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William H.
D. Blake Family Papers (1794-1982)
Finding Aid completed
by Eric Roth 2/2/98
Last revised 7/10/2002
Volume: 7
cu. ft., fourteen boxes
Acquisition:
acquition information
Access:
Unrestricted.
Copyright:
Request for permission to publish materials from these records
should be discussed with the Archivist and Director of the Huguenot
Historical Society.
Family Biographical
Note:
This collection was
created by William Henry Dill (W.H.D.) Blake (1843-1926), farmer
and Civil War officer, and family members after they moved to
New Paltz in 1881. In addition to W.H.D. Blake, other family
members represented in the collection include his wife, Matilda
Booth (d. 1904), two sons Alfred Booth Blake (d. 1950) and William
Culbert Booth, a daughter, Matilda Booth (d. 1970), and two
cousins Amy L. Hepburn (d. 1966) and Dollie B. Hepburn (1891-1976),
both of whom came to live at the house in their retirement beginning
in the 1950s .
William Henry
Dill Blake was born in the town of Montgomery in Orange
County on January 17, 1843.
After graduating from the Montgomery Academy, he enlisted on
December 31, 1863 with Company C of the 56th New York Veteran
Volunteer Infantry, of which he was later promoted to corporal,
regimental commissary sergeant and second lieutenant. After
the Civil War, he returned home and took employment with the
Homer Ramsdell and Company in 1867 and later with the Newburgh
and Albany Steamboat Line. In 1875 Blake married Matilda
Reeve Booth (d. 1904), daughter of Alfred B. Booth
and Dolly Reeve of Campbell Hall in Orange County, NY, and had
three children: Alfred Booth, William Culbert, and Matilda.
The family relocated to New Paltz in 1881 where they purchased
the home and farm of Josiah DuBois on Libertyville Road. W.H.D.
Blake died at his home in New Paltz on July 10, 1926. After
the Civil War, Blake became actively involved in veteran’s
affairs, serving as commander of Elting Post, No. 212 of the
Grand Army of the Republic, secretary of the Tenth Legion and
published a history of the 56th Regiment of the New York Volunteer
Infantry during the Civil War.
W.H.D. Blake’s
first son, Alfred Booth Blake was born at Newburgh
in 1875. He graduated from the New Paltz State Normal School
in 1898 and later worked for fifteen years at the R. F. Stevens
Milk Co. and the Borden Co. in New York City before spending
the remainder of his life at New Paltz. He died on December
12, 1950 and is buried in the New Paltz Rural Cemetery. Alfred’s
brother, William Culbert Blake, mechanical
and civic engineer and farmer, was born at New Paltz in 1882.
He graduated from the New Paltz Normal School and the Stevens
Institute at Hoboken, New Jersey. He died at Kingston on July
11, 1936. Their sister Matilda Blake was born
on April 22, 1884. She lived her entire life on the family farm,
attending the Libertyville District School and graduating from
the New Paltz Normal School. She was a member of the Huguenot
Historical Society, the Elting Memorial Library and the New
Paltz Reformed Church. Matilda Blake died in October 1970. None
of these three siblings married or had children.
Throughout her life,
Matilda Blake maintained a close relationship with her two cousins,
Amy L. Hepburn and Dollie Booth Hepburn. Amy L. Hepburn
was born to Samuel Boyd and Sarah Booth Hepburn. She was educated
at the Trenton Normal School and taught in East Orange, New
Jersey. She worked as Librarian at Columbia University Natural
Science Library, specializing in the areas of Geology and Maps,
Psychology, and Biological Sciences. She retired in 1953 and
relocated to New Paltz, where whe served on the Board of Trustees
of the Elting Memorial Library in New Paltz. She was also a
member of the New Paltz Reformed Church, the Ladies’ Aid
and Study Club, and the Literary Board. Amy Hepburn died on
December 24, 1966. Amy Hepburn’s sister, Dollie
Booth Hepburn was born in New York City on January
13, 1891 to Samuel and Sarah Booth. She graduated in 1913
from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts from the New
York Public Library School in 1915. She later worked as Supervisor
of the Acquisitions Department at the Columbia University Libraries
in New York City from 1918-1950 and as Personnel Director from
1950-1956. She retired in 1956 and moved to New Paltz, where
she was a member of the New Paltz Reformed Church and the Ladies’
Aid and Study Club. Dollie Booth Hepburn died at New Paltz on
March 19, 1976.
The source of all family biographical information comes from
obituaries found in the collection and from those indexed at
the Haviland-Heidgerd Historical Collection at the Elting Memorial
Library in New Paltz.
Information about W.H.D. Blake’s role in veteran activities
can be found in the New Paltz Chapter of the Grand Army
of the Republic (Elting Post) Records, also stored in the
archives of the Huguenot Historical Society.
