COLLECTION GUIDES

1524-1999; bulk: 1745-1960

Guide to the Collection

Restrictions on Access

Three cartons of the Saltonstall family 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.


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of the papers of the Saltonstall family of Haverhill, Salem, and Chestnut Hill, Mass., primarily those of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) and Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895). Papers of the Leverett, Cooke, Badger, Sanders, Lawrence, and Brooks families are also represented. Included are family letters; personal papers; business, legal, and financial papers; diaries; and genealogical material.

Biographical Sketches

Below are brief biographical sketches of the Saltonstall family and related families, highlighting the individual members represented most prominently within the collection.

View the Saltonstall family tree.

The Saltonstall Family

Arranged alphabetically.

Mary Cooke Saltonstall Badger (1749-1791) was the daughter of Richard Saltonstall (1703-1756) and Mary Cooke Saltonstall (later Harrod) (1723-1804). She was the sister of Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815) of Haverhill, Mass. and Leverett Saltonstall (1754-1782), a Loyalist, who served in the British army. She married Rev. Moses Badger (1743-1792), a chaplain in the British Navy, in 1771. She fled with her Loyalist husband to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1776, then to New York, Newport, and Providence, Rhode Island, where she died in 1791. She was the mother of Richard Saltonstall Badger, Nathaniel Badger, and George Badger.

Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall (1867-1961) was the daughter of Peter Chardon Brooks (1831-1920) and Sarah Lawrence Brooks (1845-1915). She married Richard Middlecott Saltonstall (1859-1922) in 1891. A founder of the Community Fund and an officer in the American Red Cross, she was appointed a member of the National Women's Committee for Mobilization of Human Needs in 1936. She was the mother of Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979), Eleanor "Nora" Saltonstall (1894-1919), Muriel Gurdon Saltonstall Lewis (1896-1990), and Richard Saltonstall (1897-1979).

Eleanor "Nora" Saltonstall (1894-1919) was born in Chestnut Hill (Brookline), Mass., the daughter of Richard Middlecott Saltonstall (1859-1922) and Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall (1867-1961), and the sister of Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979). She graduated from Miss Winsor's school in 1911 and continued her education at Miss Ferris' School in Paris in 1911-1912. When World War I began, she organized the Active Corps of the Special Aid Society in Boston and earned a First Aid Certificate in June 1917. She served in France with the American Red Cross from 1917 to 1918 during World War I and was awarded the Croix-de-Guerre in 1918. After returning home in March 1919, she went on a camping trip in the western U.S. and contracted typhoid fever, dying in July 1919 at the age of 24.

Endicott Peabody Saltonstall (1872-1922) was the son of Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895) and Rose Lee Saltonstall, and the brother of Richard Middlecott Saltonstall (1859-1922). Earning an A.B. from Harvard College in 1894 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1897, he practiced law in Boston and was appointed district attorney for Middlesex County in 1921-1922. He married Elizabeth Baldwin Dupee in 1898.

Leverett Saltonstall (1754-1782) was the son of Judge Richard Saltonstall (1703-1756) and his third wife Mary Cooke Saltonstall (later Harrod) (1723-1804). Although he had apprenticed to become a merchant in Boston, Saltonstall became a Loyalist and served in the British Army as a 2nd lieutenant in the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fusiliers) under Sir William Howe in 1778. He later served under Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. Saltonstall returned to New York as a parolee after the British surrender in 1781, joining his sister Mary Badger and her family. He died in New York City in 1782 at his sister's home.

Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) was the son of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815) and Anna White (1752- 1841). Graduating from Harvard College in 1802, he practiced law in Salem, Mass. from 1805 until about 1835. He served as a Massachusetts state senator and representative intermittently between 1813-1834 and again in 1844, and served as president of the Massachusetts Senate from 1831 to 1832. The first mayor of Salem, Mass. in 1836-1837, Saltonstall was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Whig, serving from December 1838 to March 1843 (25th-27th Congresses). He was also an overseer of Harvard University from 1835 to 1845. Saltonstall married Mary Elizabeth Sanders (1788-1858), the daughter of Thomas Sanders and Elizabeth Elkins Sanders of Salem. Their children were Anne Elizabeth Saltonstall (1812-1881), Caroline Saltonstall (1815-1883), Lucy Saltonstall [Tuckerman] (1822-1890), and Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895).

Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895) was the son of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) and Mary Elizabeth Sanders Saltonstall (1788-1858). He graduated from Harvard College in 1844 and received his law degree from Harvard in 1847. He practiced law until 1860, when he became active in the Massachusetts Democratic Party, and although he was frequently nominated as a candidate for Congress, he was never elected. In 1876, he was appointed chief Massachusetts commissioner for the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and also helped to oversee the 1876 Florida ballot controversy that arose as part of the Tilden-Hayes presidential election. He was appointed the collector of the port of Boston by Pres. Grover Cleveland in 1885, serving until 1889, and was a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University from 1889 until his death in 1895. Saltonstall married Rose Smith Lee (b. 1835) of Salem in 1854, and they lived in Chestnut Hill (Brookline), Massachusetts. His children were Leverett Saltonstall (1855-1863), Richard Middlecott Saltonstall (1859-1922), Rose Lee Saltonstall [West] (1861-1891), Mary Elizabeth Saltonstall [Shaw] (b. 1862), Philip Leverett Saltonstall (1867-1919), and Endicott Peabody Saltonstall (1872-1922).

Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979) was the son of Richard Middlecott Saltonstall (1859-1922) and Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall (1867-1961). He was a graduate of Harvard College (1914) and Harvard Law School (1917) and served in the U.S. Army from 1917 to 1919. A Republican, he was elected to the Massachusetts Senate from 1922 to 1937, serving as speaker of the House from 1929-1937. Saltonstall was the governor of Massachusetts from 1939 to 1945 and a U.S. Senator from 1945 to 1967, serving as Senate Republican Whip, chair of Senate Republican Conference, and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. Saltonstall married Alice Wesselhoeft (1893-1981) in 1916. His children were Leverett Saltonstall (1917-1966), Rosalie Saltonstall (1919-1920), Emily Saltonstall [Byrd] (1920-2006), Peter Brooks Saltonstall (1921-1944), William Lawrence Saltonstall (1927-2009), and Susan Saltonstall (1930-1994).

Mary (Cooke) Saltonstall (1723-1805) was the daughter of Jane Middlecott and Elisha Cooke, Jr., one of the wealthiest men in Massachusetts. It is Mary, through her father's line, who connected the Saltonstall family to the Leverett family. (Mary's paternal grandmother was Elizabeth Leverett, daughter of Gov. John Leverett.) She married Judge Richard Saltonstall of Haverhill in 1744 as his third wife, and after Saltonstall's death in 1756, married Benjamin Harrod, a Haverhill widower. She was the mother of Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815), with whom she lived in Haverhill, Mass. after Harrod died in 1780; Mary Cooke Saltonstall [Badger] (1749-1791); and Leverett Saltonstall (1754-1782). Both Mary Badger and Leverett were Loyalists who were forced to flee Massachusetts in 1776.

Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815) was the son of Richard Saltonstall (1703-1756) and Mary Cooke Saltonstall (1723-1804) of Haverhill, Mass. A child of 10 when his father died and his mother remarried Benjamin Harrod, he was largely brought up by his uncle Middlecott Cooke of Boston. Saltonstall graduated from Harvard College in 1766 and became a physician, practicing in Haverhill, Bradford, Andover, and Amesbury, Mass. He married Anna White (1752-1841), daughter of Samuel White and Sarah Brown White of Haverhill, in 1780. His children were Mary Cooke Saltonstall [Varnum] (1781-1817), Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), Nathaniel Saltonstall (1784-1838), Anna Saltonstall [Merrill] (1787-1865), Sarah Saltonstall [Howe] (1790-1870), Richard Saltonstall (1794-1834), and Matilda Saltonstall [Howe] (1796-1831).

Nathaniel Saltonstall (1784-1838) was the son of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815) and Anna White Saltonstall (1752-1841), and the brother of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845). He was a merchant in Baltimore and later in Salem, Mass., where he married Caroline Sanders (1793-1882), daughter of Thomas Sanders of Salem and sister of his brother Leverett's wife Mary Elizabeth. Nathaniel was the father of Catherine Pickman Saltonstall [Peirson] (1823-1852), Elizabeth Sanders Saltonstall [Silsbee] (1825-1887), Henry Saltonstall (1828-1894), and William Gurdon Saltonstall (1831-1889).

Richard Middlecott Saltonstall (1859-1922) was the son of Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895) and Rose Smith Lee Saltonstall (b. 1835). A classmate of Theodore Roosevelt, he graduated from Harvard College in 1880. He studied law at Harvard and at the office of William Caleb Loring and was admitted to the bar in 1884. A businessman and investor, Saltonstall was president and director of the E. Howard Clock Company, a trustee of Constitution Wharf Trust, and a director of the Globe Newspaper Co., Boston Storage Warehouse Co., and Boston Safe Deposit and Trust Co. He married Eleanor Brooks (1867-1961), daughter of Sarah Lawrence and Peter Chardon Brooks, in 1891. Their children were Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979), Eleanor "Nora" Saltonstall (1894-1919), Muriel Gurdon Saltonstall [Lewis] (1896-1990), and Richard Saltonstall (1897-1979).

