The tin box itself is 16 x 12 x 12” high; lined at the bottom with newspaper from the 1880s.
Henry Shedd papers
Henry Shedd (1803-1886), The Life and Labors of Rev. Henry Shedd, D.D. Compiled and written By Himself, 1886. Handwritten in a lined 7½ x 8½” notebook. 144 pp. Also contains:
– a genealogy,
– the ordination charge given to his son, John H. Shedd, in 1859,
– a semi-centennial discourse delivered in Mt. Gilead in 1879,
– an address for the semi-centennial of the Mt. Gilead Presbyterian Church in 1881,
– a “pioneer history” of Marion Presbytery delivered in 1886 (abridged text),
– an index
Typescript of the same, in a blue file folder.
Henry Shedd, Theol. Dissertations…Andover 1827-8. Clothbound book of handwritten notes [listed below, under Books]
_________. Pocket-book sewn into a red leather 4 x 6” folder. Notation on the first page: “This Pocket Book formerly belonged to my Father, John Haskell Shedd, of Jaffrey, N. H.” and signed H. Shedd. [Lists details of the sale of his father’s farm (Henry’s share of which financed his education) and educational expenses at New Ipswich Academy, 1820-22; at Dartmouth College, 1822-24.]
Marion County [OH] Clerk. License granted to Henry Shedd to perform marriages in Marion County. Oct. 5, 1830. Endorsed in later years by the clerks of several other central Ohio counties. Found in the red leather folder.
Henry Shedd. “Report of Morvin Sabbath School July 4, 1835” and “Report of the West Franklin Sabbath School in Centre.” Handwritten, 7 pp. [These reports recount the founding of these Sabbath schools in 1829, and their subsequent growth, leadership and activities. Copies were likely sent to the American Sunday School Union.]
Plat of Western Addition to Marysville, as laid out and vouched for by Henry Shedd, filed and recorded in Union County, Ohio. July 7, 1847
“Form of Covenant” and “Welcome to New Members” – printed texts pasted onto a 3 x 5” carte de visite labeled on the back, H Shedd Mt Gilead, March 1860
Henry Shedd. Home Missionary Life. An Autobiographical Discourse Delivered at the Opening of the Presbytery of Franklin, in Delaware, Ohio. April 5th, 1864. Mt. Gilead, OH: Sentinel Printing Office, 1872. 22 pp.
________. “Historical Address, Delivered at Mt. Gilead, O. July 4th 1876 and Historical Sketch of Mt. Gilead & Vicinity – also of Morrow County.” Handwritten, 36 pp.
________. Pastoral charge given to W. S. Eagleson, Mt. Gilead, October 14, 1876; and again to W. E. Thomas, Brown Ch. [sic.], Eden, October 10, 1879. Handwritten, 12 pp.
Presbytery of Marion [OH]. Minute on the death of Rev. Henry Shedd, D. D. Adopted by the Presbytery on April 13, 1887. Handwritten, 2 pp.
Shedd Genealogical Material
“Births Marriages and Deaths of the Shedd family.” Lists birthdates of John Haskell and Susanna White Shedd and their children, plus, in a few cases, their dates of death; also, the birthdates of their spouses, and the dates of their marriage. Latest date is the death of Susanna Shedd, Henry’s mother (later, Mrs. Kendall), 1852.
“Shedd Genealogy 7 Generations.” 9 x 6.” n.d. [1850s?] Handwritten, likely by Henry Shedd. Traces the Shedd line to Henry Shedd and his children.
2 genealogical booklets in a 11 x 5” manila envelope, likely written by Henry Shedd:
“Genealogy 1881.” Handwritten [appears to be Henry Shedd’s handwriting], hand-sewn booklet, 8½ x 3½”, 11 pp. On the front: “Charles Shedd Christmas 1881.” Traces the Shedd line to John Haskell Shedd and Henry Shedd, plus those of their wives, Susanna White, Mary Gerrish and Lurcetia George. Later notations add information about Charles and Nelson A. Shedd to 1894.
