Kingsbury family – Special Collections & University Archives

Kingsbury Family Papers

1862-2006 Bulk: 1881-1902

10 boxes 6 linear feet

Call no.: MS 504

Depiction of Kingsbury children, ca.1910 — Kingsbury children, ca.1910

The family of Roxana Kingsbury Gould (nee Weed) farmed the rocky soils of western New England during the late nineteenth century. Roxana’s first husband Ambrose died of dysentery shortly after the Civil War, leaving her to care for their two infant sons, and after marrying her second husband, Lyman Gould, she relocated from southwestern Vermont to Cooleyville and then (ten years later) to Shelburne, Massachusetts. The Goulds added a third son to their family in 1869.

A rich collection of letters and photographs recording the history of the Kingsbury-Gould families of Shelburne, Massachusetts. The bulk of the letters are addressed to Roxana Kingsbury Gould, the strong-willed matriarch at the center of the family, and to her granddaughter, May Kingsbury Phillips, the family’s first historian. In addition to documenting the complicated dynamics of a close-knit family, this collection is a rich source for the study of local history, rural New England, and the social and cultural practices at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

Biographical Note

Roxana Kingsbury Gould

Roxana Orvilla Weed Kingsbury Gould (1838-1904) was the matriarch of the Kingsbury family during the late nineteenth century, a family of middle class New Englanders. A native of Winhall, Vermont, Roxana married Ambrose Kingsbury in 1859 after he divorced her older sister Lura. During their relatively brief marriage, the couple had two boys, Arnold O. Kingsbury (1861-1901) and Oscar B. Kingsbury (1863-1943), both born in Jamaica, Vermont. Ambrose survived the Civil War with the 5th Vermont Infantry, but shortly after his return home, he succumbed to dysentery.

Three years later, in 1868, Roxana married Lyman G. Gould and moved her children to his home in Cooleyville, Massachusetts (now New Salem), where she had another son, David Oris Gould (1869-1953). After ten years, the family moved to a farm in Shelburne. When the question of who would inherit the family’s farm arose, the decision seems to have been determined by the process of elimination. Roxana and Lyman’s only son together, David, showed no interest, and Roxana’s oldest son, Arnold, proved to be unreliable. As a result, the farm was settled on Oscar, the middle son, who took up the work in late 1888. Married a year earlier to Lillian M. Davis (1868-1937), Oscar failed in his first efforts at assuming responsibility for the day-to-day operations of the farm, and over the next few years Oscar sought work elsewhere. When he finally returned to the farm in 1895, Roxana and Lyman were ready to let it go, this time formally transferring the farm and its movable assets to Oscar.

In the next generation of Kingsburys, May O. Kingsbury, the second of Oscar and Lillian’s four children, took a keen interest in the family’s history. A teacher in Shelburne before her marriage to R. Ernest Phillips in 1923, May kept up an active correspondence with family members, especially during her single years, and she preserved most of the family’s papers and genealogical materials. During the 1960s, she wrote a series of essays detailing the life of her grandmother Roxana, which were saved by her daughter, Merilyn, and eventually passed on to her nephew, Conrad Totman.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Kingsbury family

This collection contains a wide variety of personal papers belonging to the members of the Kingsbury, Gould, and Totman families, long-time residents of the Western Massachusetts and Southern Vermont area. Dated between 1862 and 2006, the papers were collected by family members during the twentieth century.

The family of Ambrose and Roxana Kingsbury and their two sons Arnold and Oscar maintained an active correspondence throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. The bulk of this correspondence details the family relationships and local events as experienced by Roxana by her female relatives after her second marriage and subsequent removal to rural western Massachusetts. There are also various items of personal interest from extended family members, including children’s books, autograph albums, stereocards, picture postcards collected in albums, a few legal documents, graphic business cards from local western Massachusetts businesses, and a large sample of calling cards.

May Kingsbury Phillips collected her grandmother’s letters and later compiled a family genealogy, which is included here. After May’s death, her nephew Conrad Totman became the repository for the family’s history. Both May and Conrad compiled narrative histories of the family, mostly focusing on Roxana’s correspondence and the photographs contained in this collection. Their notes, identifications, and interpretations can be found throughout the collection.

