3. Provenance 4. Inventory 5. Subjects |
George P. Wetmore Papers Politician, Newport, R.I. Papers, 1846-1956. Bulk, 1880-1921 Size: 8 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 798 Processed by: Nathaniel N. Shipton, ca. 1970 Finding aid by Rick Stattler, September 1996 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
George Peabody Wetmore (1846-1921) served as governor of Rhode Island, 1885-1887, and as U.S. Senator, 1894-1912. He was a resident of Newport, and was active in Republican Party politics throughout his adult life.
Scope and content:
The bulk of this collection consists of correspondence dated 1880 to 1921; there are also scrapbooks and other papers. A complete list of correspondents before 1900, arranged chronologically, can be found in the inventory. Correspondence after 1900 has not yet been listed. There is very little official correspondence in this collection. Most relates to political campaigning, genealogy, charitable activities, and other personal matters. A phenomenal 21 letters from a Stephen S. Vars of Newport, dated 1883 to 1887, ask for loans and promise to repay soon. A run of correspondence from 1894 to 1899 relates to a hospital being built in Newport.
Prominent correspondents include:
Aldrich, Nelson W. (1841-1915), U.S. Senator of R.I. 1 letter, 1885
Brown, John N. (1861-1900), of Providence, R.I. 2 letters, 1887 and 1894
Depew, Chauncey M. (1834-1928), U.S. Senator of N.Y. 1 letter, 1894
Dwight, Timothy (1828-1916), Yale President. 1 letter, 1894
Hazard, Rowland (1829-1898), industrialist. 3 letters, 1880.
Hoppin, William W. (1807-1890), former R.I. governor. 2 letters, 1885
Little, Sophia, philanthropist 1 letter, 1884
Marsh, Othniel C. (1831-1899), Yale paleontologist, cousin. 6 letters, 1884-1894.
Mason, George C. (1820-1894), Newport architect and historian. 15 letters, 1884-1886.
Olmstead, Frederick L. (1822-1903), landscape architect. 1 letter, 1882.
Pirce, William A. (1824-1891), U.S. Rep., R.I. 1 letter, 1885
Sheffield, William Paine (d.1907), U.S. Senator, R.I. 27 letters, 1881-1886
Welles, Gideon (1802-1878), naval secretary 1 letter rec'd, 1846
Provenance:
The bulk of this collection was purchased in 1969 from dealer Nino Scotti. One item was purchased from Paul Hoag in 1971, and six were donated by the Newport Preservation Society in 1975. Two boxes of mostly genealogical material were donated by Paul L. Veeder II in 1985 and all but a few folders were transferred to MSS 1078 Wetmore-Sherman Family Papers. Two letters dated 3/8/1903 and 10/23/1905 were donated by Richard Bowen in 2001.
Inventory:
All items are letters to George P. Wetmore unless noted.
Drafts of letters from Wetmore are listed as replies.
Numbers in parentheses are multiple letters.
GPW: George Peabody Wetmore
EKW: Edith K. Wetmore, his wife.
Box 1.
Miscellaneous loose papers:
Description of Wetmore Papers at Yale University, 1969.
2 envelopes of invitations and calling cards
"A Day With Senator George Peabody Wetmore at Newport", special photographic supplement to the Providence Journal, 8/5/1906.
Printed inventory of silver, 6/1909
Prox as republican elector, 1884
Family papers:
Essay on Benjamin Pickman (1763-1843)
Pickman Bible records
Wetmore genealogical records, 1700-1876 (12 fol.)
Includes essays on each of Wetmore's direct line (various Seth, Thomas, William Wetmores)
Charles H. Orne will, 1816 (copy)
Undated correspondence:
N. Waters to Mr. Christy
H. Waters to GPW
Henry Sands to GPW
J.P. Morgan (1837-1913) to GPW? Identification uncertain.
A. Gallie to EKW
Delancy Forbes to GPW (2)
George R. Fearing to GPW
William Watts Sherman (2)
unidentified (2)
Box 2: 1846-1883
1846 Prosper M. Wetmore to Gideon Wells
1856 GPW to father William S. Wetmore
1859 School translations
1860 GPW to father William S. Wetmore
Annie D.R. Wetmore
1862 Redwood Library letter
1866-1869 George Peabody (6)
1868 Commission as notary
1869 Commission as notary (2)
1870 Passport
1870-1871 Birth and baptismal certificate of EKW (2)
