This collection, centering around the correspondence of three sisters and a brother, presents interesting insights into the lives of a well-to-do family in Wisconsin in the 1870s and the 1880s. Specifically, the Briggs-Mitchell correspondence presents a nineteenth century Wisconsin family devoted to the Episcopal Church and the Republican Party. In many letters the frequent reference to illness, death, and the separation of family and friends reflects a somber perception of life. Yet also mentioned are recoveries of health, reunions, and the consolation of Christianity.
All of this collection, with the exception of an account book and one folder of biographical material, is arranged chronologically as Correspondence. Most of the correspondence relates to the siblings and nieces and nephews of James Briggs and Robert Mitchell. The early correspondence, from 1857 to 1869, concerns the three youthful Briggs sisters, Emma, Abby, and Lydia. Only one letter, dated August 11, 1862, mentions the Civil War being fought during the middle years of this period. Letters dated from 1870 to 1890 reflect the interests and attitudes in middle age of the sisters, their husbands, and their brother. Letters of political interest during this period can be found from January to March 1875, written by and to Dr. Mitchell during his term in the Assembly. Evident in them is the reaction against radical Republican and Ulysses S. Grant administration policies which was expressed most evidently in the defeat of the radical U.S. Senator Matthew Carpenter for re-election by the State Assembly. Dr. Mitchell played a role in Carpenter's defeat, and wrote his wife of it. With the death of Lydia Briggs Atwood in 1891 the correspondence series virtually comes to a close.
Filed under the heading Account Book is a ledger kept by James Briggs during his operation of Briggs' flouring and carding mills at Briggsville. The Biographical Sketch of Dr. Mitchell is copied from the Memorial and Biographical Record for Columbia, Sauk, and Adams Counties, Wisconsin, 1901.
