Summary Information
Elliott Coues Papers
1820-1914
- Coues, Elliott, 1842-1899
U.S. Mss AZ; Micro 457
0.4 c.f. (1 archives box) and 1 reel of microfilm (35mm)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Papers of Elliott Coues, an ornithologist, author, and founder of the American branch of the Gnostic Theosophical Society, including correspondence, 1863-1898, relating to the society and to Helena Blavatsky and Henry Olcott, founders of the Theosophical movement. The collection also includes correspondence, 1820-1829, of Coues' mother, Charlotte Ladd Coues, and of his father, Samuel Elliott Coues, 1832-1860, relating to the establishment of the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane and to his work as president of the American Peace Society.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-us0000az ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Elliott Coues, son of Samuel Elliott and Charlotte Haven (Ladd) Coues, was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, September 9, 1842, and died on December 25, 1899. In 1853, when Coues was eleven years of age, his family moved to Washington, D.C., where his father had secured a position with the Patent Office. Coues attended Gonzaga Seminary and Columbian College, where he received the A.B. degree in 1861 and an M.D. in 1863. He enlisted in the Civil War in 1862, and from 1864 to 1881 served as assistant surgeon in the United States Army.
Elliott Coues is primarily remembered for his activities as an ornithologist, author, and founder of the American branch of the Theosophical Society. As an ornithologist, Coues made a significant contribution to the technical literature in the field.
In the 1880s, Coues became very interested in psychical research. In 1884, on a visit to Europe, he met Henry Steel Olcott and Madame Helena Patrovna Blavatsky and became an ardent theosophist. In 1885, he founded the Gnostic Theosophical Society in Washington, D.C. Coues had hopes of being elected head of the entire theosophical movement in the United States, but when this ambition was not realized, he denounced the Society and Madame Blavatsky in the New York Sun of July 20, 1890. This denunciation led to a libel suit and the New York Sun was forced to print an apology.
For the last few years of his life, Coues turned his attention to editing fifteen works concerning travel in the West including History of the Expedition of Lewis and Clark, 1893; Expeditions of Zebulon Montgomery Pike, 1895; and Diary of Francisco Garces, 1900.
Coues was married twice: on May 3, 1867, to Jane A. McKenney; and on October 25, 1887, to Mrs. Mary E. Bates, who survived him. He had four children.
For additional information regarding Elliott Coues see the Dictionary of American Biography.
Scope and Content Note
The Elliott Coues Papers consist of correspondence, materials relating to the Gnostic Theosophical Society, and miscellaneous notabilia pertinent to Coues.
The bulk of the collection is correspondence consisting of Coues' correspondence, 1863-1898, relating to his activities as a member of the Gnostic Theosophical Society; the correspondence, 1820-1829, of Coues' mother, Charlotte Haven Ladd, with her brother, Haven Ladd; and correspondence, 1832-1860, of Coues' father, Samuel Elliott Coues. That of Samuel Coues (1797-1867) relates to his efforts to establish the New Hampshire Asylum for the Insane in the late 1830s, and to his work as president of the American Peace Society, 1840-1846. All correspondence is arranged chronologically, which coincidentally separates the correspondence of each of the above named from that of the others.
The materials relating to the Gnostic Theosophical Society, 1885-1893, include the charter of the Washington, D.C. branch of the Society; a pamphlet entitled “Psychometry and Thought-Transference with Practical Hints for Experiments” by N.C., F.T.S. with an introduction by Henry S. Olcott, 1886; the original copy of an article prepared for the New York Sun of July 20, 1890 by Elliott Coues denouncing Madame Blavatsky; copies of complaints in a libel suit, September, 1890, brought against Coues as a result of the article; and a “Provisional List of Papers for the Psychical Science Congress,” August 8, 1893. These materials are arranged chronologically.
The final category of the collection, miscellaneous notabilia, consists of a speech read by Coues as he received his baccalaureate degree from Columbian College on June 26, 1861; a certificate of his election to the Academy of Natural Science, August, 1861; three of Coues' sketches of birds, 1861; a privately printed booklet, “The Generations of a New-England Family,” of “verses recited at the House of Mr. Charles E. Wentworth, in Cambridge, Massachusetts,” December 25, 1885; and a “biographical sketch of Col. John Tufton Mason by Charles L. Ladd,” 1888. These materials also are arranged chronologically.
A microfilm copy was made of the Elliott Coues Papers by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in April, 1971.
Related Material
For additional manuscript material relating to the Coues family see the Charles A. Page Papers. Mrs. Charles Page was a sister of Elliot Coues.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Bruce Ladd Berlage, Olney, Maryland, July 1955.
Processed by Jack T. Ericson, April 13, 1964, and by Joanne Hohler, April 13, 1971.
Contents List
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U.S. Mss AZ/Micro 457
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Correspondence
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Box/Folder
1/1
Reel
1
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Charlotte Haven Ladd, 1820-1829
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Samuel Elliott Coues
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Box/Folder
1/2
Reel
1
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1832-1839
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Box/Folder
1/3
Reel
1
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1839-1860, undated
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Box/Folder
1/4
Reel
1
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Elliott Coues, 1863-1914
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Box/Folder
1/5
Reel
1
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Material Relating to Gnostic Theosophical Society, 1885-1893
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Box/Folder
1/6
Reel
1
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Miscellaneous Notabilia, 1861-1888
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