1873 Birth certificate of Maud Wetmore
1873 Correspondence etc. with St. Pancras Iron Works, London (7 items)
1873 Prison record of Patrick F. Dennehy, by Nelson Viall
1874 Newport Artillery Company letter
1875 William S.K. Wetmore baptismal cert.
1878-1879 Funeral announcements for Comte de Moltke-Hoitfeldt and Anne H. Hutton
1880 William W. Everts
Board of canvassers (2)
To Joshua M. Addeman
W.E. Williams
To William Goddard
Rowland Hazard
To William Sayles, Attorney General of R.I. (in scrapbook 1)
William Goddard (2) (with 3 replies) (in scrapbook 1)
Rowland Hazard (2) (with 5 replies) (in scrapbook 1)
Harry E. Wellman (2) (with 2 replies) (in scrapbook 1)
Joshua M. Addeman (with reply) (in scrapbook 1)
To Peter Gladding (in scrapbook 1)
Charles A. Waldron (with reply) (in scrapbook 1)
1881 Proclamation re French vessels
Comte de Dion to EKW (3)
William P. Sheffield (5, and 4 responses)
Proclamation and announcement re Garfield Memorial
Joshua M. Addeman, Secretary of State (with response)
David King Jr. (with response)
Marshall Jewell (2, with response)
Henry B. Metcalf
E. Stacey Charliet
David M. King to Eugene Hartman
1882 Birth of Rogers P.D.K. Wetmore (3 items)
William J. Hoppin
1883 Annie D.R. (Wetmore) Sherman (2)
Frederick Law Olmstead - report on Easton's Beach. Typescript copy, sent by Richard C. Derby in 1914.
Jennie C. McCormick
T.C. Watkins to Sherlock & Son
Redwood Library
Gentleman's Riding Club
Stephen S. Vars
Box 3: January to July 1884
H.O. Havermeyer
Lary[?] Wetmore Hunter[?]
John Jay Dubois (3)
William P. Sheffield (3) (with 2 replies)
Peter Smith (2) (with reply)
William C. Whitney
To F. Gebhart
J. Frederick Flynn Jr.
P. Marie
George C. Mason (4)
Robert Christie
John Hall
Thomas Schuyler
H.C. Potter
Henry A. Sherlock
A. Palmer
Gordon & Co. (3)
J. Macbouth???
M.L. White
W.I. Langdon to R. Hutton
W. King to R. Hutton
To Nathan F. Dixon
Gardiner B. Reynolds (2)
Stephen S. Vars
Thekla DeSoto (2)
George H. Norman to William P. Sheffield
A.M. Wheeler (2)
John A. Judson (3)
W.I. Langdon (with reply)
William G. Heckscher
To W. King
Robert S. Franklin (with reply)
George D. Miller (2)
Marie Septier (with reply)
To EKW
Esther G. Wheeler
J. Kernochan
Samuel Lepoids
Prof. O.C. Marsh of Yale
C.W. Ketcham
N.W. Shaffer (2)
To Frank G. Harris
H.H. Hollister (3)
J.W. Tilton
William O. Platt (2)
Box 4: August to December, 1884
Francis Grand D'Hautvlle (3)
Endicott Peabody
Porter, Whipple & Derby
S.C. Wetmore
John A. Judson
William Goddard
Sophia L. Little
A. Palmer (2)
Adrian ___ of New Rochelle, N.Y.
W.R. Huntington
O.C. Marsh (2)
Louise H. Leclere (3) (with reply)
John M. Taylor
A.G. Laurence (4)
L.W. Jerome
Amos Perry for the R.I.H.S., re invitation to read paper (2) (with reply)
William H. Vanderbilt
James T. Hyde
Stephen S. Vars (2)
Ward McAllister (3) (with 2 replies)
Samuel Glover
Russell Forsyth
William F. Wharton
William A. Stedman (2)
John M. Taylor
Job T. Langley
National Bank of R.I.
William Wright (with 2 replies)
Henry W. Fay
Board of Canvassers
Howard Smith (with reply)
Appointment as elector
Anstiss Derby Wetmore (3) (with 2 replies)
A.P. Wormeley (2)
Peter Maire (with reply)
A.J. Favre
William Jay (2)
David King
Frank G. Harris (2) (with reply)
Helen L. Oakley
O.H. Havermeyer
To William P. Sheffield
Francis R. Rivers
Box 5: January to April 1885
William P. Sheffield (4)
School book list
William A. Stedman
Francis Gilliat (2) (with reply)
John R. Stone
James K. Hyde
Gardner M. Lane (2)
Stephen S. Vars (3)
David King
George C. Mason (7)
Amos Perry
H.G. Hayward
Anstiss Derby Wetmore (3)
W.H. Lee
Nicholas Priest
Claude H. Wetmore
Allen W. Evarts
Thomas Gibbs (2)
George S. Pine (2)
William C. Little (2)
A.G. Laurence
Frank G. Harris
To William W. Hoppin
Gordon & Co. (with reply)
