TABLE OF CONTENTS
Descriptive Summary of the Collection
Biographies of the Chamberlin and Lutz Families
Scope and Content of the Collection
Series 1: Chamberlin Family Correspondence, 1844-1883
Series 2: Lutz Family Correspondence, 1863-1992
Series 3: Miscellaneous Material of Chamberlin and Lutz Families, 1850-1992
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Inventory of the Lutz-Chamberlin Family Papers, 1844-1992
Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Lisa Janssen, 2006. ©2006. |
Descriptive Summary of the Collection |
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| Creator | Lutz, Adeline Louise |
| Title | Lutz-Chamberlin Family Papers |
| Dates | 1844-1992 |
| Extent | 2 cubic ft. (4 boxes and 1 oversize folder) |
| Abstract | Correspondence, writings, business and legal documents, photographs, clippings, genealogical materials, and postcard collection of members of the Chamberlin and Lutz families, ranging from the 1850’s to the 1990’s. The Chamberlin correspondence consists of George E. Chamberlin’s letters written when he was a student at Dartmouth and subsequently as an officer in the Civil War, plus letters of other Chamberlin family members, mostly through the 1860's. The Lutz correspondence consists of business correspondence of the 1860’s and mostly 20th century letters. |
| Language | Materials are in English. |
| Repository | Newberry Library, Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections |
| Collection Call Number | Midwest MS Lutz-Chamberlin |
| Collection Stack Location | 3a 44 8 |
Administrative Information
Cite As
Lutz-Chamberlin Family Papers, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.
Provenance
Bequest of Adeline Louise Lutz, 1994, 1999.
Processed by
Virginia Hay Smith.
Access
The Lutz-Chamberlin Family Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Lutz-Chamberlin Family Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
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Biographies of the Chamberlin and Lutz Families
The Chamberlin family was originally from Lyndon and St. Johnsbury, in upper Vermont. In the early 1830’s, Ephraim Chamberlin and his wife Dorcas raised a fami1y consisting of Ephraim, Myron, Emily (Cooper), Mary (Brackett), Louise (Edgell) and Caroline (Scales). In 1866, the younger Ephraim Chamberlin, married to Mary Ann Chase, moved his family to Lincoln, Illinois. His children were: George E., who died in the Civil War in 1864, Mary Ann, who married Edward C. Redington, Edward V., Lilly (Scully), and Caroline (Carrie) who married John A. Lutz in 1867.
John A. Lutz, who married Caroline Chamberlin, ran a successful dry goods store for over fifty years in Lincoln, Illinois. Originally working with the John T. Stuart dry goods business in Springfield, Lutz soon started his own business in 1866, the management of which later passed to his sons John A. Lutz, Jr. and Edward C. Lutz. Among other children of John and Caroline Chamberlin Lutz were Marian Chase (Gordon) and Caroline A. (Bramwell).
Edward C. Lutz married Annette C. Bates in 1902, and Annette’s sister, Adeline Gillette Bates, married Robert Hartnell of Ohio. Edward and Annette Lutz had two daughters, Marian Chamberlin and Adeline Louise. Marian C. Lutz married James O. Peck in 1939. Adeline Louise, known simply as Louise, never married but worked as Secretary of the Art Institute of Chicago for forty-eight years, and remained close to her Hartnell relatives.
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Biography of George E. Chamberlin
Dartmouth graduate and Civil War soldier from Vermont.
George E, Chamberlin, the son of Ephraim and Mary Ann Chase Chamberlin, was born in Lyndon, Vermont in 1838. He attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1860. After graduation he clerked in a law firm in St. Louis, then attended Harvard Law School in 1861-1862. On August 16, 1862, Chamberlin enlisted in the Union Army, raising a company, the 11th Vermont Infantry Volunteers, soon renamed First Artillery, 11th Vermont Volunteers. First elected captain then major and later colonel, he was first posted to Fort Lincoln, three-and-a-half miles north of Washington, D.C.
