Table of ContentsI. Hyde Family papers, 1848-1952 II. Burnap Family papers, 1807-1863 III. Post Family papers, 1828-1930 IV. Skinner Family papers, 1828-1930 V. Kellogg Family papers, 1813-1841 VI. Lincoln Family papers, 1899 VII. Bushnell Family papers, 1721-1826 |
Biographical SketchEach of the families represented in this collection have been influential in Tolland Co., Connecticut since the colonial era. In addition to wealthy landowners and civic leaders, the Burnap, Hyde and Post families count among them farmers, ministers, teachers and soldiers, as well as one renowned craftsman. Daniel Burnap (1759-1838) was a respected clockmaker and silversmith. The first generation represented in this collection is Abraham Burnap, Jr., (1730-1800), the father of Daniel the clockmaker. Abraham Burnap was the second son of Abraham Burnap Sr. and Hannah Adams. He was active in the American Revolution, and in 1781 was appointed captain of the 6th company of alarm for Connecticut's 12th regiment. That same year he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Windham Country. After this point he became known as Captain Abraham Burnap, Esq. (Not to be confused with his father, also called Abraham.) He Burnap was active in his son Daniel’s business affairs. He also served as a witness and executor for various prominent citizens, and the Burnap, Hyde and Post family papers contain many legal documents referencing Abraham. He married Irene Wright on November 8, 1853 (sometimes called “Susan” or “Susan Irene” but called Irene on her headstone) and together they had four children, Jerijah, Daniel, Abner, and Irene. He died on May 7, 1800 in Royalton, Vermont and is interred, along with many persons in this collection, in the Old Andover Cemetery. Captain Abraham Burnap Jr. Esq had at least 5 siblings, including an older brother John Burnap (1728-1804). Though he is not represented personally in this collection, the descendants of John Burnap seem to have been close cousins to the family of Daniel the clockmaker, and there are many items of correspondence, and even a marriage, between the two branches. Daniel Burnap (1759-1838) is renowned today as an early American clockmaker and silversmith. He served as an apprentice to an English clockmaker in Norwich. He worked out of East Windsor, Connecticut, where most Burnap clocks were made. He returned to Andover about age 40, when he purchased the land now known as Burnap Brook Farm and built his home and workshop. In addition to his work as a craftsman, Daniel Burnap was a prominent citizen in Windham County. He was active in the Andover Congregational Church and served as church treasurer. He was a justice of the peace and represented Andover in statewide politics. He built few clocks in later years; instead he focused on clock repair and silver-smithing. Daniel Burnap was married twice to members of the Kingsbury family. Of his first wife, Deliverance Kingsbury, he had no children. With his second wife Mary Kingsbury, Daniel Burnap had three children. Daniel Kingsbury Burnap (1824-1844) was in his sophomore year at Yale when died at age 20 after a brief illness. Daughter Mary Delia Burnap (1827-1862) married Elliott Palmer Skinner (1831-1917). From this marriage stem the Skinner family papers in Series IV of this collection. Charlotte Elizabeth Burnap (1830-1906) married Thomas Colton Parmalee Hyde (1825-1900). From this marriage stem the Hyde Family papers in Series I of this collection. Lavius Hyde, whose diary is in this collection, was married to Abigail Bradley and from this marriage comes most of the papers in the Burnap, Hyde and Post family collection. Lavius Hyde was born in 1789, one of ten children. He graduated from Williams College and was second in his class at the Andover Theological Seminary. His first post as a pastor was Salisbury, CT in 1818. Throughout his career he travelled between parishes in CT and MA. Lavius Hyde and Abigail Bradley had at least eight children, including Thomas Colton Parmalee Hyde who would marry Daniel Burnap's daughter Charlotte Elizabeth. Thomas C.P. Hyde was named after three pastors in the Bolton church - the Revs. Thomas White, George Colton, and Philander Parmalee. He spent his childhood in Stockbridge, MA and attended Phillips Academy, Andover. He graduated from Williams College in 1848 and the Andover Theological Seminary in 1853. He worked as a school principal in Spencertown, NY after graduation. In 1856 he went to Wabaunsee, Kansas as the founding secretary of the Kansas Connecticut Colony, colloquially known as the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church. Four letters home from this period survive in this collection. These letters detail poor weather, local conflicts, strife within the church as President Charles B. Lines tried to consolidate his authority and as this group of high-minded new Englanders struggled to make a life as poor Midwestern farmers. T.C.P. Hyde and