Collection Description
This collection provides
extensive documentation of two generations of a prospering farming
family in New Paltz, New York from the 1880s to the 1980s. Importantly,
the records, which include letters, journals, photographs, scrapbooks,
estate and financial papers, and memorabilia and ephemera, document
both the business of managing the home and farm as well as the
family’s intellectual and leisure pursuits. The farm journals
of W.H.D. and his son Alfred Blake, for example, along with
estate and financial records and some photographs, provide detailed
information about the daily activities and decision-making involved
in running the family farm. In contrast, the scrapbooks, correspondence,
photographs, travel diaries, and school and professional papers
show, for example, W.H.D. Blake’s lifelong interest in
the U.S. military history and politics and his deep involvement
in Civil War veteran activities. Likewise, papers and other
items kept by Alfred document his experiences as a student at
the New Paltz Normal School and his interest in World War I,
economics, and philosophy. The scattered papers of the two Hepburn
sisters show them to be devoted to scholarship and the library
profession. Hints of genealogy also appear throughout the correspondence
and in the clippings, photographs, and a few documents of ancestors
from the late eighteenth century to the mid nineteenth.
The physical condition
of the collection varies, but is generally poor to fair. Both
the bound volumes and loose papers, particularly those from
the nineteenth century, are often worn, stained, discolored,
and very dirty. Records from the twentieth century tend to be
in much better shape. The handwriting also varies, but is generally
quite legible. One exception is the series of diaries of Sara
B. Hepburn (probably a sister of Dollie and Amy Hepburn) that
date from 1933-1944. The handwriting throughout these twelve
diaries is difficult to read and require much effort.
Several other manuscript
collections held by the Huguenot Historical Society bear a close
relationship to the W.H.D. Blake Family Papers. These
include the Jesse Booth Family Papers, the Walter
and Jonathan C.Lowrie Family Papers, the New Paltz
Chapter of the Grand Army of the Republic (Elting Post) Records,
and the Josiah DuBois Family Papers. In addition, stereoptic
equipment and cards kept by Amy Hepburn for her lectures on
European maps and history form part of the Society’s Object
and Study Collection, maintained jointly by the Curatorial and
Educational departments.
Series Description
Series 1:
Correspondence (1868, 1896-1968) – one box, .33 cu. ft.
Letters arranged chronologically,
with corresponding envelopes filed separately. This series includes
bound and loose letters written both to and from Alfred Blake,
Matilda Blake, W.H.D. Blake, Dollie Hepburn, and Amy Hepburn
primarily relating to daily farm management, news about family
and friends the New Paltz Chapter of the G. A. R., and genealogy
of the Eagan, Blake, Booth, and Watkins families of Orange County,
NY. The number and variety of correspondents is considerable,
with family and friends writing from places such as Brooklyn,
Los Angeles, California, and Phoenix, Arizona. Particularly
prolific correspondents include Helen and Leah (Blake?) of Phoenix
and Leman Wood Hastings of Los Angeles, California who write
about daily life there (1902-1939), Rev. John Haynes Holmes
of the Community Church of New York who writes to Alfred Blake
about sermons, the economy, etc. (1924-1934), and various letters
between the various family members while outside New Paltz.
Other items of interest include an 1868 letter addressed to
“cousin Till” from cousin John of Chicago, Illinois
discussing his various romantic relationships and his opinions
about theology students, growing older, and of the City of Chicago,
a series of professional letters from P. von Boeckman to Matilda
Blake concerning a tonic and exercises designed to improve “vitality”
(1902), a letter from Isadore G. Mudge to either Amy or Dollie
Hepburn concerning a management conflict at the Columbia University
Library (1937), letters from Julien J. Champerois concerning
the fall of France and live under German occupation (1940-1941),
and a 1967 letter addressed to Dollie Hepburn from Yokohama
(name illegible) concerning Hepburn’s Hall and statue
located there. The one bound volume in this series is comprised
of carbon copies of letters written by W. H. D. Blake from 1878-1905
primarily relating to the management of the farm and property,
and G. A. R. business. The ink in this volume is very faded
and difficult to read. Some pages are illegible.
Series 2:
Diaries and Journals (1882-1950) – two boxes, 1.5 cu.
ft.
This series is organized
into three subseries: Journals of W.H.D. and Alfred Blake (1882-1950),
Diaries of Amy Hepburn (1923) and Sara B. Hepburn (1933-1944),
and a journal written by William C. Blake in 1907 entitled “My
Mountain Trip.” This last journal documents a several-day
hiking expedition into the Shawangunk Mountains along with his
brother Alfred and two friends, in which they encounter wild
animals, Huckleberry pickers and other mountain dwellers, and
well-known natural features such as Lake Awosting, Mud Pond,
and Verkeerder Kill. The journal is very detailed and descriptive,
often humorous and occasionally almost literary in its tone.
