Title: Dorset Family Papers
Bulk Dates: 1870-1952
Inclusive Dates: 1850-1965

Creator:

• Dorset family

Unique Identifier: MSS Z

Quantity: 6.0 cubic feet

Physical Description: 15 archives boxes

Repository:

La Crosse Public Library
Contact Information

Archival Location:

La Crosse Public Library (Map)

Abstract:

The Colwell-Dorset Family were prominent pioneers in La Crosse, Wis., originating from New England. Key family members include Nannie Hammer who married Capt. Wilson Colwell, who was killed in the Battle of South Mountain in 1862 during the Civil War. They had one daughter together also named Nannie Colwell. The widow Nannie Colwell then married Rev. C. P. Dorset, an Episcopal minister. The couple had several children together: Marian, Helen, and Bernard Dorset. The collection has been divided up into four series: personal correspondence, business correspondence, genealogical notes, and miscellany. Because of the long span of correspondence, everyday family life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the Midwest is well documented. The papers consist mainly of correspondence among members of the Colwell-Dorset family. There are also some travel diaries, business correspondence, genealogy material, and miscellany.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.lcpl-mssz

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28417926

(Accession nos. 1984.007, 1984.017, 1985.006)

Materials in this collection are available for patron use.

[Identification of item], Dorset Family Papers, MSS Z, La Crosse Public Library Archives, La Crosse, WI

processed by Peggy Beedle, August 1988, processed by Anita Taylor Doering, March 1989

Arranged in four series:

Series 1: Personal Correspondence

Series 2: Business Correspondence

Series 3: Genealogical Information

Series 4: Miscellaneous Records

The Dorset Family Papers consists of personal and business correspondence, diaries and genealogical information from one of the oldest families in La Crosse.

The history of the Dorset family began soon after the founding of La Crosse and continued until 1965, with the death of Helen Dorset.

The Hammer side of the family were the first to arrive. Joseph and Nancy Hammer and their children settled in La Crosse in 1856. In 1858 Nannie Hammer married Wilson Colwell. Nannie Colwell, their only daughter, was born in 1859. Wilson Colwell had settled in La Crosse in 1857. He was captain of the La Crosse Light Guards when the Civil War broke out, and immediately marched them off to Camp Randall, where they became Company B, 2nd Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade. Wilson Colwell was killed in the Battle of South Mountain in 1862.

The Reverend C. P. Dorset arrived in La Crosse in 1863; he was the new pastor of the Episcopal congregation. He succeeded in building the first Christ Church in 1864. In 1867 Rev. Dorset married Nannie Colwell in La Crosse; they then moved to Chicago where their first child, Marian, was born in 1869. Reverend Dorset served several churches in Chicago in the next five years. Helen Dorset was born in Willamette, Illinois in 1873. Bernard Dorset was born in 1877, in Nashville, Tennessee while his father was rector of the Episcopal Church in Pulaski. He then served as rector of churches in Rome, Georgia and Anniston, Alabama.

The Dorset family returned to La Crosse in 1879, never to leave again. However there were many visits to family and friends, trips abroad, and attendance at schools and universities that generated much correspondence between family members. In 1891, Rev. Dorset accepted a teaching post at St. John’s Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin. In 1896 he went to Texas where he taught a short time before opening his own school, the Texas Military Institute. He was president of the school until 1902. Besides teaching he did quite a bit of missionary work in Texas, before returning to Wisconsin in 1902, where he continued this work. He died in 1904.

Nannie Dorset remained in La Crosse for the most part, receiving letters from her children in their various endeavors. Nannie Colwell made two trips to Europe in 1878 and 1885, and a trip to China and Europe in 1900. She also made many visits to Colwell relatives in Pennsylvania and enjoyed traveling to Washington, D.C., whenever possible. She died in 1952.

Marian Dorset studied Physical Culture in Cleveland and Chicago before returning to teach that subject in La Crosse. She died in 1951.

