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Dexter (Samuel Frank) Papers Addenda
mssDexter1
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Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Samuel Frank Dexter papers addenda
Creator:
Dexter, Samuel Frank, 1847-1906
Identifier/Call Number: mssDexter1
Physical Description:
1.70 Linear Feet
(4 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1875-1968
Abstract: The Samuel Frank Dexter papers addenda
includes a taxidermist's notebook and printed material relating to the noted naturalist and
ornithologist Frank Dexter, 1847-1906.
Language of Material: The records 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]. Samuel Frank Dexter papers addenda, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Gift of Patricia Miller, July 2006.
Samuel Frank Dexter (1847-1906), or Frank as his friends and family knew him, was born in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on September 3, 1847. He was the grandson of Nathaniel Gregory
Balch Dexter, who founded the knitting cotton business in the United States and established
the Dexter Yarn Company in 1820. As such Dexter went into the family business and in 1880
after the company had incorporated, he became its secretary and general manager. He married
Anna Fannie Wheaton in 1872 and subsequently had three children, Nathaniel Wheaton Dexter or
"Wheatie," Anthony Hamilton Dexter, and Fannie Wheaton Dexter. By 1900, Dexter had sold out
his interests in the company and retired from the active business life. Dexter and his
family moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1902, where he would spend the remainder of his
life until his death in 1906.
This collection primarily consists of printed material related
to naturalist and ornithologist Samuel Frank Dexter, 1847-1906. There are seven books: Field
Guide to Wildflowers by Roger Tory Peterson; A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs by George A.
Petrides; A Field Guide to Western Birds by Roger Tory Peterson; How to Know the Birds…by
Roger Tory Peterson; Land Birds Bird Guide. Land Birds East of the Rockies by Chester A. Reed;
The Observer's Book of British Birds by S. Vere Benson; and What Bird is That? by C.A.
Stebbins and R.C. Stebbins. There is also a lengthy run of 19th century ornithological
periodicals. There are at least 120 issues of Ornithologist and Oologist published by Frank A.
Webster from January 1884 through October 1893. There is also a small run of Birds: A Monthly
Serial Designed to Promote Knowledge of Bird-Life from 1897 through 1898. Other printed matter
includes two copies of The Audubon Magazine, vol. I, no. 9 and vol. LXIV, no. 1. An item of
interest is "Taxidermist's Note Book on Collecting Trips of Wm. J. Magee". The contents of the
notebook include an index of birds collected by Magee in 1875; descriptions of collecting
expeditions, procedures, and weather condition in the New England region in 1876; and general
remarks for the season of 1882 and 1883.
Arranged by genre.
Former call number: mssDexterPapersAddenda.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Naturalists
Ornithologists
New England -- Description and travel
Books
Journals (periodicals)
Notebooks
Serials (publications)
Dexter, Samuel Frank
Magee, William J.