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Jennie Earl and Elizabeth S.C. [Crittenden] correspondence

 Collection
Call Number: RH MS P285

Overview

This collection of letters was apparently written by two sisters living in Lawrence from 1859 to sometime after 1863. The letters are written to their mother and brother who lived in Westinfield, Connecticut, and concern events in Lawrence prior to and during the Civil War.

Dates

  • Creation: 1859-186-?

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent on the physical condition of manuscript materials.

Biographies of Jennie and Elizabeth Crittenden

Elizabeth Crittenden was born in Connecticut around 1825. In November 1854, she and her younger sister Jennie Crittenden left Wethersfield, Connecticut, and headed west to Kansas. They came as part of the 6th contingent of the Emigrant Aid Company, an organization dedicated to sending citizens with anti-slavery sentiments to the new Kansas Territory to ensure that it would not be admitted as a slave state. Elizabeth's husband, Anson H. Mallory, had left with the first Company party in July and was waiting for the sisters in Lawrence.

Jennie married George F. Earl in 1857. Earl had also come to Lawrence as a member of the Emigrant Aid Company, and he served as a Captain in Kansas Company A during the Civil War.

By the summer of 1863, Elizabeth had been abandoned by her husband Anson and recently granted a divorce. She resumed using her maiden name and signed her letters "ESC."

Extent

1 folder (+ 1 oversize folder (32 items))

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

The letters are arranged chronologically. Two letters dated 1859 and 1881 from two different attorney's are filed together, separate from the main body of correspondence.

Physical Location

RH MS P285

Physical Location

RH MS Q70

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, James Helms, 1976

Title
Guide to the Jennie L. and Elizabeth S.C. Earl Correspondence
Subtitle
Jennie Earl and Elizabeth S.C. correspondence
Author
Finding aid prepared by lgg, 1976; sfw, 1985; revised by, cl 2010. Finding aid encoded by skt, 2006
Date
2006
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in<language encodinganalog="language">English.</language>
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/2798634829
Preferred citation
Jennie L. Earl and Elizabeth S.C. [Crittenden] correspondence, Kansas Collection, RH MS P285, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334