Wadsworth family correspondence

Collection

Identifier: Coll. 16

Staff Only

Scope and Content note

Letters, mainly to Charles Wadsworth, a farmer in Hiram, Maine, from various members of the family concerning family matters, management of the farm, and selling and procuring of livestock and products. Some letters are from Peleg Wadsworth, U.S. representative from Massachusetts, and founder of the family country estate in Hiram. Other correspondents include John Wadsworth and Zilpah Wadsworth.

Dates

Creation: 1752 - 1921

Creator

Wadsworth family (Family)

Access

Unrestricted

Copyright

Access to collections at Maine Historical Society is not an authorization to publish. Rights and reproduction requests may be submitted in writing to the MHS Image Services Coordinator or Research & Administrative Librarian, subject to format.

Biographical note

In 1784, Peleg and Elizabeth Bartlett Wadsworth, the maternal grandparents of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, arrived in Falmouth, Maine, which was soon to be renamed Portland. Falmouth had been bombarded and burned by the British in 1775, but was being rebuilt from the ruins. Peleg, commanding general of American forces in Massachusetts's District of Maine during the war, had been wounded, taken prisoner, escaped, and continued the fight against British encroachment on the northeastern frontier. After the war, he, like so many other veterans, saw the opportunity for a new, prosperous life in Maine. In 1785 he began building in the promising seaport. The house was completed in 1786. Peleg and Elizabeth moved to the new house with their six children: Charles, Zilpah (mother of the poet), Elizabeth, John, Lucia, and Henry (called Harry). Four more Wadsworth children were born there: George, Alexander, Samuel, and Peleg Jr. Zilpah married Stephen Longfellow, a lawyer. They had several children, including the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Source: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow website, Maine Historical Society

Extent

0.75 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Provenance

Gift of original letters of General Peleg Wadsworth was given in 1961, and the last will and testament of Peleg Wadsworth (photocopy) was given in 1964. No donor names were recorded (acc. nos. 2884*, MS 153, MS 220).