Finding Aid of the Clayonian Literary Society Lecture Committee records
0101
Finding aid prepared by Jacqueline Morin, Sue Luftschein
USC Libraries Special Collections
Doheny Memorial Library 206
3550 Trousdale Parkway
Los Angeles, California, 90089-0189
213-740-5900
specol@usc.edu
2014 April
Title: Clayonian Literary Society Lecture Committee records
Collection number: 0101
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear feet
3 boxes
Date (bulk): Bulk, 1865-1896
Date (inclusive): 1865-1937
Abstract: The Clayonian Literary Society was charged with inviting notable persons of the day to speak at its meetings. George Long
Hutchings, a banker, was chairman of the Clayonian Society of Newark, New Jersey at least until 1871. Some of the club's speakers
included G. W. Curtis, Anna E. Dickinson, Bret Harte, and Frederick Douglass, among many other authors, musicians, actors,
abolitionists, and activists. The collection is comprised of "acceptance" as well as "rejection" letters of the luminaries
who were invited to address the literary society, as well as many signed receipts.
creator:
Barnabee, Henry Clay, 1833-1917
creator:
Barton, Clara, 1821-1912
creator:
Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887
creator:
Clayonian Literary Society.
creator:
Curtis, George William, 1824-1892
creator:
Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876
creator:
Dickinson, Anna E., (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932
creator:
Dougherty, Daniel, 1826-1892
creator:
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895
creator:
Gough, John B., (John Bartholomew), 1817-1886
creator:
Hutchings, George Long
creator:
Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884
creator:
Taylor, Bayard, 1825-1878
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Clayonian Literary Society Lecture Committee records, Collection no. 0101, Special Collections,
USC Libraries, University of Southern California.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Conditions Governing Access
Advance notice required for access.
Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Jeanne Hutchings, 1986.
Scope and Content
The Clayonian Literary Society Lecture Committee records consists of letters, receipts, and a small amount of ephemera. The
bulk of the letters is addressed to George R. Hutchings. Represented in the letters are responses from authors and speakers
regarding dates and locations of speaking engagements, as well as fees. Persons of note include Clara Barton, George William
Curtis, Anna E. Dickinson, Bayard Taylor, and Wendell Phillips, among many other authors, musicians, actors, abolitionists,
and activists. The collection also includes Hutchings' personal and business letters and ephemera.
Historical and Biographical Note
The Clayonian Literary Society was founded in Newark, New Jersey in 1861. It's mission was "the improvement, mental, social
and moral, of its members, especially the cultivation of the intellectual faculties, by Composition, Debate, and other literary
exercises" ("Constitution and by-laws", 1867). This was achieved through weekly meetings held from October 1st through July
1st, in which members presented essays, heard invited speakers, and held critical debates. George Long Hutchings, to whom
the bulk of the correspondence is addressed, was the chairman for a number of years of the Society. A New York banker who
later continued his career in East Orange, New Jersey, Hutchings was born in 1845 in London, England while his parents were
travelling en route from India where they had been serving as missionaries. Little else is known about Hutchings except that
which was provided in a brief New York Times obituary also included in the collection. Married three times, he had a son,
Dewitt Hutchings, who married Allis Miller and they lived in the Glenwood Hotel (later called the Mission Inn) in Riverside,
California. The inn had been founded by Allis's parents, Frank and Isabella Miller; several generations of Millers ran the
hotel until 1956 when the children of Allis and Dewitt Hutchings sold the inn shortly after their death. Jeanne Hutchings,
the widow of Allis and Dewitt's son, Frank, is the source of the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Barnabee, Henry Clay, 1833-1917 -- Correspondence
Barton, Clara, 1821-1912 -- Correspondence
Beecher, Henry Ward, 1813-1887 -- Correspondence
Clayonian Literary Society. -- Correspondence
Curtis, George William, 1824-1892 -- Correspondence
Cushman, Charlotte, 1816-1876 -- Correspondence
Dickinson, Anna E., (Anna Elizabeth), 1842-1932 -- Archives
Dougherty, Daniel, 1826-1892 -- Correspondence
Douglass, Frederick, 1818-1895 -- Correspondence
Gough, John B., (John Bartholomew), 1817-1886 -- Correspondence
Phillips, Wendell, 1811-1884 -- Correspondence
Taylor, Bayard, 1825-1878 -- Correspondence
Ephemera
Letters
Literature--Societies, etc.--19th century--Archival resources
Newark (N.J.)--Intellectual life--19th century--Archival resources
Newark (N.J.)--Social life and customs--19th century--Archival resources
Receipts (financial records)
Box 1, Folder 1
Barnabee, Henry Clay
1871-1872
Physical Description: 6 letters.
