Stetson (Frank Winthrop) Papers, 1857-1963

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Summary

Title:
Frank Winthrop Stetson Papers
Dates:
1857-1963
Creators:
Stetson, Frank Winthrop
Abstract:
Extent:
12 archives boxes; 5 linear feet.
Language:
Preferred citation:

Frank Winthrop Stetson Papers. Sherman Library and Gardens

Background

Scope and content:

The collection contains the personal, business and family papers of Frank Winthrop Stetson. This includes correspondence related to his education at UC Berkeley, his surveying work, his agricultural pursuits in Hemet, and his involvement with various local civic and social organizations. The family correspondence, which includes some of the oldest materials in the collection, includes not only letters between Frank W. Stetson and his immediate family but also letters sent to his parents by other extended Stetson and Hall family members over several years’ time. The largest amount of family correspondence is addressed to Frank’s mother, Lillie F. Hall Stetson (1855-1930), and it includes letters from both family members and friends. Arranged alphabetically, much of the correspondence addressed to Frank W. Stetson appears to be responses to his inquiries about various publications, instruments, tools, agricultural products and real estate. Of note in the collection is correspondence from the Hemet Land and Water Companies, for whom Stetson did some early surveying work, and letters from various Southern California nurseries, wholesalers and agricultural cooperatives (including Loeb, Fleishman & Co. and several area fruit exchanges affiliated with Sunkist) related to Stetson’s activities as a grower of potatoes and citrus. Correspondence and advertisements from several publishers and magazines, including Engineering News, Doubleday, Page & Co., Out West, Dodd, Mead & Co., and the offices of John Wanamaker, reflect Stetson’s interest in reading not only contemporary literature but also in acquiring books regarding engineering and agriculture. Other interesting items in the collection include minutes from meetings of the Commonwealth Club of California from the late 1940s and early 1950s. A large assortment of ephemera, including receipts, programs for theatrical and musical productions, invitations, and printed brochures regarding various schools in both California and Massachusetts, demonstrate not only the day-to-day lives of the Stetson family but also the social and economic worlds of Southern California and the Boston area during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Four small artifacts, primarily buttons and ribbons from different events and organizations, are in envelopes at the end of the collection.

Biographical / historical:

Frank Winthrop Stetson (1877-1963) was born in Watertown, Massachusetts, to Charles Thomas (1847-1935) and Lillie F. Hall Stetson (1855-1930). He moved to California in 1899 and studied engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating in 1902. He moved to Hemet, in Riverside County, California, in 1902, and the remainder of his family moved to Hemet from Boston later that same year. Frank pursued surveying and engineering work, and he served as city engineer for Hemet from the time of the city’s incorporation in 1910 until he retired in 1959. He also served as city engineer for San Jacinto and as a member of the San Jacinto Planning Commission. He also pursued agricultural interests in Hemet, growing potatoes, citrus and other crops for sale on the family’s Samoset Ranch. Stetson was also active in the Hemet Odd Fellows Lodge, the Comfort Rebakah Lodge of Hemet, and the Star encampment I.O.O.F. of Riverside.

Acquisition information:
The collection was donated to the Sherman Library by Horace Parker, 1970-1974.

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid created by Sherman Library and Gardens staff.
Date Prepared:
1857-1963
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using Record Express for OAC5 on July 14, 2025, 2:55 p.m.

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical object belong to the Sherman Library. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The Sherman Library does not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

Frank Winthrop Stetson Papers. Sherman Library and Gardens

Location of this collection:
614 Dahlia Ave.
Corona del Mar, CA 92625, US
Contact:
(949) 673-1880
library@slgardens.org
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