Between November of 1862 until his death in the field in August, 1864, Chamberlin’s regiment was encamped near Washington, D.C., in Fort Lincoln, Fort Totten, Fort Slemmer, and Dinwiddie Courthouse and Cold Harbor, Virginia.
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Scope and Content of the Collection
Correspondence, clippings, writings, business and legal material, genealogical notes and research, and photographs relating to the Chamberlin and Lutz families of Vermont and Illinois.
The most important part of the Chamberlin correspondence is letters written by Caroline’s brother, George E. Chamberlin of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, to his family when he was a student at Dartmouth College, 1856-1860, clerking in a law firm in St. Louis, and then at Harvard Law School, 1861-1862, and as an officer in the Vermont Eleventh Artillery Regiment, 1862-1864. There are also family letters between his sisters Caroline and Mary and other family members including his widow, Adelia Gardiner Chamberlin, and to and from Vermont friends.
The Lutz correspondence begins after Caroline Chamberlin married John A. Lutz in 1867, and continues until 1992, ending with the death of Adeline Louise Lutz of Chicago. One component of the 19th century Lutz correspondence is of special interest: numerous letters to John A. Lutz from his business partner John T. Stuart, 1863-1866, which yield detailed information concerning the dry goods business during the Civil War period. There is a long series of letters, 1899-1902, from Caroline and John A. Lutz’s son Edward C. Lutz to his fiancee, Annette C. Bates, and letters between other family members. Letters of Annette Lutz to her daughter Marion Lutz Peck, 1949-1955, often deal with the subject of Christian Science. Much of the 20th century correspondence is that of Adeline Louise Lutz of Chicago to and from her friends and relatives, 1935-1992, and letters dealing with the settlement of her sister Marian’s estate in Logan County in 1976. Also, a collection of family postcards, ca. 1895-1990.
The miscellaneous material includes three journals of George E. Chamberlin kept before and during his Dartmouth years, clippings concerning marriages and deaths, genealogical tables, 20th century family research for admittance into hereditary societies, business and legal papers concerning property in Logan county, wills and death certificates, and some Adeline Louise memorabilia. Also, a large collection of family photographs, identified and dated when possible, ranging from ca. 1865-1992, and one Civil War photograph showing George E. Chamberlin’s military post.
Narrative descriptions of the subject matter, types of material, and arrangement of each series are available through the Organization section of the finding aid.
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Organization
Papers are organized in the following series:
- Series 1: Chamberlin Family Correspondence, 1844-1883. Box(es) 1
- Series 2: Lutz Family Correspondence, 1863-1992. Box(es) 2
- Series 3: Miscellaneous Material of Chamberlin and Lutz Families, 1850-1992 . Box(es) 3
- Series 4: Photographs, ca. 1863-1992. Box(es) 4
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Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.
Names
- Bates family
- Chamberlin family
- Chamberlin, George E.
- Dartmouth College – Students
- Hartnell family
- Harvard Law School – Students
- Lutz family
- Lutz, Adeline Louise
- Peck family
- United States. Army. Vermont Infantry Regiment, 11th (1862-1865)
Subjects
- Businessmen – Illinois – Lincoln – Correspondence
- Christian Science
- College students – New Hampshire – Hanover – History – 19th century – Sources
- Correspondence – Illinois – 1860-1992
- Correspondence – Vermont – 1850-1870
- Courtship
- Diaries – Vermont – 1850-1860
- Domestic relations – Vermont – History – 19th century – Sources
- Dry-goods – Illinois – Lincoln – History – 19th century – Sources