L.P. Morton
Charles Seymour
J. Macbouth??? U.S. Representative.
William B. Franklin (2) (with reply)
Nathan F. Dixon (with reply)
William W. Hoppin (2)
Henry B. Metcalf (with reply)
A. Palmer
Edson F. Spring (with reply)
John J. Taylor
W.B. Wetmore
Augustus O. Bourn (with reply)
Aurion Chevers (2) (with reply)
John R. Stone
Elisha Rockwell (with reply)
David J. Burrill
Charles F.D. Fayerwether (with reply)
Mahlon VanHorn
Royal C. Taft (with reply)
Robert Keach
W.M. Laffan (2)
N.J. Dublois
John P. Sanborn
To Isaac N. Bell
Box 6: April to May 1885
Folder of congratulatory letters
O.C. Marsh
Continental Steamboat Co.
John Meredith Read
W.W. Hoppin
Elisha Dyer Jr.
W. Wetmore Clyde?
F.W. Tilton
Horatio Seymour Jr.
E. VanSchoonhoren
Henry H. Fay
Jabez C. Knight
Isaac N. Bell (3) (with reply)
Aurion Chevers
To W.M. Laffan
John P. Sanborn (with 3 replies)
To EKW
Jabez C. Knight (with reply)
Henry J. Spooner (with reply)
John P. Taylor
Maude A.K. Wetmore
James C. Wetmore (with reply)
William A. Pirce (with reply)
Samuel P. Colt (with reply)
Gordon & Co.
Elizabeth Wetmore Hunter
Fanny Wetmore Hunter
Mrs. E. Hope G. Slater (with reply)
J.W. Gilpin (with reply)
David King
William R. Stewart
To N.J. Dublois
Thomas Coggeshall
Joseph H. Dennis
Emily Havermeyer (with reply)
John J. Peckham (with 2 replies)
Christopher Rhodes
Edith M.K. Wetmore
To William W. Hoppin
M.C. Gilmer
Robert S. Franklin (with reply)
To Charles H. Lawton
James P. Wright (with reply)
Dwight R. Adams (with reply)
To Mary Gilpin?
Lary Wetmore Hunter [?]
Benjamin H. Brewster
To R. Thomas & son
Esther G. Wheeler (with reply)
A. Hamilton of Irvington, N.Y. (2)
Horatio R. Storer (2)
To Augustus O. Bourn (2)
To Melville Bull
Charles Seymour (with reply)
Emily C. Potter to EKW (with reply)
E.F. Child
O.H. Havermeyer (2) (with reply)
Henry G. Russell (2)
J. Chace
Providence Art Club
O.J. Rathbun
A.G. Laurence
M.M. Williams to EKW
Box 7: June to December 1885
Mrs. William H. Mathewson (3) (with 2 replies)
Francis Gilliat
Charles Wingate
Writ from Newport Sheriff's Office re Dennis Shea
Stephen S. Vars (2)
Charles Seymour
W.C. Whitney
F.H. Paine (with reply)
R.C. Derby
Nelson W. Aldrich. Letter of introduction for George A. Rice.
William O. Platt (7) (with reply)
Noah Porter (2) (with 2 replies)
D.D. Williams
W.A. Fisher
Catherine White
Proclamation on U.S. Grant
Horatio R. Storer
William P. Sheffield (4)
E.G. Hartshorn (with reply)
James Lees
J. Edgar Finley
J. Frederic Kernochan
Sarah E. Gorham
Grover Cleveland to David Weisbein (copy)
Henry H. Parker
New York Cab Company
Frederick W. Adee
Henry S. Wetmore (2)
To Henry G. Russell
W.P. Scrymser
Mrs. G.A. Muenchinger (with reply)
C.T. Pratt (5) (with reply)
Joseph Gibson
H.A. Babbitt
John K. Greene (2) (with 2 replies)
Francis S. Grand d'Hautville
Horatio Seymour Jr.
H.B. Hertz & Sons (2) (with reply)
William O. McDowell
Ward McAllister (also a copy to Mr. Whitney)
Orville Fisher
George Washington of Newport.
Mary S. Burdick
Box 8: January to March, 1886
William P. Sheffield (10) (with 4 replies)
C.T. Pratt (4) (with 2 replies)
John K. Greene
Orville Fisher
William O. McDowell (2)
H.B.Herts & Sons (with reply)
Claude H. Wetmore
Morton, Rose & Co.