Helen went to college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. She worked for the Red Cross during WW I and spent a summer in Europe in 1926. Her death was in 1965.

Bernard attended the University of Wisconsin as an undergraduate and the University of Pennsylvania as a medical student. He lived in Denver for many years before returning to La Crosse, where he died in 1944.

• Caldwell family
• Colwell, Nannie, 1859-1952
• Dorset, Bernard, 1877-1944
• Dorset family
• Dorset, C. P., d. 1904
• Dorset, Helen, 1873-1965
• Dorset, Marian, 1869-1951
• Dorset, Nannie
• Hammer family
• Hammer, Malinda
• La Crosse (Wis.)--Social life and customs
• Middle West--Social life and customs
• Middle West--Social life and customs--19th century

(Series 1)	Series: Personal Correspondence Scope and Contents The Personal Correspondence series is the most voluminous series and is subdivided into correspondence to C.P. Dorset, Nannie Dorset, Nannie Colwell, Marian Dorset, Helen and Bernard Dorset, and Malinda Hammer. Letters to each person are grouped by immediate family, extended family and friends. For example, letters to Nannie Colwell first include those from her parents and siblings, then those from aunts, uncles, and cousins from the Colwell, Dorset, and Hammer families, and finally the many letters from friends around the world. Some of the more interesting letters to Nannie are those from Alice Seymour MacHaffie, who lived most of her life in China. There are also letters to her mother, grandmother and aunt in La Crosse, which are very illustrative of the social life in La Crosse in the late 1900’s. The earliest letter is from 1850; they continue until 1965. The letters to C.P. Dorset are a small group of letters from Nannie Colwell and a few from other friends. The letters to Nannie Dorset are mostly from her children when they were away from home - at school or traveling. Nannie Colwell’s letters from Europe and China are most interesting. Helen’s letters have some very detailed accounts of university life. Letters from Nannie’s husband, Rev. Dorset, are very lively and informative about the life of a teacher and clergyman in Wisconsin and Texas. The letters to Marian Dorset are mainly from her father and her gentlemen friends, and include some pleasant love letters. In addition to the letters from her family, Helen Dorset’s letters are from her wide circle of friends and illustrate her many interests in life. Letters to Bernard contain a few from his father; the rest are from friends. The letters to Malinda Hammer are from her family and one distant cousin. The letters vary a lot in quality and interest. They are usually very formal in tone, as was the time period. At times however, the writer breaks through - some letters are very illuminating about the writer’s personality and attitudes.
(Subseries 1.1)	Subseries: Correspondence to Nannie Colwell
Box 5   Folder 19	Abernathy, C. A., 1876-1880
Box 7   Folder 8	Announcements and invitations, 1873-1949
Box 7   Folder 9	At home cards, 1911-1916
Box 7   Folder 6	Bills and receipts, 1867-1908
Box 5   Folder 20	Buffington, Joseph, 1871-1923
