?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,500
(NEW HAMPSHIRE.) Four generations of diaries, letters, and account books from the Hurd family. 3 boxes (3.5 linear feet) of manuscript papers, including 52 diaries and 23 account books, minute books, and other volumes, 31 family photographs, plus hundreds of family letters, most in their original stamped envelopes; condition generally strong. Vp, 1816-1943
The central figure in this collection is Clara H. (May) Hurd (1827-1912) from the rural hill town of Washington, NH. We sold her diaries in our 18 March 2010 sale, lot 172, and this lot represents the remainder of her family papers. This collection includes Clara's cash account books and genealogical notes, as well as hundreds of letters she wrote to her adult son and daughter from circa 1895 to 1908. Also included are 9 account books and diaries of her husband Shubael Hurd as a shoemaker and insurance salesman; an account book / diary of her father John May (1788-1864) spanning from 1816 to 1852; the juvenile 1911 diary of her granddaughter Jeannette Hurd; and 6 volumes of the Washington town tax roll from 1883 to 1892. Also included are record books for 5 organizations in which the Hurds were active, including the Ladies Progressive Circle, 1871-1913; the Washington Debating Club, 1870-1876; and most notably the minute book of the town's Republican Party, 1856-1888. Clara's daughter Alice May (Hurd) Brown (1855-1952) was an avid diarist, a habit passed down from her mother. Alice's 46 diaries are featured in this lot, dating from 1898 to 1943. Alice was apparently divorced by the time this long run of diaries began, and for most of this period was living with the family of her brother Fred Hurd, a real estate broker in Medford, MA, just north of Boston. One of the more momentous days was 2 November 1920, the first day of women's suffrage: "Ethel & I went over at 8:30 to vote. . . . It is all dead easy. Simply make each name. Voted yes for temperance. I like whiskey if I have the grippe." The next day she enjoyed the results: "The Rep. landslide is wonderful." On 23 August 1927 she discussed the execution of the famed Italian anarchists nearby: "12:19 Sacco dead, 12:25 Vanzetti dead, were electrocuted at Charleston prison at midnight. A big guard of armed police everywhere." The Pearl Harbor attack was more than an abstract concern: "Awful war news. The Japs all having their own way. We are near Navy yard, so we are expecting to be bommed any time. The house is the safest place so we are staying right here" (10 December 1941). A more detailed inventory is available upon request.
