American Historical Ephemera and Photography

Archive consisting of 15 letters, some with original covers, spanning 1850-1868. Various places, letters of various lengths and ranging in size from 5 x 8 in. - 7 3/4 x 12 1/2 in. Correspondents are predominantly members of the Palmer family, descendants of Noyes Wheeler Palmer (1790-1869) of Stonington, Connecticut, and include Noyes W. Palmer's sons Noyes Stanton Palmer (1826-1891) of New York, Henry Martyn Palmer (1829-1904) of Connecticut, and Franklin Wheeler Palmer (1845-1926) of Rhode Island. Other likely Palmer family members represented in the collection are Thomas Palmer of New York, possibly another son of Noyes W. Palmer, and the Honorable J.C. Palmer of Hartford, CT., possibly a banker (or Pres. of the Sharp's Rifle Co. ?).

Letters discuss a mix of family news, business matters, the Civil War, the 1868 election, and other miscellaneous content. The earliest 4 letters in the collection are addressed to the Hon. J.C. Palmer from Leonard Case in Cleveland, Ohio, and relate to banking and financial matters. A Charles Leavitt of Cleveland, Ohio, writes to H.M. Palmer in December 1863, also related to business matters, and in 1864 Charles S. Shore writes to H.M. Palmer from new London regarding business affairs. Noyes S. Palmer writes 3 war-date letters to his brother Henry, discussing war matters including getting a substitute. The youngest brother "Frank" writes 5 post-war (1868-1869) letters to his father with content about the upcoming 1868 election, and other personal matters. A particularly interesting letter in the archive is written by Thomas to "Dear Brother" (seemingly Noyes S. in New York), and describes his work as a cattleman at a time when the cattle drives of the west were as yet in relative infancy, "...we have 111 head of cattle & 2 horses our cattle are most all good ones as we had a week the start to select the best bargains...cattle are worth something out here but whether we can get the money back for them in coin remains to be seen...."

These Palmer family members were likely descendants of Walter Palmer, who arrived in the colonies in 1629. A small archive with research potential.