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Anderson Family Papers M0051
M0051
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Anderson Family Papers
Identifier/Call Number: M0051
Identifier/Call Number: 2027x
Physical Description:
32 Linear Feet
(65 boxes; circa 45,000 items)
Date (inclusive): 1848-1963
Abstract: Family of Scottish-English origins which came to the United States in the middle of the nineteenth century. The family settled
on the East Coast, later moving West; the Andersons contributed to society in the fields of theology, education and literature.
Melville Best Anderson was an author, translator and teacher whose particular interest was the work of Dante. From 1891-1910,
he taught in the English Department at Stanford University, serving as first chairman of the department.
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not
an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission
or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
[Identification of item] Anderson Family Papers, M0051, Dept. of Special Collections, Stanford Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Mrs. Robert Van Vleck Anderson (Gracella Rountree), 1963, Patricia Sage Liedtke, 1987, and Catharine Brinton Cary,
1997.
The Anderson Family Papers cover the history, activities, lives, interests and accomplishments of three generations of an
unusual American family. The collection contains letters, of both personal and business nature, manuscripts of the literary
and scientific work done by members of the family, photographs, snapshots, official documents (passports, certifications,
deeds, wills, insurance papers, naturalization papers, death certificates, marriage certificates, etc.) and clippings concerning
the political and historical matters of the day, and personal activities of the family.
Also contained in the collection are a number of genealogical notes. These notes show the family to have come chiefly of English-Scottish
origins on one side and, in one branch, of Hudson River Duton on the other. They seem to have been of sturdy, middle-class
stock, neither very rich nor very poor, essentially religious, Protestant, thrifty and, for the most part, well educated.
There were ministers, lawyers and teachers in the family; one member was president of several colleges. In one generation
there were two excellent scientists. There were writers, and several members were rewarded for service in the Union Army.
Others were farmers, merchants, sea-faring men and fishermen.
The first member of the family, for whom a fairly complete record is available, is Edward Coffin Anderson. The collection
contains his letters, records and certifications. From these documents can be gathared quite a complete history of his career
as a minister, college teacher and college president as well as the history of his own personal life and the childhood background
of Melville Best Anderson.
The central figure of the collection if Melville Best Anderson, first son of Edward Coffin Anderson. The correspondence of
Melville Anderson, with his parents, during his college years at Cornell University gives a good picture of the lives of the
family at this particular time. After his student years, both in the United States and in Europe, he began his long literary
life. He contributed to various literary publications, the most notable of which was THE DIAL. Through his contributions to
THE DIAL, he became a friend of Francis Fisher Browne, the Editor, and this long and satisfying friendship can be traced through
the Browne letters contained in the collection.
The Browne letters are of special interest for in then can be seen the very high regard that Browne had for Anderson as one
literary man for another, as well as the close personal friendship between the two men. There letters also contain a great
deal of business matter concerning literary interests of the day. Other letters of particular interest were written to Melville
best Anderson by Samuel S. McClure (editor of McClure's Magazine), John Muir, Anna Strunsky Walling, Gordon Craig, John Vance
Cheney, Howard Criggs and Paget Toynbee.
Most of this correspondence relates to business matters, but it also contains much to show the strong personal regard for
Professor Anderson. Most of Melville best Anderson's correspondence consists of letters to him rather than from him. These
letters indicate that he had a strong gift of friendship, not only for his contemporaries and colleagues, but for his students
as well. Samuel S. McClure had been a student under Anderson as had Anna Strunsky Walling and John H. Finley, who was for
many years connected with the New York Times and was president of City College of New York. The student for whom he had the
greatest affection was Agnes Smith Mannucci-Capponi.
The collection also contains Melville Best Anderson's manuscripts of his work on Dante which was the greatest interest of
his literary life. There are manuscripts of his other publications and his teaching notes. The Anderson Family Papers also
contain the manuscripts, photographs, letters and clippings of Melville Best Anderson's two sons, Malcolm Playfair Anderson
and Robert van Vleck Anderson.
Malcolm Anderson was a zoologist and natural scientist, interested chiefly in the Orient. He left not only his scientific
notes, but also notes for a few short stories concerning the lives of the people where he had lived and worked in China.
Robert Anderson, a geologist, was interested primarily in oil and was for some years in North Africa. Here he was also interested
in the archeology of the region. His correspondence with the United States Geological Survey and with James H. Breasted of
the Oriental Institute gives some idea of the importance of his discoveries.
