1736-1887; bulk: 1800-1865
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of six generations of letters, diaries, copybooks, account books, and other miscellaneous financial and legal papers of the Heath family of Brookline, Mass.
Biographical Sketches
John Heath (1732-1804) of Brookline, Mass. married in 1758 Susannah Craft (1738-1808), daughter of Ebenezer (b. 1705) and Susannah (White) Craft (1732-1752). Their children represented in the collection are: Susannah Heath (1758-1787), a.k.a. "Sukey," who married in 1783 Dr. John Goddard of Portsmouth, N.H., Harvard Class of 1777, surgeon, and state legislator; and Elizabeth Heath (b. 1769), who married in 1813 John Howe (d. 1825).
Ebenezer Heath (1765-1845) married in 1791 Hannah Williams (1771-1832). Their children represented in the collection are: John Heath (1792-1835), who married Harriet Newell; Susannah Heath (1795-1878), diarist; Ann Eliza Heath (1797-1878), a.k.a. "Aunt Annie"; Hannah Williams Heath (1799-1883), who married John Howe and had Hannah Williams Howe (1821-1839); Charles Heath (1801-1868), who married Caroline Penniman; Mary Heath (1804-1824); Elizabeth Williams Heath (1808-1838); Frederick Augustus Heath (1810-1880), who married Elizabeth Tuckerman and had Grace Heath (1842-1864), who was a friend of Marian "Clover" Adams and engaged to James J. Higginson; Abby Louisa Hayden Heath (1814-1894); and Elizabeth Craft (1747-1839), a.k.a. "Aunt White," who married in 1767 Caleb White (1741-1770).
Collection Description
The Heath family papers consist of six generations of letters, diaries, copybooks, account books, and other miscellaneous financial and legal papers of the Heath family of Brookline, Mass. The collection consists primarily of correspondence between and diaries kept by the children and grandchildren of John and Susannah (Craft) Heath, especially Ebenezer Heath, Susannah Heath, Ann Eliza Heath, and Mary Heath. Also included are letters and diaries of the related Craft, Goddard, Howe, White, and Williams families of Brookline, Mass. and Portsmouth, N.H.
The correspondence describes the details and routine of social and domestic life--education, births, deaths, marriages, religious services, travels, visitors, parties, reading, local personalities, and current events. Additional materials relate to Susannah Craft's inoculation for smallpox, 1792, and a Shaysite-related mob, 1786, and a series of letters from James J. Higginson describes the siege of Petersburg, Va. in 1863 and 1864. Correspondence of Grace Heath discusses the activities of her friend Robert G. Shaw in the Civil War. Also of interest are school notebooks, religious extracts, a recipe book, and the 61-volume diary of Susannah Heath kept between 1812 and 1874.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Henry R. Atkinson of Brookline, Mass., 1979.
Other Formats
Digital facsimiles of the Elizabeth Heath Howe diaries are available on Leisure, Travel & Mass Culture: The History of Tourism, a digital publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS makes this resource available onsite; see a reference librarian for more information.
Transcriptions of many of the volumes in this collection are contained in the Heath-Doliber-Hedge-Hammond family papers at the MHS.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Loose papers, 1736-1887
Arranged chronologically.
II. Volumes, 1770-1885
Arranged by family member.
Hannah Williams Heath volumes, 1788-1832
NOTE: Typed transcriptions of the diaries of Hannah Williams Heath are contained in the Heath-Doliber-Hedge-Hammond family papers (Carton 2).
Susannah Heath diaries, 1812-1874
NOTE: Typed transcriptions of the diaries of Susannah Heath are contained in the Heath-Doliber-Hedge-Hammond family papers (Carton 1).
Elizabeth Heath Howe volumes, 1781-1854
NOTE: A typed transcription of the 1804 diary of Elizabeth (Heath) Howe is contained in the Heath-Doliber-Hedge-Hammond family papers (Carton 2).
Ann Eliza Heath volumes, 1824-1830
NOTE: A manuscript transcription and a typed transcription of the 1792 diary of Susannah Craft Heath is contained in the Heath-Doliber-Hedge-Hammond family papers (Carton 2).
Mary Heath volumes, 1815-1824
Abby Louisa Heath volumes, 1823-1885
Elizabeth Williams Heath volumes, 1819-1822
John Howe volumes, 1798-1840
Elizabeth Craft White volumes, 1770-1832
NOTE: A typed transcription of the diary of Ann White is contained in the Heath-Doliber-Hedge-Hammond family papers (Carton 2). That collection also contains a manuscript transcription of 1783 entries by "Aunt Eliza."
III. Oversize materials, 1789-1877
This series of oversized items removed from the rest of the collection primarily consists of family deeds, real estate transactions, and military appointments and discharges.
Preferred Citation
Heath family 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:
Subjects:
Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs from this collection have been removed to the Heath family photographs (Photo. Coll. 145).