Stetson Family Photograph Collection
DAL.MSS.162
Dates: c. 1840-1900
Creator: Stetson Family
Call Number: DAL.MSS.162
Quantity: 1 Photograph Box, 1 Archival Box, 1 Oversized Box

Access Restrictions: Open to researchers; no restricted material
Acquisition Information: Donated by Elizabeth Ames. DAL.2025.021

Scope and Content:
Large collection of photographs and albums relating to the Stetson, West, and Colburn families of Duxbury, Medford, and Cambridge, MA, and Hillsborough, NH. Included are daguerreotypes and photographs of Charles Foster Stetson (1822-1917) and his wife, Ellen Colburn Stetson (1836-1873); their children, Eleanor, Anna, Clara, and Frederick. Also photographs of the family of Frederick Winslow Stetson, his wife, M. Josephine (West) Stetson, and their daughter, Caroline Hathaway (Stetson) Ames.

Of special interest are three photographs of Judith (Winsor) Hathaway, the grandmother of Charles F. Stetson. She was the wife of Duxbury physician and folk artist, Dr. Rufus Hathaway.

Biographical Note:

Charles Foster Stetson (1822-1917) was born in Duxbury, Massachusetts, to shoemaker Andrew Stetson and Sylvia Church Hathaway (the daughter of Dr. Rufus Hathaway). He became a merchant in Medford, MA, where he married Ellen Susan Colburn (1836-1873). She was the daughter of Dr. Elijah Colburn and Sarah Belknap. Together, Charles and Susan Stetson had four children: Eleanor B. (b. 1858), Sarah Anna (b. 1858), Clara Hathaway (b. 1862), and Dr. Frederick Winslow (b. 1871).

Dr. Frederick Winslow Stetson (1871-1964) was born in Hillsborough, NH, to Charles F. Stetson and Ellen Susan Colburn. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University. In 1906, he married Marion Josephine West (1878-1965). Together they had four children: Caroline Hathaway (1909-2004), Frederick Winslow Jr. (1910-20111), Warren B. (1913-1992), and Brewster (1917-1994). They lived in Cambridge, MA, and summered in Duxbury.

Judith Winsor Hathaway (1776-1881) was the daughter of Joshua Winsor and Olive Thomas of Duxbury. In 1795, when she was 17, she married Dr. Rufus Hathaway. The Hathaways built their home on Washington Street (burned down in the 20th century). Together they had nine children, including Sylvia Church Hathaway, the mother of Charles F. Stetson. Rufus Hathaway was a folk artist before becoming a physician. He died in 1822. To supplement her income and provide for her family, Judith Winsor Hathaway took in boarders. She lived to the age of 102.