T.P. Peckham
G.W. Ritchie
Salome S. Wetmore (3) (with reply)
Stephen S. Vars (2)
George C. Mason (2)
To Phillip L. Moen (2)
Horatio Rogers (2)
William J. Lynch (with reply)
William O. Platt (6) (with reply)
Charles G. Gilliat (2)
National Bank of R.I.
A.P. Man
Edward M. Neal
J.G.K. Laurence (with 2 replies)
William Man (7) (with 4 replies)
A.S. Sherman (4) (with 3 replies)
Legal case: Wetmore vs. Bruce
Porter, Whipple & Derby (with reply)
Benjamin Richards
Women's Christian Temperance Union
Box 9: April 1886 to February 1894
1886 Walter Mason
C.A. Hopkins
George C. Mason (2)
W.B. Wetmore
Salome S. Wetmore
Stephen S. Vars (6)
William P. Sheffield (with 2 replies)
Women's Christian Temperance Union (2) (with reply)
Robert Goelet
John Whipple
Porter, Whipple & Derby
Elisha Dyer Jr.
To J.C. Williams
A.H. Man, New York & Sea Beach Railway Company, Steamboat Department
William Stone (with reply)
Mark H. Wood
Thomas Carr of "the Clerck Club"
To E. Stanton
W.H. Edwards
Purdy & Nicholas
Anstiss P. Quimby
William S. Gardiner (with reply)
To Racquet Court Club
Edward G. Wetmore
1887 John Benjamin
Stephen S. Vars (4)
J.W. Miller
To E.F. Child
T.R. Delancey??? (in scrapbook 4)
A.P. Dodge (with reply) (in scrapbook 4)
Nancy A. Dye (in scrapbook 4)
George Edward Allen (with reply) (in scrapbook 4)
William Wetmore, son (in scrapbook 4)
Melville Bull (in scrapbook 4)
Aulick Palmer (in scrapbook 4)
To EKW from "your loving son" (in scrapbook 4)
Elisha Dyer Jr. (in scrapbook 4)
Joseph H. Johnson (in scrapbook 4)
Col. C.L. Finke (in scrapbook 4)
Henry Clews (in scrapbook 4)
Aurion V. Chevers (in scrapbook 4)
T.A. Randall (in scrapbook 4)
John E. Kendrick (3) (with reply) (in scrapbook 4)
H.D. MacIntyre of the Brooklyn Jockey Club (in scrapbook 4)
George Pierce (with reply) (in scrapbook 4)
To Elizabeth H. Colt (in scrapbook 4)
R.A. Guild (in scrapbook 4)
W.S. Martin (in scrapbook 4)
Republican State Convention (with reply) (in scrapbook 4)
Rathbone Gardner (2) (in scrapbook 4)
To William Gammell et al (in scrapbook 4)
A.D. Greene (in scrapbook 4)
D.D. Withers (with reply) (in scrapbook 4)
Albert G. Sprague (in scrapbook 4)
John Nicholas Brown, declines public office (in scrapbook 4)
Maj. A.B. Gardiner (in scrapbook 4)
E.G. Reid (in scrapbook 4)
Henry W. Gardner (in scrapbook 4)
Stephen Smith (in scrapbook 4)
Charles A. Lee (with reply) (in scrapbook 4)
O.W. Scott for the Hope Valley Church (in scrapbook 4)
Amelia Palmer (in scrapbook 4)
To Royal C. Taft (in scrapbook 4)
Fannie C. Bliss (in scrapbook 4)
Albert Harkness (in scrapbook 4)
F.G. Harris? (in scrapbook 4)
To Gov. Hoppin (in scrapbook 4)
To Col. Landers (in scrapbook 4)
1888 Passport to France
Whitelaw Reid to William Henry Smith and Charles A. Dana (2)
1890 Newport and Wickford Railroad and Steamboat Company
[1891-1894 mostly regarding hospitals in Newport and Waltham except as noted]
1891 To L.C. Ledyard (2)
J. Truman Burdick
1892 S. Vanderbilt
Frederick W. Vanderbilt (with 2 replies)
1893 J. Truman Burdick
To L.C. Ledyard
1894 Thomas G. Brown (2) (with 2 replies)
Lewis C. Ledyard
Reports on Newport and Waltham Hospitals
William Atkinson to J. Truman Burdick
J. Truman Burdick
Nomination of GPW for U.S. Senate seat by Republican Party
Box 10: April 1894 to 1899
1894 To Republican State Central Committee, accepting nomination
John Nicholas Brown, donating $1000 to campaign
Jonathan Chace (2)
A. Crandall?
Roll of R.I. Senate, electing GPW to U.S. Senate, 33-0.