William Gurdon Saltonstall (1831-1899) was the son of Nathaniel Saltonstall (1784-1838) and Caroline Sanders (1793-1882). An East India merchant, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1861-1865 and was the acting master of the Commodore Hull, a ship involved in the North Atlantic blockade of the Confederacy. Saltonstall married Josephine Rose Lee in 1867 and was the father of Robert Saltonstall (1870-1941), Lucy Sanders Saltonstall [Rantoul] (b. 1871), John Lee Saltonstall (1878-1959), and Rosamund Saltonstall [Auchincloss] (b. 1881).

Related Families

Arranged alphabetically.

Peter Chardon Brooks (1831-1920) was the son of Gorham Brooks (1795-1855) and Ellen Shepherd Brooks (1809-1884). He prepared for college under Samuel Eliot, graduating from Harvard in 1852. Holding extensive real estate investments in Massachusetts and Chicago, Illinois, Brooks devoted much of his time to agriculture, art, and travel. He married Sarah Lawrence Brooks (1845-1915), daughter of Amos A. Lawrence (1814-1886) and Sarah Elizabeth Appleton Lawrence (1822-1891), and was the father of Eleanor Brooks [Saltonstall] (1867-1961) and Lawrence Brooks (b. 1868).

Sarah Lawrence Brooks (1845-1915) was the daughter of Sarah Elizabeth Appleton (1822-1891) and Amos Adams Lawrence (1814-1886), an industrialist and leader in the American abolitionist movement. Sarah was an amateur and prolific photographer. She had six siblings, including William Lawrence (1850-1941), who was elected a Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts in 1893. She married Peter Chardon Brooks and was the mother of Eleanor Brooks [Saltonstall] (1867-1961) and Lawrence Brooks (b. 1868).

Elisha Cooke, Jr. (1678-1737) was the son of Elisha Cooke (1637-1715) and Elizabeth Leverett (1651-1715), daughter of Gov. John Leverett. Graduating from Harvard in 1697, Cooke became a physician, a member of the Massachusetts General Court, and served as speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1720. Politically, Cooke was one of the leaders of the party in opposition to the Royal Governor. One of the wealthiest men in the province, Cooke bought up large tracts of timberland in Maine and challenged the Crown's rights to these forests. Cooke married Jane Middlecott (1682 -1743), daughter of Sarah Paine and Richard Middlecott, in 1703. He was the father of Middlecott Cooke (1705-1771) and Mary Cooke [Saltonstall] [Harrod] (1723-1804).

Middlecott Cooke (1705-1771) was the son of Elisha Cooke, Jr. (1678-1737) and Jane Middlecott Cooke (1682-1743), and the brother of Mary Cooke [Saltonstall] [Harrod] (1723-1804). After receiving his Master's degree from Harvard College in 1726, he helped his father manage the family lands in what is now Maine, making several voyages to new settlements there. He also worked as a merchant in the firm of Goldthwaite and Cooke, serving as a clerk in the Suffolk County court and as a Boston selectman. Unmarried and childless, Cooke took in his sister Mary Cooke Saltonstall and her children after the death of Mary's husband, Judge Richard Saltonstall. Upon Cooke's death in 1771, he left his Saltonstall niece and nephews his mansion, stores, warehouses, and ropewalks in Boston, and his land in Massachusetts and Maine.

Mary Cooke Saltonstall Harrod - see Mary Cooke Saltonstall

Gov. John Leverett (1616-1679) was the son of Thomas Leverett, an alderman of Boston, England. He emigrated to the Massachusetts Bay Colony with his parents in 1633, but went back to England in 1644 to fight for Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War. Returning to Massachusetts by 1647, Leverett became active in the colonial militia and served in the General Court. In 1654, Cromwell appointed Leverett the military governor of Acadia (present-day Nova Scotia), a position he held until 1657. Leverett was appointed the Massachusetts Bay Colony agent or representative to England from 1655 to 1662 and served as major-general in the Massachusetts militia from 1663 to 1673 and as governor of Massachusetts from 1673 to his death in 1679. He married Hannah Hudson in 1639, and upon her death married Sarah Sedgwick (1629-1704) in 1647. One of their twelve children, Elizabeth (1651-1715), married Elisha Cooke, Sr., whose granddaughter Mary Cooke married Judge Richard Saltonstall.

John Leverett (1662-1724) was the grandson of Gov. John Leverett (1616-1679) and the son of Hudson and Sarah Payton Leverett. He received his A.B. from Harvard College in 1680 and his A.M. from Harvard in 1683. He served as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1696-1702), speaker of the House (1700-1702), justice of the Superior Court (1702-1708), judge of the Probate Court for Middlesex County (1702-1708), and member of the Provincial Council (1706-1708). He was appointed resident fellow at Harvard under Increase Mather's administration from 1685 to 1697 and became the first secular president of Harvard College in 1708, serving until his death in 1724. He married Margaret Rogers Berry in 1697, and they had nine children, six of whom died in infancy. After Margaret's death in 1720, Leverett married Sarah Crisp Harris.

