Notable American Women, 1607-1950; a biographical dictionary.

mnsss340 Grant Family Papers, 1778-1913 Finding Aid Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College

Northampton, MA

Finding aid exported into EAD from InMagic DB/Textworks 7.01. Encoded by Margaret Jessup and Jennifer Smar. 2006-04-07 Finding aid written in English. Sophia Smith CollectionSmith College Grant Family Papers, 1778-1913 (bulk dates 1830-1870) Finding Aid MS 66 2005 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Grant family Grant Family Papers1778-19131830-1870 MS 66 5 boxes (2.25 linear ft.) English Sophia Smith Collection

Smith College Northampton, MA

The Grant family papers include correspondence, diaries, account books and financial/legal papers, biographical and genealogical material, printed material, dating from 1778 to 1913. Topics include education, maintenance of Connecticut homestead, banking in Ohio, starting businesses in Nebraska and Illinois, and accounts of Mary Grant's experiences as a missionary in India and her death from cholera. Biographical Note

The Grant family Papers represent three generations, including educators, missionaries, a banker, pioneer lawyer, social reformer, writer and lecturer. Zilpah Polly Grant Banister, 1794-1894, was born in Norfolk, Connecticut. She was a pioneering educator and founder of Adams Female Seminary in Derry, NH, 1824, and Ipswich Female Seminary with Mary Lyon, 1827. She married William Banister, 1841. Her brother, Elijah Grant, was a town officer, who married Elizabeth Phelps Grant, 1809-1875. They had 8 children. Elijah Phelps Grant was a lawyer, philosopher, social reformer, and banker in Carleton, OH, and John Grant a teacher at Yale and founder of his own private school. Other family members were bankers, homesteaders in CT, pioneers in Nebraska and Illinois. Mary Z. Grant Burgess was a missionary in India.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

It is clear from their content and their provenance, however, that they are actually the papers of her brother Elijah Grant, his wife Elizabeth Phelps Grant, their children, and the descendents of the eldest son, Elijah Phelps Grant. The correspondence consists mainly of letters exchanged within the family from the l830s to the l860s. Most of Zilpah Grant's letters were written to her nephews Marcus and John after she had married and given up teaching. John Grant, who taught at Yale and later established his own private school, sought her counsel as a former school principal. Correspondence of other family members relates to such topics as the maintenance of the original Connecticut homestead, banking in Canton, Ohio, and the starting of businesses in Nebraska and Illinois.

The early financial records, beginning in the l770's, are mostly from the settlement of the estate of Elijah Grant's uncle Samuel Cowles, of Colebrook, Connecticut, who died in l843. Account books belonging to Elijah Grant (l822-56) Elijah P. Grant (l866-67), James M. Grant (l868); Jennie Wallace (l890-97) and William Wallace (l90l-07) add to the fragmentary family financial record.

Notebooks, lectures, essays, and newspaper articles by Elijah P. Grant span the period from his college days at Yale to old age. One of his college notebooks contains transcriptions of letters describing the death of Mary Zilpah Grant Burgess who died of cholera in India where she and her husband were missionaries. The balance of the collection consists of diaries, a few photographs, compositions, and legal papers relating to various family members.

Portions of the Grant Family Papers have been digitized for the Five College Digitization Project Web site.

Information on Use Terms of Access and Use

The papers are open to research according to the regulations of the Sophia Smith Collection.

Copyright to unpublished materials may be owned by the creator, or their heirs or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights. Permission to publish reproductions or quotations beyond "fair use" must also be obtained from the Sophia Smith Collection as owners of the physical property.

Preferred Citation

Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:

Grant Family Papers, Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

History of the Collection

The Grant Family Papers were a gift of Mary R. Wallace, descendant of the Grant family, in 1959.

Search Terms Colebrook (Conn.)--History--Sources Educators--New England--Biography--Sources Family--United States--History--Sources Missionaries--India--Biography--Sources Norfolk (Conn.)--History--Sources Bannister, Zilpah P. Grant (Zilpah Polly Grant), 1794-1874 Grant, Elijah Phelps, 1809-1875 Adams Female Academy (Derry, N.H.) Burgess, Mary Zilpah Grant Cowles family Grant family Grant, John United States--Social life and customs--18th century--Sources Frontier and pioneer life--United States--19th century--Sources United States--Social life and customs--19th century--Sources Women--Education--History--19th century--Sources Yale University - Students--History--19th century--Sources Lawyers--United States--Biography--Sources Additional Information Bibliography

Additional biographical information on Zilpah Polly Grant Banister can be found in Notable American Women, 1607-1950; a biographical dictionary. Edward T. James, editor (1971).

l l Contents 2 Biographical and genealogical

These documents are available online as part of the Five College Digitization Project Web site.