- Family life – Illinois – History – 20th century – Sources
- Family life – Vermont – History – 19th century – Sources
- Illinois – Commerce -- Lincoln – History – 19th century – Sources
- Law students – Massachusetts – Cambridge – History – 19th century – Sources
- Lincoln (Ill.) – History – 19th century – Sources
- Manuscripts, American--Illinois--Chicago
- Mothers and daughters – Correspondence
- Photographs -- 1863-1992
- Postcards -- 1895-1990
- Sisters – Correspondence
- Soldiers – Vermont – Correspondence
- St. Louis (Mo.) – Social life and customs
- United States – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Personal narratives
- Washington (D.C.) – History – Civil War, 1861-1865 – Sources
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Container List
Series 1: Chamberlin Family Correspondence, 1844-1883 |
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| Letters of George E. Chamberlin of St. Johnsbury, Vermont, written while a student at Dartmouth College, as a law clerk in St. Louis, as a graduate student at Harvard Law School and as a Union officer during the Civil War, until he died in the field of battle in 1864. Letters give a full picture of his college life, depict St. Louis in mid-nineteenth century, and touch on experiences in his graduate studies. Civil War correspondence is vivid and detailed about camp life in his postings at Fort Lincoln, D.C., Fort Totten, D.C. and Fort Slemmer, D.C., including descriptions of Washington, D.C., shaking Lincoln’s hand, a small-pox outbreak, court martial proceedings, building winter quarters, instructing in drilling and artillery, and his meeting and marrying Adelia Gardiner. The rest of the Chamberlin letters, mostly written in the 1860s, are those of his family, particularly between his sisters Caroline and Mary. | |||||||||||
| The letters are arranged chronologically first with George E. Chamberlin, and then family material. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 1 | 1-10 | Chamberlin, George E. to family and friends, 1850-1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Letters relating to death of George E. Chamberlin, Aug.-Sept.,1864 | |||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Chamberlin, Adelia Gardiner to Caroline and Mary Chamberlin, 1864-1868 | |||||||||
| 1 | 13-18 | Chamberlin family, 1844-1883 | |||||||||
| 1 | 19 | Chamberlin family, undated | |||||||||
Series 2: Lutz Family Correspondence, 1863-1992 |
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| A large group of letters from John T. Stuart, Jr. to his business partner, John A. Lutz, containing detailed information about the dry goods trade during the Civil War period. Also, extensive collection of letters from Edward C. Lutz to his intended bride, Annette C. Bates, who was living in Chicago, detailing family matters and his life in Lincoln, Illinois, 1899-1902; letters from Adeline Bates Hartnell to her sister Annette B. Lutz, 1903-1904; Annette Lutz to her daughter Marian L. Peck, 1949-1955, full of advice about marriage, finances, and the efficacy of Christian Science teachings; correspondence of Adeline Louise Lutz, 1935-1992, to and from her friends and family, particularly George W. Hartnell, Jr. and George W. Hartnell III; also, a group of family postcards, ca. 1895-1990. | |||||||||||
| Organized by type of correspondence: family letters, business letters, individuals’ letters, with each group chronologically arranged. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 2 | 20 | Lutz Family, 1867-1902 | |||||||||
| 2 | 21 | Lutz Family, n.d. | |||||||||
| 2 | 22-25 | Stuart, John T. to John A. Lutz, 1863-1866 and n.d. | |||||||||
| 2 | 26-31 | Lutz, Edward C. to Annette C. Bates, 1899-1902 and n.d. | |||||||||
| 2 | 32 | Hartnell, Adeline B. to Annette B. Lutz, 1903-1904 | |||||||||
| 2 | 33 | Lutz, Annette B. to Marian Lutz Peck, 1949-1955 | |||||||||
| 2 | 34-35 | Lutz, Adeline Louise to and from family and friends, 1935-1992 | |||||||||
