Details

Abstract / Summary

Edward Bangs (1756-1818) graduated from Harvard in 1777 and became an attorney in Worcester, Massachusetts. He was later appointed to the state supreme court. His son, Edward Dillingham Bangs (1790-1838) received his M.A. from Harvard in 1827 after having studied law with his father. He had actually begun his practice in Worcester in 1813. Bangs served as state representative, county attorney, and Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from 1824-1836. Edward D. Bangs married on 12 April 1824 Mary Grosvenor (1800-1864), who later married Stephen Salisbury (1798-1884).

This collection includes a diary probably kept by Mary Grosvenor Bangs for the period 1840 to 1842. Mary’s diary contains descriptions of visits to Boston, the city’s active social life, and descriptions of the inside of its Insane Asylum and House of Representatives. There is also a volume of notes for a will made by Mary G. Bangs, c. 1850.

The folder of documents and letters include, as principal correspondents, cousin Alice Bangs of Watertown, Massachusetts, Rev. John Healy Heywood of Louisville, Kentucky, and Stephen Salisbury II. Two folders of letters written to Mary G. Bangs from various cousins and friends for the period 1839 to 1864 contain primarily information about family members and acquaintances—including letters written by Helen James, the wife of the Rev. Horace James. Rev. Heywood frequently wrote of his ministry in Louisville and surrounding towns, while Salisbury courted Mary through his letters in 1856.

Field of Interest

Letters and Diaries

Content Type

Letter

Duration

0 sec

Format

Text

Page Count

602

Publication Year

2009

Publisher

Alexander Street

Place Published / Released

Alexandria, VA

Subject

Letters and Diaries, History, Daily Life, Domestic life