The women of the Anderson family should not be overlooked. They seem to have been as sturdy a group as their husbands. Their
letters are interesting not only as personal documents but as reflections of the age, showing the great change in the status
of women over four generations. They were not career women; they were essentially housewives and mothers of families, but
their lives were active, and from their letters it is evident that they were educated, quick minded and interested in many
things outside the usual domestic routine.
The Anderson Family Papers cover the history of a distinguished family that, up to a point, followed a somewhat typical pattern
in America. Of Scottish-English origins, with a short history in the Maritime Provinces, Canada, the family came to the United
States in the middle of the nineteenth century. They settled on the East coast, later moving West. Here the Andersons diverged
from the usual pattern. They made major contributions to society in the fields of theology, education and literature. They
were intellectual people rather than industrialists. They did not lay railroads or pan for gold or wage wars with the Indians
on the frontier. They did, however, found schools, preach sermons, write books and make substantial scholarly and scientific
contributions to the community.
Edward Coffin Anderson was born on Prince Edward Island, Maritime Provinces, Canada, in 1821, the fourth of thirteen children.
His grandfather, John Anderson, had migrated to North America from Scotland with his brother, David, and son, David. David
Anderson, the son, married Miss Jeanette Coffin, whose father had come to Prince Edward Island from Nantucket. Edward Coffin
Anderson received his education in Nova Scotia at Acadia College, and later went to Newton Seminary near Boston for further
theological study.
While he was attending Acadia College at Wolfville, Nova Scotia, he met Miss Helen Best, a teacher in a school for girls.
The Best Family was also of Scottish descent. Helen's mother, Isabella Playfair, was a daughter of Robert Lawyer Playfair
and a niece of John Playfair, the great mathematician of the University of Edinburgh. Her mother, Margaret McNevin was said
to have been a brilliant and clever woman. When John Playfair was contemplating marriage, a friend advised, If you marry Margaret
McNevin, all your children will be gifted. Isabella was educated at a school for young ladies conducted by her two aunts in
Edinburgh. At sixteen she married Henry Best, of the British Navy, and they settled in Nova Scotia. They had thirteen children.
Later, to help out the family finances, she established a school for girls in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Isabella, herself, served
as headmistress and two of her daughters, including Helen Best, were teachers in the school.
In 1850, Helen Best became the wife of Edward Coffin Anderson and later that same year the young couple emigrated to the United
States where they lived for the rest of their lives. Anderson, when he finished his training at Newton Seminary, was ordained
in the Baptist Church and began his long career of preaching and teaching. His first appointment was at Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Edward and Helen Anderson had three sons, Melville Best Anderson, Robert Playfair Anderson (who died in infancy), and Edward
Playfair Anderson. From Kalamazoo, the family went to Newton Center, Massachusetts, to Milford, New Hampshire, and back to
Kalamazoo where Mr. Anderson was professor of Classical Languages and acting president of Kalamazoo Baptist College. From
Kalamazoo, they went to Margett, Michigan where Anderson was pastor. In 1866, the Andersons went to Portland, Oregon where
Anderson assumed the post of pastor of the Baptist Church, and from there he went to San Jose, California.
After a short time in San Jose, the family returned to the East coast, to Groveland, Massachusetts, where Mr. Anderson was
pastor and also principal of Highlands Academy in Petersburg, Massachusetts. He became president of Ottowa College in Ottawa,
Kansas, and pastor of Lake City Baptist Church in Lake City, Minnesota. About 1880, he became president of McMinnville College,
McMinnville, Oregon, a post he held for seven years. In 1887, he had a stroke, and died three years later, in 1890, at the
home of his son, Edward Playfair Anderson, in Lansing, Michigan.
From this varied background comes the central figure in the ANDERSON FAMILY PAPERS collection, Melville Best Anderson. The
first son of Edward Coffin and Helen Best Anderson, he was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1851. He attended Cornell University
where, to a great extent, he worked his own way. The Papers indicate that he was an excellent student. At Cornell, he met
David Starr Jordan and began a friendship that lasted for more than fifty years, and later brought Anderson to Stanford. In
1872, he graduated from Cornell and for several years he taught in the secondary schools in Appleton, Wisconsin. Jordan was
also teaching there at the time.