“Names of Shedd, also of those with whom the Shedds intermarried.” Handwritten [appears to be Henry Shedd’s handwriting], hand-sewn booklet, 8½ x 3½”, 18 pp. Traces Shedd lineage by generation (I-VIII). Includes two indices of names; also, lists of college graduates and professionals. Latest date is 1883.
Henry Shedd (?) “Genealogical Chart – The Streams of ancestral Blood.” 2 hand-drawn charts, 8½ x 7”: one for Henry Shedd, one for Charles Shedd (in 2 pieces). n.d. A third such chart, for Lurcretia George, is with the file of her papers.
Shedd family tree, 2 versions handdrawn and labeled. n.d. Stapled to one is a typescript of a portion of Chap. I, “Ancestry and Early Years,” from a life of John H. Shedd, by his son William A. Shedd [apparently never published].
Charles or Nelson Shedd? Notes on sources of Shedd genealogy. Handwritten, 6 pp.
William G. T. Shedd, New York City, to Henry Shedd, Mt. Gilead. 2 letters, Jan. 27, 1879, and May 4, 1883. Responses to queries from Henry Shedd about family genealogy. References William Barret Shedd of Malden, MA, as the source of his information [See Wm. Barret Shedd’s letter of Feb. 10, 1879, below]. William G. T. at the time was a professor at Union Theological Seminary; had Henry’s son, John Haskell as a pupil while teaching at Andover Seminary (1854-62).
Wm. Barrett Shedd, Malden, MA, to [? Probably:] Henry Shedd, Mt. Gilead, OH. February 10, 1879. Lists descendants of his (WBS’s) side of the family, beginning with Ebenezer and Abigail Shed of Charlestown, MA; also mentions two brothers and other Shedds then living in the Boston area.
Frank E. Shedd, Boston, MA, to Nelson A. Shedd, Plain City, OH. October 14, 1899. The author of the forthcoming Daniel Shedd Genealogy (1921), writes he will be glad to see a copy of NAS’s Shedd coat of arms, while casting strong doubt as to its authenticity; recounts the current state of his researches and hopes for publication, and returns the genealogical notes Nelson A. had sent him [perhaps the 2 booklets listed above].
________, Dorchester, MA to Nelson A. Shedd, Plain City, OH. Dec. 9, 1899. Letter in its original envelope. Thanks NAS for loan of a painting of the Shedd coat of arms on a card which was returned with the letter.
Caroline L. (Shedd) Wright. 1 p., n.d. Portion of a letter in my grandmother’s handwriting with her memories of her grandfather Henry Shedd, and his wives Mary Gerrish and Lucretia George, also of her Aunt Mary (Shedd) Clark, and uncles John H., George, and William. Perhaps written in response to a query from my mother, who was compiling Shedd genealogy in the early 1940s.
Typescript of same, with explanatory notes.
Mary Gerrish Shedd materials
“Gerrish Family” (notation on backside). Dated at the top: July 1851. [Family of Mary Gerrish, Henry Shedd’s first wife (1807-1835) and mother of his first two sons]
“Religious experience of Mary G. Shedd written by her in 1826; and copied by her husband.”
Typescript of same.
“Mrs. Sarah [Chandler] Gerrish’s Address to her Children – a Copy from the Original – this is in the hand writing of Rev. S. Wood D.D.” 7½ x 6”, 8 pp., hand-sewn binding. Further note under the label on the outside: “Probably written in the year 1812 She died Nov 14th 1812.”
“Copy of paper written by Mrs. Sarah Gerrish.” Handwritten copy of the above, perhaps by Henry Shedd. 7 pp. Date at the end: 1811. Names and dates of her 4 children are listed on p.5, clearly a later addition.
Typescript of same [mistakenly dated 1817]. 4 pp. Also contains: “Religious experience of Mary G. Shedd written by her in 1826.”
Gerrish, Mary. Letter from Londonderry [NH] to her parents. November 3, 1824. [Mary Gerrish attended the Adams Female Academy in Londonderry, a short-lived (1824-27) school, where Mary Lyon taught, who went on to found Mount Holyoke (MA) College in 1837.]