Box 1, Folder 2
Barton, Clara
1866
Physical Description: 3 letters; 1 receipt signed by Barton.
Box 1, Folder 3
Beecher, Rev. Henry Ward
1866 December
Scope and Content
Letter confirming lecture by Rev. Beecher sent by his wife; original payment check.
Box 1, Folder 4
Billings, Josh
1878 September 19
Scope and Content
Receipt inscribed: "Good for ninety days/Josh Billings".
Box 1, Folder 5
Brewster, W.B.
undated
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 6
Brown, Solomon G.
1865 December 6
Physical Description: Signed payment receipt.
Box 1, Folder 7
Chase, Salmon P.
1870 September 24
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 8
Colfax, Schuyler
1868, 1869
Physical Description: 2 letters, 1 letter fragment.
Box 1, Folder 9-10
Curtis, George William
1866-1867, 1870-1873
Physical Description: 21 letters; 1 letter fragment.
Box 1, Folder 11
Cushman, Charlotte
1892, 1893
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Box 1, Folder 12
De Cordova, Jacob
1865 December 27
Physical Description: Signed payment receipt.
Box 1, Folder 13-14
Dickinson, Anna E.
1866-1869, 1871
Physical Description: 23 letters, 2 signed payment receipts.
Box 1, Folder 15
Dolly, George
1869? November 7
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 16
Dougherty, Daniel
1872
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Box 1, Folder 17
Douglass, Frederick
1866
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Box 1, Folder 18
Gallaher, H.M., Reverend
1866 February 19
Physical Description: 1 signed payment receipt.
Box 1, Folder 19
Gilmore, P.S.
1870 September 19
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 20
Gough, John B.
1866-1867, 1870, 1873, 1876, undated
Physical Description: 7 letters, 3 signed payment receipts.
Box 1, Folder 21
Halpine, Charles G.
1866 June 22
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 22
Harte, Bret
1873 January 15
Physical Description: 1 signed payment receipt.
Box 1, Folder 23
Hitchcock, Roswell D.
1865 August 22
Physical Description: 1 letter, 1 signed payment receipt.
Box 1, Folder 24
Holmes, Oliver Wendell
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Box 1, Folder 25
Kellogg, Clara Louise
1870 February 12
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 26
Logan, John A.
1866 August 14
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 27
Logan, Olive
1891 August 9
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 1, Folder 28
Merwin, James Burtis
1866 March 15
Physical Description: 1 signed payment receipt.
Box 1, Folder 29
Morton, Henry
1866, 1870
Physical Description: 4 letters.
Box 2, Folder 1
Phillips, Wendell
1867-1868, 1871, undated
Scope and Content
21 letters, 1 signed payment receipt. Includes one letter to Phillips from Isaiah Peckham writing on behalf of the Newark
Baptist Church Music Committee.
Box 2, Folder 2
Roberts, Charles
1870 October 28
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 2, Folder 3
Rockefeller, John D.
undated
Box 2, Folder 4
Schenck, Noah Hunt
1866, 1888, undated
Physical Description: 3 letters.
Box 2, Folder 5
Seward,William Henry
1866 January 12
Physical Description: 1 letter.
Box 2, Folder 6
Storrs, Richard S.
1866, undated
Physical Description: 1 letter, 1 signed payment receipt.
Box 2, Folder 7
Taylor, Bayard
1865-1868
Physical Description: 10 letters, 2 signed payment receipts.
Box 2, Folder 8
White, Charles L.
1865?
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Box 2, Folder 9
Willits, A.A.
1865
Physical Description: 2 letters.
Box 2, Folder 10
Biographical Material-- G.L. Hutchings
Box 2, Folder 11
Hutchings Family History Information
Box 2, Folder 12
New Jersey Society of the Order of Founders and Patriots of America
1896
Box 2, Folder 13
Hutchings business and personal correspondence
1869, 1886, 1887, 1896
Box 2, Folder 15
Ephemera--Miscellaneous
Scope and Content
Blank stationery from Everett Realty Co., addressed envelopes (without contents), and a few letters with indecipherable signatures.
Box 2, Folder 17
Ephemera--Tax Receipt
1867
