Collection Overview:
Title: Boylston Family Collection
Dates: (1819-1981)
Bulk Dates: (1850-1880)
Creator: Benjamin and Joseph Boylston
Accession/Call Numbers: DAL.2006.008/DAL.MSS.026
Repository: Drew Archival Library
Quantity: 1 box, 1 oversized box
Language: English
Administrative Information:
Access Restrictions: The Boylston Family Collection is open to researchers. There are no restricted materials in the Collection.
Acquisition Information: The Collection was donated to the DRHS in 2006 by the Rockland Trust.
Administrative Note:
Preferred form of citation: DAL.MSS.026, Boylston Family Collection in the Drew Archival Library of the Duxbury Rural and Historical Society.
Finding Aid Prepared By: Chris Sullivan/Carolyn Ravenscroft, March 2011
Scope and Content:
The Boylston Family Collection contains land deeds of the Boylston Family of North Duxbury from the early 18th century throughout the 19th. Also included are 31 letters, mostly to Benjamin Boylston although the most poignant is written to Lydia Fish Boylston telling of the death of her son, Joseph, in Panama in 1852. Twelve letters (1864-1869) are written by John W. Atwood, the brother-in-law of Benjamin Boylston and the executor of the estate left to the Boylston children by their grandfather, John Atwood of Chatham. The collection contains numerous receipts from the mid-19th century.
Biographical Information:
The Boylston Family lived in the Crooked Lane area of North Duxbury near the Marshfield town line.
Benjamin Boylston (1822-1896) was the son of Joseph Boylston and Lydia Fish. He was born in Pembroke, MA. In 1848 he married Mehitable Atwood (1828-1860) of Chatham, MA, the daughter of John Atwood and Mehitable Taylor; he later married Huldah Sprague (1838-1927), the daughter of Ezekial Sprague and Susan. By Mehitable Atwood he had the following children: Benjamin Clarence (b. 1850), Mehitable Clara (b. 1850), and Mary D. (b. 1852). By Huldah Sprague he had Susie Sprague (b. 1863), Joseph (b. 1866), George P. (b. 1868), Leona (b. 1872) and Charles Atwood (b. 1875). Benjamin Boylston was the proprietor of the Crooked Lane store once owned by Captain Edward Baker (see Capt. Edward Baker Collection). Boylston was also a wheelmaker.
LC Subject Headings:
Series List:
Series I: Correspondence
Series II: Legal Documents
Series III: Financial Documents and Receipts
Series IV: Day Books
Series V: Ephemera
Series I: Correspondence (1864-1873)
BOX 1
Folder 1: Correspondence from John W. Atwood to Benjamin Boylston (1864-1869). 12 items
- From Boston, March 3, 1864
- From Boston, March 25, 1864
- From Chatham, April 8, 1864
- From Boston, June 24, 1864
- From Boston, July 28, 1864
- From Jersey City, September 22, 1864
- From Jersey City, October 18, 1864
- From Jersey City, October 4, 1864
- From Jersey City, December 3, 1864
- From Lafayette NY, January 9, 1865
- From Jersey City, March, 21 1865
- From Jersey City, Oct. 9, 1869
Folder 2: Correspondence (1844-1871). 11 items
- Joseph Boylston (Bridgewater, MA) to Benjamin Boylston (Boston, MA), Sept. 2, 1844
- Joseph Boylston (So. Boston, MA) to Benjamin Boylston (Chatham, MA), Mar. 17, 1850
- Joseph Boylston (San Francisco, CA) to Boylston family (Duxbury, MA), Apr. 15, 1852
- Elisa Josselyn (Boston, MA) to the parents of Joseph Boylston. Regarding the death of Joseph in Panama. [1852]
- J. M. Josselyn (San Francisco, CA) to Benjamin Boylston, May 19, 1859
- “Sa” (Mansfield, MA) to Benjamin Boylston, Mar. 10, 1842 (found in Marbled Diary of Benjamin Boylston, 1845)
- Samuel (Chatham, MA) to “Brother,” Sept. 28, 1863
- A.W. Grays & Sons (Middletown, VT) to Benjamin Boylston w/envelope, Aug. 29, 1870
- George Ford (Port Sambel, Washington) to Benjamin Boylston, Aug. 21, 1871
- George Ford (Port Sambel, Washington) to Benjamin Boylston (Marshfield, MA), 1873. Two letters and a check attached together by paper clip.
- J. W. Faulkner (Berry Creek, Bar Butte, CA), n.d. Regarding the death of N. W. Hall.
