Ford and Connelley family correspondence

Finding aid prepared by Gina C Giang.
Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2203
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2016
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.


Descriptive Summary

Title: Ford and Connelley family correspondence
Dates: 1882-1942
Collection Number: mssFordConnelleycorrespondence
Extent: 184 in 2 boxes
Repository: The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens Manuscripts Department
The Huntington Library
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2203
Fax: (626) 449-5720
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: Family correspondence primarily addressed to Jerome Chester Ford and his wife, Minnie Belle Ford.
Language of Material: The records are in English.

Administration Information

Access

Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, please go to following web site .

Publication Rights

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred Citation

Ford and Connelley family correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Acquisition Information

Gift from Helen Holloway, 1991

Biography

Minnie Belle Ireton was married to Clinton Osborn Brainerd. Brainerd passed away in 1915. The couple had four children: Elizabeth Brainerd, Louise Brainerd, Clinton Ireton Brainerd, and Margaret J. Brainerd. Ireton remarried Jerome Chester Ford. Clinton Ireton Brainerd married Elizabeth Edwards. The couple had no children. Margaret J. Brainerd married Harold Haskell Connelley. For some reason, Connelley is referred to as "Mike." Connelley was a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy. The couple had two children: Margaret Jean Connelley and Janet Anne Connelley.

Scope and Content

The Ford and Connelley family correspondence consists of letters primarily addressed to Jerome Chester Ford and his wife, Minnie Belle Ford. The letters from Ford’s son, Clinton Ireton Brainerd, mostly concern his finances. In a letter dated February 28, 1938, Clinton’s wife writes "I have blamed myself a thousand times over, not that I should have been so insistant [sic] about getting out of the stock market but I have been so late in doing it...However, I am convinced of one thing that something in human nature that makes you hang on when you are apparently making money to try and make a little more is hard to overcome." The letters from Margaret Jean and Janet Anne Connelley are addressed to relatives, primarily thanking them for cards and gifts received. Note: Margaret Jean is often referred to as "Peggy." Connelley’s wife, Margaret, writes lengthy letters updating her parents on family and social life. The bulk of Connelley’s letters are written from the United States Navy Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, where he teaches. In one letter, Connelley admits "I suppose I will stay here at the Naval Academ about a year and somebody has be here, but I feel funny not to be at sea fighting instead of being here teaching" (March 17, 1942). There are also several letters written on the USS Indianapolis (CA-35). Connelley blissfully writes "The wind is constant and the weather is perfect- a light blanket feels good at night. The white caps on the water are so very white against the blue of the water, it really is an intoxicating sight-diamonds against sapphires" (February 22, 1939). Additonal letters found in the collection are from other relatives.
Note: In some instances, there will be multiple letters sent in one envelope.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.

Indexing Terms

Personal Names

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton.
Brainerd, Elizabeth E.
Connelley, H.H. (Harold Haskell)
Connelley, Janet Anne
Connelley, Margaret Brainerd
Connelley, Margaret Jean
Ford, Chester Jerome
Ford, Minnie Belle

Corporate Names

Indianapolis (Cruiser)
United States Naval Academy
United States--Navy--Sea life

Subjects

Children of military personnel--United States
Navy spouses--United States
Sailors--Family relationships
Stocks--United States

Geographic Areas

Annapolis (Md.)--Social life and customs


Box 1

Folder 1

Barber, Charles, Mrs. Letter to Minnie Belle Ford (1940, Sep. 3)

1 item
Folder 2

Barnes, Charles L. letter to Minnie Belle Ford (1941, Oct. 17)

1 item
Folder 3

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters (1936)

2 items
Folder 4

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters (1937)

10 items
Folder 5

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters (1938)

3 items
Folder 6

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters (1939)

3 items
Folder 7

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters (1940)

2 items
Folder 8

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters (1941)

3 items
Folder 9

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters (1942)

Folder 10

Brainerd, Clinton Ireton letters [undated]

2 items
Folder 11

[Brainerd], [Clinton] Ireton "indebtedness" (1937, Nov.)

1 item
Folder 12

Brainerd, Elizabeth [Betty] E. letters (1936-1937)

4 items
Folder 13

Brainerd, Elizabeth [Betty] E. letters (1938, 1939, and 1942)

5 items
Folder 14

Bromwell, Katie letters and notes (1931)

8 items
Folder 15

Connelley, H.H. (Harold Haskell) [Mike] letters (1935-1936)

3 items
Folder 16

Connelley, H.H. (Harold Haskell) [Mike] letters (1937)

4 items
Folder 17

Connelley, H.H. (Harold Haskell) [Mike] letters (1938)

5 items
Folder 18

Connelley, H.H. (Harold Haskell) [Mike] letters (1939)

3 items
Folder 19

Connelley, H.H. (Harold Haskell) [Mike] letters (1940-1943)

6 items
Folder 20

Connelley, Janet Anne letters (1940-1941)

6 items
Folder 21

Connelley, Janet Anne and Margaret [Peggy] Jean Connelley letters (1939)

2 items
Folder 22

Connelley, Margaret [Peggy] Jean letters (1936)

6 items
Folder 23

Connelley, Margaret [Peggy] Jean letters (1937)

5 items
Folder 24

Connelley, Margaret [Peggy] Jean letters (1938-1940)

6 items
Folder 25

Connelley, Margaret [Peggy] Jean letters (1941)-[undated]

5 items
Box 2

Folder 1

Connelley, Margaret [Mrs. H.H. Conneley] letters (1935)

12 items
Folder 2

Connelley, Margaret [Mrs. H.H. Conneley] letters (1936)

21 items
Folder 3

Connelley, Margaret [Mrs. H.H. Conneley] letters (1937)

12 items
Folder 4

Connelley, Margaret [Mrs. H.H. Conneley] letters (1938 and 1940)

3 items
Folder 5

Connelley, Margaret [Mrs. H.H. Conneley] letters (1941)

5 items
Folder 6

Connelley, Margaret [Mrs. H.H. Conneley] letters (1942)

9 items
Folder 7

Connelley, Margaret [Mrs. H.H. Conneley] letters [undated]

7 items
Folder 8

Earl, Ella [Mrs. Guy C. Earl] letters (1940-1941)

3 items
Folder 9

Earl, Ella [Mrs. Guy C. Earl] letters (1942)

2 items
Folder 10

[Ford, Minnie Belle] letter to "My dear sister" (1882, Apr. 7)

1 item
Folder 11

Pierson, Lawrence H., Mrs. Letter to Minnie Belle Ford (1936, July 9)

1 item
Folder 12

Aunt Annie ----- letters (1936-1941)

2 items
Folder 13

"Auntie" letters (1894-1899)

4 items
Folder 14

----- letter to Minnie Belle [Ford] (1940, Feb. 5)

Incomplete. 1 item
Folder 15

Newspaper clipping of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Houston Graham Jr. (Inez Pattiani) wedding photograph (1940, Apr. 11)

1 item