Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Kelsey (Jeannette G. W.) Family Papers
mssKelsey
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Jeannette G. W. Kelsey family papers
Creator:
Kelsey, Jeannette G.
Washburn (Jeanette Garr Washburn), 1850-1931
Identifier/Call Number: mssKelsey
Physical Description:
5.6 Linear Feet
(13 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1851-1948
Date (bulk): 1865-1930
Abstract: Papers of Jeannette Garr Washburn
Kelsey and her extended family; the papers include Jeannette G. W. Kelsey's memoir; family,
social, and business correspondence; volumes, and photographs.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Jeannette G. W. Kelsey family papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased for the Huntington from Carmen D. Valentino by the Library Collectors' Council,
January 2020.
Jeannette Garr Washburn Kelsey (1850-1931) was born in Wisconsin to Cadwallader Colden
Washburn (1818-1882) and Jeannette Garr Washburn (1818-1909). C. C. Washburn was a Governor
of Wisconsin from 1872 to 1874, and also a businessman who founded a mill which later became
General Mills; after the birth of her two daughters, Jeannette Garr Washburn began to suffer
from some form of mental illness and was committed to an asylum in 1852 where she remained
until her death in 1909. In June 1869, Jeannette G. W. Washburn married the political
economist and journalist Albert Warren Kelsey (1840-1921) in La Crosse, Wisconsin and the
couple lived in various places including St. Louis, Missouri, and Madison, Wisconsin; from
1878 to 1882 they traveled extensively in Europe and then returned to the United States and
established themselves in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill neighborhood in a house they named
"Rauhala." Together the Kelsey's had eight living children: architect Albert Kelsey
(1870-1950), lawyer and journalist Charlotte Kelsey Darling (1873-1949), Kate Garr Kelsey
(1875-1959), who worked on behalf of Belgian refugees during World War I, peace activist
Mary Kelsey (1877-1948), Mabel Washburn Parker (1878-1968), inventor and automobile
manufacturer Cadwallader Washburn Kelsey (1880-1970), Ethel Kelsey Wentworth (1882-1964)
wife of the art photographer Bertrand H. Wentworth, and Bonnibel Kelsey (1884-1953).
Jeannette G. W. Kelsey was a published novelist whose titles include "Clouded Amber,"
"Weathering the Storm," and "On the Heights;" she died in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, age 80, on
January 30, 1931.
A collection of the papers of the Kelsey family of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania from 1851 to
1948; the papers include correspondence, a memoir and a diary, printed volumes, photographs,
and ephemera. The voluminous correspondence of Jeannette G. W. Kelsey, her husband,
children, extended family, friends, social connections, and business associates covers the
literary, intellectual, cultural, political, and business topics of the 19th and early 20th
centuries. Subjects covered in the collection are American and British politics; the
expatriate community in Europe; family relations; World War I; the Catholic Church; and
business affairs. There is a small amount of material related to the businesses and estate
of Jeannette's father Cadwallader C. Washburn. Correspondents include, among others, Bessie
Rayner Belloc, John Murray Brown, Julia Pitt Byrne, Annie Fields, Fola La Follette, Marie
Belloc Lowndes, Ida Vernon, and Cyrus Woodman.
The collection was processed by Gayle Richardson in April 2022.
Organized in the following series: 1. Correspondence; 2. Writings and printed material; 3.
Photographs and ephemera.
A Kelsey family tree is attached here as a pdf to aid in disambiguating the family members
of multiple generations of the Kelsey family who are represented in the collection:
Kelsey family tree
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Catholic Church -- United States
Catholic women
Expatriate Americans
Families -- United States
Female friendship
Women -- United States -- Social life and customs
Women authors, American
World War, 1914-1918
Great Britain -- Social conditions --
20th century
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 20th century
United States -- Politics and Government
-- 19th century
United States -- Politics and Government -- 20th century
United States -- Social life and customs
-- 19th century
United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
Business papers
Ephemera -- United States -- 19th century
Ephemera -- United States -- 20th century
Letters (correspondence) -- United States -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence -- United States -- 20th century
Memoirs -- United States -- 19th century
Photographs -- United States
Belloc, Bessie Rayner,
1829-1925
Brown, John Murray, 1842-1908
Byrne, Wm. Pitt, Mrs.,
1819-1894
Darling, Charlotte Kelsey, 1873-1949
Estabrook, Charlotte Kelsey
Gilbert, Anne Hartley,
1821-1904
Kelsey family -- Archives
Kelsey, Albert,
1870-1950
Kelsey, Albert H., 1811-1901
Kelsey, Albert Warren, 1840-1921
Kelsey, Bonnibel, 1884-1953
Kelsey, Cadwallader Washburn, 1880-1970
Kelsey, Charlotte Locke, 1811-1890
Kelsey, Kate Garr, 1875-1959
Kelsey, Mary, 1877-1948
La Follette, Fola,
1882-1970
Parker, Mabel Washburn, 1878-1968
Vernon, Ida,
1843-1923
Washburn, C. C. (Cadwallader
Colden), 1818-1882
Wentworth, Bertrand Hebron, 1868-1953
Wentworth, Ethel Kelsey, 1882-1964
Woodman, Cyrus,
1814-1889