This collection is made up of around 125 letters between and to members of the Washburn family of Worcester, Connecticut, including Massachusetts governor Emory Washburn, his wife Marianne, and their children Emory, Charles, and Marianne. The bulk of the collection is comprised of love letters that Emory and Marianne Washburn wrote to each other during their courtship and marriage (1830-1851). Many of Emory Washburn's letters were addressed to Marianne in Walpole, New Hampshire. They corresponded about their social lives, family news, and travel in New England and New York. Occasionally, they reported their recent activities, such as Emory's letter to his children about his visit to the Mayflower landing site in Plymouth, Massachusetts (December 3, 1844). Later items often pertain to the health and activities of their children, and the collection has a series of letters between Emory Washburn and his daughter Marianne. Other correspondence includes letters between the Washburn children, often enclosed in their parents' letters to one another. Emory Washburn also wrote a series of later letters to various acquaintances during his tenure at Harvard (1859-1875).
Emory Washburn was born in Leicester, Massachusetts, on February 14, 1800. His father, Joseph Washburn (1755-1807), was a descendant of a Revolutionary War soldier, and his mother, Ruth Davis, was a descendant of a Mayflower pilgrim. Emory Washburn attended the Leicester Academy and entered Dartmouth College at the age of 13. After transferring to Williams College, from which he received an A.M. degree in 1817, Washburn studied law privately and at Harvard University. After his admission to the bar, he practiced in Leicester (1820-1828) and Worcester (1828-1854); his law partners included Massachusetts Governor John Davis. Washburn served in the Massachusetts legislature, as a judge of common pleas, and as governor of Massachusetts. From 1856-1876, he taught law at Harvard. Emory Washburn married Marianne Cornelia Giles on November 2, 1830, and they had three children: Marianne Giles, Charles, and Emory. Emory Washburn, Sr., died on March 18, 1877.