Elizabeth Elkins Sanders [or Saunders] (1762-1851) was the daughter of Thomas Elkins and Elizabeth White Elkins of Salem. She was an author and social critic, particularly on issues of injustices to Native Americans and wrongs perpetrated by foreign religious missions. She published Conversations, Principally on the Aborigines of North America (Salem, Mass. 1828); First Settlers of New England (Boston, 1829); and Tract of Missions (Salem, 1844), the last when she was 82. She also published numerous essays of literary criticism. She married Thomas Sanders [Saunders] in 1782 and was the mother of Charles Sanders (b. 1783), Catherine Sanders [Pickman] (b. 1784), Mary Elizabeth Sanders [Saltonstall] (1788-1858), Caroline Sanders [Saltonstall] (1793-1882), Lucy Sanders (bapt. 1793), and George Thomas Sanders (b. 1804).

Thomas Sanders [or Saunders] (1753-1844) was the son of Thomas Sanders (1729-1774) and Lucy Smith Sanders of Gloucester, Mass. Although Sanders's family could not afford to give him a college education, he nevertheless became one of wealthiest merchants in Salem, Mass. He married Elizabeth Elkins (1762-1851) of Salem and was the father of Charles Sanders (b. 1783), Catherine Sanders [Pickman] (b. 1784), Mary Elizabeth Sanders [Saltonstall] (1788-1858), Caroline Sanders [Saltonstall] (1793-1882), Lucy Sanders (bapt. 1793), and George Thomas Sanders (b. 1804). His daughter Mary Elizabeth married Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), and his daughter Caroline married Leverett's brother Nathaniel Saltonstall (1784-1838). Sanders built his daughters and their husbands a double house on Chestnut St. in Salem next door to his own.

Arrangement

The collection was originally arranged by the Saltonstall family in several different formats. The largest portion, dating from the mid-18th century, was stored in a series of blue notebooks or "Tengwell volumes" at the Saltonstall's Chestnut Hill (Mass.) home. Other documents in the collection were kept in folios, organized topically by family, country, or individual. Folios dated from the 16th to the 18th century and included papers collected and purchased by the Saltonstalls, as well as those handed down within the family. These formats have been combined in the collection's current arrangement to reflect series and chronological order. The original volume or folio numbers are penciled at the top of each document and have also been retained in the Saltonstall Online Catalog. Lists of the original folios and other inventories can be found in Series VII, Collection History.

A small group of Saltonstall family papers donated by Robert Saltonstall Ward of Cambridge in 1933 has also been incorporated into this collection.

Oversize documents have been removed from the collection and replaced with removal forms. They are housed chronologically in oversize boxes 1-5. For additional information, see Series VIII, Oversize Material.

Other Finding Aids

The Saltonstall Online Catalog contains records describing approximately 3,000 documents in the Saltonstall family papers dating from 1524 to 1880. Records include information on author, recipient, date, and original location of documents, and in some cases include item descriptions and select subjects.

The original paper slips from which the online catalog was created are stored offsite with the MHS Archives (SH 17Y8 9).

Collection Description

Click on the highlighted text to view web presentations of select Saltonstall family documents.

The Saltonstall family papers consist of 47 boxes and 5 oversize boxes of manuscripts and printed material, as well as 22 manuscript and printed volumes. They are arranged in seven series that document the Saltonstall family of Haverhill, Salem, and Chestnut Hill (Brookline), Mass. from the 17th to the 20th century. The bulk of the collection consists of the papers of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), his son Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895), his grandson Richard Middlecott Saltonstall (1859-1922), and their families.

Of particular significance are the papers of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), a Massachusetts state representative and senator, the first mayor of Salem, Mass., and a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives. In addition to his personal and political correspondence, which includes letters from Lewis Cass, Rufus Choate, Caleb Cushing, Edward Everett, Lemuel Shaw, Joseph Story, and Levi Lincoln, Saltonstall's papers contain extensive correspondence with his family when he served in Washington, D.C. These letters vividly describe political and social life at the capital, offering Saltonstall's detailed observations of Washington personalities and events.

The papers of Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895) include business and political correspondence related to his career as a leader of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, commissioner to the Philadelphia Centennial Expedition, and collector of the Port of Boston. Of note are Saltonstall's papers related to the controversy surrounding Florida's electoral votes in the Hayes-Tilden presidential election of 1876. Personal diaries chronicle his journey to Europe and the Middle East in 1847-1849. In addition to family correspondence, a large portion of Saltonstall's personal papers relate to genealogical research and family history.