It also includes occasional photographs taken during the trip.
The fifteen journals
of W.H.D. Blake and his son Alfred relate primarily to work
done on the farm and around the house. Handwritten into bound
volumes on a daily basis, the journal entries briefly describe
the type of work being done and the names of those involved.
Typical entries discuss work such as building and repairing
fences and barns, haying, mowing, planting, seeding, road work,
painting, harrowing, trimming, taking care of livestock, etc.
Blake also details trips made to New Paltz, Libertyville, Poughkeepsie,
Newburgh, Campbell Hall and other local municipalities on various
errands. There are also passing references to working on G.
A. R. business, attending church, purchasing clothes, seeking
medical attendance, hunting and fishing, and family and local
news. The entries tend to grow somewhat longer and more detailed
beginning in 1905, although the general content shows little
change. The final journal of W. H. D. Blake breaks off in mid-entry
on July 3, 1926 and is completed by Alfred Blake, who continues
the series until his death in 1950. Alfred’s entries follow
in the same style of his father’s, although the entries
tend to be somewhat longer and more detailed. The final volume,
kept from 1939-1950, is typewritten.
The twelve journals
of Sara B. Hepburn contain brief daily entries primarily relating
to family visits and news, in which Amy and Dollie Hepburn figure
prominently. The handwriting in these diaries are extremely
difficult to read, but can be managed with effort. Occasional
clippings, envelopes, pressed flowers, etc. are found inserted
between the pages. Also in this series is a diary kept by Amy
Hepburn while traveling to Scandinavia aboard the S. S. United
States in 1923, in which can be found simple pencil drawings
of sights aboard ship and in various cities in Scandinavia (Stalheim,
Kristiana, Fretheim, etc.) and several brief entries discussing
daily schedules, menus, entertainments, people met, and opinions
on views and accommodations.
Series 3:
Estate and Financial Papers (1866-1982) – one box, one
cu. ft.
Account books, receipts,
deeds, wills, financial correspondence, court papers, stock
certificates, insurance papers, and other records documenting
the estate management and financial activities of the Blake
and Hepburn families. The account books and bound receipts of
W.H.D. Blake generally detail payments made for household and
farm supplies such as foodstuffs, heating supplies, livestock,
clothing, and farm equipment and machinery. One book contains
clippings relating to the boundaries of the family’s estate.
Other bound volumes and papers detail the investments and the
periodic estate settlements deceased family members.
Series 4:
Miscellaneous Papers and Ephemera (1794-1970) – one box,
.5 cu. ft.
Military commission
of Charles Blake, 1794, letters and receipts of John and William
Blake, regarding school tuition and payments for cloth and a
looking glass, 1804-1816, 1818 document relating to Revolutionary
War service of soldiers in Capt. Joh. Blake’s (Black’s)
company at Fort Montgomery from 1779-1780, 1842 letter from
J. H. Clinton to Wm. Blake discussing a political nomination
of Clinton, enlistment and discharge papers of W.H.D. Blake,
1863-1864, and an 1872 pension document relating to William
Blake’s service during the War of 1812. Other papers include
travel tickets, passports, memorandum books, business, calling
and greeting cards, historical and genealogical research notes,
gun and automobile licenses, pamphlets, programs, primarily
of Alfred Blake, William C. Blake, Matilda Blake, and Any and
Dollie Hepburn. Also found in this series are school papers
(1889-1929) of Alfred Blake, both while as a student and teacher,
including book lists, report cards and classroom notes, correspondence,
programs, etc.; and professional papers Amy Hepburn dating from
1924-1970 such as lecture notes, a undated draft paper entitled
“Changes in the Library World,” financial papers
concerning Hepburn’s retirement, and letters and poems
from her co-workers upon her retirement.
Series 5:
Photographs and Postcards (1850s – 1960s) – three
boxes, 1.66 cu. ft.
This series includes
mid-nineteenth century daguerreotypes of the Hepburn and related
families, paper prints of the Blake family and home from the
1860s to the 1960s, photographic postcards, greeting cards,
and slides owned by Matilda Blake during the 20th century. The
majority of the photographs relate to the Blake family home
and farm in New Paltz, showing scenes of farm work, mountain
trips, and family gatherings and portraits. The photographs
are organized into three boxes by type. Paper prints are further
arranged into folders and envelopes according to several broad
subject categories.
Series 6:
Scrapbooks and Clippings (1880-1960s) – four boxes, 2
cu. ft.
Scrapbooks and clippings
primarily kept by W. H. D. Blake and Alfred B. Blake concerning
the Civil War, GAR veteran activities, national politics, and
World War I. Other subjects covered include economics, gardening,
cooking, household maintenance, local and family history, and
philosophical quotations. The file of loose clippings contains
the obituaries of several family members. There is also a scrapbook
of clippings and photographs kept by Dollie Hepburn from the
1920s to the 1960s. The thirteen scrapbooks and one folder are
housed into four boxes according to size.
