Francis Blake Papers

1804-1917

Guide to the Collection

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Sources

Collection Description

Related Material

Arrangement

Acquisition Information

Organization of the Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Access Terms

Materials Removed

Collection Summary

Creator:	Blake, Francis, 1850-1913.
Title:	Francis Blake papers
Dates:	1804-1917
Bulk Dates:	1866-1913
Physical Description:	83 document boxes and 46 volumes (27 extra tall).
Call Number:	Ms. N-1848
Repository:	Massachusetts Historical Society 1154 Boylston Street Boston, MA 02215 library@masshist.org

Abstract:

This collection includes correspondence, diaries, and scrapbooks chronicling Blake's scientific and photographic interests, including his service with the United States Coast Survey (1866-1875), his work as an astronomer with the Darien Exploring Expedition (1870), and his experiments in physics and electrical communication which led to the development of the Blake transmitter for the Bell Telephone Company.

Table of Contents

Biographical Sketch

Francis Blake (1850-1913) was born in Needham, Mass., the son of Caroline Burling (Trumbull) and Francis Blake, Sr. Known widely as the inventor of the Blake Transmitter for telephone communications, Blake was a respected physicist who also worked on the United States Coast Survey from his teenage years through early adulthood (1866-1878), was responsible for the design of his elaborate family estate, Keewaydin, in Weston, Mass., and was a serious amateur photographer. He married Elizabeth Livermore Hubbard (1849-1941) in 1874, and together they had two children: Agnes (Blake) Fitzgerald (b. 1876) and Benjamin Sewall Blake (b. 1877).

Table of Contents

Sources

Davis, Keith F. "The High-Speed Photographs of Francis Blake,"The Massachusetts Historical Review 2 (2000): 1-26.

Hall, Elton Wayland. Francis Blake : An Inventor's Life 1850-1913. Boston, Mass.: Massachusetts Historical Society, 2003.

Table of Contents

Collection Description

82 boxes containing correspondence and a 50-volume diary, 1866-1913; and 41 scrapbooks chronicling Blake's service with the United States Coast Survey (1866-1875), his work as an astronomer with the Darien Exploring Expedition (1870), his determination of differences in longitude between Greenwich, England, and the U.S., and his experiments in physics and electrical communication which led to the development of the Blake transmitter for the Bell Telephone Company. The papers also include extensive records of household expenses; business investments; the construction of his estate, Keewaydin (Weston, Mass.); his photographic interests; and his association with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Harvard University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Thursday Evening Club, the Brookline (Mass.) Country Club, and the town of Weston. (cont) Also, Blake's personal ledger and trial balance account books; a 5-vol. diary and personal account book of his wife, Elizabeth L. (Hubbard); Blake family genealogy; and papers of the Hubbard, Lane, Sewall, and Trumbull families. Correspondents include Alexander Graham Bell, Charles O. Boutelle, Julius E. Hilgard, Charles F. McKim, and Thomas O. Selfridge. Collection also includes over 100 printed volumes relating to Blake's scientific and photographic interests.

Table of Contents

Related Material

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) library holds the following collections that are related to the Francis Blake papers:

Blake family papers, 1867-1964. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0044

Blake family photographs, ca. 1870-ca. 1910. Photo. Coll. 39. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap017

Francis Blake photographs, ca. 1860-1964. Photo. Coll. 57. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap005

Table of Contents

Arrangement

The collection is arranged as Francis Blake had personally arranged it.

Photographs (box 78 and volumes 33-37) have been removed to the Francis Blake photographs (Photo. Coll. 57). As a result, there is no box 78 and no volumes 33-37 in the Francis Blake papers.

Table of Contents

Acquisition Information

This collection was donated to the Massachusetts Historical Society by the descendants of Francis Blake, Jr., May 1964.