The collection is rounded out by a series of family photography, dating from a formal portrait in 1862 to photocopies of photographs for genealogical research made in 2005. There are gem tintypes, formal portraits, snapshots, and photograph albums, preserved in a variety of frames, matted presentations, lockets, and albums. Some are professional photographs and others are candid photographs taken by members of the family.

Information on Use

Terms of Access and Use

Restrictions on access:

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Kingsbury Family Papers (MS 504). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

History of the Collection

Gift of Conrad and Michiko Totman, 2006.

Processing Information

Processed by Megan M. Kennedy, Summer 2008.

Language

English

Series Descriptions

Series 1: Correspondence and Subject Files	1862-1942
Since most of the correspondents in this series were related by birth or marriage, the letters contained are often about family members and mutual acquaintances. The letters also refer extensively to life in Shelburne, Cooleyville (New Salem), Greenfield and surrounding towns in Massachusetts, and the area near Jamaica, Vermont. The bulk of this series consists of letters addressed to Roxana Kingsbury Gould, mostly from members of the Kingsbury, Gleason, and Gould families, including her sons and grandchildren. These letters discuss local events, births, marriages, and deaths, and were intended to keep Roxana up-to-date with family news. May Kingsbury Phillips received a substantial series of letters during her younger years as a student and a teacher. They are mostly family letters, informing her about local news.

Series 2: Genealogy	1958-2005
In the second half of the twentieth century, May Kingsbury Phillips and, later, her nephew Conrad Totman compiled genealogical histories of the Kingsbury and Davis families. This collection contains copies of their correspondence with other family members and historical societies, miscellaneous newspaper clippings, notes, sketches of family trees, and compiled narrative histories. Conrad transcribed many of the letters from the collection in his “Kingsburyana” bound volume.

Series 3: Photographs	1862-2005
Photographs in the Kingsbury Family Papers consist of a variety of photographic methods, including portraits, gem tintypes, photocopies, and snapshots. Most photographs were taken locally in Hartford, Greenfield, Shelburne, Deerfield, and Conway, Massachusetts. Many of the photographs are undated but are from the second half of the nineteenth century.

Contents List

Series 1: Correspondence and Subject Files

1862-1942

Arms Academy: Phillips, May Kingsbury

1909-1913

Box 1:1

Art Books: Kingsbury, Lillian Davis

1913

Box 1:1

Art Papers: Kingsbury, Lillian Davis

ca. 1895-1915

Box 1:3

Autograph Album: Kingsbury, Joseph L.

1880-1902

Box 1:4

Autograph Album: Kingsbury, Lillian Davis

1883-1889

Box 1:5

Autograph Album: Kingsbury, Oscar

1879-1903

Box 1:6

Calendar: Kingsbury, Lillian Davis

1905

Box 1:7

Calling Cards: Baldwin Family

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:8

Calling Cards: Davis Family

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:9

Calling Cards: Davis, Lillian

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:10

Calling Cards: Gleason Family

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:11

Calling Cards: Gould, David

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:12

Calling Cards: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:13

Calling Cards: Kingsbury Family

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:14

Calling Cards: Kingsbury, Oscar

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:15

Calling Cards: Other Family Members

ca. 1870-1890

Box 1:16

Children’s Books: Kingsbury, Oscar

1869

Box 2:1

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury

1868-1899

Box 2:2

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Arnold & Eliza Kingsbury

1881-1901

Box 2:3

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from David & Cora Gould

1887-1902

Box 2:4

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Gleason Family

1880-1901

Box 2:5

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Julia Baldwin Gleason

1868-1888

Box 2:6

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Julia Baldwin Gleason

1888-1896

Box 2:7

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Libbie Gleason Eaton

1879-1891

Box 2:8

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Lillie Gleason Gadoret

1885-1895

Box 2:9

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Nancy Weed Gleason

1863-1885

Box 3:1

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Olive Kingsbury Williams

1881-1902

Box 3:2

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Oscar Kingsbury

1885-1890

Box 3:3

Correspondence: Gould, Roxana Kingsbury from Selima & Susan Weed

1882-1901

Box 3:4

Correspondence: Kingsbury, Lillian Postcards

1925-1929

Box 3:5

Correspondence: Kingsbury, Oscar

1887-1890

Box 3:6

Correspondence: Kingsbury, Oscar

1893-1942

Box 3:7

Correspondence: Kingsbury Postcards

1906-1928

Box 3:8