| 2 | 36 | Hartnell, George W. Jr. to Adeline Louise Lutz, 1976-1989 | |||||||||
| 2 | 37 | Hartnell, George W. III to Adeline Louise Lutz, 1979-1992 and n.d. | |||||||||
| 2 | 38 | Postcards, ca. 1895-1990 | |||||||||
Series 3: Miscellaneous Material of Chamberlin and Lutz Families, 1850-1992 |
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| Four youthful journals and notes of George E. Chamberlin, 1850-1859, and other Chamberlin miscellany including two copies of ancestral tablets kept by Caroline Chamberlin Lutz, a broadside register of ancestor Aaron Bull, plus two unsigned documents of mathematical notes and a 1863 unsigned oration entitled “Ministers and their Boys,” and a copied page from the Chattanooga Daily Rebel, June 28, 1863. | |||||||||||
| Lutz material includes clippings, business and legal documents, college and school memorabilia, genealogical notes and letters, marriage announcements, death certificates and wills, and a few items relating to Adeline Louise Lutz and her work at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1979-1982. | |||||||||||
| Organized alphabetically by type of material within each family (Chamberlin, Lutz), with items relating to the donor of the collection, Adeline Louise Lutz, at the end. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 3 | 39 | Ancestral tablets kept by Caroline Chamberlin Lutz (2 copies), n.d. | |||||||||
| 3 | 40 | Broadside: register of Aaron Bull, n.d. | |||||||||
| 3 | 41 | Journals of George E. Chamberlin, 1850-1859 | |||||||||
| 3 | 41a | Notes and circular from the journals, n.d. | |||||||||
| 3 | 42 | Mathematical notes and an oration (unidentified), 1863 | |||||||||
| 3 | 43 | Newspaper page: Chattanooga Daily Rebel (copy), June 28, 1863 | |||||||||
| 3 | 44 | Broadside: "New Dry Goods House, Lutz and Co", 1866 | |||||||||
| 3 | 45 | Business documents, 1929-1989 | |||||||||
| 3 | 46 | Clippings, 1902-1979 | |||||||||
| 3 | 47 | Colleges and school memorabilia, 1922-1981 | |||||||||
| 3 | 48-49 | Genealogical documents and letters, 1935-1985 and undated | |||||||||
| 3 | 50-51 | Legal papers, 1896-1982 | |||||||||
| 3 | 52 | Marriage announcements and documents, 1875-1992 | |||||||||
| 3 | 53 | Wills, death certificates, 1917-1990 | |||||||||
| 3 | 54 | Adeline Louise Lutz memorabilia, 1979-1982 | |||||||||
Series 4: Photographs, ca. 1863-1992 |
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| Photographs of family members and a few acquaintances, mainly undated and some unidentified, school pictures, snapshots and weddings. Also, a picture of the Chamberlin coat-of-arms and one view of what appears to be George E. Chamberlin’s army post. | |||||||||||
| Arranged both chronologically and alphabetically, with three oversize portraits of donor Adeline Louise Lutz removed to an oversize folder. | |||||||||||
| Box | Folder | Contents | |||||||||
| 4 | 55 | Chamberlin coat-of-arms; Charles E. Chamberlin army post, n.d. | |||||||||
| 4 | 56 | E. Redington; Mary Anne Chamberlin Redington, ca. 1865 | |||||||||
| 4 | 57 | Adeline G. Chamberlin Bates, ca. 1875 | |||||||||
| 4 | 58 | Eliza Bates Aldrich (?), ca. 1880 | |||||||||
| 4 | 59 | Edna Foley Sanford, ca. 1890 | |||||||||
| 4 | 60 | Anna Katharine Gillette Hill, 1896 | |||||||||
| 4 | 61 | Erastus W. Bates, ca. 1910 | |||||||||
| 4 | 62 | Annette Bates Lutz, ca. 1880-1910 | |||||||||
| 4 | 63 | Edward C. Lutz, ca. 1898-1945 | |||||||||
| 4 | 64 | John A. Lutz and Caroline Chamberlin Lutz, ca. 1915 | |||||||||
| 4 | 65 | Marian Chase Lutz Gordon, ca. 1890 | |||||||||
| 4 | 66 | Marian Lutz Peck, ca. 1909-1930 | |||||||||
| 4 | 67 | Hartnell Family, ca. 1930-1992 | |||||||||
| 4 | 68 | Peck Family, ca. 1939-1973 | |||||||||
| 4 | 69 | School pictures, ca. 1890-1925 | |||||||||
| 4 | 70 | Snapshots, n.d. | |||||||||
| 4 | 71 | Weddings, ca. 1902-1942 | |||||||||
| 4 | 72 | Unidentified family, ca. 1870-1942 | |||||||||
| 4 | 73 | Adeline Louise Lutz (located in oversize folder), n.d. | |||||||||