Table of Contents

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:


	I. Private Letters, 1866-1912
	II. U. S. Coast Survey, 1843-1889
	III. Elizabeth M. Crosby, 1870-1892
	IV. Bills, Housebuilding, 11874-1875
	V. Greenhouse, 1891
	VI. Bills, Domestic, 1875-1912
	VII. Telephone, 1877-1917
	VIII. Clubs and Societies, 1879-1908
	IX. Benjamin Sewall Trust, 1879-1902
	X. Health, 1880-1911
	XI. Trumbull Estate, 1881-1910
	XII. Wines, 1882-1901
	XIII. Thursday Evening Club, 1882-1913
	XIV. Keewaydin Water Works, 1883-1902
	XV. Republican Club of Weston, 1884-1912
	XVI. Weston Town Letters, 1887-1908
	XVII. Louisa S. Jackson Trust, 1889-1913
	XVIII. Blake Genealogy, ca. 1849, 1891-1913
	XIX. Investments, 1893-1912
	XX. Riverside Bridge, 1894-1901
	XXI. Davenport Stone and Mt. Feake 1895, 1902
	XXII. Agnes Blake, 1895-1904
	XXIII. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1896-1910
	XXIV. American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1877-1903
	XXV. "Editors" Word Contest, 1897
	XXVI. Massachusetts General Hospital, 1899-1902
	XXVII. Edward L. Wilson, 1901-1903
	XXVIII. Harvard University, 1902
	XXIX. Ludlow Manufacturing Associates, 1902-1912
	XXX. Charles B. Wells Estate, 1902-1912
	XXXI. Robert Craighead, 1903-04, 1911
	XXXII. St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 1903-1912
	XXXIII. Elizabeth Hubbard Blake, 1842-1908
	XXXIV. Charles H.M. Blake, 1877-1901
	XXXV. Lane Family, 1804-1883
	XXXVI. Blake Oversize, 1866-1913
	XXXVII. Photographs, ca. 1860-1900
	XXXVIII. Account books, 1842-1912
	XXXIX. Miscellaneous Scrapbooks, 1862-1909
	XXXX. Francis Blake Diaries, 1866-1913
	XXXXI. Elizabeth Hubbard Blake Diaries, 1885-1906

Table of Contents

Detailed Description of the Collection

Photographs (box 78 and volumes 33-37) have been removed to MHS Photo. Coll. 59. As a result, there is no box 78 and no volumes 33-37 in the Francis Blake papers.


