Orange Frost Small papers

Collection

Identifier: Coll. 4281

Staff Only

Scope and Content note

This collection documents the life and family of Orange Frost Small. Contents include correspondence, genealogies, institutional records, diaries, personal writings, account books, property and financial records, and photographs. The collection reflects the work, thoughts, health, and relationships of Orange Small, as well as close family and community members, including his son, Robert Orange Small.

Dates

1859 - 2021
Majority of material found within 1859 - 1909

Creator

Small, Orange Frost, 1842-1909 (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

Orange Frost Small (OFS) was born in Letter B, Maine, in 1842, to Joshua Small and Dorothy (Dolly) Maxwell Small. In 1846, the family, which eventually included 11 children, moved to a farm in Andover, Me. OFS attended various area schools and began what would become a lifetime practice of journaling and writing about his life. In 1862, OFS enlisted in the Union Army, joining the 20th Maine Infantry Regiment, Company C, and shipped out to Virginia. By March 1863, he had been medically discharged due to insanity and other ailments and was brought home by his brother Lyman Small.

OFS proceeded to work as a teacher and then a proprietor of a store in Andover. In 1871, he married Mary Moubery of New York City and the two had a son, Robert Orange Small (ROS) in 1872. In 1874, Mary Small and the couple’s infant died in childbirth. In 1875, OFS married Eliza Douglas of Lisbon, Me.

Over the next few years, OFS moved frequently, living in Lisbon, Falmouth, Me., and on a farm in Paris, Me. In May of 1880, OFS was admitted for the first time to the Maine Insane Hospital (now Riverside Psychiatric Center) in Augusta, Me. Soon after his release in 1881, OFS moved to New York City and operated a hardware store in Greenwich Village until 1890. During this time, he and Eliza divorced.

OFS returned to Maine Insane Hospital in late 1890, where he stayed until June 1891. In 1894, OFS married Emily Wilson. In 1897, he was readmitted to Maine Insane Hospital, and was not released until 1901. After his release, he returned to his Paris, Me. farm, where he lived until March 1909, when he was admitted to the asylum for a fourth and final time. He died there on April 8, 1909.

See Orange Frost Small timeline by PMS for more information (Box 1/Folder 1).

Extent

2 Linear Feet (4 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in two series.

1. Correspondence and family papers, 1861-2021
2. Personal records and writings, 1859-1953

Provenance

Gift of Peter Small, December 14, 2021 (acc. no. 2021.158).

Processing note

The collection arrived arranged in titled folders, many of which included numbers associated with an attached index by Peter Small (PMS), the collection donor and great grandson of Orange Frost Small. PMS included research notes, files, and summaries of the collection, its creators and subjects, and specific material. These notes can be found in the collection source files, in Box 1/Folder 1, and filed alongside material throughout the collection as noted in the inventory.

Item arrangement and folder groupings were retained, though material was rehoused in archival enclosures and folder titles were occasionally shortened. Titles and notes on folders were photocopied and filed or transcribed into the inventory, depending on length, and rarely were items combined into single folders. Two series were created by the archivist to ease navigation of the collection by users.