Richard Frothingham Papers 1683-1865 Guide to the Microfilm Edition

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketch Sources Collection Description Related Materials Processing Note Acquisition Information Organization Detailed Description of the Collection Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Richard Frothingham was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts on 31 January 1812, the son of Richard (b. 1781) and Mary Thompson Frothingham. He died in Charlestown on 29 January 1880. In 1834, Frothingham entered the office of the Middlesex Canal Company and remained there until the corporation closed in 1860. There, he worked his way up through the ranks, eventually becoming treasurer. He was a proprietor of the Boston Post and served as managing editor from 1852 to 1865.

Richard Frothingham was closely connected with Charlestown throughout his life. From 1840 to 1851, he was a representative to the Mass. General Court from Charlestown, and in 1853, he represented the town at the state Constitutional Convention. He was mayor of the city for three years, from 1851 to 1853. From 1838 to 1843, he was a trustee of the Charlestown Free Schools, much of the time serving as president of the board. He also served on the state board of health.

Frothingham was a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 1852 and 1876. He was a trustee of Tufts College and was active in many organizations including the American Antiquarian Society, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and the Massachusetts Historical Society. He was treasurer of the Historical Society from 1847 to 1877.

Frothingham devoted his leisure time to the research and writing of history. His most important books are: The History of Charlestown, Massachusetts (1845-49); History of the Siege of Boston (1849); The Command in the Battle of Bunker Hill (1850); the Life and Times of Joseph Warren (1865); and The Rise of the Republic (1872).

Frothingham (also known as Jr. and/or the historian Frothingham) married Vrylena Blanchard in 1833. They had six children, but only four daughters and one son survived him, including Thomas Goddard Frothingham (1840-1903). Thomas Goddard Frothingham's son, also named Thomas Goddard Frothingham (1865-1937), was a captain in the U.S. Army during World War I.

Sources

For further biographical information see: Charles Deane, "Memoir of the Hon. Richard Frothingham, L.L.D," Massachusetts Historical Society Proceedings, Series II, Vol. I, p. 381-393.

For more information on the Middlesex Canal, see Mary Clarke Stetson, The Old Middlesex Canal, Melrose, Mass.: Hilltop Press, 1974.

For further information on the Yazoo fraud, see Farris Cadle, Georgia Land Surveying History and Law, Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1991.

Collection Description

The papers of Richard Frothingham of Charlestown, Mass. consist of research notes and original documents collected for his History of Charlestown, Massachusetts (Boston: 1845), including lists of individuals infected or inoculated for smallpox (1730); papers and lists of damages sustained after the Battle of Bunker Hill; and town government documents. Other Revolutionary-era materials include records of the Cambridge Committee of Correspondence (1776-79); records of the ship Intrepid in Boston (1802); and diaries kept during the Siege of Boston by Samuel Bixby (manuscript copy), a private in Learned's Regiment, in Roxbury, 4 May 1775 - 3 Jan. 1776, and by John Kettell, a private in Little's Regiment, in Cambridge and Roxbury, 17 May - 1 Oct. 1775. Additional correspondents include James Kettell and Richard Devens.

The bulk of the collection consists of financial and other business records of the Middlesex Canal (of which Frothingham was treasurer) and related canals, including the Amoskeag, Blodget, Bow, Hooksett, and Union Canals.

Other papers include wastebooks probably kept by Frothingham's grandfather Richard (1748-1819) as a coach maker in Charlestown, 1783-1800; a small section of records of the Georgia Company regarding land disputes in Georgia, 1795-1800; and an unidentified household expense book, 1783-95.

Related Materials

The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) holds the following collections related to the Richard Frothingham papers:

Richard Frothingham papers II, 1685-1895. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0206.

Richard Frothingham Charlestown papers, 1634-1890. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0087.

Processing Note

At one time, the Frothingham papers were bound and the pages numbered. Upon their arrival at the Massachusetts Historical Society, they were disbound and arranged in chronological order; the papers have now been arranged into the four series described below. As a result, the page numbers which appear in the upper right corner of the documents should be disregarded. In addition, many of the documents in this collection have been individually described in the MHS manuscript catalog.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Thomas G. Frothingham of Charlestown, June 1889 and March 1895.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Richard Frothingham papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

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.