Box	Folder	Volume	Contents
			I. Private Letters, 1866-1912 Arranged chronologically. Incoming correspondence and copies of occasional outgoing letters from Francis Blake, chiefly regarding personal, family, and business matters in Boston and Weston, Mass. Of particular interest are letters concerning Blake's attempts to sell his transmitter patents to national and international telephone companies; correspondence with the brown & Sharpe Manufacturing Company of Rhode Island concerning machinery and tool manufacture for Blake's laboratory; correspondence with Charles Follen McKim (1847-1909) regarding the landscape design of Keewaydin; a letter dates 31 January 1881 from Alexander Graham Bell; a life-long series of letters from Blake's brother Charles H. M. Blake, concerning his business ventures in Mexico; correspondence with Boston area photographers; references to theater performances of Edwin Thomas Booth (1833-1893); and an account of the imprisonment of Jefferson Davis at Fortress Monroe.
Box 1	Folder 1-12			May 1866 - June 1870
Box 2	Folder 13-25			July 1870 - July 1873
Box 3	Folder 26-40			Jan. 1876 - Dec. 1879
Box 4	Folder 41-52			Jan. 1880 - Oct. 1880
Box 5	Folder 53-67			Nov. 1880 - April 1881
Box 6	Folder 68-84			Feb. 1881 - Oct. 1881
Box 7	Folder 85-102			Nov. 1881 - Nov. 1882
Box 8	Folder 103-120			Dec. 1882 - Oct. 1883
Box 9	Folder 121-137			Oct. 1883 - June 1884
Box 10	Folder 138-154			July 1884 - June 1885
Box 11	Folder 155-170			July 1885 - March 1886
Box 12	Folder 171-186			March 1886 - Nov. 1886
Box 13	Folder 187-201			Nov. 1886 - June 1887
Box 14	Folder 202-217			July 1887 - Feb. 1888
Box 15	Folder 218-232			March 1888 - Nov. 1888
Box 16	Folder 233-249			Nov. 1888 - June 1889
Box 17	Folder 250-265			July 1889 - Feb. 1890
Box 18	Folder 266-280			Feb. 1890 - July 1890
Box 19	Folder 281-293			July 1890 - Jan. 1891
Box 20	Folder 294-307			Jan. 1891 - July 1891
Box 21	Folder 308-322			July 1891 - May 1892
Box 22	Folder 323-335			June 1892 - Dec. 1892
Box 23	Folder 336-350			Dec. 1892 - April 1893
Box 24	Folder 351-364			April 1893 - Oct. 1893
Box 25	Folder 365-379			Oct. 1893 - April 1894
Box 26	Folder 380-395			April 1894 - Dec. 1894
Box 27	Folder 396 - 408			Dec. 1894 - May 1895
Box 28	Folder 409-421			May 1898 - Dec. 1895
Box 29	Folder 422-433			Dec. 1895 - April 1896
Box 30	Folder 434-447			May 1896 - Nov. 1896
Box 31	Folder 448-462			Nov. 1896 - June 1897
Box 32	Folder 463-476			June 1897 - Jan. 1898
Box 33	Folder 477-489			Jan. 1898 - Oct. 1898
Box 34	Folder 490-502			Oct. 1898 - May 1899
Box 35	Folder 503-515			May 1899 - Jan. 1900
Box 36	Folder 516-530			Jan. 1900 - August 1900
Box 37	Folder 531-544			August 1900 - May 1901
Box 38	Folder 545-558			May 1901 - March 1902
Box 39	Folder 559-572			April 1902 - May 1903
Box 40	Folder 573-585			May 1903 - Dec. 1904
Box 41	Folder 586-598			Jan. 1905 - Sept. 1907
Box 42	Folder 599-611			Sept. 1907 - Dec. 1912
					Table of Contents
			II. U.S. Coast Survey, 1843-1889 Arranged chronologically. Official incoming correspondence to Francis Blake from the U.S. Coast Survey office chiefly regarding business matters. Correspondents include Charles O. Boutelle and Thomas Oliver Selfridge (1836-1924) commissioning Blake as an astronomer with the Darien Exploring Expedition to survey the Isthmus of Darien, S.A. for an interoceanic canal, expense and pay accounts; charts and notebooks of weather, birds, and general observations at Observatory Island, S.A. Also, instructions for astronomical measurements from Julius Erasmus Hilgard (1825-1891) with respect to Blake's surveys determining the differences in longitudinal measurements between Greenwich, England, and the United States; letters and newsclips regarding a federal investigation for alleged misappropriation of funds by Boutelle and Hilgard; and a scientific ledgerbook charting survey points at Keewaydin.
Box 43	Folder 612			Catalogue of the Stars, 1843
Box 43	Folder 613			Oological Notes, 1868
Box 43	Folder 614			Gulf of Darien, S.A., 1871-1881
Box 43	Folder 615-627			May 1866 - March 1872
Box 44	Folder 628-641			March 1872 - Feb. 1875
Box 45	Folder 642-656			March 1875 - March 1889
		Vol. 1		Scientific Ledger, March 1880 - April 1889
					Table of Contents
			III. Autobiographical correspondence from Francis Blake to Elizabeth M. Crosby, 1870-1892 Arranged chronologically.
Box 46	Folder 657			1870 - 1871
Box 46	Folder 658			1890 - 1892
					Table of Contents
Box 46	Folder 659-670		IV. Bills, Housebuilding, 1874-1875 Arranged chronologically. Estimates, bills, and receipts for the design and construction of Keewaydin, Francis Blake's home in Weston, Mass.
					Table of Contents
Box 47	Folder 671-673		V. Greenhouse, 1891 (May-Dec.) Arranged chronologically. Correspondence and specifications with Lord & Burnham Company of New York, horticultural architects and builders, for the design of the Keewaydin greenhouse.
					Table of Contents
			VI. Bills, Domestic, 1875-1912 Arranged chronologically. Scrapbooks of bills and receipts for food and dry goods including clothing, furniture, interior decorations, photographic supplies, tools, fuel, and tack purchased by the Blake family at Keewaydin.
Box 47	Folder 674-682			1875-1877
Box 48	Folder 683-689			1877-1878
		Vol. 2 (XT)		1878-1880
		Vol. 3 (XT)		1880-1881
		Vol. 4 (XT)		1881-1882
		Vol. 5 (XT)		1882-1883
		Vol. 6 (XT)		1883-1884
		Vol. 7 (XT)		1884-1886
		Vol. 8 (XT)		1886-1887
		Vol. 9 (XT)		1887-1889
		Vol. 10 (XT)		1889-1890
		Vol. 11 (XT)		1890-1891
		Vol. 12 (XT)		1891-1893
		Vol. 13 (XT)		1893-1895
		Vol. 14 (XT)		1894-1896
		Vol. 15 (XT)		1895-1897
		Vol. 16 (XT)		1897-1899
		Vol. 17 (XT)		1898-1899
		Vol. 18 (XT)		1899-1901
		Vol. 19 (XT)		1901-1902
		Vol. 20 (XT)		1902-1904
		Vol. 21 (XT)		1904-1906
		Vol. 22 (XT)		1905-1909
		Vol. 23 (XT)		1907-1910
		Vol. 24 (XT)		1908-1910
		Vol. 25 (XT)		1910-1912
		Vol. 26 (XT)		1911-1912
					Table of Contents
			VII. Telephone, 1877-1917 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence and diagrams detailing the development of the Blake transmitter for the telephone, patent offers to Bell Telephone and New England Telephone, attempts to patent the transmitter worldwide, other electrical inventions, and various inventions from other inventors. Also, tables and graphs recording the number of telephone calls made from selected Boston metropolitan phone lines, and one volume of monthly earnings reports of American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Correspondents include Alexander Graham Bell, John Elbridge Hudson (1839-1900), and Thomas A. Wilson.
Box 48	Folder 690-695			1877, July 1878 - Nov. 1879
Box 49	Folder 696-710			Nov. 1879 - July 1881
Box 50	Folder 711-726			July 1881 - Sept. 1885
Box 51	Folder 727-739			Sept. 1885 - Jan. 1891
Box 52	Folder 740-747			Jan. 1891 - April 1895
		Vol. 27		A T & T Earnings Reports, Jan. 1898 - Nov. 1917
					Table of Contents
			VIII. Clubs and Societies, 1879-1908 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, bylaws, financial statements, lists of officers, minutes, and annual reports chiefly of Boston area clubs and societies including the Boston Camera Club, Somerset Club, St. Botolph Club, Union Club, American Society for Psychical Research, the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Good Citizenship, and others. Also, scrapbooks of The Country Club, Brookline, Mass., with bylaws, financial statements, club rules, programs, race lists, and advertising ephemera of horses and horse racing at Clyde Park, as well as correspondence regarding the purchase and sale of thoroughbreds.
		Vol. 28		Membership, 1879-1908
Box 52	Folder 748-754			July 1886 - 1893
Box 53	Folder 755-765			1893 - Dec. 1908
		Vol. 29		The Country Club, 1882-1886
					Table of Contents
Box 53	Folder 766-771		IX. Benjamin Sewall Trust, 1879-1902 Arranged chronologically. Will of Benjamin Sewall, inventory, and executor's and trustees' probate accounts.
					Table of Contents
Box 54	Folder 772-777		X. Health, 1880-1911 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence relating to Francis Blake's personal health, pathological reports, EKG, physician's diagnoses, and laboratory reports on well-water and toxic arsenic levels in wallpaper.
					Table of Contents
			XI. Trumbull Estate, 1881-1910 Arranged chronologically. Personal and legal correspondence regarding settlement and distribution of the Trumbull estate to heirs as well as surveys of Trumbull real estate holdings in Worcester, Mass.
Box 54	Folder 778-787			1881-1901
Box 55	Folder 788-805			Oct. 1902 - Nov. 1910
					Table of Contents
			XII. Wines, 1882-1901 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence with French and European wine producers and importers as well as scrapbook of wine lists, price lists, recipes, advertisements, and newsclips of wines, champagnes, brandies, and other foreign and domestic liquors.
		Vol. 30		1882-1892
Box 56	Folder 806-817			1893-1901
					Table of Contents
			XIII. Thursday Evening Club, 1882-1913 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, announcements, and invitations with respect to members and guests, featured speakers, entertainment, transportation and other arrangements for biannual club meetings hosted by Francis Blake at Keewaydin.
Box 57				Cards, 1882-1913
Box 58	Folder 818			Cards, 1884-1904
Box 58	Folder 819-823			17 April 1884
Box 58	Folder 824-829			15 April 1886
Box 58	Folder 830-835			19 April 1888
Box 59	Folder 836-842			3 April 1890
Box 59	Folder 843-848			7 April 1892
Box 60	Folder 849-854			26 April 1894
Box 60	Folder 855-860			16 April 1896
Box 60	Folder 861-865			28 April 1898
Box 61	Folder 866-872			24 April 1902
Box 61	Folder 873-879			21 April 1904
