Table of Contents

Historical Note

Scope and Content Note

Information for Researchers

Related Materials

Separations List

Administrative Information

Description

Subject Headings

Inventory of the Ricketson Family Papers

In the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library

Historical Note

Members of the Ricketson family of New Bedford and Boston, Massachusetts, trace part of their American ancestry to William Ricketson, a Quaker who settled in Dartmouth, Mass., around 1684. One of his descendants, Daniel Ricketson (1745-1824), was a merchant and ship chandler who operated a business at New Bedford with his son, Joseph (1771-1841), from about 1795-1819. Joseph Ricketson's son, Daniel (1813-1898), achieved a measure of fame as the author of two local histories, History of New Bedford (1858) and New Bedford of the Past (published posthumously, 1903), and two volumes of poetry. He is better known, however, as a friend and early admirer of Henry David Thoreau and as a correspondent of numerous contemporary American writers and abolitionists, including Amos Bronson Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Lloyd Garrison, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and John Greenleaf Whittier.

In 1834, Daniel Ricketson married Maria Louisa Sampson (1813-1877), by whom he had four children: Arthur (1835-1912), Anna (1836-1927), Walton (1839-1923), and Emma Louisa (1841-1874). Walton Ricketson was a sculptor of some note who, with his sister Anna, edited two collections of Daniel Ricketson's writings in 1902 and 1910. Edith Guerrier (1870-1958), daughter of Emma Louisa Ricketson and George Pearse Guerrier (1837-1911), was an artist, author, and librarian who served as supervisor of all Boston Public Library branches from 1899-1940. She also founded the Saturday Evening Girls (S.E.G.), a Boston-based library club for working women, in the early 1900s; wrote a children's book, Wanderfolk in Wonderland, in 1903; helped establish Paul Revere Pottery, Inc., a firm associated with the S.E.G. which made and sold quality ceramic ware between 1906-1942; and served as a volunteer in the Hoover Food Administration during the 1914-1918 world war.

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Scope and Content Note

Materials in this collection chiefly relate to Daniel Ricketson and his granddaughter, Edith Guerrier. The former individual's papers, dating from ca. 1840-1918, include one or more letters from Emerson, Garrison, Holmes, and Whittier, as well as drafts of several of Ricketson's outgoing correspondence. Comprising another major segment of his papers is a group of his journals and writings, including an 1844 account of a trip through New England to Montreal and Quebec and his notes on religious subjects which also contain vital records transcribed from those of the Society of the Friends in Rhode Island, ca. 1863. Similarly, Edith Guerrier's papers principally consist of correspondence, ca. 1891-1957, and journals of her travels in England, France, and the Caribbean, 1922-1937. Probably the most valuable item among her papers is a lengthy autobiographical sketch in which Guerrier discusses her family, describes her childhood and education, and depicts many aspects of her long association with Boston's branch library system, the S.E.G., and Paul Revere Pottery, Inc.

Also included in this collection are a journal and ledger of Daniel Ricketson & Sons, 1795-1819, and correspondence of Daniel Ricketson's brother, Joseph (1815-1876), his wife, Maria Louisa Sampson Ricketson, and four children. These materials, which include letters to Anna Ricketson from Albert Bierstadt and R. Swain Gifford, are complemented by correspondence and other papers of several relatives by marriage, notably George Pearse Guerrier, whose papers contain letters from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and William Lloyd Garrison, 1874-1879, as well as other correspondence and documents relating to his life and activities. Finally, the Ricketson Collection also encompasses post cards and greeting cards exchanged by the family of Margreta A. Hughes between ca. 1898-1923.

Materials in the Ricketson Collection have been organized into sub-groups representing letters and other papers of family members. These sub-groups are listed in the inventory in chronological order according to the date of birth of each person. All incoming correspondence is divided first by year, then alphabetically arranged by name of writer. Genealogical and biographical notes concerning the Ricketsons, compiled by Philip F. Purrington and Alton Bailey, are available for consultation in the Collection File for Mss 13.

Arrangement of Collection

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Information for Researchers

Access to the Collection

Unrestricted. Consult librarian for an appointment.

Preferred Citation

New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library Mss 13 [sub-group, series, sub-series, folder/volume as appropriate], [item]

Copyright Notice

The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted materials. The Privacy Act of 1974 (5 United States Code 552a) governs the use of materials that document private individuals, groups, and corporations.

Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a reproduction if the document does not infringe the privacy rights of an individual, group, or corporation. These specified conditions of authorized use include:

If the researcher later uses a copy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," the researcher is personally liable for copyright. privacy, or publicity infringement and agrees to indemnify the New Bedford Whaling Museum from any legal action as a result of the error. Permission to obtain a photographic, xerographic, digital, or other copy of a document does not indicate permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, sell, distribute, or prepare derivative works from the document without permission from the copyright holder and from any private individual, group, or corporation shown or otherwise recorded.

Permission to publish, exhibit, perform, reproduce, prepare derivative works from, sell, or otherwise distribute the item must be obtained separately in writing from the holder of the original copyright (or if the creator is dead, from his/her heirs) as well as from any individual(s), groups, or corporations whose name, image, recorded words, or private information (e.g. employment information) may be reproduced in the source material. The holder of the original copyright is not necessarily the New Bedford Whaling Museum. The New Bedford Whaling Museum is not legally liable for copyright, privacy, or publicity infringement when materials are wrongfully used after being provided to researchers for "fair use."

This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if fulfillment of the order is judged in violation of copyright or federal or state privacy law. This institution also places restrictions on the use of cameras, photocopiers, and scanners in the research room.

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Related Materials

Handbook and Index to Daniel Ricketson's The History of New Bedford, compiled by Carol Fitzgerald

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Separations List

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Administrative Information

Provenance

Most of the papers in this collection were given to the Old Dartmouth Historical Society on 8 May 1968 by Eva Hughes, a relative of Edith Guerrier's long-time companion, Margreta A. Hughes. Related documents, presented to the Society between 1903-1923 by Walton Ricketson, also comprise a portion of the collection.

Processing Information

Processed by: Patricia J. Albright, with assistance from Edna Carlson, ca. 1982

Encoded by: Robbin Smith, 22 August 2011; box list appended by Mark Procknik, 8 February 2012

Funds for processing this collection were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Description

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Subject Headings

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