_________. “Scripture Topics.” November 1824. Booklet (8 x 3”) with topics listed by Old Testament book.
_________. Collection of poems for Mary Gerrish written by classmates. 1824-26. Booklet (7½ x 6”).
_________. Handwriting practice notebook. Hymn text on the first page: “There is a solid comfort here.” Boscowen [NH] May 21, 1823.
_________. Arithmetic notebook. N.d.
_________. “Letters written since our arrival in Ohio.” Leaflet (6 x 3¾”), 4 pp., listing letters to family members, 1829 – 1835.
Lucretia George Shedd materials
Lucretia C. George, Oxford, OH, to Henry Shedd, Kirkwood, OH. January 27, 1838.
Accepts HS’s proposal for further correspondence and meetings. Hair lock enclosed. [Lucretia George (1809-1887) was the second wife of Henry Shedd. She was a cousin of his first wife, Mary Gerrish, and sister of her stepmother, Sarah Church Gerrish.]
Ann R. Cross, Mt. Gilead, to Lucretia G. Shedd, Marysville, OH. March 28, 1847. Describes how plans to build a church meeting house in Mt. Gilead have been upended by a property dispute. Hair lock enclosed.
Henry Shedd (?) “Genealogical Chart – The Streams of ancestral Blood.” Hand-drawn chart,
8½ x 7” n.d. Two other such charts are with the file of Shedd genealogical material.
________. “To my Wife.” Poem, beginning with scripture references. October 22, 1884
________ ? Notes on the life Lucretia C. George. n.d. in pencil, 1 p., 8 x 5”
Typescript of same
2 newspaper obituaries of Lucretia George Shedd, died June 24, 1887. One appears to be from a church periodical; the other, from the Advocate and Family Guardian.
“In Memoriam.” Resolutions on the death Lucretia G. Shedd, by an unnamed women’s society, probably connected to the Presbyterian Church in Mt. Gilead. N.d. (She died in 1887). Handwritten by Mrs. Milton McMillin. (Rev. McMillin was pastor of the church, 1867-74.)
Documents in a Metal Tube
“Preamble and Constitution of the Mt. Gilead Anti Slavery Society.” March 16, 1840. Note alongside the list of subscribers (male and female): “Signed in the Midst of a Mob, March 16, 1840, by 23.” 33 signatories in all. [Fragile!]
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Certificate naming Rev. Henry Shedd an honorary member of the Board, by a donation from the 2nd Presbyterian Church of Columbus, OH. Boston. June 13, 1856.
American Home Missionary Society. Certificate naming Rev. Henry Shedd a life member of the Society, by a contribution of $30 from the Presbyterian Churches of Lexington and Mt. Gilead. New York. Dec. 8, 1853.
Andover [MA] Theological Seminary. Diploma certifying Henry Shedd’s completion of a three-course of study. Sept. 23, 1829.
Dartmouth College. Bachelor of Arts Diploma awarded to Henry Shedd, August 23, 1826. [in Latin]
American Home Missionary Society. Commission of Rev. Henry Shedd to serve as a home missionary in Ohio, in a place or places yet to be determined. Sept. 24, 1829. Salary set at $450 per annum, with a $100 given in advance. [Fragile!]
________. Commission of Rev. Henry Shedd to serve as a home missionary at the Whetstone and Canaan churches three fourths’ time and Center Church one quarter time. Aid from the Society set at $115. Nov. 2, 1830.
Documents, folded, in a brown fabric folder or purse, mostly financial
(8¾ x 5”, with embroidered flowers and green trim)
Henry Shedd. “Money received from Relatives.” n.d. Listing of amounts inherited from father’s, mother’s, grandparents’, wife’s, etc., estates, 1824-1865, totaling $3,451.58. Handwritten on a
5 x 5” slip of lined paper.
“Donation to Central College. $100.00 & interest. Also 44 volumes of Books valued at $43.00.” March 6, 1843. Promissory note with the condition that a student could be sent to the college tuition-free for 4 years. Notations added indicate sons Charles and John Haskell attended, 1847-52.
Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware OH. September 27, 1852. Printed certificate acknowledging receipt of $30 from Henry Shedd, entitling him to a student’s tuition for eight years.
________. Papers relating to railroad investments:
– a listing of shares bought and sold in the Springfield, Mount Vernon, and Pittsburg R. R. [25 shares, at a total cost of $970] and the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati R. R. [6 shares at a cost of $560], 1854-1862. Handwritten on a 4¼ x 3¾” slip of blue paper.
– 2 certificates for shares in the Springfield, Mount Vernon, and Pittsburg R. R. 1854 and 1856.
– Receipt for the sale of the Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati R. R. shares for $670 April 29, 1862. Handwritten by a broker in New York.
– Receipt from the Delaware County District Court for the return of $13.39 to the Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati R. R. by court order. June 26, 1867.
First National Bank of Mt. Gilead. Receipt for $2500 subscription, paid mostly in U.S. bonds by Henry Shedd. Feb. 1, 1864.
Village of Mt. Gilead, OH. Cemetary Deed. Lot No. 195 in the Mt. Gilead and Gilead Township Cemetery sold to Henry Shedd. May 2, 1867.
Temperance Pledge, signed by Henry Shedd. Mt. Gilead. May 31, 1877. National Christian Temperance Union. Blue card.
Morrow County [OH] Treasurer. Receipts for 1881 and 1882 property taxes on two properties in Gilead Township, paid by Henry Shedd.
Henry Shedd. “Donation to Lane Theological Seminary – Scholarship Fund.” Establishes, with a $1000 gift, the Henry Shedd Scholarship Fund. March 15, 1882.
Trustees of Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, OH, to Rev. Henry Shedd, D. D., Mount Gilead, OH. Aug. 15, 1882. Accepts HS’s donation to the school’s scholarship fund.
________, to Henry Shedd. Sept. 1, 1882. Acknowledgment of receipt of $1000 to found the new scholarship.
Presbytery of Marion, meeting in Delaware, OH. April 14, 1886. signed by W. E. Thomas, moderator, and W. S. Eagleson. A minute expressing gratitude to Henry Shedd for presenting his history of Marion Presbytery. Handwritten, 1 p. [Text of this address is included in Henry Shedd’s Life and Labors.]
Other Miscellaneous Items, mostly later
2 drawings, 7½ x 5”. One, unlabeled, is of a cabin (or schoolhouse?) in a fenced clearing; the other, on heavy paper, is of a blue bird and signed, G S Bradley (a classmate of Mary Gerrish’s, 1824-26?). On the back is scrawled in pencil, “William Edgar Shedd.”
Letter of recommendation for Charles Shedd, written by a shopkeeper, his former employer. Marysville, Ohio. July 3, 1851
Henry Shedd, Marysville, and Charles Shedd, to John H. Shedd, Central College, Franklin Co., OH. Jan. 24, 1851. Charles mentions “Uncle John” = Henry’s younger brother, John Haskell Shedd [II], a merchant in Boston.
Letter of recommendation for Charles Shedd, from J. M. Beebe, Morgan & Co., former employer. Boston, MA. Sept. 15, 1854.
Amesville Presbyterian Church. Call to N. A. Shedd to the pastorate of Amesville and New England [OH] Presbyterian Churches. Mt Presbyterian arch 30 and April 4, 1886. Handwritten
copy of the original. [Nelson A. Shedd was a son of Charles Shedd and grandson of Henry Shedd.]
________ to N. A. Shedd. April 5, 1886. Cover letter for the above.
Henry Shedd to Nelson A. Shedd at Lane Seminary, Cincinnati, OH. Postcard, April [?], 1886. Complains of illness. At end: “Amesville may be just the place for you.” Signed, “Grandpa.”
Charles Shedd and Caroline E. Mateer. Marriage certificate issued in Morrow County, OH. August 12, 1856. Henry Shedd, officiant.
“Woman’s Whiskey War! Mt. Gilead Not Behind!” Mt Gilead newspaper [The Union Register?]. ca. March, 1874. [Lists Charles Shedd and Mary Shedd among representatives from the Presbyterian Church at temperance meetings. This was part of the agitation in Ohio leading to the organization of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union]
“Presbyterians Observe 100th Year as Church; Special Services Held in Mt. Gilead Sunday; Brief Historical Review.” The Union Register. Mt. Gilead. November 4, 1931.
G. Ernest Wright [my father]. “Reverend Henry Shedd – Abolitionist.” Text of a lecture at the Amos Fortune Forum [lecture series] in Jaffrey Center, NH. August 1, 1969. Mimeographed typescript. 19 pp.
“William E. Shedd Is Laid to Rest; Simple Ceremonies Mark Last Tribute to Well Known Business Man.” Newspaper clipping, probably from Danville, IL. n.d [Sept. 1909]
[A later son of Henry Shedd’s; born 1847, died Sept. 19, 1909]
Property elevation chart. Carefully drawn on graph paper. Place? Date? In a cardboard tube.
Photographs
5 framed photographs (ambrotypes?) in ornate black cases in the old handmade cardboard box listed below. One is labeled, “Sarah G. Gerrish / Ag’d 70 yrs / June 1854 / Died Feb 2nd 1855” [stepmother of Mary Gerrish, first wife of Henry Shedd, died 1835]. Also 2 unframed photos on metal plates.
Henry Shedd. Carte de visite. [Standard size albumen print mounted on 4 x 2½” cardboard]. n.d.
Henry Shedd. Cabinet card. Label on back: “Rev. H. Shedd at 82 May 16th, 1885 [his birthday] Taken June 1885. Died June 17, 1886”
Susanna Kendall. Cabinet card. Newspaper obituary attached on the back. Also, several notations on the back, starting with the oldest: “Mrs. Susanna Kendall Born 1783 Died 1852.” Then: “Mother of Henry Shedd D. D. of Mt. Gilead. She married John H. Shedd for her first husband and A. Kendall for her second.” Then, in my mother’s hand: “This picture was taken while visiting her son in Ohio, H. Shedd. (1849-51. aged 67 or 68)”
[Problem: the photo is a “cabinet card” (a 6½ x 4¼” albumen print), a format which did not appear much before 1870. It is from the same studio in Mt. Gilead – Beach’s Studio – as the 1885 portrait of Henry Shedd (see above). Could this be a copy of an ambrotype original, if that could be done then?]
Mary Shedd Clark. Cabinet Card. n.d. [1870s?] Daughter of Henry Shedd and younger half-sister of Charles and John Haskell Shedd, born 1840.
Caroline E. Shedd (née Mateer). Cabinet card. Wife of Henry Shedd’s eldest son Charles and mother of our grandmother Caroline L. (Shedd) Wright.
Nelson Ambrose Shedd. Carte de visite. In pencil on the back: “May 19 1866. 9 yrs old.” Nelson (first child of Charles and Caroline Shedd) was born June 10, 1857.
Jeannette and Caroline Shedd. 3½” square double portrait. The two daughters of Charles and Caroline (Mateer) Shedd.
Jeanette Shedd McKee. Cabinet card. n.d. In pencil on back: “Aunt Jeanette Shedd McKee now of Amarilla [sic.], Texas.
Julia M. Mateer. Cabinet card. Dec. 1898. In pencil on back: “Uncle Cue’s wife Aunt Julia” [a sister of Caroline E. Shedd].
J. C. Mateer. Cabinet Card. Dec, 1898. . In pencil on back: “Uncle Cue.”
Frank Shedd. Cabinet card. Eldest brother of Caroline L. (Shedd) Wright.
The Henry Shedd home in Mt. Gilead. Stereoscope image taken June 1871. On the back, in Henry Shedd’s handwriting: “ My residence Oct. 1832-1836. John H Born there July 9, 1833. His Mother died there Mar. 12, 1835. Taken June 9, 1871.” Also, a modern negative and print from the original. [See below, wood block from this house.]
Reunion of the Family of Rev. Henry Shedd, D.D. August 28, 1889. Large photo (9½ x 7”) mounted on cardboard. On the back: list of family members pictured and a newspaper article about the reunion.
Painting of a log school house in Bridgeport, Union County, OH, by Corydon S. Irwin, 18__? On the back of the cardboard backing of the 8 x 5¾” photo of the painting: “When I was about 5 years old, 1844 or 1845, with my parents I attended a meeting in this schoolhouse and heard Rev. Henry Shedd preach his “Ladder Sermon” from Gen. 28:12-13. Corydon S. Irwin”
Marietta College Faculty, early 1880s – 12 photographs in a handmade, 4½ x 6¾” manila billfold; broken into several sections [photos numbered by me in pencil – DW]. The collection perhaps belonged to Nelson A. Shedd, or, less likely, his cousin Willaim A. Shedd; both attended Marietta at that time.
Old Books [to be shipped with the box]
Henry Shedd, Theol. Dissertations On Subjects Studied In the Department of Rev. L. Woods D. D. Theol. Sem. Andover 1827-8. Clothbound book of handwritten notes, divided into 7 sections, 540 pp. in all
Books for Young Children, Vol. I. New York: American Tract Society, n.d. 2¾ x 4” bound collection of booklets; first page and some other pages missing. Penciled on the back fly piece: “Henry Gilman [?] Shedd, Book from his cousin; Wo?, New Hampshire” [Henry Gilman was a younger brother of John Haskell of Persia]
Edward Young, L.L.D. Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality…from the London Edition Printed in 1816. Haverill [MA]: P. N. Green, 1818. Inscribed on the top of the first page: “Luretia C. George’s.” 3 x 4¾” book covered by hand-sewn leather.
New Testament and Psalms. New York, American Bible Society, 1851. Black leather binding, 2¼ x 3¾”. Tied by string. Inscribed on flyleaf: “Charles [middle initial?] Shedd from his Grandmother Sarah C. Gerrish. August 2nd, 1852.”
Artifacts and cloth items [to be shipped with the box]
Currency purse – leather, 2½ x 3¾” with brass clasp and edging. Label inside: Briggs & Pollock, Druggists and Booksellers, Mt. Gilead, Ohio.
Brown fabric purse or folder with red trim, 4½ x 6¾”, handmade with paper backing sewn in
Wooden lidded box, 2¾ x 4¾ x 2 ”, with notation on the bottom, “Made by my great grand father on Father’s 8th [Birthday?] N. A. Shedd. Contents: a small ivory-handled pocket knife and a beaded fabric change purse.
Wood block, 3¼” square, with incised circle and flower design. Inscribed on the back, “Taken from the house where I was born. C Shedd” [Charles was Henry Shedd’s first son, born 1830.]
Perhaps from a doorframe or mantel [See above, the stereograph photo of the house]
Cardboard box, 6 x 7 x 2¼” handmade; containing 1850s-era photographs (ambrotypes? Details under photograph section above) Inscribed in pencil inside the box: “Presented to C. Shedd by his father Christmas, 1872 / Made by Mary G. Shedd Mother of Charles and John H. Shedd”
Red cardboard box (modern, “Marshall Field & Co.”) containing hair cuttings of Henry Shedd, Mary G. Shedd, sons Charles and John H., and others.
3 pieces of silk: 2 in a dark maroon and gold pattern; 1 black. With an old label, “Grandpa Shedd’s hankerchiefs” [sic]. [Henry Shedd’s?]
Linen, off-white, 15” square. Lace edging, and crudely embroidered with a candlestick design containing the date 1838. Accompanying note explains that this was cut from “the last family sheet made of homespun cloth,” likely from New Hampshire. Caroline Shedd Wright (or an earlier Shedd?) made these squares for “each of the children” (whose children?).
Hats (2) from Persia, wrapped in pink tissue paper and tied with string. Sewn into the larger one: “Reunion August 27 1889.” [The date is that of the Shedd family reunion held in Mt. Gilead on that date (See photograph listed above). Henry’s 2nd son, Rev. John H. Shedd and family, were on furlough from missionary work in Persia at that time.]