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Ellen Tucker Emerson (1839-1909) was the eldest surviving child of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) and Lidian Jackson Emerson (1802-1892).

This collection contains one hundred letters all written by Ellen Tucker Emerson to family and friends. The majority of the letters (45) were written to her sister Edith (1841-1928), who spent twelve months in New York undergoing the water-cure. Eleven letters were written to her brother Edward (1844-1930), who was often away at Harvard College, twelve to her cousin John Haven Emerson (1840- ), and seven to her father. The remainder were to friends and other relatives.

Most of the letters were written from Concord, Massachusetts, and in lively prose detail Ellen’s life in the Emerson household and in the wider Concord community. The family was firmly based in Concord from which town Ralph Waldo Emerson traveled widely lecturing and Ellen made occasional visits to friends and relatives in Boston, Canton, Naushon, and Plymouth, Massachusetts, and Newport, Rhode Island. Ellen writes of: her visits to “Aunt Ripley” [Sarah Alden Bradford Ripley (1793-1867)] at the Manse where Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Sanborn are boarding for part of 1864; her Dante studies with “Aunt Lizzie” [Elizabeth Hoar (1814-1878)]; and her labors with Sophia Amelia Peabody Hawthorne (1809-1871), Una Hawthorne (1844-1877), and Julian Hawthorne (1846-1934) in behalf of “Mrs. Mann’s fair”. She describes skating on Walden Pond [14 January 1863], visiting Edward’s newly decorated room at Harvard [6 January 1863], attending Anna Ward’s wedding at the Catholic Chapel [30 January 1863], listening to Mr. Alcott and her mother discuss education [8 January 1864], and monitoring the behavior of her “daughter”, Edith Davidson, her ward for several years.

The Civil War, the ever-present background, was for Ellen a spur to patriotic action. She attends the Soldier’s Aid sewing circle and works on fundraising fairs and balls. Emotionally she was most concerned with the well-being of her cousin Charles Emerson (1841- ) who served on the staff of General Nathaniel Banks. William “Wilky” James (1842-1910), a friend of her brother’s and a frequent visitor, was wounded during the attack of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment on Battery Wagner. She was particularly distressed by the deaths of Col. Charles Russell Lowell (1835-1864) and Concord’s own hometown hero, Col. George Lincoln Prescott (1829-1864), whose funeral she describes at length [1 September 1864].

These letters are an important addition to the two volume Letters of Ellen Tucker Emerson, edited by Edith E. W. Gregg (Kent State University Press, 1982), filling gaps in 1863, 1864, and January of 1865. It seems probable that the pencil markings on the letters—“go on” and “omit” were made by Ellen’s nephew, Edward Waldo Forbes (1873-1969). According to Edith Gregg, he marked up transcripts for possible publication but in this case it must have been the originals which were not available to her.

Lizzie A. Wilson Goodenough (1844- ) resided in Brattleborough, Vermont, where she worked as a domestic in order to support herself after she was orphaned in 1860. She also worked occasionally for Cune and Bracket, Merchant Tailors, on Granite Row in Brattleborough. In 1869, Lizzie married Henry F. Goodenough (1835- ), who worked in his family's brick quarry in Brattleborough. They raised several children, including Arthur Goodenough (1871- ) and Lizzie Cora Goodenough (1874- ).

There are nine diaries in this collection. The first seven, for the period 1865 to 1875 (some years are missing), were kept by Lizzie A.; the last two, for the years 1901 and 1903, were kept by her daughter, Lizzie Cora.

The earlier volumes contain brief entries in which Lizzie A. recorded the onerous life of a self-supporting young woman who was sometimes faced with financial difficulties. Occasionally, she lamented her lot in life: "Oh how I wish the time would come when the time would seem pleasant to me. Something to think about besides working away from home and friends past for money. Long years have past [sic] since I had a Father home to go to." (19 March 1865) The entries detail her duties as a domestic for several Brattleborough, Vermont, families, including the Howe, Tripp, and Taylor families, as well as her employment by Cune and Brackett. Lizzie A. visited her brother, Edd Wilson (dates unknown), and his family for several weeks each year, and sometimes attended the circus or played card games with her friends. Her personal cash accounts appear at the end of most volumes and reflect her attempts to remain out of debt despite her meager salaries. "Nothing better was my lot it seems than to be a slave to others' wants." (16 July 1865)

Following her marriage in 1869, Lizzie A. moved to West Brattleborough, Vermont, and assumed the duties of a housewife and mother, though she sometimes worked for Cune and Brackett. The volumes also record births, family illnesses, visits, and the annual "sugaring," or tapping of the maple trees.

In 1901 and 1903, her daughter, Lizzie Cora, kept similar diaries in which she recorded her life with her brother, Arthur, and his family; her household duties; daily events among the family members; and her duties as an occasional domestic for the Howe family. Her diaries also contain cash accounts.

Louisa Jane Trumbull Lea (1822-1890) was the fourth of twelve children born to Louisa Clap Trumbull (1798-1885), daughter of Captain Caleb Clap (1752-1812) and Elizabeth Stone Clap (1758-1843) of Greenfield, Massachusetts; and George Augustus Trumbull (1792-1868), whose family traces its history back to John Trumbull ( -1657), who came to America from Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, around 1637. She married Henry Lea (1803-1881) in 1845. Her siblings were Elizabeth Clap Lincoln (1816-1900), who married General William Sever Lincoln (1811-1889); Major George Clap (1818-1885), who married Nancy Woodbury Moore Clap (1817-1888); Caroline Burling Clap Blake (1820-1880), who married Francis Blake (1812-1879); Sarah Paine Clap Ripley (1824-1871), who married John Clap Ripley (1818-1869); Joseph Clap (1826-1880), who married first Frances Towne Hamilton Clap (1828-1859), and second Mary Moore Johnson Clap (1841- ); John Clap (1828-1832); Charles Perkins Clap (1830- ), who married first Mary Norwood Clap (1834-1886), and second Sarah Hartwell Heywood Clap (1830-1913); Susan Trumbull Clap Price (1832-1902), who married Dr. Harry H. Price (1837-1912); Isabella Frink Clap Hartshorn (1834- ), who married George Franklin Hartshorn (1826-1901); Mary Abbot Clap Cogswell (1837-1864), who married John Beare Donne Cogswell (1829-1889); and John Clap (1841-1893).

Louisa's father was born in Petersham on 23 January 1792. He attended Philips Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire. In 1813, he bought the bookstore of Isaiah Thomas, Jr. (1773-1819), and published the Massachusetts Spy from 1819 to 1823. He opened a brewery in 1822, and the following year sold his interest in the publishing business. From 1824 to 1836, George was a cashier for the Central Bank of Worcester. He then became first cashier for the Citizens Bank of Worcester, a position he held until his retirement in 1858. He died at Worcester on 17 August 1868.

Louisa began keeping a diary at age seven because her sisters had journals and because her mother wanted her "to write what happens every day." The four volumes in this collection cover the years 1829-1834, 1834-1835, 1835-1836 and 1836-1837. Louisa's entries are sporadic and at times she states that nothing of importance has occurred, yet she provides a rich, child's-eye view of her daily life and of the Trumbull family's activities, travels and many visitors. There are references to Louisa's brothers and sisters and uncomplimentary comments about the Irish. There is also mention of sickness in the family and the 1832 death of her young brother, John. The later journals include entries listing what she has read, as well as her reflections on self-improvement.