Stearns Family Papers (MS161)

Access and use

Location of collection:
Alexandria Library
Local History/Special Collections
717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Patricia Walker, Branch Manager
Phone: (703) 746-1719
Phone: (703) 838-4577
Fax: (703) 706-3912
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Stearns Family Papers, MS161, Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections, Alexandria, Virginia.

Collection context

Summary

Extent:
1.11 Cubic Feet 4 boxes
Creator:
Stearns Family, Hastings, Rebecca Lloyd (Stearns), 1856-1872, Hoge, Mary Barlow (Stearns), 1850-1925, Lloyd Family, Stearns, Anne Harriotte Lloyd, Anne Harriotte (Lloyd), 1826-1888, Stearns, John Lloyd, 1852-1911, and Stearns, Robert Lawrence, Robert Lawrence, 1858-1888
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Item identification], Stearns Family Papers, MS161, Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections, Alexandria, Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

The letters in this collection were written to John Lloyd Stearns by various family members and friends between 1864 and 1888. They span his lifetime from age 13 to age 36, and primarily reflect the family's day-to-day economic concerns, their relationships with each other and with extended family members, their travels, their living conditions and their work situations. Also included in the collection are miscellaneous papers of Robert Lawrence Stearns, John's younger brother.

Biographical / historical:

John Lloyd Stearns (sometimes referred to in the letters as "Johnnie" or "Johnny") was born December 20, 1852 in Brooklyn, New York, to the Rev. John Lloyd Stearns (born October 14, 1812) and his wife, Anne H. Stearns. Rev. Stearns died on November 11, 1864, survived by Anne and his four children, of which John was the second. John attended Burlington College in Burlington, New Jersey (a private secondary school for boys) from 1864 until the end of 1869. He worked for the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York from 1870 on, eventually as an agent. On October 3, 1878, he married Ella Powell (born July 2, 1856), daughter and oldest child of Cuthbert and Mary Sayre Powell of Alexandria, Virginia. They had 6 children, of whom three (John, born May 15, 1881; Harriotte Lee ("Hattie"), born February 4, 1884; and Cuthbert Powell, born August 14, 1885) made their appearance during the time period covered by the letters. In 1885, John Lloyd Stearns moved his family to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where he set up his own insurance agency. The letters end in June 1888, the month during which his younger brother and his mother died.

Arrangement:

Chronological.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard