A Collection of Correspondence of Four Generations of Women in the Hockaday, Price, Blair, and Henrotin Family, Approximately 550 Pieces

A collection of correspondence from four different well-known and prominent families in the 19th and 20th centuries as they intermarried through four generations. The collection, in total, has approximately four hundred and forty (440) pieces, with the bulk of the material consisting of around three hundred and seventy-five (375) letters dating between 1870 - 1962. Over one third of the correspondence focuses on the relationships between the women in the families, often the mother-daughter, sister-sister, aunt-niece, cousin-cousin relationships. The four families are the Hockaday, Price, Blair, and Henrotin. The Hockaday family was a pioneering Missouri family, and was very prominent in Callaway County, where they were especially active in local politics. The Prices were also a pioneering Missouri family, who were often active in local politics. In particular Robert Beverly Price (1832-1924) who was a well-known banker and gentleman farmer, was greatly involved in the financial success of his alma mater, the University of Missouri. Several of the family members attended this University over the years. The Blairs were one of the most powerful political families of the 19th century advising several U.S. Presidents across the party lines including Andrew Jackson, Martin Van Buren and Abraham Lincoln. One member of the family even ran as the Vice Presidential candidate for Horatio Seymour's on the Democratic Party losing presidential ticket in 1868. The Henrotin was a prominent Chicago family, of which various family members were known for their active involvement in the suffragette movement, founding the Chicago Stock Exchange, and serving as Consuls to Belgium and Turkey. The letters deal the relationships between the women as they age they age from young children, to mothers, to widows. They discuss family news, their health, gossip, current events, their frequent trips to see other family members and month long trips to Europe. They often send each other parcels, full of gifts, such as dress, coats, gloves, (some made from seal skin), and preserved food, such as jam and pickles. In addition to the strong maternal relationships represented in the correspondence, there a strong bond between Elizabeth Hockaday and her niece, Emily Hockaday Blair Henrotin (1883-1965) as Emily would stay for long stretches of time with her Aunt when ever her parents would travel. It could be said based on the number and content of their letters that Emily felt a stronger maternal bond to her Aunt than her mother. Emily Hockaday Blair Henrotin appears to have been the family historian and the one collecting the family's letters. As such a large part of her personal correspondence with her husband, Edward "Ted" Henrotin, son, Preston Blair Henrotin, and her, mostly female, friends make up approximately one third of the correspondence in the collection. The majority of the letters from her husband take place during their courtship, while they were separated due having to take care of ailing parents in separate locations between 1906-1908. At times Edward "Ted" Henrotin would write daily to Emily. The remaining portion of the collection, approximately sixty-five (65) pieces mainly deal with the Edward and Emily's life at their house and farm called Road's End, located in Cherryplain, NY or are various pieces of ephemera relating to the greater family. There are genealogy records and family anecdotes, a printed map of Road's End, photographs, newspaper clippings, visiting cards, wedding invitations, legal documents relating to wills, Preston Blair Henrotin's school and medical reports (including a course catalogue) and miscellaneous envelopes. The photographs, totally about twenty (20) are black and white photographs, the majority of which appear to be portraits and candid shots of the Henrotin's at Road's End. The collection itself has been organized into three categories: correspondence, photographs and ephemera (including materials relating to Road's.…