1811-1939
Guide to the Collection
Restrictions on Access
The Kinsman-Howe-Lord 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 correspondence of the Kinsman family of Haverhill, Massachusetts; correspondence and business papers of William Garland Howe; and translations and other writings by Grace Virginia Lord.
Biographical Sketches
Ann Willis Kinsman (1778-1844) was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, to Mary Ball Willis and merchant and sea captain Benjamin Willis. She married physician Aaron Kinsman (1767-1808) of Portland, Maine (then Massachusetts), in 1802 and gave birth to three children: Henry, Benjamin, and Ann. After her husband's death in 1808, she relocated with her children back to her native Haverhill, where she passed away in 1844.
The oldest son, Henry Willis Kinsman (1803-1859), became a noted attorney and politician. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1822, becoming the law partner of Daniel Webster before moving to Newburyport, Massachusetts. Kinsman served in a variety of government positions over his lifetime, including on the Boston city council (1832), as a state legislator (1833-1835), as a representative from Newburyport (1839, 1849, and 1851), and as a senator from Essex County (1841). He also served as a collector of customs in Newburyport from 1841-1845 and from 1849-1853. He delivered a notable July 4th oration in the city of Boston in 1836.
In 1828, Kinsman married Elizabeth "Nancy" Willis (1807-1856), the daughter of his maternal uncle Benjamin Willis, Jr. Together they had eleven children, only three of whom outlived him. Elizabeth passed away in 1856 from tuberculosis, along with her son Robert Duncan Kinsman (1846-1856). In 1858, Kinsman married Martha Frothingham Titcomb (1838-1899). Kinsman died of liver disease in 1859 after a lengthy period of ill health.
Henry and Elizabeth Kinsman's children were: Henry Willis Kinsman, Jr. (1829-1847), Elizabeth Ann Kinsman (1831-1844), Benjamin Willis Kinsman (1833-1855), George Edward Kinsman (1835-1835), Clara Crowninshield Kinsman (1837-1866), Mary McKinstry Kinsman (1839-1867), George Edward Kinsman (1841-1845), Anne Kinsman (1842-1845), Edwin Kinsman (1845-1845), Robert Duncan Kinsman (1846-1856), and Louise Hamilton Kinsman (1849-1870).
Benjamin Willis Kinsman (1833-1855) was the son of Henry Willis Kinsman and Elizabeth Willis Kinsman. He attended Groton Academy and graduated from Brown University in 1852. He studied at Boylston Medical School, which was in operation from 1847 to 1855, and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1855. While pursuing graduate studies in Paris, France, he contracted erysipelas, an acute bacterial infection of the skin, and died after an illness of two weeks. He is buried at Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris.
Clara Crowninshield Kinsman (1837-1866) was the daughter of Henry Willis Kinsman and his first wife, Elizabeth Willis Kinsman. Clara married Gamaliel Bradford in 1861 and gave birth to three children; the only child to survive to adulthood was Gamaliel Bradford, Jr., the noted biographer. Clara Kinsman died of tuberculosis in 1866.
Clara's sister Mary McKinstry Kinsman (1839-1867) married William Garland Howe (1829-1898) in 1862 and gave birth to three children; the only child to survive to adulthood was Gurdon Saltonstall Howe (1867-1908). Gurdon Howe married Maria Dolores De Rivas (1871-1951), also known as Dolores, who was of Cuban descent. Mary Kinsman Howe died of tuberculosis that same year. In letters to her from William Garland Howe, she is addressed as "Kinny."
William Garland Howe (1829-1898) was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, the son of Sarah Saltonstall Howe (1790-1870) and Isaac Redington Howe (1791-1860) and the nephew of Leverett Saltonstall (1783-1845). He worked as a businessman in Boston and in Pennsylvania, first for the dry goods firm Shaw, Blake, & Co. and then for the firm of White & Howe, dealing primarily in Pennsylvania coal mines and mines in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He was the treasurer of Everhart Coal Mining Company in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, as well as the director of the Boylston Street Land Company in Boston.
Henry Willis Kinsman's younger brother, Benjamin Willis Kinsman (1806-1832), attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He passed away from a sudden illness at Fort Gibson, Arkansas Territory, in what is now Oklahoma, having attained the rank of lieutenant.
Ann Kinsman Phelps (1808-1834) was the only daughter of Ann and Aaron Kinsman. She married her Congregationalist minister, Dudley Phelps (1799-1849), in 1832, the same year she gave birth to the couple's only child, Benjamin Kinsman Phelps (1832-1880). Ann Kinsman Phelps died of tuberculosis in 1834 after seemingly multiple instances of the disease.
Grace Virginia Lord (ca. 1841-1885) was born to Frances Jones Dutch Lord (1802-1862) and real estate developer Thomas Lord, Sr. (1797-1860) of Ipswich, Salem, Boston, and Roxbury, Massachusetts. Highly proficient in languages, she turned to translation as a way to help provide for her family after the loss of their finances, writing under the pen name Virginia Champlin. Lord was tragically killed by a piece of falling construction equipment on Beacon Street while walking with her sister, Sophia Rosamund "Rosa" Lord (1834-1904), and was buried at Central Burying Ground on Boylston Street. Two brothers, genealogist Henry Dutch Lord (1829-1900) and Thomas Lord, Jr. (1832-1889), worked for a time as county clerks in Salem, Massachusetts.
Collection Description
The Kinsman-Howe-Lord is housed in two record cartons (stored offsite) and one oversize folder (stored onsite) and arranged into four series. Papers consist primarily of correspondence of the Kinsman family of Haverhill, Massachusetts, primarily the matriarch, Ann Willis Kinsman, and her eldest son, lawyer and politician Henry Willis Kinsman; the correspondence and business papers of William Garland Howe, son of Sarah Saltonstall and husband of Mary McKinstry Kinsman, along with papers of his family; and the papers of the Lord family of Boston, Massachusetts, which were found alongside Howe's. The Lord papers consist largely of the translation work of Grace Virginia Lord, who wrote under the pen name Virginia Champlin. It is thought that William Garland Howe did some estate work for the Lord family and knew a brother of Grace Lord or her sister Rosa, whose correspondence also appears in the collection.
Processing Information
This collection was partially processed in 2021 by Katherine Griffin and fully processed in 2025. Since the provenance of the collection is unknown, the three sections--the Kinsman family papers, the William Garland Howe papers, and the Lord family papers, which are tangentially related--have been arranged and described as a single collection.
Acquisition Information
Donor unknown, year unknown.
Restrictions on Access
The Kinsman-Howe-Lord 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.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Kinsman family papers, 1816-1869
The Kinsman family papers consist primarily of correspondence between Ann Willis Kinsman (1778-1844); her children Henry Willis Kinsman (1803-1859), Benjamin Willis Kinsman (1806-1832), and Ann Kinsman Phelps (1808-1834), as well as Henry's wife Elizabeth Willis Kinsman (1807-1856); and Henry and Elizabeth's children, primarily Benjamin Willis Kinsman (1833-1855).
Correspondence, 1816-1869
Correspondence largely concerns daily life and activities, as well as the lives and health of extended family members, including Ann Kinsman's sisters. Many letters are from Ann Kinsman and her daughter, Ann Kinsman Phelps, as well as from Henry Willis Kinsman to his children, primarily Benjamin Willis Kinsman. A letter from 1842 contains Henry's observations of Niagara Falls, including the local indigenous population.
Benjamin Kinsman's letters describe his travels as part of the U.S. Army's 7th Infantry and his observations of geography and landscape. The letters include a description of New Orleans in the 1830s, with large slaveholding plantations surrounded by small dwellings in which enslaved people lived. After his death in 1832, there is a small amount of letters from Benjamin Kinsman's fellow soldiers at Fort Gibson to his family back east, as well as a letter from the wife of his commander to Ann Kinsman. Fort Gibson, constructed in 1824 as a cantonment or outpost and converted to a more permanent garrison following the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, was temporarily ceded back to the Cherokee in the late 1850s. Her letter is notable for referring to the fort as part of the Cherokee Nation.
Also notable is correspondence surrounding the death of Benjamin's nephew and the son of Henry Willis Kinsman, also named Benjamin Willis Kinsman, who contracted erysipelas in Paris as a medical student. His symptoms and the medical care he received during his last days are described in detail for his family in the United States.
Letters from William Garland Howe to the daughter of Henry Willis Kinsman, Mary McKinstry Kinsman, are filed with the papers of William Garland Howe.
Miscellaneous manuscript material contains writing fragments and some kind of composition or copy of an existing work.
