Skip to main content

Dean family papers

 Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Dean

Scope and Content of the Collection

Correspondence of the Dean, Bond, Gore, and Mason families of Connecticut and Illinois. Includes many letters from Lucretia Mason Dean and her daughter Lucretia Dean Gore, whose husband was a Congregational minister first in Groveland, and later LaMoille, Illinois. Also letters between a young Lucretia Mason Dean and her cousins and Hitty, Lucy, Moses, and Betsey Bond, and letters of Ezra and Pamelia Dean. Topics in the correspondence include courtship, religion, illness, death, and family news. The collection also contains several deeds of the Dean family for property in the Windham County, Connecticut area, estate papers of Ezra and Pamelia Dean, and two sermons written by Reverend Darius Gore. All material is correspondence unless otherwise noted.

Dates

  • Creation: 1779-1893

Creator

Language

Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The Dean family papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Dean family papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections at reference@newberry.org.

Biography of the Dean Family

Family residing in Connecticut and Illinois.

Little is known about the Dean family, except that several members lived in and around Windham County in Killingly, Connecticut. Lucy Bond, whose 1798 letter is the earliest in the collection lived in Watertown, Connecticut and had daughter Lucy Mason. Lucy Mason had daughter, Lucretia Mason around 1785. Lucretia Mason was close to several young Bond family cousins, Hitty, Lucy, and Betsey, but the exact relationship between them is unclear. Lucretia Mason married a member of the Dean family (possibly a Phillip Dean) around 1809 and had at least two daughters, Lucretia and Hannah. Her daughter Lucretia Dean married Reverend Darius Gore around 1848 and they moved to Groveland, and later LaMoille, Illinois where he was a Congregationalist minister. The Gores had least four daughters, Mary, Carrie, Anna, and Lucretia. An uncle Ezra Dean and his wife Pamelia are also present in the collection, but again, the exact family relationship is difficult to discern.

Extent

0.4 Linear Feet (1 box)

Abstract

Correspondence, sermons, deeds, wills, and estate inventories of three generations of the Dean family of Connecticut and Illinois. Includes many letters from Lucretia Mason Dean and her daughter Lucretia Dean Gore, whose husband was a Congregational minister. Also letters between a young Lucretia Mason Dean her cousins and Hitty, Lucy, and Betsey Bond before her marriage to Reverend Darius Gore, regarding courtship and other issues. Additional topics include religion, illness, death, and family news.

Arrangement

Arranged alphabetically.

Collection Stack Location

1 14 2

Provenance

Unknown.

Processed by

Lisa Janssen, 2010.

Acknowledgements

This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Title
Inventory of the Dean family papers, 1779-1893
Status
Completed
Author
Lisa Janssen
Date
©2010.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512