1890-1968
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The Robert Livermore papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Abstract
This collection consists of the diaries, scrapbooks, and other volumes and papers of Robert Livermore, student at the Boston Public Latin School, sailor aboard the ship Enterprise of the Massachusetts Nautical Training School, student at Harvard (1900) and MIT (1903), mining engineer, businessman, and hunting enthusiast.
Biographical Sketch
Robert Livermore was born in Boston, Mass. in 1876, the son of Thomas L. and Sarah Ellen (Daniels) Livermore. He attended the Boston Public Latin School and in 1893 enrolled in the Massachusetts Nautical Training School, serving on the training ship Enterprise for several months. He then returned to his studies at Hopkinson's private school in Boston to prepare for Harvard. Livermore graduated from Harvard with an A.B. in 1900 and pursued a course in engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with an S.B. in 1903.
Livermore began a career in mining engineering with his first position as assistant engineer, Camp Bird Mine, Ouray, Colorado. For the next 30 years, Livermore was involved in mine work in the San Miguel and San Juan Valleys in Colorado, including work at the Smuggler Union Mine in Telluride, where his brother-in-law Bulkeley Wells became manager in 1904. Livermore was appointed deputy sheriff in the great labor strike by the Western Federation of Miners in Telluride at that time.
In 1905, he went to Goldfield, Nevada, in search of gold, and in 1906 returned to Colorado and married Gwendolen Young. In 1911, Livermore was hired as manager of the Kerr Lake Mine, Cobalt, Ontario. During World War I, he served as a captain in the U.S. Engineers at Camp Lee and Camp Humphreys, Virginia. He also tried his hand in the shipping and export business and, in 1919, organized a steamship company, Livermore, Dearborn & Company. Throughout these years, he also worked as a consultant for the Goodrich Lockhart Company, traveling throughout the western United States and Mexico in search of promising mine locations.
In 1923, Livermore became the managing director of the Smuggler Union Mine, and in 1928 he organized his own company, North American Mines, Inc. He also served as vice president of the Hecla Copper and Mining Company, of which his father had been part-owner and vice president.
Robert and Gwendolen Livermore had three children: Robert, Jr., Cecily Daniels, and Gwendolen Bowyer. Livermore died in 1959.
Collection Description
The papers of Robert Livermore, mining engineer, businessman, and hunting enthusiast, consist of diaries, sketchbooks, scrapbooks, a photograph album, and miscellaneous papers, including memoirs by Livermore and Martin Wenger.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Robert Livermore, Jr., Aug. 1982.
Restrictions on Access
The Robert Livermore papers are stored offsite and must be requested at least two business days in advance via Portal1791. Researchers needing more than six items from offsite storage should provide additional advance notice. If you have questions about requesting materials from offsite storage, please contact the reference desk at 617-646-0532 or reference@masshist.org.
Other Formats
Some of Robert Livermore's diaries have been published in Bostonians and Bullion: The Journal of Robert Livermore, 1892-1915, edited by Gene M. Gressley (Lincoln, Neb.: University of Nebraska Press, 1968).
His 1893 and 1898-1899 diaries are available on microfilm, P-328 (1 reel).
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Diaries, 1890-1937
Arranged chronologically.
Diary, 1890
Boston Latin School, activities at home and with friends. Includes sketches.
Partial transcription and photocopy of 1890 diary
Diary, 1892
School, parties, girls, and sports. Includes sketches.
Photocopy of 1892 diary
Log kept aboard the ship Enterprise, 1893
Includes sketches, newspaper clipping, and photograph.
Available on microfilm, P-328.
"Logbook and Notes on Birds," 1898-1899
Record of birds and shooting record of hunting trips. Includes sketches and other matter.
Available on microfilm, P-328.
Diary, 1898-1909
Journeys in western U.S., Harvard and MIT, his early positions at various mines in San Miguel and San Juan Counties, Colorado, including the Smuggler Union Mine in Telluride and the great strike by the Western Federation of Miners. Includes sketches and photographs.
Diary, 1909-1914
Various activities, work at mines in western U.S., hunting trips, and travels; position as manager of Kerr Lake Mine in Cobalt, Ontario. Includes photographs.
Diary, 1915
Visits to mines around Ontario, mining operations, family members, thoughts on World War I, trips to Boston, hunting trips. Includes photograph.
Diary, 1916
Various mines in Canada, consulting job with Goodrich Lockhart Co., trips to western U.S. to explore mine sites.
Diary, 1917
Departure from Kerr Lake Mine, World War I, position with Goodrich Lockhart Co., travels around western U.S. to examine mine prospects, hunting trips, family news, trip through New Hampshire with wife.
Diary, 1918
Military life at Camp Lee and Camp Humphreys, Virginia; joining William H. Randall & Co. as partner; purchase of farm in Boxford, Mass.; travels out west to visit mines and shipyards; travels to Colorado.
Diary, 1919-1923
Steamship company; development of Rojas, Randall & Co.; formation of Livermore, Dearborn & Co.; hunting trips; business trip to Buenos Aires (1920).
Diary, 1922-1925
Position as managing director of Smuggler Union Mine.
Diary, 1926-1927
Position as managing director of Smuggler Union Mine.
Diary, 1928-1930
Organization of North American Mines, Inc.; trip to Baja, California (1930) for mine prospects.
Diary, 1931-1937
Another trip to Baja, California; trip to New Mexico for mine prospects.
II. Sketchbooks and sketches, 1890s
Sketchbook, [1890s]
Sketchbook, [1890s]
Sketchbook, [1890s]
Loose sketches and watercolor, [1890s]
Sketchbook, 1890
Sketchbook, [1890s]
III. Scrapbooks, 1890s
Scrapbook on school sports, 1894
Scrapbook on marine subjects, [1890s]
Scrapbook on marine subjects, [1890s]
IV. Other volumes and papers, 1892-1968
Arranged chronologically.
Roadbook of Boston and Vicinity, 1892
Printed bicycling handbook by Charles A. Underwood with notes and sketches by Livermore.
Miscellaneous papers, 1892-1919
"Edward Manning: A Tale of the Sea," 1894
Unfinished manuscript novel by Livermore.
Game record, 1898-1947
Record of game flushed, bagged, etc.
Photograph album, 1903-1916
Photographs taken at mining camps and on hunting trips, family photographs.
Field and Stream, Feb. 1912
Contains article by Robert Livermore, "An Elk Hunt in the Wyoming Rockies" (p. 983).
Memoir by Robert Livermore, 1914
Canoe trip memoir by Robert Livermore, 1949
"My Recollections of Robert Livermore...," 1968
Photocopied manuscript and typed versions of memoir by Martin Wenger.
Preferred Citation
Robert Livermore 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.
Persons:
Organizations:
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Materials Removed from the Collection
The following printed item was removed from the collection:
Hill, F. Stanhope. The "Lucky Little Enterprise" and Her Successors in the United States Navy, 1776-1900. Boston: [n.p.], 1900.