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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
William H. Myrick Family Papers Bookkeeper of Phenix and Providence. Papers, 1832-1925. Bulk, 1873-1925. Size: .5 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 988 Processed by: Rick Stattler, May 1996 ©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
William H. Myrick was born in Phenix, a mill village in Warwick, R.I., in 1846. He married Sarah Jane Barber of Warwick in 1871, in the town of Hopedale, Massachusetts. They had a son, Charles H. Myrick, and a daughter, Lily (Myrick) Grimwood. William was employed as a bookkeeper in Quidnick village, where he was elected to the town council of Coventry in 1892. He moved to Providence soon after, where he died in 1925.
Scope and content:
This collection consists of diaries kept by William H. Myrick from 1865, 1901 to 1903, 1911 and intermittently from 1918 to 1925. The diaries are generally terse, though the early entries for 1901 give an interesting account of a brother-in-law named Charles B. Inman (1838-1903) who "is getting worse, his family are getting afraid of him as he says the devil has told him to kill them all" (September 11, 1901). His condition is frequently described through the entire volume as he is committed to Butler Hospital and later released. There is also a scrapbook he kept which consists mostly of clippings from the Phenix newspaper, including numerous obituaries, but also includes manuscript records, including his marriage certificate. Myrick served as executor of the estate of his sister-in-law Mary A. Babcock, and thus seems to have inherited deeds to land owned by her and her husband Joseph H. Babcock. There are also three items from a Nichols family, relation unknown, including an 1857 letter to Amy A. Nichols from a Delevan, Wisconsin minister named Albert Sheldon encouraging her to become a teacher in the frontier.
Provenance:
The collection was donated by a descendant of Myrick, Ralph N. Fuller, in 1996, along with a family Bible placed in the genealogical collection. The autograph book of Mary E. LeValley was the gift of Ralph N. Fuller in October, 1995 and was added to the collection in May, 2000.
Processing note:
Inventory:
1. Diaries: 1/1/1865 - 12/31/1865
8/8/1901 - 1/18/1903
5/6/1911 - 1/1/1912
2. 4/7/1918 - 10/31/1918
7/1/1920 - 3/26/1921 (2 vol.)
5/22/1922 - 9/30/1922
3. 10/1/1922 - 8/25/1923 (2 vol.)
12/24/1924 - 12/24/1925 (2 vol.)
4. 1/1924 - 12/1924
5. Scrapbook, 1866-1925
6. Diary page, 2/13/1898 - 2/15/1898
Portion of address delivered by Myrick?
7. "How I Spent Three Happy Days", Myrick's account of a trip to western Massachusetts with his son Charles in July of 1920. This trip is discussed less thoroughly in the diary.
8. Susan Myrick. Death certificate and receipt for burial, 1920.
9. Mary A. Babcock estate, 1922 (William H. Myrick, executor)
10. Joseph H. Babcock. Marriage certificate, 1855
Will, 1876
Probate certificate, 1910
11. Deeds to Joseph H. and Mary A. Babcock, 1873-1891
12. Nichols family records.
Ishmael Nichols commission as Lt. Col. of R.I. militia, 1832
Deborah C. Nichols memorial card, 1896
Amy A. Nichols, letter from Albert Sheldon of Delevan, Wis., 5/23/1857
13. Miscellaneous:
Undated newspaper notice re "Charles Grimwood, late from England".
Corp. S.H. Grimwood statement of identity, 3/12/1862 (Civil War).
Birth record, Lily May Myrick, 7/9/1879
Birth record, Arthur Shaw Grimwood, 5/12/1877
Wedding announcement, Arthur S. Grimwood to Lily May Myrick, 7/25/1908
Deed, Arthur and Lily Grimwood to Charles H. Myrick, 1928.
2 deeds, David Huston to Providence Institution for Savings, 1881 and 1882.
14. Mary Emma LeValley (wife of Charles H. Myrick), autograph book.
Subjects:
Babcock, Mary A. (Barber) (d.1922)
Diaries, 1865
Diaries, 1901-1903
Diaries, 1911-1925
Grimwood Family
Inman, Charles B. (1838-1903)
Mental illness - Rhode Island - Providence
Myrick, Charles H.
Nichols, Amy A.
Nichols, Ishmael
Phenix, R.I. - Vital statistics
Sheldon, Albert
Wisconsin - Description and Travel
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RIHS1822