					Table of Contents
			XIV. Keewaydin Water Works, 1883-1909 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, advertising catalogues from the Henry R. Worthington Pumping Engines and Water Meters Company, New York, and meter readings and bills rendered to local customers of the Keewaydin Water Works, Weston, Mass.
Box 62	Folder 880-885			1883-1902
Box 62	Folder 886-892			1898-1909
					Table of Contents
Box 63	Folder 893-899		XV. Republican Club of Weston, 1884-1912 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, ballots, flyers, speeches, and newsclips regarding political candidates and issues of Weston town, Massachusetts state, and national interests, including the controversial presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryant.
					Table of Contents
			XVI. Weston Town Letters, 1887-1908 Arranged chronologically. Incoming and copies of outgoing correspondence from Francis Blake, selectman, with respect to Weston town business, including the design and construction of the Charles River Bridge, Weston Public Library, the development of the Weston fire department, Weston town seal, and the introduction of paved roads, water, sewer, electric and telephone utilities, and other public services as well as selectmen committee minutes, bylaws and warrants, budgets, ballots, and lists of town officers.
Box 63	Folder 900-909			July 1887, Oct. 1890 - Jan. 1893
Box 64	Folder 910-926			Jan. 1893 - Feb. 1898
Box 65	Folder 927-944			March 1898 - 1902, 1904, 1908
					Table of Contents
Box 66	Folder 945-953		XVII. Louisa S. Jackson Trust, 1889-1913 Arranged chronologically. Disbursement vouchers to Louisa Jackson from Francis Blake, trustee.
					Table of Contents
			XVIII. Blake Genealogy, ca. 1849, 1891-1913 Arranged chronologically. Manuscript volume, ca. 1849 recording births, deaths, and marriages of the Blake family (1689-1849) in England and Massachusetts. Correspondence with genealogist and photographs of Blake family and homes in England.
		Vol. 31		ca. 1849
Box 66	Folder 954-962			1891-1896
Box 67	Folder 963-968			1896-1912
Box 67	Folder 969			Francis Blake will, 1913
					Table of Contents
			XIX. Investment, 1893-1912 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence chiefly with Francis Blake's attorney, Philip Dexter, with respect to personal investment decisions and actions in stocks, bonds, annuities, mortgages, and Boston real estate.
Box 67	Folder 970-974			1893-1900
Box 68	Folder 975-986			1901-1912
					Table of Contents
Box 69	Folder 987-996		XX. Riverside Bridge, 1894-1901 Correspondence, contracts, and receipts related to the construction of a bridge over the Charles River on land owned by Blake in Newton, Mass.
					Table of Contents
Box 69	Folder 997		XXI. Davenport Stone and Mt. Feake, 1895, 1902 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence and topographical maps concerning the Davenport Stone on Doublett Hill, Weston, Mass.
					Table of Contents
Box 69	Folder 998-999		XXII. Agnes Blake, 1895-1904 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence to Francis Blake concerning his daughter, Agnes, her personal health, future and well being, including reports from a hired personal detective.
					Table of Contents
Box 70	Folder 1000-1011		XXIII. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1896-1910 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence and reports of the Committee to Visit the MIT Department of Physics and Electrical Engineering as well as the Jefferson Physical Laboratory at Harvard University regarding their physical facilities, faculty and student status.
					Table of Contents
			XXIV. American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 1877-1903 Arranged chronologically. Official correspondence to Francis Blake, treasurer, regarding securities, investments and the management of the Academy's Rumford fund.
Box 70	Folder 1012-1014			1897
Box 71	Folder 1015-1034			1899-1903
					Table of Contents
Box 72	Folder 1035-1042		XXV. "Editors" Word Contest, 1897 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence and newsclips from Women's World Magazine and Jenness Miller Monthly.
					Table of Contents
			XXVI. Massachusetts General Hospital, 1899-1902 Arranged chronologically. Typescript of Extracts from a History of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 1872-1846, by William Tudor. Letters to Francis Blake acknowledging MGH history book as gift.
Box 72	Folder 1043-1046			1899
Box 72	Folder 1047-1050			1899-1902
					Table of Contents
Box 73	Folder 1051-1054		XXVII. Edward L. Wilson, 1901-1903 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence with Francis Blake concerning the ill health of Edward Wilson, an assistant to Alexander Graham Bell, who was institutionalized at the Massachusetts State Hospital at Taunton and the McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass.