Box 4   Folder 16	Calhoun, Hal, 1870-1875
Box 7   Folder 10	Calling cards, undated
Box 5   Folder 22	Clarke, Will (and family), 1899-1931
Box 5   Folder 21	Clarkes, 1886-1937
Box 5   Folder 2	Clayland, Caroline Meredith and Margaret Meredith, 1887-1952
Box 5   Folder 3	Clayland, Margaret and Sarah Clayland Shaffer, 1926-1952
Box 4   Folder 17	Colwell, Amanda, 1869-1910
Box 4   Folder 15	Colwell, Margaret, 1872-1873
Box 5   Folder 6	Colwell relatives, 1922-1952
Box 5   Folder 5	Colwell, Rob, 1869-1871
Box 4   Folder 19	Crawford, Alex, 1867-1878
Box 4   Folder 20	Crawford, Madge, 1869-1887
Box 4   Folder 18	Crawford, Sallie, 1870-1900
Box 4   Folder 14	Dorset, Bernard, 1883-1929
Box 4   Folder 5	Dorset, C. P., 1867-1878
Box 4   Folder 13	Dorset, Helen, 1882-1900
Box 4   Folder 12	Dorset, Marian, 1878-1900
Box 4   Folder 6-11	Dorset, Nannie, 1879-1900
Box 5   Folder 7	Dorset relatives, 1950-1952
Box 5   Folder 23	Furstenburg, Ludwig (and family), 1885-1887
Box 7   Folder 1-4	General correspondence, 1869-1952
Box 7   Folder 11	Greetings, 1885-1952
Box 5   Folder 9	Hammer, Malinda, 1867-1899
Box 5   Folder 8	Hammer, Nany, 1866-1877
Box 5   Folder 18	Hammer relatives, 1867-1930
Box 5   Folder 16	Hammer, Wilson, 1872-1919
Box 5   Folder 24	Harries, W. H. (and family), 1883-1951
Box 5   Folder 25	Hatches, 1883-1897
Box 5   Folder 26	Howell, T. F., 1878-1880
Box 5   Folder 28-29	Lemon, Captain G., 1894-1896
Box 5   Folder 30	Lemon, James, 1886-1896
Box 5   Folder 31-33	Lewis, Emma (and family), 1896-1901
Box 6   Folder 1	Lillian, 1927-1952
Box 6   Folder 2	McCord, Agnes, Cara Bennet, Margaret Cooper, and Ellen Carhart, 1900
Box 6   Folder 3-8, 10	MacHaffie, Alice, 1882-1913
Box 6   Folder 9, 11	MacHaffie, Alice and Marjorie MacHaffie Barker, 1908-1950
Box 5   Folder 11	Martin, Virginia Pike, 1869-1899
Box 5   Folder 1	Meredith, Eliza, 1868-1887
Box 5   Folder 4	Meredith, Nana and Alice Storing, 1951-1952
Box 7   Folder 7	Miscellaneous, undated
Box 6   Folder 12	Noonan, Eleanor, 1927-1952
Box 5   Folder 10	Pike, Hester, 1869-1896
Box 6   Folder 13	Pope, Marion Manville, 1897-1931
Box 6   Folder 14	Quintards, 1876-1879
Box 7   Folder 5	Requests for pecuniary assistance, undated
Box 6   Folder 15	Rivers, 1878-1903
Box 6   Folder 16	Schruch, M. and F., 1900-1924
Box 6   Folder 17	Seymor, Mrs., 1886-1908
Box 6   Folder 18	Shakelford, Maria, 1878-1930
Box 5   Folder 17	Sherwoods, 1883-1929
Box 6   Folder 19	Tourtellotte, 1899-1928
Box 6   Folder 20	Tucker, Hannah Painter and Maribel Tucker Merrill, 1886-1952
Box 5   Folder 27	Whitney, Lillie Lathrop and Mary Whitney Kingham, 1872-1950
Box 5   Folder 15	Woodford, Fannie and Mary, 1927-1951
Box 5   Folder 14	Woodford, Henry (in house), 1951
Box 5   Folder 13	Woodford, Henry, Jennie, and Sam, 1926-1952
Box 5   Folder 12	Woodford, S. H. and Georgie, 1869
(Subseries 1.2)	Subseries: Correspondence to Bernard Dorset	⇧
Box 10   Folder 13	Colwell, Nannie, 1885
Box 10   Folder 12	Dorset, C. P., 1893-1897
Box 10   Folder 14	General correspondence, 1896-1941
(Subseries 1.3)	Subseries: Correspondence to C. P. Dorset	⇧
Box 1   Folder 1	Colwell, Nannie, 1872-1878
Box 1   Folder 2	General correspondence, 1871-1886
