1879-1902
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The Christine Rice Hoar correspondence is 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 primarily of the correspondence of Christine Rice Hoar of Worcester and Boston from her childhood through her twenties. Also included are letters to Christine's parents and her husband Rockwood Hoar.
Biographical Sketch
Christine Rice Hoar (1872-1960) was the daughter of Worcester industrialist William Ellis Rice (1833-1919) and Frances Helen Randlett Rice (1846-1879). After her mother's death, Christine's father married Lucy Draper White in 1881. Christine married lawyer Rockwood Hoar (1855-1906), son of U.S. senator George Frisbie Hoar, in 1893, and the couple had two daughters: Frances Helen Hoar Foster (1895-1962) and Louisa Ruth Hoar LaFarge (1898-1945). Rockwood Hoar served as district attorney of Worcester County from 1899 to 1904 and was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1904. After his death in 1906, Christine maintained her home in Washington, D.C. and divided her time between Washington and Worcester. In 1915, she married Frederick Gillett (1851-1935), politician and speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Collection Description
The collection consists primarily of letters to Christine Rice Hoar from her childhood through her twenties. The letters provide details of her life in Worcester and Boston, as well as her trips to Holyoke, Magnolia, and Manchester, Mass.; New York City; and Washington, D.C. Letters also discuss Christine's three-year trip to Europe from 1885 to 1888, where she lived primarily in Cassel, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland, traveling to London and Rome. Topics include daily domestic life, news of family and friends, descriptions of social engagements, and her marriage to Rockwood Hoar in 1893. Main correspondents include Hannah B. Randlett, Robert M. Washburn, Florence H. Bradford, Beatrice Grace Barker, "Bunty," her step-mother Lucy Draper White Rice, and her sister-in-law Mary ("Mollie") Hoar.
Also included within the collection are letters to Christine's parents, William Ellis Rice and Lucy Draper White Rice, from persons replying to an invitation to Christine's engagement party in February 1893; letters to Rockwood Hoar from various correspondents, including his father George Frisbie Hoar, Henry White, Robert Lincoln, and Frances N. Lincoln; and miscellaneous correspondence of persons including Mildren Compton and Louisa Ruth Hoar.
Restrictions on Access
The Christine Rice Hoar correspondence is 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.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Reginald Foster, March 2014.
Detailed Description of the Collection
Christine Rice Hoar correspondence, 1879-1888
Christine Rice Hoar correspondence, 1889-1890
Christine Rice Hoar correspondence, 1891-1893
Christine Rice Hoar correspondence, 1894-1899
Christine Rice Hoar correspondence, 1900-1902
Christine Rice Hoar correspondence, undated
William and Lucy Rice correspondence, 1893
Rockwood Hoar correspondence, 1888-1902
Miscellaneous correspondence, 1888-1902
Preferred Citation
Christine Rice Hoar correspondence, 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.