Holton Family Papers

Collection Summary

Repository: University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library, Special Collections
Creator: Holton Family
Title: Holton Family Papers
ID: mss.145
Date: 1788-1945
Extent: 1.2 Linear feet
Location: Library Research Annex
Language: English
Abstract: The Holtons were brought to Vermont through Thomas Holton (1705-1800), who came from Northfield, Massachusetts to settle in Dummerston around 1771. The generations covered in the collection are those of John Willcox (1764-1839), great-grandfater of Edith, through the children of Annie Holton Wilson (West Dummerston). Letters from Timothy Spaulding Holton (1882-1899), grandson of Thomas Holton and husband of Ann Joslyn Holton (1828-1913), to his daughters Nancy Maria Holton (1851-1872) and Edith Willcox Holton (1868-?) form a major part of the collection and are sent from the New York area, where he was living, often destitute.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item] Holton Family Papers, Special Collections, University of Vermont Library.

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Administrative Information

Publication Information

University of Vermont, Bailey/Howe Library, Special Collections 1977, June

Publication Rights

All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Curator of Manuscripts.

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The Holton family is of Puritan ancestry, descending from William Holton, who came from Ipswich, Suffolk County, England to Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1634 and who later helped found the town of Hartford, Connecticut. According to the genealogical data compiled by Edith Holton, her family (that of Timothy S. and Ann Joslyn Holton) can, through John Willcox, be traced some fifteen generations into English history before 1600. The Holtons were brought to Vermont through Thomas Holton (1705-1800), who came from Northfield, Massachusetts to settle in Dummerston around 1771. The generations covered in the collection are those of John Willcox (1764-1839), great-grandfater of Edith, through the children of Annie Holton Wilson (West Dummerston). Letters from Timothy Spaulding Holton (1882-1899), grandson of Thomas Holton and husband of Ann Joslyn Holton (1828-1913), to his daughters Nancy Maria Holton (1851-1872) and Edith Willcox Holton (1868-?) form a major part of the collection and are sent from the New York area, where he was living, often destitute. Having left his wife's Putney farm, Timothy maintained a steady correspondence with his daughters through most of his life, a correspondence filled with personal sentiment and didactic advice, yet with more the tone of a friend than parent.

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Scope and Content Note

Though the collection centers primarily around the personal correspondences of Maria and Edith Holton, in addition, are a group of receipts and bills of John Willcox (their great-grandfather) dating from 1788-1814. Also included are some bills and insurance receipts of James Joslyn (ca. 1843-1865) and official letters concerning William H.H. Holton's appintment as captain to the volunteers, after the Civil War. Concluding the collection is a series of farm accounts and records of Ann Joslyn Holton and some genealogical data compiled by Edith Holton. Intermingled and following the general chronological order, are a few isolated papers and correspondences of other family members. The collection consists of three document boxes.

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Controlled Access Headings

Genre(s)

Correspondence
Financial records

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