THE
LIBRARY COLLECTION IS composed of 6,500 volumes including 175 volumes
of Litchfield Law School founder Tapping Reeve’s law library,
other 18th and 19th century law books, 40 volumes of the 18th century
medical library of Dr. Daniel Sheldon, 490 19th century school books,
220 volumes by local authors, a collection of 18th and 19th century
sermons and published religious works, local biographies, decorative
arts reference books, community histories, family genealogies and
general historical reference works.
The manuscript collection consists of 900 linear feet of business
records, personal papers, journals, scrapbooks, diaries and account
books, local newspapers dating from 1778 to the present day, an
architectural survey, oral history transcripts, photographs, poster
and broadsides, ephemera and the institutional archives. Strengths
of the collection include early 19th century personal, business
and political correspondence, civil war correspondence and 19th
century account books.
Litchfield Female Academy Collection
The Litchfield Female Academy operated between 1792 and 1833 and
drew more than 3,000 students from 15 states and territories, Canada
and the West Indies. The archive collection includes student letters,
diaries, journals, copy books, music manuscripts, catalogs, diplomas,
play and essay manuscripts, bills and receipts, school books and
correspondence of teachers, students and student families. The Society
also owns needlework pictures, watercolors, drawings, maps, charts
and other material produced by young women while they were students
at the school.
Litchfield Law School Collection
Tapping Reeve’s Litchfield Law School was the first school
of law in the United States. Over 1,100 young men attended the school
between 1774 and 1833. The library collection includes more than
100 manuscript books of students’ lecture notes, student letters,
Tapping Reeve’s law library, 18th and 19th century law books,
images of students and a related collection of 18th and 19th century
writing equipment.
Tallmadge Collection
Col. Benjamin Tallmadge (1754-1835) served under George Washington
in the American Revolution and is best known for organizing a spy
ring that provided intelligence information to General Washington.
He discovered the conspiracy between General Benedict Arnold and
British Major John Andre. After the Revolution, Tallmadge was a
partner in several mercantile ventures and served as a Connecticut
representative to congress from 1801-1817. These papers include
his personal, business and political correspondence written between
1778 and 1832.
Mary Perkins Quincy
Mary Perkins Quincy (1866-1921) was a descendent of several early
Litchfield families. Quincy was a socialite who lived in New York
City and Litchfield and traveled throughout the world. The Quincy
collection includes correspondence, diaries, travel itineraries,
bills, receipts, photographs and ephemera detailing her life in
Litchfield and New York, letters, bills and receipts detailing the
construction and furnishing of her home in Litchfield and papers
from her travels throughout the world.
