Daniel Dickinson (1793-1874) was one of at least four sons of Azariah Dickinson (1753-1813), of Amherst, Massachusetts, and his wife Mary Eastman (1761-1836), daughter of Joseph Eastman and Sarah Ingram. This collection contains mostly incoming correspondence to Daniel and his wife, from his brothers, children, in-laws, and other family members and friends.

            The Dickinson brothers, Daniel Dickinson, Rev. Baxter Dickinson (1795-1875), Rev. Austin Dickinson, and Ransom Dickinson, were all cousins to American poet Emily Dickinson. The families all hailed from Amherst, Massachusetts, several of whom were active in the founding of Amherst College.  One of the correspondents in this collection, the Rev. Austin Dickinson, along with Emily Dickinson's grandfather Samuel Fowler Dickinson, helped to found Amherst College. According to Amherst College historian William Seymour Tyler, the efforts of the Rev. Austin Dickinson were instrumental in helping Amherst College raise the money and the political backing needed for the college to receive its charter.¹

             Another of the correspondents is the Rev. Baxter Dickinson. Baxter graduated from Yale University in 1817, Andover Theological Seminary in 1821, and was pastor of churches in Longmeadow, Massachusetts and Newark, New Jersey. He was also professor at Lane Theological Seminary in Ohio, the Auburn Theological Seminary in New York and at Andover Theological Seminary in Massachusetts. In 1859, he went to Lake Forrest, Illinois, where he founded the Seminary for Young Ladies. The index of Emily Dickinson's correspondence available online shows that Emily Dickinson was close enough to the Dickinson brothers, that she wrote to at least three of the Rev. Baxter Dickinson's children: Martha, Harriet, and William.

                Emily Dickinson wrote to her cousin Martha Dickinson at least six times, apparently sending her three poems. Martha Dickinson is known to have burned these letters. Letters of Emily also survive that document that she corresponded with Martha's brother, the Rev. William Cowper Dickinson, at least twice, besides mentioning him several times in other letters. She wrote to Harriet Austin Dickinson at least twice. Two of Rev. Baxter Dickinson's other children, Mary and Richard Salter Storrs Dickinson (1824-1855), are also mentioned in the index of Emily Dickinson's correspondence that has been compiled over the years. Edward Baxter Dickinson, one of the letter writers in this archive (son of Daniel Dickinson) is mentioned in a letter of Emily Dickinson, where she noted him attending the family reunion.² Three of the Rev. Baxter's daughters, Martha, Mary, and Harriet, are all said to have attended Amherst Academy with Emily Dickinson's younger sister Lavinia, the same Academy that Emily attended.

              Daniel Dickinson, who listed himself as a farmer in the U.S. Census, was married twice, first in 1819 to Louisa Adams (1798-1828) by whom he had two children: Mary and Daniel and a second time in 1829 to Martha (Tammy) Eastman (1801-1887), daughter of William and Tammy (Read) Eastman of Granby, Massachusetts. With Tammy, Daniel had at least 6 children: Louisa, William, Sarah, George, Charles and Edward, a Civil War veteran who is one of the correspondents in this collection.

      Collection Overview

               The first third of this collection (22 letters) is, not surprisingly, bursting with religious allusions, concerns, and subjects, as at least two of Daniel Dickinson's brothers, Baxter and Austin were clergymen, thus often placing the family at the center of many religious trends and developments. This religious theme is further magnified because most letters in this portion also date from the period known as the Second Great Awakening, when the reassessment of religion was a topic not limited to preachers and parishioners, but a subject of intense and widespread national discourse. Both realities are lucidly illustrated in these letters, in the discussions of parental concerns about raising Godly children, the push to establish a new Congregational Church in North Amherst, the family's emphasis on religious higher education, and other, similar issues. The first series of letters here, then, are marked by their explicit religious preoccupation, both in philosophy and action, as Christian piety was an unmistakable concern of the entire family.

                 While there are few letters from the 1840s and 1850s, the second third of the collection (20 letters) is written during the Civil War and discuss the issues of the day. And though three members of Daniel Dickinson's family served in the conflict, most of the direct description and discussion of the war in this collection comes from Daniel's son Edward Dickinson (1840-1867), who wrote home from the front. Edward served in the 27th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He enlisted on September 6, 1861, was mustered in on September 20, 1861, appointed Sergeant October 3, 1861, wounded on both the second and third of June 1864, at Cold Harbor, Virginia, and mustered out on September 27, 1864.

               These letters touch upon the course of the war, description of camp life and concerns for the family at home. Edward Dickinson is an intriguing character, in his own right, the tone of his letters alternates between reassuring his often-distressed mother and emotionally excoriating when broaching various topics with his siblings. Making this part of the collection even more fascinating is that Edward continued his letters home following the war, writing almost as frequently from Iowa Falls, Iowa, where he went into business in 1865, as he had from the front while serving in the war. While there are letters here from others in the war, it is undoubtedly Edward's that were most valued by the family and continue to best bring the personal dimensions of the conflict home. Shortly after the war ended, Edward died in 1867.

             Concurrent with Edward's Civil War correspondence, and possibly the most interesting part of this collection, are the letters to Daniel Dickinson from his brother Baxter. These letters follow the progress of Baxter and his family from Massachusetts to Lake Forest, Illinois, where he founded the Seminary for Young Ladies, and back to New York City where he and his wife spent their final years. The correspondence shows Baxter as a clergyman, an educator, a concerned family man, a businessman, and, finally, a retiree, one dealing with a wide array of difficulties, from old age and family success and tragedy to the various civilian challenges that emerged during the war. Baxter addresses all this and more in his letters to Amherst, as his many travels, large family, business and church work, and propensity for candid, observant writing allow his letters to provide an especially thorough picture of America during the "long 1860s."

             The final third of the collection (32 letters) is composed of letters dated 1866 to 1901, with 26 of the 32 letters being dated between 1866 and 1879. While not as interesting as the Second Great Awakening or the Civil War letters in the collection, they are nonetheless significant for the way they round out this story of a nineteenth century Massachusetts family. Indeed, the highlight here is the series of letters from Daniel's daughter Louisa and her young family as they mature in the postwar years. The interaction between the two families (Daniel's and his daughter Louisa's) is displayed, with all the affection and reverence one might expect from a daughter and son-in-law to her parents until, finally, following Daniel's death, Louisa's aging children begin writing to their grandmother, as the collection concludes with a handful of letters from Tammy's now-mature grandchildren.

               This collection provides a clear and interesting picture of a nineteenth century family in anxious pursuit of the American dream. By beginning with the religious fervor of the first half of the century, then demonstrating the strife caused by the Civil War and the family's concurrent division and movement westward, and, finally, peacefully concluding with the death of the older generation and the emergence of the new in the Gilded Age, this collection encapsulates the nation's story between 1815 and 1885. Overall, this is an impressive collection of letters for a family that is related to one of America's most beloved poets, Emily Dickinson.

There are also 8 undated letters, that if research further, would fall into the three series of letters above.

1. History of Amherst College during the First Half Century, by W.S. Tyler. Springfield: Clark W. Bryan & Company, 1873.

2. Dickinson Electronic Archive:

http://www.emilydickinson.org/databases/personal-browse.php?letter=D