1875-1960
Offsite Storage Inventory
Restrictions on Access
The Elise Cabot Forbes papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the collection.
Abstract
This collection consists of correspondence and diaries kept by Elise Cabot Forbes, 1875-1960.
Biographical Information
The daughter of Walter C. Cabot (1829-1904) and Elizabeth Rogers Mason Cabot (1834-1920), Elise Cabot (1869-1959) married Ralph Emerson Forbes (1866-1937) in January 1901. They had five children: William Hathaway (b. 1902), Ruth (b. 1903), Margaret (b. 1905), David Cabot (b. 1908), and Pauline (b. 1911).
Collection Description
This collection consists primarily of family correspondence and diaries kept by Elise Cabot Forbes. The correspondence relates primarily to the Cabot family, with the bulk of the correspondence between Elise Cabot Forbes and her mother, Elizabeth Rogers Mason Cabot. There is also a long series of correspondence between Elise Cabot Forbes and Ralph Emerson Forbes beginning in 1899 before they were married and ending in February 1937 shortly before his death. There are also two folders of letters from Elise, Robert, and their children to William Cameron Forbes in the Philippines.
Elise Cabot Forbes's diaries date from 1878-1950 (with significant gaps, see box list below). The collection also contains Elise Cabot Forbes's personal account books from 1892-1897 containing accounts kept during a trip to Europe and household expenses, as well as Ralph Emerson Forbes's diary kept in 1892.
Approximately 25 photographs have been removed to the MHS photo archives as the Elise Cabot Forbes family photographs.
Acquisition Information
Deposited by the J. M. Forbes Family Archives Committee, 2002. Ownership will devolve upon the Massachusetts Historical Society on 12 January 2050.
Restrictions on Access
The Elise Cabot Forbes papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
There are restrictions on the use of this collection. Users must sign an agreement stating that they understand these restrictions before they will be given access to the collection.
Restrictions on Use
The papers of Elise Cabot Forbes have been placed on deposit at the Massachusetts Historical Society by the J. M. Forbes Family Archives Committee. The Massachusetts Historical Society does not claim ownership of the literary rights (copyright) to this collection. The Massachusetts Historical Society cannot give permission to publish or quote from documents to which it does not hold copyright. Use of these materials does not imply permission to publish. It is the sole responsibility of the researcher to obtain formal permission from the owners of the literary rights (copyright) to publish or quote from documents in this collection.
All reproductions, including photocopies and digital photographs, are for personal use only. Personal use copies may not be donated to or deposited in other libraries or archives, or made available to other researchers, without the written permission of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Summary Description of the Collection
Family correspondence, 1875-May 1892
Family correspondence, June 1892-1924
Family correspondence, 1925-1960
Elise Cabot Forbes-Ralph Emerson Forbes correspondence, 1899-1937
Letters to William Cameron Forbes, Philippines, 1906-1911, 1951
Miscellaneous notes and writings by various family members
Memoirs and genealogical material
Miscellaneous printed ephemera
Bound volumes: Elise Cabot Forbes diaries, 1878, 1880, 1887-1891, 1903-1905
Bound volumes: Elise Cabot Forbes diaries, 1906, 1910-1913, 1916-1918
Bound volumes: Elise Cabot Forbes diaries, 1920, 1927, 1930-1931, 1933, 1950
Elise Cabot Forbes account books, 1892-1897
Elise Cabot Forbes notebook on health of children, with earlier poetry quotations, 1884-1929
Ralph Emerson Forbes diary, 1892
Preferred Citation
Elise Cabot Forbes papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs have been removed from this collection to the Elise Cabot Forbes photographs, ca. 1865-1937. Photo. Coll. 201.
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.