Henry Fitzgilbert Waters Papers, 1832-1913, 1993, undated
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Not requestable
Scope and Content Note
The bulk of the Henry FitzGilbert Waters Papers, 1850-1907, document Henry F. Waters' (1833-1913) association with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and his keen interest in genealogical research. The collection has been divided into four series.
Series I. Correspondence is mostly comprised of letters received by Henry. Arranged alphabetically, these include genealogical, personal, and miscellaneous business letters. Of interest are letters from James Arthur Emmerton, Henry's classmate at Harvard and his subsequent genealogical research partner. Also of note are letters from John Tyler Hassam (1841-1903), an influential member of the New England Historic and Genealogical Society who helped to arrange for Henry's genealogical work in London, and John Ward Dean (1815-1902), the Society's librarian. Additional correspondence of John W. Dean regarding Henry's genealogical work may be found in box 6, folder 7.
Of interest in the single folder of letters written by Henry are those to Dr. Clayton A. Cowgill, Surgeon General of North Carolina, describing the medical procedures and organization of various North Carolina hospitals during the Civil War.
Series II. Genealogical Papers includes notes, articles, and miscellaneous papers which do not truly reflect the immense amount of genealogical research which Henry undertook. The folders of George Washington and John Harvard materials contain clippings regarding Henry's work and articles which he used as source material. The genealogical notes include notes on the Crowninshield, Pingree, Potter, Waters, and Whipple families. The legal papers contain his contracts with the New England Historical Genealogical Society to perform genealogical research in England. The folder of historical society materials includes notices and circulars from the societies of which Henry was a member, including the New England Historical Genealogical Society, the Essex Institute, and the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Series III. Personal Papers documents Henry's interest in music, the classics, and natural history.
Dates
- Creation: 1832-1913, 1993, undated
Creator
Restrictions on Access
This collection is open for research use.
Biographical Sketch
Henry FitzGilbert Waters (1833-1913), antiquarian and genealogist, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, the son of Joseph Gilbert (1796-1878) and Eliza Greenleaf (Townsend) Waters (1798-1890). Upon graduating from Harvard College in 1855, Henry returned to Salem where he established a small private school for boys.
During the Civil War, Henry was assigned to clerical duty at several hospitals under Dr. Clayton A. Cowgill, Surgeon General of North Carolina. In 1864, at the expiration of his term of military service, Henry remained at Foster General Hospital to tend the victims of yellow fever. Contracting the disease himself, he returned to Salem in 1865 to convalesce.
At this time, Henry began to pursue interests in the classics, music, natural history, antiques, and genealogy. In 1879, he traveled to England with his close friend James Arthur Emmerton (1834-1888). Together they researched the genealogies of such Salem families as the Princes and Silsbees. Their abstracts, or 'gleanings,' were published in the Historical Collections of the Essex Institute (see Appendix I).
In 1883, Henry secured a position with the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He sailed for London that same year to continue his genealogical research of the English ancestry of American families. Some of the genealogies of prominent individuals researched by Henry include John Harvard, John Rogers, Roger Williams, and George Washington.
Henry's later years were spent in Salem where he died unmarried in 1913.
Extent
4.25 linear feet (8.5 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The bulk of the Henry Fitz Gilbert Waters Papers, 1850-1907, document Henry F. Waters' (1833-1913) association with the New England Historic Genealogical Society and his keen interest in genealogical research.
Series List
SERIES I. Correspondence
SERIES II. Genealogical Papers
SERIES III. Personal Papers
Physical Location
Phillips Library Stacks
Provenance
The Henry FitzGilbert Waters Papers are a reorganization and integration of 9 boxes of manuscripts, originally processed as part of the Waters Family II Papers, papers removed from the Waters Family I Papers, and additional papers removed from a scrapbook. The Waters Family II Papers were an integration of papers donated by Lawrence Jenkins Waters in 1961 and a smaller collection from an unknown source. The Waters Family I Papers and the scrapbook were probably donated by William Crowninshield Waters in 1916.
Removed from the Henry F. Waters Papers are miscellaneous trade cards, advertisements, notices, and circulars, and his appointment as a New England Historic Genealogical Society researcher (see separation sheet).
Processing Information
Collection processed by Elizabeth Craig and Elizabeth Wenger, May 1979. Reprocessed by Sylvia B. Kennick, March 1983. Updated by Catherine Robertson, December 2014.
Subject
- Cowgill, Clayton A., 1826?-1901 (Person)
- Dean, John Ward, 1815-1902 (Person)
- Emmerton, James A. (James Arthur), 1834-1888 (Person)
- Hassam, John T. (John Tyler), 1841-1903 (Person)
- Waters, Charles R. (Charles Richardson), b. 1835 (Person)
- Waters, Clifford Crowninshield, b. 1840 (Person)
- Waters, Edward Stanley, 1837-1916 (Person)
- Waters, Eliza Greenleaf Townsend, 1798-1890 (Person)
- Waters, James Devereux, 1832-1892 (Person)
- Waters, Henry F. (Henry Fitz-Gilbert), 1833-1913 (Person)
- Waters, Joseph G. (Joseph Gilbert), 1796-1878 (Person)
- Waters, Joseph Linton, 1826-1891 (Person)
- Waters, Marietta Barney (Person)
- Waters, William D. (William Dean), 1798-1880 (Person)
- Boston Music Hall (Organization)
- New England Historic Genealogical Society (Organization)
- Title
- HENRY FITZGILBERT WATERS PAPERS, 1832-1916, 1993
- Author
- Processed by: Elizabeth Craig and Elizabeth Wenger; Reprocessed by: Sylvia B. Kennick; Updated by: Catherine Robertson; machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Processing and conservation of this collection were funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the Phillips Library Repository