Spence and Lowell families papers, 1740-1958, bulk 1797-1861

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Summary

Abstract:
Papers belonging to the Spence and Lowell families of New England.
Extent:
9 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Spence and Lowell families papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Correspondence and miscellaneous papers of the Spence and Lowell families, especially those relating to Keith Spence, Charles Lowell, and Mary Spence Lowell Putnam. The largest portion of the collection consists of letters from Keith Spence to his wife. The letters, written over the period from April 1797 to September 1809, describe Spence's business exploits and naval career, including service in the West Indies, cruises onboard the Ganges, Philadelphia and the Constellation, his imprisonment in Tripoli, and his service as Navy agent in New Orleans. Some letters discuss their son Robert Traill Spence, also a naval officer. Correspondence of Charles Lowell, is chiefly letters addressed to him discussing theology, political and literary news, slavery and abolitionism, family news, etc. The correspondence covers the period between 1818 and 1861. Correspondence of Mary Spence Lowell Putnam, is chiefly letters addressed to her, many from her European friends. Correspondents include Lajos Kossuth, Terézia Walder Pulszky, Charles Sumner, James Russell Lowell, and others. Also included are a few letters, evidently collected by her for their autograph value. Scattered correspondence and papers of the Whipple, Lowell, Traill, and Putnam families, including pieces by John Lowell (1704-1767); Joshua Brackett, (1735-1802), John Lowell, "the Old Judge" (1743-1803), William Whipple, and Joseph Whipple; a few letters dealing with the death of William Lowell Putnam at Ball's Bluff (1861), poems by Robert Traill Spence Lowell and Annie Fields, and miscellaneous family documents and genealogical data. Also included is an address of the U.S. Postmaster General on the occasion of the Kossuth stamp ceremony in 1958. Collection includes John Quincy Adams autograph letter signed to Charles Lowell, 1843 May 22 (SL 224).

Biographical / historical:

The Spence family of New Hampshire was related to the Lowells of Massachusetts by the marriage of Keith Spence and Mary Traill. Keith Spence (died approximately 1810), merchant of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, served as purser onboard the Ganges, Constellation, and Philadelphia, during the Quasi-War with France and Tripolitan War, taking part in naval operations in the West Indies and the Mediterranean. In 1798, he was captured by a French privateer and released in 1799. With the Constellation, he took part in the 1802 voyage and the blockade of Tripoli. Spence was captured on October 31, 1803, when the Philadelphia ran aground off Tripoli and was released in June 1805. In 1806, he went to Havana, and from 1807 to 1810 served as Navy agent in New Orleans. Spence's wife Mary Traill Spence (died 1824) was related to the Brackett, Whipple, and Lowell families. Among her relatives were William Whipple, signer of the Declaration of Independence, his brother Joseph Whipple, Joshua Brackett, a leading Portsmouth physician and patriot, the Rev. John Lowell of Newburyport, Massachusetts, and Judge John Lowell (1743-1802). Harriet Brackett Spence, daughter of Keith Spence and Mary Traill Spence, married Charles Lowell (1782-1861), pastor of the West Unitarian Church in Boston, son of Judge John Lowell. Among their six children were James Russell Lowell, the poet, abolitionist, and diplomat, and Mary Traill Spence Lowell, a scholar, traveler, and a popular anonymous novelist. Her son William Lowell Putnam was killed at Ball's Bluff in 1861.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Mary B. Bigelow, 1960.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff. In 2022, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid. In 2022, Melissa Haley enhanced description of the presidential material present in the collection as part of the American Presidential Papers Project.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

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:

[Identification of item]. Spence and Lowell families papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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