In 1875, Melville Anderson married Miss Charlena van Vleck. Miss van Vleck, a student at Lawrence College, and her mother,
Mrs. Louisa Gurnee van Vleck, widow of a Union soldier, had a home in Appleton. In 1875, Melville Anderson went to Gottingen,
Germany and then to the University of Paris. In 1877, he returned to the United States and began his literary and professorial
career. He went first to Butler University where he was awarded an M. A. degree and became professor of Modern Languages.
Three years later, 1880, he went to Knox College where he remained for six years. After leaving Knox, Melville Anderson spent
a year at Purdue University and in 1887 he went to the State University of Iowa. During these years, he was writing and translating
as well as teaching.
In October of 1891, he came to the newly established Leland Stanford Junior University, at the invitation of its president,
David Starr Jordan. Anderson became the first chairman of the English Department, and it was at Stanford that he did the greater
part of his teaching and writing. He taught from 1891 until 1910, retiring somewhat earlier than the usual age. A Carnegie
grant enabled him to live in Italy where he continued his studies of Dante, the great work of his literary life. During this
time, Mrs. Anderson and the two sons remained at home. Melville Anderson returned to California, but never lived permanently
at Stanford. He went to La Jolla to be near his brother Edward, and died there in 1933.
Edward Playfair Anderson, second son of Edward Coffin and Helen Best Anderson, was born in 1856 and also pursued a teaching
career. He received his A. B. degree from the University of Michigan in 1879 and his PhD. in 1886. He studied in France in
1880 and was professor of Latin and French at McMinnville College for two years, 1882-84. He returned to the University of
Michigan to work on his doctorate. In 1888 he resumed teaching, first at Ohio University, then at Michigan Agricultural College
and at Miami University in Ohio. Edward married Miss Hattie Amelia Baker and they had eight children. He moved to La Jolla,
California where he died in 1951.
Melville Best Anderson had two sons who lived to maturity. Malcolm Playfair Anderson, born in 1878, was from his earliest
boyhood interested in natural science and natural history. He graduated from Stanford as a zoologist. After graduation, his
work and interests took him to many parts of Asia, chiefly China, Korea and Japan. In 1904, he lead the Duke of Bedford Expedition
to the Orient, collecting mammals for the British Museum. He took many photographs and made full notes on the collections.
Also, he left notes on several short stories which dealt with the lives of the people with whom he lived and worked in the
Orient. Malcolm married Miss Elizabeth Gurnee, a distant cousin, and they had one son who died in infancy. In 1919 Malcolm
Anderson was killed in an accident in the shipyards at Oakland, California. His death cut short a promising career as a naturalist
and explorer.
The youngest of Melville Best Anderson's sons, Robert van Vleck Anderson, was born in 1884 and like all the Anderson children,
received the early part of his education in Germany. Robert Anderson attended Stanford, graduating as a geologist. He also
was interested in natural history and archeology. He was in Asia for a time with his brother, Malcolm, and then went to North
Africa as an oil geologist.
In North Africa, he discovered some hitherto unexplored prehistoric caves. He was fully aware of the importance of this discovery
and, with grants from the United States Geological Survey and with help and encouragement from the Oriental Institute and
James H. Breasted, he was able to excavate them.
In 1923, he married Miss Gracella Rountree of Berkeley, California. They had three children. The Andersons lived in North
Africa for many years and traveled widely in Europe, Asia and South America. He worked in Washington, D.C. with the United
States Geological Survey from 1906-1913. After that time he worked for Whitehall Petroluem in London, and as a consultant
to many others in various parts of the world. Upon his retirement in 1945, he lived near Stanford where he was a research
associate until his death in 1949. His widow, children and grandchildren are still (1963) living in the vicinity.
Melville Best Anderson & Anderson Family collections
Photographic negatives from this collection are separated and housed in MSS PHOTO 0100 General Photograph Collection:
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8ns10jw/
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American literature--20th century.
Duke of Bedford Expedition, 1904.
Women.
Manuscripts (for publication).
Photoprints.
Belgian Relief Fund (K. R. Fairclough)
Class List, July 1895. (First mention of Miss Agnes Smith)
Dickenson, M. C. (Museum of Nat. Hist, N. Y.)
Anderson family
Anderson, Edward Coffin, 1821-1890.
Anderson, Edward Playfair, 1856-1951.
Anderson, Gracella Rountree.
Anderson, Malcolm Playfair, 1878-1919.
Anderson, Melville Best, 1851-1933.