Other photographs of this trip can be found in Series # -- :
Photographs.
Box 1
Series 1: Correspondence (1868, 1896-1967)
Correspondence (1868, 1896-1967) – four folders
Correspondence Book (1878-1905)
Envelopes (1900-1930) – three folders
Box 2
Series 2: Diaries and Journals (1882-1950)
Journals, W.H.D. Blake (1882-1926) – 11 bound
volumes
Box 3
Series 2: Diaries and Journals (1882-1950)
Journals, W.H.D. and Alfred B. Blake (1926-1950) –
5 bound volumes
Journal, William C. Blake, “My Mountain Trip” (1907)
– two bound volumes
Box 4
Series 2: Diaries and Journals (1882-1950)
Diary, Amy Hepburn (1923
)Diaries, Sara B. Hepburn (1933-1944) – twelve bound volumes
Box 5
Series 3: Estate and Financial Papers (1866-1982)
Account Books, W. H. D. Blake:
(1870-1915) –
Property Surveys
(1875-1879) – with journal entries
(1881)
(1893-1926)
(1895-1919) – Fragments
(1907-1921) – Livestock Record
Account Book, Hepburn family (1886-1949)
(1886-1949) Extracts
from account book
Bound Receipts (1880-1884, 1910) – two folders
Estate Papers (1866-1982) – six folders
Box 6
Series 4: Miscellaneous Papers and Ephemera
(1794-1970)
Miscellaneous Papers:
(1794-1872) –
military papers, receipts, letters
(1897-1970 and undated) – memorandum books, train tickets,
passports, business, calling and greeting cards, historical,
genealogical, and economic research notes, funeral register,
permits and licenses, etc.
Pamphlets and Programs 1859 – ca. 1960) – two
folders
Professional and Retirement Papers, Amy Hepburn (1924-1970)
School Papers, Alfred B. Blake (1889-1929)
Box 7
Series 5: Photographs and Postcards (1850s
– 1960s)
Photographs: Albums (1860s-1900s)
Blake House (late
19th century)
Hepburn family, etc. (ca .1850 – 1960s)
House and farm scenes (early-mid 20th century)
Miscellaneous (early 20th century) – travel, Mohonk
Gatehouse, World War I, etc.
Mountain and outdoor scenes (early 20th century)
People and social scenes (early-mid 20th century
Portraits (1890s)
Box 8
Series 5: Photographs and Postcards (1850s
– 1960s)
This box contains sixteen daguerreotypes of members
of the Hepburn, Lowrie, and Boyd families, 20 published miniature
photographs of the Keystone Naval Training School in Bedford,
Pennsylvania, thirteen slides of local natural views, and two
rolled panoramic photographs on linen showing the Shawangunk
Mountain Range.
Box 9
Series 5:
Photographs and Postcards (1850s – 1960s)
App. 250 postcards
addressed to Matilda Blake from the early to mid-20th century
showing images of local scenes and historic sites, and tourist
sites from around the world.
Box 10
Series 6: Scrapbooks and Clippings (1880-1960s)
Scrapbooks:
- (1880-1912) – one volume of clippings, cartoons, and
handwritten notes probably kept by W.H.D. Blake and his wife
concerning the Civil War, gardening, cooking, and local and
family news
- (1893-1897) – two volumes of clippings kept by W.H.D.
Blake concerning the Civil War and veteran activities
- (1895-1896) – one volume of clippings kept by W.H.D.
Blake concerning local and family history
Box 11
Series 6: Scrapbooks and Clippings (1880-1960s)
Scrapbooks:
- (1917-1919) – two volumes of clippings kept by W.H.D.
Blake concerning World War I
Box 12
Series 6: Scrapbooks and Clippings (1880-1960s)
Scrapbooks:
- (1886-1890) – one volume of clippings kept by W.H.D.
Blake concerning
- (1913-1917) – one volume of clippings kept by W.H.D.
Blake concerning national politics and World War I
- (1940) – one volume of clippings kept by Alfred B.
Blake concerning World War I
Box 13
Series 6: Scrapbooks and Clippings (1880-1960s)
Scrapbooks:
- (1896-1904) – one volume of clippings kept by W.H.D.
Blake concerning Civil War veterans, the U.S. military, and
national politics
- (1938-1950) – two volumes of clippings kept by Alfred
Blake primarily concerning health, politics, economics, household
maintenance, and literary quotations
- (1920s-1960s) – one volume of clippings and photographs
kept by Dollie Hepburn, primarily concerning friends, family
history, and cats
Clippings (1872-1976)
These journal entries are similar to those found in Series #2:
Diaries and Journals (1882-1950). |
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