through the United States, social engagements in Newport, Rhode Island, and her courtship and marriage to Charles Herman Stout.

Box 5Folder 1-17

Schroeder family correspondence, 1868-1913

Box 5Folder 18-24

Schroeder/Langdon family correspondence, 1867

Box 6

Schroeder/Langdon family correspondence, 1868-1876

Box 7

Schroeder/Langdon family correspondence, 1877-1895

Box 8Folder 1-7

Schroeder/Bowen family correspondence, 1855-1913

Box 8Folder 8-19

Schroeder/Hall family correspondence, 1840-1895

Box 9Folder 1-11

Schroeder family miscellaneous correspondence, 1859-1912

Box 9Folder 12-18

Schroeder family miscellaneous papers, 1844-1925

Schroeder family volumes

Box 10Folder 1

Henrietta M. Schroeder autograph album, 1898-1901

Box 10Folder 2

Henry Schroeder autobiography, undated

Box 10Folder 3

Biography of Francis Schroeder by Lucy L. Schroeder, undated

Box 10Folder 4

Lucy L. Schroeder commonplace-book, undated

Box 10Folder 5

Lucy L. Schroeder recipe book, ca. 1890

Box 11Folder 1

Henrietta M. Schroeder diary, 1889

Box 11Folder 2

Henrietta M. Schroeder diary, 1889-1890

Box 11Folder 3

Henrietta M. Schroeder diary, 1897

Box 11Folder 4

Henrietta M. Schroeder diary, 1897-1903

D. Stone family papers, 1841-1918

Stone family correspondence includes letters to and from Ellen A. (Robbins) Stone, Ellen A. Stone, and Mary R. Stone.

Box 12Folder 1-21

Stone family correspondence, 1841-1918

Box 12Folder 22

Stone family miscellaneous papers, undated, 1855-1907

E. Stout family papers, 1825-1958

Stout family correspondence consists primarily of letters of Merrell Langdon Stout, Jr. Also included are cookbooks and commonplace-books of Stout ancestors John G. Merrell and Sarah Ann (Secor) Merrell; a complete inventory of the Stout residence "Charlecote" in 1907; a guest book, dinner record, and wedding book of Merrell and Helen (Scarlett) Stout; newspaper clippings about Stout family members; Red Cross certificates of Helen (Scarlett) Stout; and genealogical information on the Stout family (including the Merrell, Secor, and Carpenter families) with a pedigree of Charles H. Stout.

Box 13Folder 1-6

Stout family correspondence, 1841-1958

Stout family volumes

Box 13Folder 7

Inventory of "Charlecote," Short Hills, New Jersey, 1907

Box 13Folder 8

Charles H. Stout bank book, 1906

Box 13Folder 9

Henrietta M. Schroeder Stout cookbook, ca. 1903-1905

Box 13Folder 10

John G. Merrell commonplace-book, 1825

Box 13Folder 11

John G. Merrell commonplace-book, 1840

Box 13Folder 12

Sarah Ann Secor Merrell commonplace-book, 1830s-1840s

Box 14Folder 1

Sarah Ann Secor Merrell commonplace-book, 1827-1828

Box 14Folder 2

Charles H. and Henrietta M. Stout guest book, 1903-1924

Box 14Folder 3

[Charles H. and Henrietta M. Stout] dinner record book, 1900-1915

Box 14Folder 4

[Charles H. and Henrietta M. Stout] inventory of silver, undated

Box 19

Charles H. and Henrietta M. Stout scrapbook, 1887-1903

Box 14Folder 5

Unidentified story, undated

Box 14Folder 6

Merrell L. and Helen Scarlett Stout wedding book, 1929

Box 14Folder 7

Unidentified recipe book, undated

Box 15

Stout family miscellaneous papers, 1886-1954

II. Genealogical material, 1895-1983

Included is correspondence, 1895-1941; Schroeder family vital statistics; Forrester records; notes on the Bowen, Ghequiere, Houghton, Langdon, Robbins, and Schroeder families; the pedigree of Lucy (Langdon) Schroeder; Barcley and Terry family histories; and a printed Schroeder genealogy.

Box 16

Miscellaneous genealogical papers, 1895-1941, undated

Box 17

Hermann Heinrich Schröder 1764-1839: The Bicentennial Celebration of his Arrival in America (Baltimore: Schroeder Bicentennial Fund, 1983)

Box 18

Unidentified World War I scrapbook, 1917-1919

III. Oversize material, 1889-1953

Included are certificates; a map of Gibson Island, Maryland; World War II clippings; a scrapbook of Henrietta M. Schroeder Stout containing memorabilia from a European trip; and a scrapbook of Charles H. Stout containing photographs and memorabilia of clubs and organizations.

OS BoxFolder 1

Miscellaneous oversize certificates and map of Gibson Island, 1927-1953

OS BoxFolder 2

World War II newspaper clippings, 1939-1945

OS Vol. 1

Henrietta M. Schroeder Stout European travel scrapbook, 1889-1890

OS Vol. 2

Charles H. Stout clubs and organizations scrapbook

Preferred Citation

Stout 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:

Bowen family.
Bowen, Lucy Pomeroy, 1814-1873.
Langdon family.
Langdon, James Robbins, 1813-1895.
Langdon, Lucy, 1841-1921.
Schroeder family.
Schroeder, Francis, 1847-
Stone, Ellen A.
Stone family.
Stout, Charles Herman, 1864-1925.
Stout, Henrietta Maria Schroeder, 1875-1942.
Stout, Merrell Langdon, Jr., 1936-

Subjects:

Cookbooks.
Cooking, American.
Diaries--1889.
Diaries--1890.
Diaries--1897.
Diaries--1898.
Diaries--1899.
Diaries--1900.
Diaries--1903.
Europe--Description and travel--1800-1918.
Family history--1800-1849.
Family history--1850-1899.
Family history--1900-1949.
Family history--1950-1999.
Newport (R.I.)--Description and travel.
Newport (R.I.)--Social life and customs.
Scrapbooks--1889-1903.
Teenagers--Diaries.
United States--Description and travel.
Voyages and travels--Diaries.
Weddings.
Women's commonplace-books.
Women's diaries.
Young women--Diaries.

Materials Removed from the Collection

Photographs from this collection have been removed to Stout family photographs (Photo. Coll. 63). Engraved printing plates for calling cards have been removed to the MHS Artifacts Collection.