Doe Family Letters

Collection

Identifier: MSN/EA 5035

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection includes 13 items, primarily travel letters from Charles C. Doe to his parents (nine letters). There are two letters from Charles C. Doe to his older brother Ebenezer Ricker Doe in Boston and one to his sister Susan Doe also in Boston. The final letter is from the brother Bodwell Doe to his parents after Charles has left Janesville, Wisconsin.

Dates

Creation: 1842-1850
Creation: Majority of material found within ( 1849-1850)

Creator

Doe, Charles C. (Charles Cogswell), 1830-1896 (Person)
Doe, Joseph Bodwell, 1818-1890 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Biographical / Historical

The writer of the majority of the letters in this small collection is Charles Cogswell Doe (1830-1896), the son of Joseph Doe, Jr. and Mary Bodwell Ricker. On the paternal side Charles's ancestors lived in New Hampshire from at least 1663. He received a good education and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1849. Most of the letters were written in 1849 when Charles took a trip to Janesville, Wisconsin to visit his older brother, Bodwell Doe. Janesville was founded in 1835 in southern Wisconsin along the Rock River where early settlers established farms, primarily to grow wheat. After this trip west at the age of nineteen, Charles entered the law office of Daniel M. Christie in Dover, New Hampshire, and spent some time in Harvard Law School. He was admitted to the New Hampshire bar in 1852, and at the age of 29 became an associate justice in the state of New Hampshire and later the chief justice in that state.

Extent

.13 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

A group of 13 manuscript letters, mostly written by Charles C. Doe to his parents. The letters, for the most part, describe a trip from New Hampshire to Janesville, Wisconsin.

Arrangement

The collection consists of one series; materials are arranged chronologically, one item per folder.

Related Materials

The majority of Charles C. Doe's letters and papers reside in the New Hampshire Historical Society. The most extensive discussion of Doe's life and work is John Phillip Reid's book: Chief Justice: the Judicial World of Charles Doe (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1967).