Family papers form the largest and broadest series in the collection, ranging from 16th-century English deeds to the 1985 correspondence of William L. Saltonstall (1927-2009). Included are the papers of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815) of Haverhill, Mass.; Mary Elizabeth Sanders Saltonstall, wife of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845); Mary's daughters Anne and Caroline Saltonstall; Richard Middlecott Saltonstall and his wife Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall; and other family members. Papers of Saltonstall family ancestors and related families are also represented, including the Leverett, Cooke, Badger, Sanders, Lawrence and Brooks families. Highlights include political and military papers of John Leverett (1616-1679); Middlecott Cooke's diaries describing his 1734 trip to an outpost in Maine; the correspondence of Mary Cooke Saltonstall Harrod with her Loyalist children during and after the Revolutionary War; the 1840-1843 Washington, D.C. diaries of Anne E. Saltonstall; William Gurdon Saltonstall's Civil War reminiscences; and letters to Richard Middlecott Saltonstall from Harvard classmate Theodore Roosevelt. Later family papers relate almost exclusively to family history and genealogy.

Genealogical papers include the research of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895), Richard Middlecott Saltonstall, and numerous professional genealogists. The bulk of genealogical material consists of the correspondence and research of Louise Emerson Carlisle, who worked as an archivist for the family from the 1930s to the 1960s. Carlisle also compiled information on the history of the Saltonstall family's manuscript, portrait, and artifact collections.

Other documents in the collection, not directly related to the Saltonstall family, include a 1694 copy of Charles Morton's "A Logick System"; 1682 papers of Daniel Gookin pertaining to a Natick, Mass. trial of a Native American; and the papers of Boston dentist David K. Hitchcock (1813-1895).

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. George Lewis, Jr., Leverett Saltonstall, Richard Saltonstall, and Mrs. Richard M. Saltonstall, June 1948 and May 1959.

Gift of William L. Saltonstall, July 1991, with later additions.

Gift of Robert Saltonstall Ward, 1933 (previously the Ward-Saltonstall papers, Ms. S-784).

Restrictions on Access

Three cartons of the Saltonstall family 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.

Other Formats

Highlights from the Saltonstall Family Collections is a web presentation containing images and transcriptions of selected documents from the Saltonstall family papers.

Most letters and diaries of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) have been published in The Papers of Leverett Saltonstall 1816-1845, Vols. 1-5, edited by Robert E. Moody, Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1978-1992.

Early papers of the Saltonstall family and related families have been published in The Saltonstall Papers 1607-1815, Vols. 1-2, edited by Robert E. Moody, Boston: Massachusetts Historical Society, 1972-1974.

Digital facsimiles of the William Gurdon Saltonstall autobiography and reminiscences 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

Expand all

I. Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) papers, 1796-1854

This series contains the papers of Leverett Saltonstall of Salem, Mass., who served as a Massachusetts state representative and senator, the first mayor of Salem, and a Whig member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Included are Saltonstall's family, personal, legal, and political correspondence; manuscript drafts of Saltonstall's speeches as a Massachusetts state representative and senator, and as a U.S. representative; a series of personal diaries kept from 1803 to 1814 describing daily activities, current events, and travel; and several bound volumes, including a scrapbook kept by Saltonstall's son that chronicled his father's life.

Close I. Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) papers, 1796-1854

II. Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895) papers, 1836-1895

This series contains the papers of Leverett Saltonstall of Boston and Chestnut Hill (Brookline), Mass., who served as a leader of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, commissioner to the Philadelphia Centennial Expedition, and collector of the Port of Boston. Included are Saltonstall's family, personal, and political correspondence, as well as manuscript drafts of his speeches and essays, including his "Recollections of Chestnut Street" about his youth in Salem, Mass. A series of personal diaries chronicle his journey to Europe and the Middle East in 1847-1849 and later record his political activities and events related to the Civil War. Also in this series are letterbooks containing copies of Saltonstall's personal and professional correspondence, as well as scrapbooks, including one comprised of letters, newspaper clippings, and printed material related to the 1876 controversy surrounding the Hayes-Tilden presidential electors in Florida.

C. Diaries, 1847-1895

Arranged chronologically.

Most of the diaries in this subseries are small, page-a-day-format bound volumes. Saltonstall began keeping a diary during his trip to Europe and the Middle East from 1847-1849 and returned to the practice in 1855 until his death in 1895. The 1847-1849 travel diaries contain details of his journeys to France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Constantinople, Greece, England, and Scotland. Later diaries primarily record daily activities, weather, and occasional current events. Beginning in 1860, Saltonstall mentions details of his political activities, and in 1861 through 1865 he regularly discusses events related to the Civil War. Diaries from 1855 to 1861 also contain newspaper clippings. Diaries from 1847-1849, 1855-1865, and 1881-1884 include transcriptions. There are no diaries for the years 1850-1854, 1864, 1869, and 1885-1889.