Edith Goddard
Mary T. Leiter
E.D. Buringer???
James C. Wetmore
Folder of congratulatory messages:
Chauncey M. DePew
___ Vanderbilt
Delancy M___? (2)
Hunter C. White
Edith Goddard
E. Breilyreader???
Thomas Schulyer
E. Hope G. Slater
L. B. Dahling?
Samuel P. Colt
R. Gammell
Pringle, Forbes, Bradford
Lyman B. Goff
John Sanford
S. Mannis
Grace Gray
William Ames
V.S. Crosby
Henry E. Tiepke?
William Polk
O.C. Marsh (2)
George S. Tingley
M. Ketellas
Bessie W. Hunter
G.G. King
Lary Wetmore Hunter?
N. James DeBlois
Richard Derby
George R. Carrington
Robbins Little
Francello G. Jillson
Edwin S. Butterfield
Frank B. Porter
____ at the Trinity Rectory in Newport
T. Mumford Seabury
A.A. Barker (with reply)
S.J. Wetmore
William Seymour Edwards
James Otis
Annette Wetmore
William S.K. Wetmore
Wallace Bruce??
Theodore Warren
Henry F. Eldridge
Henry Robinson?
Aaron S. Thomas
Seabury Crosby?
Nancy A. Dye?
Theodora DeWolf Colt
Horatio Seymour
David Jonathan Burrill
John B. Morgan
J.J. Van Alen
Edward Walcott
Johnston L. DePeyster
1895 Martha C. Codman
A.F. Endicott
J.J. Van Alen
J. Truman Burdick (2)
American Laundry Machinery
Perry Belmont
John Howe, Sons of the American Revolution
1896 deBlois & Eldridge to William O. Platt (2)
Butler & Son to W.W. Sherman
W.W. Sherman to William O. Platt
J. Truman Burdick (with 2 replies)
EKW to GPW (2)
Martha C. Codman
1897 James W. Alexander, re University Club building
Frank W. Searle
Robert Christie
L.O. Howard, Dept. of Agriculture
Lee & Epler
Maggie Callahan of Crown Hill, West Virginia to Frank Callahan
James Sullivan to James P. Callahan
1898 Frank P. Callahan to EKW, requesting help in securing position.
Mary F. Wait (2)
J. Frederic Kernochan re Yale Alumni Hall
Timothy Dwight (1828-1916), President of Yale (with reply)
James H. Hayden
E.W. Chauncey (2)
Thomas W. Bicknell, Order of the Founders and Patriots of America
1899 Sons of the American Revolution
N. Wetmore Halsey (2)
Box 11: 1900 to 1903
Box 12: 1904 to May 1906
Box 13: June 1906 to 1908
Box 14: 1909 to 1910
Box 15: 1911 to 1913
Box 16: 1914 to 1915
Box 17: 1916 to June 1917
Box 18: July 1917 to February 1918
Box 19: March 1918 to June 1919
Box 20: July 1919 to February 1920
Box 21: March 1920 to 1956
Box 22: Wine Collection, 1830-1912, n.d.
Correspondence with and about William W. Cryder, 1901-1921
Scrapbooks 1 and 4 contain original correspondence, all listed in the above calendar.
Scrapbook 1: 1880. Re service as presidential elector.
Proxes, newspaper clippings, correspondence, etc.
Scrapbook 2: 1885. Newspaper clippings.
Scrapbook 3: 1885. Newspaper clippings.
Scrapbook 4: 1887. Proxes, newspaper clippings, correspondence, etc.
Scrapbook 5: 1902-1903. Newspaper clippings.
Subjects:
Aldrich, Nelson W. (1841-1915)
Brown, John N. (1861-1900)
Depew, Chauncey M. (1834-1928)
Dwight, Timothy (1828-1916)
Hazard, Rowland (1829-1898)
Hoppin, William W. (1807-1890)
Little, Sophia
Marsh, Othniel C. (1831-1899)
Mason, George C. (1820-1894)
Newport Hospital
Newport, R.I. - Politics and government
Olmstead, Frederick L. (1822-1903)
Pickman, Benjamin (1763-1843)
Pirce, William A. (1824-1891)
Sheffield, William Paine (d.1907)
Vars, Stephen S.
Welles, Gideon (1802-1878)
Wetmore family
United States - Politics and government - 1865-1933
End of finding aid - return to top
RIHS1822