Folder 3: Envelopes (10 items)
OVERSIZED BOX
Folder 4: Correspondence (1845)
- C. A. Pulsin (Bradford, VT) to Benjamin Boylston (Bridgewater, MA), Mar. 16, 1845
Series II: Legal Documents (1802-
BOX 1
Folder 1: Deeds (1819-1848)
- Ebenezer Fish to Joseph Boylston, June 24, 1819
- Joseph Torrey and Micah Foster to Joseph Boylston, Nov. 16, 1820
- John Ford to Joseph Boylston, May 10, 1832
- Josiah Barker, Levi Thomas to Joseph Boylston, Levi Thomas, Deacons of Baptist Church of Pembroke and Hanson, Aug. 26, 1837
- Mason Simmons to Lewis Simmons, Oct. 12, 1842
- Jabez Peterson to Benjamin Alden, Aug. 28, 1845
- Martin Bryant to Joseph Boylston and Joseph Boylston, Jr., Feb. 21, 1848
Folder 2: Deeds (1851-1910)
- Bezer Drake, Ursula Drake, Welcome White, Urania White to Lydia Boylston, Mar. 11, 1851
- Lewis Simmons to Benjamin Boylston, Nov. 4, 1852
- Peleg Ford to Rufus B. Dorr, Mar. 1, 1854
- Emaline Bartlett to Benjamin Boylston, May 5, 1854
- Lewis Thomas to Benjamin Boylston, Jan. 3, 1855
- Amasa Witherill to Benjamin Boylston, April 2, 1855
- Mary Harlow to Benjamin Boylston, May 19, 1868
- Rufus B. Dorr to Benjamin Boylston, March 2, 1875
- Rufus B. Dorr to Benjamin Boylston, Jan. 25, 1873
- Joseph Boylston to Susan S. Lewis, Dec. 16, 1909
- Clarence Boylston, et al to Susan S. Lewis, May 16, 1910
- Susan Lewis Sprague to Charles A. Boylston, June 13, 1910
Folder 3: Legal Documents (1820-1911)
- Contract with John Ford for repairs to schoolhouse, Mar. 10, 1813
- Will of Ursuala Fish, 1828
- Will of J. John Atwood, 1864
- Guardianship of Benjamin Boylston, Mehitable Boylston and Mary Boylston, Sept. 12, 1864
- Bill of sale for Patent to Benjamin Boylston, 1869
- Will of Henry H. Lewis, 1911
OVERSIZED BOX
Folder 4: Legal Documents (1802-
- Probate documents, 1802
- Deed of Emmaline and Seth Bartlett to Benjamin Boylston, 1853
- Deed of Mary Harlow, Thomas Blackman and Olive Blackman to Benjamin Boylston, 1868
Series III Financial Documents and Receipts
Folder 1: Banking Papers (1939-1981)
- Paperwork from South Scituate Savings Bank to Charles Boylston, May 1, 1939
- Copy of letter from Helen Hill regarding Boylston Collection, Dec. 28, 1980
- Letter regarding Doris Boylston’s Will from Rockland Trust, Jan. 16, 1981
Folder 2: Town Tax Bills and Receipts (1861-1938); 8 items
Folder 3: Receipts from G.C. & A. Prior (1854); 18 items
Folder 4: Receipts from G. C. & A. Prior (1855); 34 items
Folder 5: Receipts from G. C. & A. Prior (1855); 18 items
Folder 6: Receipts from G. C. & A. Prior (1856-1857); 10 items
Folder 7: Receipts from Various (1854-1858); 7 items
Folder 8: Receipts from Various (1857); 13 items
Folder 9: Receipts from Various (1857); 18 items
Folder 10: Receipts from Various (1858); 11 items
Folder 11: Receipts from Various (1864-1878); 13 items
Series IV Ephemera
- “The Unexpected Letter” (c. 1845)
- T. J. Bayley’s Marble Manufactury business card (c. 1860-1870)
- South Boston Iron Company business card (c. 1860-1870)
- A. W. Gray and Sons business card (c. 1860-1870)
- 5 cent stamp (1866)
- A. W. Gray advertisement (c. 1869)
- Lock of hair wrapped in paper (1878)
- Newpaper clipping from Old Colony Memorial (c. 1880)
- Sketch of house plan, n.d.
- Sketch of boxes (paces) with arithmetic on verso, n,d,
- Copies of bible pages listing births, marriages and deaths (c. 1980)
Series V: Day Books and Ledgers (1847-1876)
OVERSIZED BOX
- Marbled Ledger Book of Joseph Boylston, 1845
- Marbled Diary and Ledger of Benjamin Boylston, 1845
- Minutes of the Duxbury School District No. 10, 1847-1868
- Black Leather Diary, 1852
- Tan Leather Day Book/Ledger of Benjamin Boylston, c. 1860’s
- Tan Leather Day Book/Ledger, c. 1865
- Tan Leather Day Book/Ledger, c. 1873-1876