(Subseries 1.4)	Subseries: Correspondence to Helen Dorset	⇧
Box 9   Folder 16	American Association of University Women (A.A.U.W.), 1926-1956
Box 10   Folder 8	At home cards, 1912-1915
Box 10   Folder 9	Christmas cards, 1938-1952
Box 9   Folder 17	Clarke, Will (and family), 1907-1914
Box 9   Folder 8	Colwell, Nannie, 1885-1928
Box 9   Folder 11	Colwell relatives, 1948-1965
Box 9   Folder 10	Dorset, Bernard, 1896-1919
Box 9   Folder 22	Dorset, Bernard medical books, 1945-1952
Box 9   Folder 6	Dorset, C. P., 1896-1897
Box 9   Folder 9	Dorset, Marian, 1896-1914
Box 9   Folder 7	Dorset, Nannie, 1897-1914
Box 9   Folder 12	Dorset relatives, 1899-1965
Box 10   Folder 4-7	General correspondence, 1897-1963
Box 10   Folder 10	Greeting cards, 1952-1953
Box 9   Folder 18	Harries, W. H., 1919
Box 9   Folder 19	Lillian, 1944-1953
Box 9   Folder 20	MacHaffie, Alice, 1900-1934
Box 9   Folder 21	MacMilan, Edna, 1899-1953
Box 10   Folder 3	Merrill, Maribel Tucker (and family), 1914-1954
Box 9   Folder 23	Noonan, Eleanor, 1948-1955
Box 9   Folder 24	Powell, Edith, 1947-1948
Box 10   Folder 11	Sympathy cards, 1952-1953
Box 10   Folder 1	Thompson, Tahlulah C., 1946-1954
Box 10   Folder 2	Thompson, Vernon (governor of Wisconsin), 1957
Box 9   Folder 13	Woodford, Henry and Jennie, 1905-1958
Box 9   Folder 14	Woodford, Henry Jr. and family, 1943-1965
Box 9   Folder 15	Woodford, Mary and Margaret Woodford Rieke (and family), 1948-1954
(Subseries 1.5)	Subseries: Correspondence to Marian Dorset	⇧
Box 9   Folder 5	At home cards, announcements, and invitations, 1911-1945
Box 7   Folder 22	Baker, Eva, 1902-1938
Box 7   Folder 23	Billy, 1929
Box 7   Folder 15	Colwell, Nannie, 1885-1907
Box 7   Folder 18	Colwell relatives, 1906-1911
Box 7   Folder 24	Colyer, Will, 1899
Box 7   Folder 25	David, Frank, 1891
Box 7   Folder 17	Dorset, Bernard, 1886, 1928
Box 7   Folder 12-13	Dorset, C. P., 1886-1902
Box 7   Folder 16	Dorset, Helen, 1886-1899
Box 7   Folder 14	Dorset, Nannie, 1896-1903
Box 7   Folder 19	Dorset relatives, 1907
Box 8   Folder 1	Eberling, Clarence, 1899-1901
Box 9   Folder 4	General correspondence, 1892-1949
Box 8   Folder 2	Goss, Peyton, 1891-1899
Box 8   Folder 3	Hill, Lewis, 1898-1899
Box 8   Folder 4	Holbeck, W. C., 1907
Box 8   Folder 5	Houston, Frank, 1901-1903
Box 8   Folder 6	Howard, Herbert, 1898-1899
Box 8   Folder 7	Kit, 1916-1917
Box 8   Folder 8	Lanscombe, Gaylord, 1900
Box 8   Folder 9	Latsch, John, 1903
Box 8   Folder 10	Linnell, W. M., 1906-1907
Box 8   Folder 11	Mills, Ward, 1904-1908
Box 8   Folder 12	Newell, Henri, 1906-1907
Box 7   Folder 20	Pike, Hester and Virginia Pike Martin, 1889
Box 8   Folder 13	Remicks, 1908-1949
Box 8   Folder 14	Robertson, Robbie and Mrs. Von Brause, 1907-1933
Box 7   Folder 21	Sherwood, Lenore, 1899
Box 8   Folder 15	Tucker, Maribel and S. A., 1907
Box 8   Folder 16-18	Weaver, Frank, 1896-1897
Box 8   Folder 19-21	Weston, Frank, 1891-1892
Box 9   Folder 1-3	Wood, John A., 1893-1902
(Subseries 1.6)	Subseries: Correspondence to Nannie Dorset	⇧
Box 3   Folder 18	Anderson, Samuel W., 1916-1928
Box 3   Folder 24	At home cards, 1901-1915
Box 3   Folder 24	Birthday cards, 1919-1932