3 Bills, receipts, accounts, l8l2-l906 4 Contracts, deeds, quit claims, etc., l795-l888 5 Clippings, l870-l872 6 Lake Erie Female Seminary, Painesville, Ohio (Mary Grant material), l859-l860; n.d. 7 Photographs CORRESPONDENCE 8 To Grant family from friends, l82l-l89l 9 Banister, Zilpah Polly (Grant) to family, l855-l874

These documents are available online as part of the Five College Digitization Project Web site.

l0 Grant, Abigail (Cowles) (Mrs. Joel) to family, l847-l877 l1 Grant, Caroline (Mrs. Daniel) to family, l854, l869, l89l l2 Grant, Elijah to Dr. Phelps, l840 l3 Grant, Elijah Phelps to family, l830-l859 l4 Grant, Elizabeth to Martha Grant, l843 l5 Grant, Gertrude D. (Mrs. John) to family, l857-l860, l879 l6 Grant, Jane (Jennie) to family, l857-l859 l7 Grant, Joel to parents and brother, l839-l859 l8 Grant, Joel to family, l860-l873 l9 Grant, John to parents, l848-l867 20 Grant, John to Martha Grant, l842-l843 2l Grant, John to Marcus Grant, l843-l864 22 Grant, John to Marcus Grant, l865-l877 23 Grant, John to Zilpah P.G. (Grant) Banister, l846-l852

These documents are available online as part of the Five College Digitization Project Web site.

24 Grant, John to Zilpah P.G. (Grant) Banister, l853-l858

These documents are available online as part of the Five College Digitization Project Web site.

25 Grant, John to Gertrude Day Grant and friends, l850, l878 2 26 Grant, Martha to Marcus Grant, l843 2 27 Grant, Mary to Susan Boyd and Mrs. James Boyd, l835, l839 2 28 Grant, Susan (Boyd) to Elizabeth and Lewis Boyd, l837-l855 2 29 Grant, Susan (Boyd) to Elizabeth Boyd (sister), l856-l869 2 30 Grant, Susan (Boyd) to Elizabeth Grant, l840-l859 2 3l Grant, Susan (Boyd) to Jane M. Boyd (mother), l83l-l852 2 32 Grant, Susan (Boyd) to William Grant, l883 2 33 Hurford, Elizabeth (Grant) to family, l853-l863 2 34 Wallace, Mary (Grant) to family, l853-l864 2 35 Wallace, William, misc. correspondence to and from him (includes some other types of material), l857-l9l3 FINANCIAL MATERIALS Samuel Cowles 3 1 Account book, 1840-42 3 2-5 Deeds, receipts, bills (many from the estate of Samuel Cowles), l788-l850, n.d. Elijah Phelps Grant 3 6 Account books (2), 1822-42, 1866 3 7 Account book, 1833-37 3 8 Account book, 1833-56 3 9 James W. Grant: account books (2), 1868 3 10 Isaac Jacklyn: receipts, indenture papers, deeds (many from his estate), l856-74 MISCELLANEOUS Elijah Phelps Grant College notebooks (Yale) 4 1 Memorandum Quotidiana and notes on the Class of 1830, 1828 4 2 Chemistry with B. Silliman, Botany, and "An Account of the Death of Mrs. Mary Burgess…," 1828, 1842 Lectures 4 3 "What is the best mode of teaching reading?" 1838 4 4 "The Immortality of the Soul," 1849 4 5 "The Eternity of the Universe," 1866-67 4 6 "All Things Eternal," 1867 4 7 "Original Manuscripts," n.d. 4 8 Notes and writings, miscellaneous, 1872, n.d. 4 9 Daguerreotype, Canton, Ohio, n.d. 4 10 John Grant: Journals (2), l854-l855 5 1 Dorothy Wallace: reminiscence and diary, "Omaha in the '80s" after 1941 Jennie Wallace 5 2 Account book, 1890-97 5 3 Composition book, n.d. William Wallace 5 4 Account books (2), l90l-l907 5 5 Journals (2), l857, l860