					Table of Contents
		Vol. 32	XXVIII. Harvard University, 1902 Arranged chronologically. Scrapbook, 27 June 1902, of Harvard University's 1902 commencement bestowing an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts to Francis Blake along with correspondence, programs, newsclips, and biographical notes.
					Table of Contents
			XXIX. Ludlow Manufacturing Associates, 1902-1912 Arranged chronologically. Business correspondence, bylaws, meeting agenda, reports, and financial statements of Ludlow's jute and hemp manufacture.
Box 73	Folder 1055-1064			1902-1911
Box 74	Folder 1065-1071			1911-1912
					Table of Contents
Box 74	Folder 1072-1077		XXX. Charles B. Wells Estate, 1902-1912 Arranged chronologically. Legal correspondence to Francis Blake, executor, with respect to the management of Wells's estate.
					Table of Contents
			XXXI. Robert Craighead, 1903-04, 1911 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence, newsclips, and investigative reports of Craighead for Francis Blake by an agent of Pinkerton's National Detective Agency.
Box 74	Folder 1078-1080			1903-1904
Box 74	Folder 1081-1083			1911
					Table of Contents
Box 75	Folder 1084-1091		XXXII. St. Mary's Episcopal Church, 1903-1912 Arranged chronologically. Sunday bulletins, prayer leaflets, and correspondence regarding church business and activities at New Lowe Falls, Mass.
					Table of Contents
			XXXIII. Elizabeth Hubbard Blake, 1842-1908 Arranged chronologically. Typescript letter from Charles T. Hubbard to Benjamin Sewall, 1845. Invitations, guest list and newsclips of debutante ball, 1895, for daughter, Agnes Blake. Letters from Elizabeth Blake while traveling throughout the United States, to husband, Francis.
Box 75	Folder 1092			Charles Hubbard to Benjamin Sewall, 16 July 1845
Box 75	Folder 1093-1099			Agnes Blake, Jan. 1895
Box 76	Folder 1100-1105			Agnes Blake, Jan. 1895
Box 76	Folder 1106-1108			June 1906 - May 1908
					Table of Contents
Box 76	Folder 1109		XXXIV. Charles H. M. Blake, 1877-1901 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence and power of attorney to Francis Blake from his brother, Charles. See also Private Letters, Nov. 1881, for the first in a long series of letters from Charles, in Mexico, to Francis.
					Table of Contents
Box 76	Folder 1110-1113		XXXV. Lane Family, 1804-1883 Arranged chronologically. Correspondence and contracts of Lane Lamson & Company, Lane family wills, and deeds to Weston, Mass., lands. Letters, 1872-73, from David Lane while on a cattle drive with his young family from Missouri to Wyoming.
					Table of Contents
Box 77			XXXVI. Blake Oversize, 1866-1913 Oversize documents removed from manuscripts.
					Table of Contents
			XXXVII. Photographs, ca. 1860-1900 The photographs contained in box 78 and volumes 33-37 have been REMOVED to MHS Photo. Coll. 59. As a result, there is no box 78 and no volumes 33-37 in the Francis Blake papers. Finding aid to the Francis Blake photographs available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fap005
					Table of Contents
			XXXVIII. Account books, 1842-1912 Hubbard business account book recording the import and wholesale exchange of cotton, pig iron, tobacco, and sugar for New England manufacturers. Elizabeth Blake cashbook detailing domestic expenses and silver inventory. Francis Blake's personal ledger and trial balance.
		Vol. 38		Charles T. Hubbard account book, 1842-1846
		Vol. 39		Elizabeth H. Blake cash book, 1888-1912
		Vol. 40		Francis Blake ledger, 1878-1883
		Vol. 41 (XT)		Francis Blake trial balance, 1881-1912
					Table of Contents
			XXXIX. Miscellaneous scrapbooks, 1862-1909 Two scrapbooks of newsclips, theatre broadsides, menus, and other ephemera detailing the social life and customs of Boston. Scrapbook of bills and receipts for food, hotels, transportation, and clothing while traveling in Paris, Marseilles, and Rome including a transatlantic crossing on the S.S. La Bretagne from New York and a holiday at the Casino de Dinard, Saint-Enogat, France. Scrapbook of holiday greetings, calling cards, and invitations to whist parties, dinners, open houses, dedications, commencements, weddings, and birthdays. Menus from a wide variety of eating establishments including restaurants in Boston and France, railroad dining cars, and vacation retreats particularly Glen House, New Hampshire.
		Vol. 42		Scrapbook, 1862-1906
		Vol. 43		Scrapbook, 1867-1906
		Vol. 44 (XT)		Bills, Europe, 1869-1897
		Vol. 45		Cards & Invitations, ca. 1872-1909
		Vol. 46		Menus, 1885-1903
					Table of Contents
			XXXX. Francis Blake diaries, 1866-1913
Box 79				Vol. 1-16, 1866-1880
Box 80				Vol. 17-35, 1881-1898
Box 81				Vol. 36-50, 1899-1913
Box 82				Oversize.
					Table of Contents
			XXXXI. Elizabeth Hubbard Blake diaries, 1885-1906
Box 83				Vol. 1-6, 1885-1906