Charlotte Elizabeth Burnap Hyde raised three children - Erksine Daniel Burnap (born 9 January 1861) Emily Hollister (1862-1887) and Mary Elizabeth (born 1 July 1868). Of these children, Only Erskine D. B. Hyde was married - to a Burnap cousin, Nellie A. Rose. Emily Hollister Hyde would die at age 25 (said to have been thrown from a horse in a carriage accident.) Mary Delia Burnap married Elliot Palmer Skinner (1831-1918), and took up residence in the Burnap farm originally purchased by Daniel the clockmaker. Elliot P. Skinner was president and treasurer of the Andover Creamery Company. He was active in local civics, serving as school visitor, appraiser of state property, and agent of the Connecticut Humane Society. He was a member of the state general assembly in 1881 and 1884 and he served as delegate to the Connecticut Constitutional Convention of 1902. In his will Elliot P. Skinner left $5,000 to build a public library in Andover, today’s Burnap Skinner Library. Series IV in this collection contains Skinner Family papers, including wills and deeds regarding the library’s founding. Return to the Table of Contents Scope and ContentThe Hyde Family represents the largest amount of material in this collection. Series I occupies the whole of Box 1. This series includes the 1863 pocket diary of Rev. Lavius Hyde with daily entries on travel, letters sent and received, sermons preached and reports on his family's health. There is also a letter from his sister Phebe Hyde Armstrong detailing the death of Abigail (presumably wife Abigail Bradley Hyde, d. 1848. Series II contains four letters from Thomas C.P. Hyde sent from the Connecticut Kansas Colony in Wabaunsee, Kansas where Hyde was trying to settle "Bleeding Kansas" with the Beecher Bible and Rifle Church. The bulk of Series I is comprised of materials from siblings Erskine D.B., Mary Elizabeth, and Emily Hollister Hyde, including letters to her family and friends written in the last year of Emily's life before dying 1 December 1887. Emily's materials include 3 postcards to her mother, several undated letters and one letter dated posthumously. Various handicrafts made by Emily are represented in Series I, including directions for knitting socks and templates for quilt squares. The Series includes a handwritten notebook titled "Collection of Scripture Texts Bearing on Baptism" and a collection of hymns and poems pasted in a catalog for the Hartford Business College. Finally, Series I also includes 3 urgent telegrams from Maybelle Pease requesting money, and 4 Western Union receipts for monies wired (Maybelle Pease was married to Frank Pease, leader of the anti-communist group American Defenders). Series II is comprised of items related to three generations of the Burnap family. There are deeds and receipts from Abraham Burnap Jr (1730-1800) including agreements with S. Kingsbury in 1781 and the estate dispersal of Capt. J. Bissell. This series also includes the shop account book of Daniel Burnap covering years 1807-1812, and records of land sales by Daniel Burnap in E. Windsor, Ellington, and Coventry, CT and in Woodstock, VT There is correspondence from various Burnap family members, including an 1822 letter to Daniel Burnap from nephew Silas in Ohio soliciting money, letters from Daniel K. Burnap in 1839 (shortly before his death), and an 1861 treatise by Julia J. Burnap titled "On Passing Away." This series includes a math workbook belonging to Daniel K. Burnap (who died young) as well as an algebra workbook of belonging to Julia Burnap from 1860. Finally, Series II induces a contract for Daniel M. Burnap to saw wood for Hartford Providence and Fishkill Railroad Company. Series III represents the Post Family from 1828-1939. This includes deeds signed by David, Edward, Bissell E., Elijah and Abel Post. Correspondence includes a letter to Bissell E. Post at Wilbraham from his parents 1835 describing his father's illness and a sermon delivered by Mr. Wooden at the funeral of Adelaide Burnap Post 22 December 1930. Series III includes a subseries of ephemera, including the 1875 marriage certificate of Edward K. Post and Adelaide Burnap Post and invitations to their 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1925. There are also invitations, guest lists and newspaper clippings for Bissell E. Post and Eliza Kellogg's 50th Wedding Anniversary in 1891. Also includes an 1840 invitation for "Bissell Post + Lady" to attend a Fourth of July party at the house of Mr. Henry B. Downer. Series IV is papers from the Skinner Family, including warranty deeds, receipts, and banking records, estate inventories, and letters from the IRS referring to the settlement of the estate of Elliot P. Skinner (d. 1917). Series V, the Kellogg Family papers, includes a booklet of handwritten musical notation ascribed to Elisha Kellogg and an inspirational quote credited to Gustavus Kellogg dated 1829. Series VI is a typewritten manuscript "In Memory of Albert