Miscellaneous manuscript material, undated
II. William Garland Howe papers, 1811-1939
This series contains the personal and business papers of William Garland Howe, son of Sarah Saltonstall and husband of Mary McKinstry Kinsman Howe, as well as papers thought to belong to his family. Howe's papers relate mainly to his business ventures in Pennsylvania and include stock documents for Everhart Coal Company, Fremont Gold and Mineral Paint Company, and Fremont Color Company. Included is at least one piece of correspondence addressed to his mother, Sarah Saltonstall.
Correspondence between William Garland Howe and Mary McKinstry Kinsman, 1861-1866, undated
Letters between William Garland Howe and Mary McKinstry Kinsman Howe, some written prior to their marriage in 1862, describe their daily activities, their time together, and their love for each other.
Correspondence and business papers of William Garland Howe and family, 1811-1939, undated
These papers include mixed correspondence and business documents of William Garland Howe and family. Many papers relate to business in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, including those which predate Howe's career as a businessman there. Multiple Pennsylvania legal documents bear the name of Thaddeus Stevens. Most correspondence and papers relate to Howe's business ventures, including Everhart Coal Company in Wilkes-Barre. Some are dated after his death and are believed to have belonged to his descendants, such as a 1909 document on Cuban properties related to Howe's daughter-in-law and wife of Gurdon Saltonstall Howe, Maria De Rivas Howe.
Everhart Coal Company bond stubs, 1866
Everhart Coal Company stock transfer receipts, 1869
Fremont Gold and Mineral Paint Company stock certificates, 1884-1892
Fremont Color Company stock certificates, 1891-1893
Oversize deeds and legal documents, 1834-1865
Stored onsite at Ms. N-2709.These documents primarily include deeds and patents thought to be related to William Garland Howe's work in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, and for the Everhart Coal Company, although some documents predate his career. Two deeds bear the name of Thaddeus Stevens. An 1864 legal document of Sarah Saltonstall Howe, William Garland Howe's mother, is also included.
III. Lord family papers, 1886, undated
This series contains translations and writings attributed to Grace Virginia Lord, who wrote under the pen name Virginia Champlin, as well as two letters of her sister Sophia Rosamund ("Rosa") Lord to an unidentified family member or friend.
Rosa Lord correspondence, 1886
Grace V. Lord (Virginia Champlin) writings, undated
These writings are believed to be essays by Grace V. Lord written for publication, as well as an essay in the form of a letter to an editor.
"The French 'Remnant,' from "Le Francais," undated
"A discussion of Matthew Arnold's verses."
Ladies International College of Florence, undated
"Little Joey," undated
The Marble Workers' Servant, undated
Parisian Silhouettes, undated
Raphael at Rome under Leo X, undated
To the Editor of the Journal, undated
The Women of the Gospel, undated
Grace V. Lord (Virginia Champlin) translations, undated
These are handwritten translations attributed to Grace V. Lord, written longhand and without copies in the original language. Most are of stories by 19th-century authors, mainly French, but including some German, Danish, and Russian translations. Most original authors have been identified where possible from Champlin's own indications, but some translations do not include them.
"Brigitta," undated
Translated from the German of Burtold [Berthold] Auerbach.
"The Crucifix: A Memory," undated
Translated from the French of Marcel [Marcelle] Lythe.
"A Happy Man," undated
Translated from the Italian of Salvatore Farina.
"The Homely Woman," undated
Translated from the French of G. [Gaspard] de Cherville.
"Pintschew and Mintschew: A Jewish Story," undated
Translated from the Russian of [Leopold von] Sacher[-]Masoch.
"Left to Sit Alone," undated
Translated from the German.
"Little Carina," undated
Translated from the Danish.
"The Science of Vocal Mechanisms and the Art of Singing," undated
Translated from the French of Mme. Andrée Lacombe.
"Two Jewels," undated
Translated from the French of Mlle. Fleuriot [Zénaïde Fleuriot].
"Vacation: A Boy's Journal of the Seashore," undated
Translated from the French of Mlle. Fleuriot [Zénaïde Fleuriot].
Grace V. Lord (Virginia Champlin) miscellaneous writings and translations, undated
Incomplete translations and writings.
IV. Miscellaneous legal and print material, 1885-1903, undated
This series contains a small amount of miscellaneous print material in the form of pamphlets, as well as some packets associated with 20th-century legal cases. An address on legal figures ca. 1879 is handwritten. Although multiple family members worked in the fields of law and business, the exact connection of this material to the families in this collection is unclear.
Preferred Citation
Kinsman-Howe-Lord 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.