Balch Family Papers, 1815-1936

Collection number: MC 68
Size: 1 box (0.33 cu.ft.)

About the Balch family

The Balch family first came to America in 1623 and resided in northern Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The best known member of the family was the author Elizabeth Arabella Balch (1851-1934), daughter of Wesley P. (1794-1856) and Elizabeth Balch (1815-1892). E.A. Balch wrote Glimpses of Old English Homes (1890), and two other works are attributed to her: Mustard Leaves, or Glimpse of London Society (1885), and An Author’s Love (1889).

About the Balch Family Papers

The Balch family papers contain correspondence, legal documents, photographs, and genealogical notes. The papers include brief correspondence between E.A. Balch and Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

This collection is open.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], [Folder], [Box], Balch Family Papers, 1815-1936, MC 68, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Donation, W. Dennis Chesley (Accession number: 7917)

Collection Contents

Series 1: Correspondence, 1815-1935

Box 1
Box 1, Folder 1Rebecca Battle (d. 1820), wife of Wesley P. Balch, and her brother Hezekiah Battelle, 1815-1821 (11 letters)
Box 1, Folder 2Wesley P. Balch (1794-1856) and Elizabeth Ann Picard Jones Brackett Balch (1815-1892), his third wife, with various family members, 1847-1856 (8 letters)
Box 1, Folder 3Elizabeth Arabella Balch (1851-1934), daughter of Wesley and Elizabeth, with various family members (mainly concerning genealogy), 1902-1932 (10 letters)
Box 1, Folder 4Sarah Battelle to Rebecca Battle, 1815; William Henry Balch to Mary Elizabeth Balch, 1849 (2 letters)
Box 1, Folder 5Miscellaneous correspondence, mainly regarding Balch family genealogy, 1897-1935 (4 letters)
Box 1, Folder 6Miscellaneous correspondence, includes: Oliver Wendell Holmes and Ezra Stearns (N.H. Secretary of State), 1852, 1891, and 1898 (9 pieces)

Series 2: Manuscripts, 1913-1923

Box 1, Folder 7Poems: Hezekiah Battelle, Rebecca Battle, and C.L. Dalend, 1913
Box 1, Folder 8Poems: E.A. Balch, undated
Box 1, Folder 9Accounts: Wesley P. Balch, account book, 1833-1852; Balch House Trust account, 1922-1923
Box 1, Folder 10Poems: E.A. Balch, undated

Series 3: Legal Documents, 1818-1933

Box 1, Folder 11Wills: W.P. Balch 1854, 1855 and 1857 inventory of estate); E. Balch 1888; and E.A. Balch 1933
Box 1, Folder 12Survey plan of house lot, 1818
Box 1, Folder 13Land deeds and agreements: Seigniory of Perthuis in Montreal, Quebec, 1841-1930
Box 1, Folder 14Contract agreement between Thomas Brackett/Charles Kendall and William Varney to build a house, undated

Series 4: Materials about the Balch family, undated

Box 1, Folder 15Genealogical notes
Box 1, Folder 16Genealogical notes: Morse, Jones, Drew, Balch, and Gleason families
Box 1, Folder 17Genealogical notes: Jones, Gleason, Balch, and Baker families
Box 1, Folder 18Genealogical notes: Balch family
Box 1, Folder 19Newspaper clippings, etc., 1894-1937

Series 5: Photographs, 1850s-1902

Box 1, Folder 1Ella Adelaide Brackett Richardson (1840-1880), her daughter. Sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 2Ella A. Richardson, sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 3Ella, with a baby. Daguerreotype, 2 x 3
Box 1, Folder 4Franklin Richardson (1835-1880), Ella’s husband, with sons. Daguerreotype, 2 x 3
Box 1, Folder 5David Thomas Richardson (b.1873), son of Franklin and Ella, sepia, 4 x 5
Box 1, Folder 6William Henry Balch (1849-1911), son of Elizabeth and Wesley Balch, as a boy. Oval, sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 7William Henry Balch as a man. Oval, sepia, 3 x 5
Box 1, Folder 8Elizabeth Balch as a baby. Oval, b/w 4 x 5
Box 1, Folder 9Elizabeth Arabella Balch, aged 17, 1868. Sepia, 1 x 2
Box 1, Folder 10Elizabeth Arabella Balch, feathered hat, N.Y. Postcard, sepia, 3 x 5
Box 1, Folder 11Elizabeth Arabella Balch, with parasol, sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 12Elizabeth Arabella Balch, with group in hayrack, bluetoned, 3 x 3
Box 1, Folder 13Elizabeth Arabella Balch, with group, reading, by Washburn, Lowell, Massachusetts, sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 14Elizabeth Arabella Balch, with snowy background, sepia, 3 x 3
Box 1, Folder 15Elizabeth Arabella Balch in boat (includes negative), sepia, 4 x 5
Box 1, Folder 16Elizabeth Arabella Balch reading book, outdoors, b/w, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 17Elizabeth Arabella Balch looking at camera, book in hand, outdoors, b/w, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 18Elizabeth Arabella Balch in long dress, shawl, sitting in a rocking chair next to a window, sepia, 3 x 3
Box 1, Folder 19Elizabeth Arabella Balch in long dress, shawl, in front of mirror sepia, 3 x 3
Box 1, Folder 20Kingston Market, March 25, 1902, sepia, 3.5 x 3.5
Box 1, Folder 21Gateway, foliage, house, sepia, 3 x 3
Box 1, Folder 22Brick building, native, sepia, 3 x 3
Box 1, Folder 23Young native with sugar cane, sepia, 3 x 4
Box 1, Folder 24Mr. Baxter with fish, on boat, sepia, 4 x 4
Box 1, Folder 25Adams, Charles Francis (1807-1886), sepia, 3 x 4
Box 1, Folder 26Andrews, John Albion (1818-1867), sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 27Douglas, Stephen A., sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 28Seward, William, sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 29House in Medfield, Mass. Birthplace of EAB, sepia, 3 x 5
Box 1, Folder 30Home of Sophia (Gleeson) and Benjamin Jones, b/w, 3 x 4
Box 1, Folder 31House, b/w, 3 x 4
Box 1, Folder 32House, b/w, 3 x 4
Box 1, Folder 33Unknown man, dressed in Civil War uniform, Brady's National Photographic Portrait Galleries, sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 34Different unknown man (somewhat resembles U.S. Grant), dressed in Civil War uniform, sepia, 2 x 4
Box 1, Folder 35Unknown man, with horses (sepia, 3 x 3)
Box 1, Folder 36Elizabeth Ann Pickard Jones Brackett Balch (1815-1892), sepia, 4 x 6
Box 1, Folder 37William Henry Richardson (1868-1886), son of Franklin and Ella, by Morrill, Lowell, Massachusetts, sepia, 4 x 6
Box 1, Folder 38Jamaica, 1902: Group by thatched hut, sepia, 5 x 6
Box 1, Folder 39Tree in H.C. Morse yard, Nashua, NH, sepia, 4 x 5
Box 1, Folder 40William Henry Balch and Julia Elliott Balch, his wife, both 4 x 7
Box 1, Folder 41Sketch of “Ye Olde Homestead on South Hill” in pen and ink, sepia, 4 x 8
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