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Ford and Connelley family correspondence
mssFordConnelleycorrespondence
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Table of contents
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.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information,
please go to following
web site .
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.
Ford and Connelley family correspondence, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Gift from Helen Holloway, 1991
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.
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.
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
Indianapolis (Cruiser)
United States Naval Academy
United States--Navy--Sea life
Children of military personnel--United States
Navy spouses--United States
Sailors--Family relationships
Stocks--United States
Annapolis (Md.)--Social life and customs