Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Alphonso Fuller Papers 1788-1853
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Alphonso Fuller Papers, 1788-1853, M000122, Sutro Library, California State Library, San Francisco, Calif.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Collection contains 121 letters, primarily composed of correspondence sent between the members of the Fuller and Swain families, and between Alphonso Fuller and his business correspondents between 1788 and 1853.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Alphonso Theodore Foster Fuller was born September 7, 1792 in Providence, Rhode Island to Sylvester Fuller and Affia Brower Anderson. He was one of five known children, his biological siblings including Eliza Brower Smith (b.1782 - d.1857), Harriet Amelia Fuller (b. 1782, death unknown), Sylvester Fuller (b. 1793 - d.1868), and Adeline Augusta Fuller Wood (b.1798 - d.1834) [married Emelius Wood].
Mary Cook Swain was born on October 26, 1800 in Nantucket, Massachusetts to parents Commodore Samuel Swain and Mary Cook. She and Alphonso married at an unknown date. The bulk of the letters in this collection were sent from Alphonso to Mary from along his trading route. There are also several letters sent between Mary and her sisters: Susan Swain (b.1807 - d.1891), Caroline Swain (b.1808 - d.1889), Lydia Swain (birth and death unknown), and one from her brother, Stephen B. Swain (b.1793 - d.1823). She also had three other brothers, John Coggeshall Swain (b. 1798 - d.1885), James Cook Swain (b.1795 - d.1832), and Joseph Cook Swain (b.1791- d.1862) but this collection features no correspondence from them.
Mary and Alphonso had several children together: Emelius Wood Fuller (b.1815 - d.1857), Stephen Swain Fuller (b.1817 - d.1893), Harriet Augusta Fuller (b.1820 - d.1898), Mary Virgilius [or Vigilia/Viggilia] Fuller (b.1823 - d.1872), Caroline Eliza Fuller (b.1826, death unknown), Adelia Romaine Fuller (b.1833 - d.1903), Gratia Turnbull Fuller (b.1835 - d.1913), Josephine Swain Fuller (b.1838 - d.1889), Susan Alphonsine Fuller (b.1840 - d.1908), and Helena Arzelia Fuller (b.1842 - d.1901). Two of their daughters, Susan Adelaide Fuller (b.1831 - d.1833) and Zelia Marie Fuller (b.1829 - d.1830), died in infancy.
The bulk of these letters detail Alphonso's experiences as a trader along the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. His letters include details about several dangerous encounters along the river [folder 9, item 6], as well as information on scarlet fever and small pox epidemics. The letters also include contemporary medical terminology, vaccination, mortality rates, and treatment of the conditions. Other subjects explored include: the increase in general literacy in the early 1800s, the establishment of libraries [folder 34, item 1], and specific details on the going rates, transportation methods, and types of material and agricultural goods being traded on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in the 19th century. Additionally, there is evidence of the evolving East-American dialect.
Of particular interest is a letter in which Alphonso Fuller references the steamship Ben Sherrod's explosion, which killed 250 people [folder 9, item 22], and an eyewitness account of the Dorr Rebellion, which occurred on Rhode Island in 1842 [folder 5, item 6]. Political references include: the election of William Henry Harrison, local Gallipolis/Ohio elections and party politics, multiple references made to General Andrew Jackson, Martin van Buren, Benjamin Harrison, George Walton, and John Tyler, and limited commentary on the institution of slavery.
Alphonso Fuller died on September 27, 1857 in Rome, Lawrence, Ohio at 65 years old. Mary Fuller lived for another two decades, passing away on March 30, 1883 in Rome, Lawrence, Ohio at 83 years old.
- Processing information:
-
Original order unknown. Materials were described and arranged first by an unnamed archivist in an undated, typewritten finding aid. The finding aid was digitally transcribed and revised by Leila Kalliel in 2024.
- Arrangement:
-
This collection is arranged into one series, organized alphabetically by sender surname.
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- 2024-06-30
- Date Encoded:
- This finding aid was encoding in EAD by Archon 3.21 from an SQL database source on June 14th, 2024 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research. Please page materials three business days in advance of your visit by email: sutro@library.ca.gov
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights reside with the repository. Any applicable literary rights would reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain permission to publish or reproduce, please email sutro@library.ca.gov
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Alphonso Fuller Papers, 1788-1853, M000122, Sutro Library, California State Library, San Francisco, Calif.
- Location of this collection:
-
SFSU - J. Paul Leonard Library1630 Holloway Ave, Room 610San Francisco, CA 94132-4030, US
- Contact:
- (415) 469-6100