Henry Davis Minot Papers 1825-1891 Guide to the Collection

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

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketch

Henry Davis Minot was born in 1859 near Forest Hills, Massachusetts to William Minot (1817-1894) and Katherine Maria Sedgwick. Interested in ornithology from an early age, his book, Land and Game Birds of New England, (1877), was published when he was seventeen. Reflecting on his youth in a letter written to a friend, he stated, “I suffered from dislike to rougher sports, from a certain timidity and from want of manliness…”, preferring instead to sketch, hike, read, and write in his leisure time.

In 1876 he entered Harvard College where he developed a friendship with Theodore Roosevelt. They shared an interest in ornithology and took expeditions together to collect birds and eggs. He left Harvard in his sophomore year. He confided later to Roosevelt that his decision to leave was, in part, due to a lack of morality within the student body. Morality and mental strength were of great concern to him and he was troubled by his father’s attacks of “nervous dysporia” and his brother, Robert’s mental instability.

After leaving Harvard he worked at the office of Jackson and Curtis, where he began studying the potential of railroad investments. In 1884 he went to Mexico to report on the Mexican Central system. In 1885 he examined and reported on the Manitoba system in Minnesota. The city of Minot, North Dakota was named after Henry in 1886 when the Great Northern railway reached that point. He worked in St. Paul until 1887 when he became president of the Eastern Railroad in Minnesota, a new line that connected the Manitoba system to Lake Superior. During this time, he also developed commercial endeavors in Superior, Wisconsin, including a chamber of commerce building, Superior and Deluth Steamship, and electric streetcars. He was killed in a train collision in Pennsylvania on November 14, 1890.

Collection Description

The Henry D. Minot papers from 1866-1891, consist of correspondence, letterbooks, school notebooks, diaries, business papers, maps, printed materials, watercolors, sketches, and photographs. The collection is broken into four series: personal papers, ornithology, business papers, and maps.

Personal papers contain correspondence with family members including his parents William and Katharine Sedgwick Minot, as well as siblings Laurence and William (1849-1900), and Harvard classmate Theodore Roosevelt. Also included in this series are tributes and obituaries upon Henry’s death; diaries of travels to England and Scotland, writings; memoranda and extensive household inventories kept by Henry regarding Woodbourne, the family vacation house in West Roxbury, Mass.; receipts; and printed material and newspaper clippings. Ornithology papers contain correspondence, essays, and printed material and newspaper clippings. Henry D. Minot’s railroad business papers contain correspondence, financial and investment reports, and printed material. Maps consist of real estate maps, property surveys, and both printed and manuscript maps of many mid-western states and western states. Minot’s company was involved in expanding the railroad through these states and he used the maps as land guides.

Related Materials

William Minot Papers, 1829-1944. Ms. N-2244.1. Finding aid available at: http://www.masshist.org/findingaids/doc.cfm?fa=fa0289

William Minot, Jr. Papers, 1824-1894. Ms. N-2244.2.

William Minot III Papers, 1829-1944. Ms. N-2244.3

Laurence Minot Papers, 1871-1914. Ms. N-2244.5

Charles Sedgwick Minot Papers, 1868-1914. Ms. N-2244.6

Robert Sedgwick Minot Papers, 1868-1883. Ms. N-2244.7

Alice Woodbourne Minot Papers, 1860-1883. Ms. N-2244.8

Minot Family Papers, 1865-1933. Ms. N-2244.9

Minot Family Business and Financial Records, 1810-1939. Ms. N-1976 (XT volumes only) and Offsite Storage

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Minot family, 1953

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Henry Davis Minot 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.