Lincoln: compiled and edited by Marvin Lincoln 1899" documenting the military career of Albert Lincoln (1802-1822). Including time as a West Point cadet (1818-1822) and his death at Fort Bellefontaine, St. Louis, Missouri in 1822. Also includes biographical sketches about Albert Lincoln's prominent West Point instructors and fellow cadets from Connecticut. Series VII (Bushnell Family papers) has the oldest item in the collection - a power of attorney for Samuel Bushnell granted to his son David Bushnell in 1721. There are two land grants - one from Thomas Brown in 1741 and one from Samuel Bushnell in 1751 for 1,500 acres in Hebron, CT. There is also a 1753 will from Daniel Bushnell and an estate inventory for Lydia Bushnell, appx. 1826. Series VIII is material from families allied to the Burnap, Hyde and Post families, including the Clark, Brown, Ruviella, Bissell, and Farrar families. Series XI includes a mourning letter to "Mrs. Clark" from "Your friend and neighbor Mrs. Kingsbury", a letter from Sophie A. Smith at the Holyoke Seminary 1886 October 5, and a letter from Nancy Webb 1898 December 3. New Year's calling cards from Mrs. Lucy F. Abell 1894, an 1881 pamphlet "Things That I Remember at Ninety-Five by Mrs. Olive Cleveland Clarke" inscribed to Erskine B. Hyde from Mrs. Julia H Clark July 1901 and a partial copy of the 1889 General Catalogue of officers and students of Mount Holyoke Seminary South Hadley, Mass 1837-1887 labelled Mrs. Edward Clark with notations and obituaries inside. Series IX is composed of items referring to the Andover, CT. This includes a history of the Baptist Society in Andover and a list of pastors of the Andover Baptist Church from 1809-1908. There is a record book of the North West School District board meetings 1824-1850 and a 1852-1853 school bill listing names of each pupil, guardian, and tax assessment. Items connected to the 1st Ecclesiastical Society of Andover and the Burnap-Skinner Public Library include an 1828 audit of the Andover Ecclesiastical Society, 1832 instrument and subscription list erecting the church, an early diagram of pews and their prices, 1849 "singing regulations" stipulating the role of the choir, and quitclaim deeds from the Hyde family for the necessary land for a new library. Series X contains includes 12 death certificates, 18 birth certificates, and 6 marriage certificates issued in the Town of Hebron in 1854. Series XI includes items touching a property dispute North Stonington. The series includes diagrams and witness statements regarding a legal dispute between neighbors dated from 1835. Includes a plan of Captain Oliver Grant's 1772 farm in that location, the legal declaration of heirs to the North Stonington estate of Edwin Grant 1890 and the Norwich Probate Court ruling on heirs in 1893. Series XII is non-archival materials or those things not identifiable. Genealogy includes diagrams, genealogies and notes about the families in this collection. The Post family is particularly well documented and this folder includes handwritten notes by Ernest K. Post (1879-1963) made in the mid-1950s where Mr. Post attempts to identify some of the older documents in this collection. Return to the Table of Contents ArrangementThe collection is arranged into twelve series by family grouping or town name. Within the series, material is arranged by family member and genre form and chronologically within each type. Undated materials remain with the topically arranged materials and are filed at the end of the dated items. Series twelve contains redundant items or materials unable to be linked to any other series. Return to the Table of Contents RestrictionsAccess Restrictions
Use Restrictions
Return to the Table of Contents Subject HeadingsPersonal NamesBurnap, Daniel, 1759-1838 Hyde, Thomas Colton Parmalee 1825-1900 Hyde, Lavius (Rev.) 1789-1865 Hyde, Erskine Daniel Burnap 1861-1952 Hyde, Emily Hollister 1862-1887Family NamesBurnap family Hyde family Post family Bissell family Bushnell family Brown family Farar family Ruviella family Kellogg family Skinner familyCorporate NamesNew England Emigrant Aid Company Connecticut Kansas Colony Andover Creamery CorporationSubjectsWabaunsee County (Kan.)--History. Connecticut Kansas Colony Kansas-Nebraska Act Congregational Church (Andover, Conn.) First Ecclesiastical Society (Andover, Conn.) North West District School Andover, CTGeographic NamesConnecticut Andover (Conn) Hebron (Conn)Genre FormsAccount books Commonplace books Correspondence Diaries Estate records Financial records ScrapbooksReturn to the Table of Contents Administrative InformationPreferred Citation
Acquistion Note
Processing DetailsCollection was processed by E. Connell. Return to the Table of Contents Separated MaterialRemoved To CHS Graphics Return to the Table of Contents Related MaterialFamily Trees Connecticut Historical Society Return to the Table of Contents Contents:
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