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Lavinia Corbin letter to Abel R. Corbin

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: MSS SC 2872

Scope and Contents

The letter is a detailed domestic and town gossip from a school teacher, Lavinia Corbin, to her brother, Abel R. Corbin, in St. Louis, Missouri. At the time that the letter was written, Lavinia was living in the same county as [sentence missing] Joseph Smith's marriage to Emma Hale and "glass looking"/disorderly conduct trials of the preceding decade (Chenango County, New York). The first half of the letter was written in MacDonough, New York, and the second half of the letter was written in Preston, a neighboring city in the same county. Lavinia's father was leaving the next morning with wool for Oriskany, New York, and it is evident that he took the letter with him, as it is postmarked in Utica, which is quite a distance from MacDonough, but in the same county as his destination. The letter mentions a Ben Sympson that joined the Mormons and went to Ohio. There is a record of a Ben Simpson in the 1856 Utah Census, however, there is also a Benjamin K. Simpson in the 1840 Federal Census, recording him in McDonough, New York. Two other men, "Esqu" Canfield and Joel Godard [sic?] sold their farms and went to Ohio. Contact with the Mormons is not known though the names Canfield and Joel Goddard appear in Joseph Smith's History of the Church.

Dates

  • 1835

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Open for public research.

Conditions Governing Use

It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances. Permission to publish material from Lavinia Corbin letter to Abel R. Corbin : Macdonough, Chenango County, New York must be obtained from the Supervisor of Reference Services and/or the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Board of Curators.

Biographical History

Lavinia Corbin (7 July 1810- 9 May 1849), daughter of Eliakim and Lodama Rathbone Corbin, married Judge Oliver E. Hamlin of Honesdale, PA. She died in 1849 in Honesdale, PA. Abel Rathbone Corbin (24 May 1808-28 March 1880), son of Eliakim and Lodama Rathbone Corbin, married Elizabeth McAllister on 11 June 1835. His first wife died in 1867 and he remarried Virginia Paine Grant, sister of Ulysses S. Grant, on 12 May 1869. He was the editor of the Missouri Argus in St. Louis and then later served as clerk of Committee on Claims in the House of Representatives. He died in Jersey City, New York in 1880.

Extent

2 folders (photocopy and typed transcription) : 1 item ; 31 x 40 cm.

Language of Materials

English

Custodial History

Purchased from Rick Grunder Books. The provenance is not known beyond the vendor of record.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased; Rick Grunder Books; 1996.

Appraisal

19th Century Western and Mormon Manuscripts.

General

Incomplete contents: 1 item. 31 x 40 cm + photocopy and typed transcription.

Processing Information

Processed; Erin Chapman; 2002.

Title
Register of Lavinia Corbin letter to Abel R. Corbin : Macdonough, Chenango County, New York
Author
Garrett Schroath
Date
2011 May 12
Description rules
Appm
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections Repository

Contact:
1130 HBLL
Brigham Young University
Provo Utah 84602 United States