Asa Smith correspondence

Collection

Identifier: Coll. 4226

Staff Only

Scope and Content note

The collection consists primarily of correspondence, financial invoices and papers, and a handful of legal documents. Represented in this material are Smith’s various business, political, and community ventures, including records of his store stock, supplies required to care for his family and animals, building ventures, and timber and railroad papers. Efforts to build and maintain the community are evident in papers regarding the military road, the Mattawamkeag bridge, and the local schools, as well as lists of Democratic voters and correspondence with and regarding the area’s political concerns. The material is arranged chronologically, except for two folders of legal records placed at the end.

Dates

1832 - 1863

Creator

Smith, Asa Edward, 1798-1880 (Person)

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

Asa Smith (1798-1880) was born near Auburn, Maine, into an agricultural family. In the 1820s, he moved to the Penobscot region and eventually settled in Mattawamkeag with his wife, Louisa Haynes, and their children. Smith was engaged in a variety of trades: he farmed, ran a store and boarding house, traded farm animals and grain, served as plantation clerk and postmaster for the town, and was a representative in both houses of the Maine state legislature (House 1843 and 1854-1855; Senate 1846-1847). He served as a director for two early regional railroads, the Old Town and Lincoln and the Western and Lincoln, and was Justice of the Peace and Quorum for a time. Additionally, he was involved in the Independent Order of Odd Fellows as a supervisor of District 12 for Maine.

Extent

1 Linear Feet (2 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Provenance

Gift of E. Christopher Livesay, June 20 and June 27, 2022 (acc. no. 2023.021).

Related Materials

The Maine Historical Society also holds the following relevant collections:

Asa Smith papers, Coll. 392
Asa Smith letters, Coll. 1004

Processing note

E. Christopher Livesay gifted these papers to MHS as part of a larger donation of material compiled over decades as a collector of Maine-related manuscripts and books. All of the material from the donation shares accession number 2023.021.

This collection arrived described and inventoried, and the material was arranged in chronological order. This order has been largely maintained, though folders were combined when appropriate. Items were rehoused and the material was processed as an individual collection.