Box 1   Folder 5-20	Colwell, Nannie, 1865-1912
Box 3   Folder 8	Colwell relatives, 1895-1933
Box 2   Folder 13-17 Box 3   Folder 1-7	Dorset, Bernard, 1886-1928
Box 1   Folder 3-4	Dorset, C. P., 1872-1904
Box 2   Folder 3-12	Dorset, Helen, 1886-1927
Box 2   Folder 1-2	Dorset, Marian, 1886-1927
Box 3   Folder 9	Dorset relatives, undated
Box 3   Folder 22-23	General correspondence, 1872-1929
Box 4   Folder 1	Greeting cards, 1913-1927
Box 3   Folder 10	Hammer, Malinda, 1862-1907
Box 4   Folder 3-4	Invitations and announcements, 1878-1924
Box 3   Folder 19	MacHaffie, Alice, 1899-1928
Box 3   Folder 11	Martin, Virginia Pike, 1896
Box 3   Folder 20	Nobles, 1878-1881
Box 3   Folder 17	Rieke, Margaret Woodford, 1919-1928
Box 3   Folder 12	Sherwood, Kate Brownlee, 1883-1886
Box 3   Folder 21	Tucker, Anna, 1896
Box 4   Folder 2	Visiting cards, 1898
Box 3   Folder 15	Woodford, Fannie, 1919-1923
Box 3   Folder 14	Woodford, Henry and family, 1923-1929
Box 3   Folder 16	Woodford, Mary, 1919-1929
Box 3   Folder 13	Woodford, S. H., 1916-1923
(Subseries 1.7)	Subseries: Correspondence to Malinda Hammer	⇧
Box 10   Folder 15	Colwell, Nannie, 1885-1900
Box 10   Folder 18	General correspondence, 1850-1858
Box 10   Folder 17, 19	Hammer relatives, 1910-1911, 1918
Box 10   Folder 16	Laird, Mary Wilson, 1898-1910
(Series 2)	Series: Business Correspondence Scope and Contents The Business Correspondence series is divided into correspondence directed to Nannie Dorset and that directed to Nannie Colwell. The letters date from 1858 to 1952. Those to Nannie Dorset deal mainly with her real estate holdings in La Crosse. Nannie Colwell’s business correspondence concerns her as a legatee of the Lemon Estate, which began in 1896 and continued until her death. There are also papers from some Colwell family estates.	⇧
(Subseries 2.1)	Subseries: Correspondence to Nannie Colwell
Box 12   Folder 15	Canceled checks, 1899-1900
Box 11   Folder 9	Colwell, J. A., 1878-1879
Box 12   Folder 13	Colwell relatives' estates, 1882-1947
Box 12   Folder 17	Last will and testament, 1952
Box 11   Folder 16-18 Box 12   Folder 1-12	Lemon, Captain estate, 1896-1954
Box 12   Folder 14	Martin, Eben and Virginia Pike, 1902-1903
Box 9   Folder 10-15	Meredith, W. B., 1876-1923
Box 12   Folder 16	Miscellaneous, 1926-1950
(Subseries 2.2)	Subseries: Correspondence to Nannie Dorset	⇧
Box 11   Folder 3-4	Bliss, H. I., 1868-1876
Box 11   Folder 5	Bliss, H. I. accounts, 1864-1880
Box 11   Folder 7	Colwell, J. A., 1868-1878
Box 11   Folder 6	Howe and Tourtellotte accounts, 1880-1882
Box 11   Folder 8	Pension papers, 1874-1926
Box 11   Folder 1-2	Real estate papers, 1858-1898, undated
(Series 3)	Series: Genealogical Information Scope and Contents The Genealogical Information series consists of family data, correspondence carried on with distant relatives, and answers to queries. There is information on the Dorset/Palmer family and the Hammer Family. The Hammer family lines are separated into Hammer/Otto/Brice and McClure/Fruit divisions. The interest in genealogy in the Dorset family began in the 1890’s when Malinda Hammer and Nannie Dorset and her three daughters joined DAR. Malinda Hammer wrote to many of the Hammer relatives during the 1890’s seeking further family information. Helen Dorset did more research later, mainly in the 1920’s and 1930’s, attempting to trace more family lines back to the Revolutionary period. There are copies of several letters written by relatives of the Hammer family, describing life in La Crosse in the early 1850's that are of historical interest.	⇧