Box 18Folder 14

Diary, August-October 1847

Box 18Folder 15

Transcription of August-October 1847 diary

Box 18Folder 16

Diary, October 1847-November 1848

Box 18Folders17-22

Transcription of October 1847-November 1848 diary

Box 19Folder 1

Diary, 1849 (with passport)

Box 19Folders 2-5

Transcription of 1849 diary

Box 19Folder 6

Diary, 1855

Box 19Folders 7-9

Transcription of 1855 diary

Box 19Folder 10

Diary, 1856

Box 19Folder 11

Papers removed from 1856 diary

Box 19Folders 12-14

Transcription of 1856 diary

Box 20Folder 1

Diary, 1857

Box 20Folders 2-4

Transcription of 1857 diary

Box 20Folder 5

Diary, 1858

Box 20Folders 6-8

Transcription of 1858 diary

Box 20Folder 9

Diary, 1859

Box 20Folders 10-12

Transcription of 1859 diary

Box 20Folder 9

Diary, 1860

Box 20Folders 13-15

Transcription of 1860 diary

Box 21Folder 1

Diary, 1861

Box 21Folders 2-4

Transcription of 1861 diary

Box 21Folder 1

Diary, 1862

This diary contains minimal entries.

Box 21Folder 5

Diary, 1863

Box 21Folders 6-8

Transcription of 1863 diary

Box 21Folder 9

Diaries, 1865

Saltonstall kept two diaries in 1865, a page-a-day diary (which has been transcribed) and a smaller pocket diary.

Box 21Folders 10-13

Transcription of 1865 diary

Box 22Folder 1

Diary, 1866

Box 22Folder 1

Diaries, 1867

Saltonstall kept two diaries in 1867, a page-a-day diary and a smaller pocket diary.

Box 22Folder 2

Diary, 1868

Box 22Folder 2

Diary, 1870

Box 22Folder 2

Diary, 1871

Box 22Folder 3

Diary, 1872

Box 22Folder 3

Diary, 1873

Box 22Folder 3

Diary, 1874

Box 22Folder 4

Diary, 1875

Box 22Folder 4

Diary, 1876

Box 22Folder 5

Diary, 1877

Box 22Folder 5

Diary, 1878

Box 22Folder 6

Diary, 1879

Box 22Folder 6

Diary, 1880

Box 22Folder 7

Diary, 1881

Box 22Folder 7

Diary, 1882

Box 22Folder 8

Transcriptions of 1881 and 1882 diaries

Box 23Folder 1

Diary, 1883

Box 23Folder 1

Diary, 1884

Box 23Folder 2

Papers removed from 1883 and 1884 diaries

Box 23Folder 3

Louise Carlisle's notes and transcription of 1883 diary

Box 23Folders 4-5

Transcriptions of 1883 and 1884 diaries

Box 23Folder 6

Diary, 1890

Box 23Folder 6

Diary, 1891

Box 23Folder 7

Diary, 1892

Box 23Folder 7

Diary, 1893

Box 23Folder 8

Diary, 1894

Box 23Folder 8

Diary, 1895

Close II. Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895) papers, 1836-1895

III. Family papers, 1524-1985

This series contains the correspondence and papers of the Saltonstall family of Haverhill, Salem, and Chestnut Hill (Brookline), Mass., including Haverhill physician Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815), his mother Mary Cooke Saltonstall Harrod, and his Loyalist brother Leverett Saltonstall (1754-1782). Also here are the papers of Mary Elizabeth Sanders Saltonstall, the wife of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845); Mary's daughters Anne and Caroline Saltonstall; and other family members. The series also contains the papers of numerous Saltonstall ancestors and related families, including members of the Leverett, Cooke, and Sanders (Saunders) families, as well as several 16th- and 17th-century deeds and papers related to the Saltonstalls that were collected by family members.

Later family papers include those of Richard Middlecott Saltonstall, his wife Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall, and their children Eleanor "Nora" and Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979). The bulk of the correspondence of Richard, his wife, and his son Leverett relates to family history and genealogy and includes extensive correspondence with family archivist Louise Emerson Carlisle. Also in this series is the correspondence of the Lawrence family, primarily that of Sarah Lawrence Brooks to her parents and brother, and the Civil War papers of William Gurdon Saltonstall, including photocopies of the letterbook of the U.S.S. Commodore Hull, photocopies of letters to his mother, and his 1886 Civil War reminiscences.