Anderson, Robert Van Vleck, 1884-1949,.
Browne, Francis Fisher, 1843-1913.
Jordan, David Starr, 1851-1931.
McClure, Samuel S.
Kellogg, Vernon.
Stanford, Jane Lathrop, 1828-1905.
Phillips, John S., 1883-1920.
Muir, John, 1838-1914.
Toynbee, Paget Jackson, 1855-1932.
Walling, Anna Strunsky, 1877 or 1879-1964
Wilbur, Ray Lyman, 1875-1949.
Willis, Bailey, 1857-1949.
Reinhardt, Aurelia Henry, 1877-1948.
Finley, John H.
Lummis, Charles Fletcher, 1859-1928.
Griggs, Edward Howard.
Hoover, Lou Henry.
Branner, John Casper, 1850-1922.
Breasted, James Henry, 1865-1935.
Hall, Howard J.
Flugel, Ewald, 1863-1914.
Mirrielees, Edith R.
Ross, Edward Alsworth, 1866-1951.
The Dialga monthly review and index of current literature.
McClure's magazine.
Accademia Dei Rossi in Siena
Alams, E. D.
Anderson, E. P.
Anderson, H. B.
Bailey, Walter B.
Baker, C. F.
Baker, Isadore
Bancroft, T. W.
Bank of Palo A lto
Barber, T. S.
Barnes, Erle
Bartlett, George, F.
Bement, Howard
Black, James, B.
Balckburn, F. A.
Blair, Vivian Losse
Bligen, John
Boisier
Braly, Miss
Brewer, Fisk P.
John C. Brinklee & Co.
Bundy, Sarah
Butler, Miss
Byrd, Jane
Butts, W. H.
Brooks, Huxley St. John
Cody, B. C.
Caldwell, Ethel
Central Indiana Normal College
Chalmers, Patrick
Chandler, Mrs. A. E. (Maude Grover)
Chislett, William
Christensen, F. W.
Cepulletti
Comstock, William W.
Comstock, C. E.
Coe, E. B.
Clute, O.
Closz, Jackb
Corbett, H. W.
Corbaley, Kate
Corlou, Hiram
Cowdery
Cox, Charles, E.
Crandall, Miss
Cracroft, Alice
Crow, J. F.
Crowe, James
Culver, Miss
Connecticut Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Donald, Eliz. C.
Cross Plains Dunne Co. William Hartung
Dunning, J. S.
E. Fan, (evidently a good friend)
Edwards, E. J.
Eldred, May
Henrietta Failing,
Fisk Teachers Agency
Fletcher, Mrs.
Fletcher, B. B.
Flint, Maude
Flint, E. R.
Ford, Miss
Foster, E. K.
Foster, Nancy
Gauers, Alice H.
Gardner, Edith J.
Gilbert, Edward
Goddard, Charles
Gould, G. M.
Greer, George
Griffin, Mr. and Mrs. James
Hairs, R. B.
Hale, Edwin E.
Hammatt, Architect
Holbrook, Agnes
Holbrook, Ida Osmond
Holbrook, N. B.
Holman, John M.
Hoskins, L. M.
Howes, Abby C
Hare, R. B.
Hudson, Florence Amy
Hulsman, Evelyn
Lathrop, Miss
Lawrence University
Leonard, EllenG.
Lewens
Loundsbury, F. R.
Lum, J
Leuwgrafz, O. A.
Lyon, Milford
Maclihose, L. S.
MacRoberts, Mary Fraser
Mills, Dorothy Lhote
Miller, Ada J.
Milligan, Minnie
Milnes, Mrs. H. E.
MacBridge, Florence
Newcomer, Margaret
Newcomer, Evangeline
Parker, Helen McGilivray Parsons, Edith
Pack, D. F.
Peck, Mrs. W. F.
Rible, Lillie M.
Richardson, Harriet F.
Rohr
Russell, William C.
Russell, William
Ryder, A. W.
Schliemann, J. L.
Schliemann, W. E.
Sewell, T. L.
Smith, Charles Foster
Smith, J. O.
Smith, J. P.
Snow, Dr. & Mrs. W. F.
Steele, Lotta M.
Tilton, J. D.
Todd, Gertrude
Tower, F. E.
Waterman, C. M.
Webster, R. M.
Werthman, Rosalie
Woodbury, G. E.
Yale, 1891
Yocum, Eliza
Younkin, Iu
Young, J. B.