Box 13   Folder 11	Bray, Helen Pollock, 1901-1924
Box 13   Folder 10	Correspondence of miscellaneous family members, 1894-1896
Box 13   Folder 12	Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Newside Cemetery, 1922-1924
Box 13   Folder 1	Dorset addresses of relatives, undated
Box 13   Folder 2	Dorset family data, undated
Box 13   Folder 4	Dorset notes and rough drafts, undated
Box 13   Folder 3	Dorset replies to queries, 1918-1958
Box 13   Folder 13	Fruit, Lucretia P., 1894-1896
Box 13   Folder 17	General genealogy, 1909-1956
Box 13   Folder 5	Hammer-Otto-Brice family data, undated
Box 13   Folder 7	Hammer-Otto-Brice notes and rough drafts, 1911-1916
Box 13   Folder 6	Hammer-Otto-Brice replies to queries, 1893-1958
Box 13   Folder 8	McClure-Fruit family data, undated
Box 13   Folder 9	McClure-Fruit replies to queries, 1896-1958
Box 13   Folder 19	Miscellaneous DAR papers, 1928-1958
Box 13   Folder 18	Miscellaneous genealogy, undated
Box 13   Folder 14	Roberts, Katherine, 1925-1931
Box 13   Folder 15	Smith, Frances E., 1924-1953
Box 13   Folder 16	Smith, Orrin F., 1926-1936
(Series 4)	Series: Miscellaneous Records Scope and Contents The Miscellaneous Records series contains papers about some family members, such as Bernard Dorset’s school papers and letters of sympathy written on the death of J. T. Crawford, one of Nannie Colwell’s uncles. There are several diaries of trips taken by family members, the most complete being that of Nannie Colwell’s first trip to Europe in 1878. There are also notes made by Helen Dorset on her work with the Red Cross and plans made to convert the Dorset family home into a home for the elderly. There are several folders of Helen Dorset’s college notes while at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and Columbia University. Lastly is a folder on Lillian Kosanda who graduated in 1887 and taught in the La Crosse school district. These are mainly related to her teaching in the area.	⇧
Box 15   Folder 6	Clippings of family, undated
Box 14   Folder 5	Colwell, Nannie travel log to Europe, 1878, 1885
Box 14   Folder 1	Colwell, Wilson, 1860s
Box 14   Folder 2	Crawford, J. T., 1862
Box 14   Folder 3	Dorset, Bernard, 1896
Box 14   Folder 6	Dorset, Bernard diaries, 1893
Box 14   Folder 8	Dorset, Bernard financial record, undated
Box 14   Folder 4	Dorset, C. P., 1872-1930
Box 14   Folder 14	Dorset, Helen, undated
Box 14   Folder 15 Box 15   Folder 1-4	Dorset, Helen college notes, undated
Box 14   Folder 9	Dorset Home for the Aged, 1960-1965
Box 14   Folder 13	Dorset, Marion, undated
Box 14   Folder 7	Dorset, Nannie travel log to Vancouver, 1899
Box 15   Folder 5	Kosanda, Lillian teaching miscellany, undated
Box 14   Folder 10-12	Red Cross papers, 1951-1958, undated