Diaries in this series include Gurdon Saltonstall's 1745 journal of a surveying trip to Long Island, New York; the 1840-1843 diaries of Anne E. Saltonstall describing the political and social scene of Washington, D.C.; and Endicott P. Saltonstall's yearly diaries kept from 1898 to 1922. Bound volumes include the 1682-1685 court records of Judge Nathaniel Saltonstall (1639?-1707), the estate records of Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815) and Thomas Sanders, the 1876-1882 Harvard scrapbook of Richard M. Saltonstall, and the ca. 1911 library catalog of Endicott P. Saltonstall.

View the Saltonstall family tree.

A. Family notebook and folio collections, 1524-1880

Arranged chronologically.

This subseries contains early Saltonstall family papers that were collected primarily by Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), his son Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895), and his grandson Richard Middlecott Saltonstall, who organized them into a series of notebooks and folios. It includes 16th- and 17th-century English deeds related to lands held by the Saltonstall family or their ancestors, as well as papers of Saltonstall ancestors in the Leverett, Cooke, and Sanders families. Among these are the military and political papers of John Leverett (1616-1679), who fought for Oliver Cromwell in the English Civil War and served as governor of Acadia (now Nova Scotia) and later as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. View the web presentation of a selection of John Leverett's military papers. Papers of John Leverett (1662-1724), grandson of Gov. John Leverett and president of Harvard College, are also found here.

Papers of other Saltonstall family ancestors include those of the Cooke family, primarily Elisha Cooke, Jr. (1678-1737), speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and a political populist, as well as his son, merchant Middlecott Cooke. View the web presentation of Middlecott Cooke's journal and letters to his father about his journey to new settlements in Maine. The correspondence of Elisha's daughter, Mary Cooke Saltonstall Harrod, with her Loyalist children Leverett Saltonstall (1754-1782) and Mary Saltonstall Badger during and after the Revolutionary War is also part of this subseries. View the web presentation of a selection of Mary Cooke Saltonstall Harrod's correspondence.

Also found here are the papers of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall (1746-1815) of Haverhill, Mass., including correspondence with Gen. Henry Knox concerning an investment in Maine lands; the papers of Nathaniel Saltonstall (1784-1838), son of Dr. Nathaniel Saltonstall; the family correspondence of Mary Elizabeth Sanders Saltonstall, wife of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845); the papers of Mary's parents, Thomas and Elizabeth Elkins Sanders; and those of her brother, Charles Sanders. The correspondence of Anne Elizabeth and Caroline Saltonstall, daughters of Mary Elizabeth and Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845), is also found here.

Early documents (1524-1603) include transcriptions.

To search for specific correspondents, locations, dates, or keywords in this subseries, see the Saltonstall Online Catalog.

Box 24

1524-1735

Box 25

1736-1816

Box 26Folders 1-5

1817-1837

Box 26Folders 6-12

Nathaniel Saltonstall estate settlement papers, 1838-1839

Box 26Folders 13-22

1838-1844

Box 26Folders 23-31

Thomas Saunders estate settlement papers, 1844-1845

Box 27

1845-1880

E. William Gurdon Saltonstall papers, 1862-1886

Arranged chronologically and by record type.

The papers of William Gurdon Saltonstall (1831-1889) include photocopies of the letterbook of the U.S.S. Commodore Hull, of which Saltonstall served as acting master commander during the siege of Washington, North Carolina in April 1863. Also in this series are photocopies of Saltonstall's letters to his mother Caroline Sanders Saltonstall, which describe his military experiences in great detail. The original letterbook and letters are held by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass.

Drafts of Saltonstall's autobiography and Civil War reminiscences are written in pencil, or typed, with handwritten additions.

Box 37Folders 1-2

Letterbook, U.S.S. Commodore Hull, 1862-1865

Photocopies; originals are at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Box 37Folders 3-6

Letters to Caroline Sanders Saltonstall, 1863-1865

Photocopies; originals are at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Box 37Folders 7-9

Autobiography (manuscript), 1886

Digital facsimiles of the William Gurdon Saltonstall autobiography 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.

Box 37Folders 10-12

Civil War reminiscences (typescript), 1886

Digital facsimiles of the William Gurdon Saltonstall reminiscences 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.

Close III. Family papers, 1524-1985

IV. Family history and genealogy, ca. 1750-1998

This series consists of the family history and genealogy researched and collected by various members of the Saltonstall family, beginning with the research of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) in preparation for his historical sketch of Haverhill, Mass. Other genealogical information was compiled and commissioned by Leverett's children Caroline Saltonstall (1815-1883) and Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895), including that of professional genealogists H. B. Somersby, who researched the family's British ancestry, and George Phippen, who researched the descendants of Sir Richard Saltonstall in England and the United States. A large portion of this series relates to the publication of Leverett Saltonstall's Ancestry and Descendants of Sir Richard Saltonstall, including research, drafts, proof sheets, publication expenses, a distribution list, and additions and corrections made after Saltonstall's death. Research of genealogist J. Gardner Bartlett, hired by Leverett's son Richard Middlecott Saltonstall to make corrections to his father's work, is also found here.