Table of Contents

Preferred Citation

Francis Blake papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Table of Contents

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.


	Persons:
		Bell, Alexander Graham, 1847-1922.
		Blake, Elizabeth Livermore Hubbard, 1849-1941.
		Blake family.
		Boutelle, Charles Otis, d. 1890.
		Hilgard, J. E. (Julius Erasmus), 1825-1891.
		Hubbard family.
		Lane family.
		McKim, Charles Follen, 1847-1909.
		Selfridge, T. O. (Thomas Oliver), 1836-1924.
		Sewall family.
		Trumbull family.


	Organizations:
		American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
		Bell Telephone Company.
		Brookline Country Club (Brookline, Mass.)
		Harvard University.
		Massachusetts General Hospital.
		Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
		Thursday Evening Club (Boston, Mass.).
		United States Coast Survey.
		Weston (Mass.). Selectmen.


	Subjects:
		Account books--1842-1846.
		Account books--1878-1883.
		Account books--1881-1912.
		Account books--1888-1912.
		Home economics--Accounting.
		House construction--Massachusetts.
		Inventors.
		Keewaydin (Weston, Mass.)
		Massachusetts--Social life and customs--19th century.
		Photography--19th century.
		Scrapbooks--1862-1906.
		Telephone--History.
		Weston (Mass.)--Officials and employees.

Table of Contents

Photographs Removed from the Collection

Photographs have been removed from this collection to the Francis Blake photographs, ca. 1860-1964. Photo. Coll. 57.

Table of Contents

http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0043
Send reference questions to library@masshist.org.

Collection processed by Linda C. Genovese, Dec. 1988.
Revised 2 Nov. 2005
Encoded by Kathleen J. Barker, Jan. 2004