Also in this series are the research notes of Louise Emerson Carlisle, the Saltonstall family archivist who studied and arranged the family papers for Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall and her son Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979). Other genealogical information includes a 1930 article by Robert Saltonstall Miller; a scrapbook related to the Saltonstall family homestead in Haverhill, Mass.; a personal memoir by Robert Saltonstall describing a family reunion in England in 1986; a scrapbook related to the Saltonstall family and their history in Salem, Mass.; and genealogical material related to the Brooks, Mickle, and Cabot-Orne families. In addition, miscellaneous undated notes, memos, and pedigrees compiled by Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895) and his children are also located here.

View the Saltonstall family tree.

Close IV. Family history and genealogy, ca. 1750-1998

V. Printed material, 1830-1999

This series contains the printed speeches and memorials of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845) and his son Leverett Saltonstall (1825-1895), printed genealogical material related to the Saltonstall family, and other miscellaneous printed records. See also the oversized scrapbook in Series VIII, Oversize Material.

Close V. Printed material, 1830-1999

VI. Unrelated papers, 1669-1907

Arranged chronologically.

This series contains documents that have an undetermined or questionable connection to the Saltonstall family. Some of the documents may have belonged to an unidentified family member, some may have been collected for historic interest, and others appear to have been given as gifts to Sen. Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979) by constituents and friends.

Close VI. Unrelated papers, 1669-1907

VII. Collection history, ca. 1900-1979

Lists and notes in this series were largely compiled by Louise Emerson Carlisle, assistant to Eleanor Brooks Saltonstall and later Sen. Leverett Saltonstall (1892-1979). Also in the series is correspondence related to the ca. 1704 Leverett quilt.

Close VII. Collection history, ca. 1900-1979

Preferred Citation

Saltonstall 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:

Brooks family.
Brooks, Peter Chardon, 1767-1849.
Cass, Lewis, 1782-1866.
Choate, Rufus, 1799-1859.
Cushing, Caleb, 1800-1879.
Everett, Edward, 1794-1865.
Gorham, John, 1783-1829.
King, Daniel Putnam, 1801-1850.
Lee family.
Lincoln, Levi, 1782-1868.
Minot, William, 1783-1873.
Prescott, William, 1762-1844.
Quincy, Josiah, 1772-1864.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
Saltonstall, Eleanor, 1894-1919.
Saltonstall, Endicott Peabody, 1872-1922.
Saltonstall family.
Saltonstall, Gurdon, 1666-1724.
Saltonstall, Leverett, 1783-1845.
Saltonstall, Leverett, 1825-1895.
Saltonstall, Leverett, 1892-1979.
Saltonstall, Mary Elizabeth Sanders, 1788-1858.
Saltonstall, Nathaniel, 1746-1815.
Saltonstall, Richard, 1610-1694.
Saltonstall, Richard, 1794-1836.
Saltonstall, Richard Middlecott, 1859-1922.
Saltonstall, William Gurdon, 1831-1889.
Shaw, Lemuel, 1781-1861.
Story, Joseph, 1779-1845.
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852.
Winthrop, Robert Charles, 1809-1894.

Organizations:

Commodore Hull (Schooner).
Connecticut--Governor (1708-1724: Saltonstall).
Harvard College (1636-1780)--Class of 1766.
Harvard College (1780- )--Class of 1802.
Harvard College (1780- )--Class of 1844.
Harvard College (1780- )--Class of 1880.
Harvard College (1780- )--Class of 1914.
Harvard University--Board of Overseers.
Harvard University--Students.
Massachusetts--General Court--House of Representatives.
Massachusetts--General Court--Senate.
Phillips Exeter Academy.
United States--Collector of Customs (Boston, Mass.).
United States--Congress--House.
United States--Navy--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.

Subjects:

Decedents' estates--Massachusetts.
Democratic Party (Mass.).
Democratic Party (U.S.).
Family history--1700-1749.
Family history--1750-1799.
Family history--1800-1849.
Family history--1850-1899.
Family history--1900-1949.
Family history--1950-1999.
Genealogy.
Lawyers--Massachusetts--Salem.
Massachusetts--Politics and government.
Mayors--Massachusetts--Salem.
Physicians--Massachusetts--Haverhill.
Politicians--Massachusetts.
Politicians--United States.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Blockades.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Naval operations.
United States--Politics and government.

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