Maynard Family Letters
This collection houses transcriptions of 42 letters written to and between members of the Maynard family from 1841 to 1913. Horace and Laura (Washburn) Maynard write the earliest letters to Laura's parents, Azel and Sarah Washburn, in Royalston, Vermont during the 1840s. Of the remaining letters, some are written from Edward Maynard, Sr. to family members and many are addressed to his son, Edward Maynard, Jr. The majority of the letters to Edward Maynard, Jr. were written by his grandmother Laura (Washburn) Maynard and his uncle Washburn Maynard and date from 1872 to 1913. Several of the letters written from and to Horace and Laura (Washburn) Maynard's children discuss their experiences serving with the U.S. Army and Navy.
Dates
- 1841 March 27-1913 February 6
Conditions Governing Access
Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Conditions Governing Use
The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.
Extent
0.1 Linear Feet
Abstract
This collection houses transcriptions of 42 letters written to and between members of the Maynard family from 1841 to 1913. Horace and Laura (Washburn) Maynard write the earliest letters to Laura's parents, Azel and Sarah Washburn, in Royalston, Vermont during the 1840s. Of the remaining letters, some are written from Edward Maynard, Sr. to family members and many are addressed to his son, Edward Maynard, Jr. The majority of the letters to Edward Maynard, Jr. were written by his grandmother Laura (Washburn) Maynard and his uncle Washburn Maynard and date from 1872 to 1913. Several of the letters written from and to Horace and Laura (Washburn) Maynard's children discuss their experiences serving with the U.S. Army and Navy.
Biographical/Historical Note
Horace Maynard was born on August 30, 1814 in Westboro, Massachusetts to Ephraim and Diana Cogswell Maynard. He graduated from Amherst College as Valedictorian in the summer of 1838 and came to East Tennessee College (now the University of Tennessee, Knoxville) to teach in the fall. He was quickly promoted, first to teacher of Mathematics and Ancient and Modern Languages and later to Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres. In 1840, Maynard began writing a series of articles for the Knoxville Times under the pen name Zadock Jones. He also studied law and was admitted to the Bar and commenced practicing in 1844.
Maynard also involved himself in politics. He served as presidential elector twice, first on the Whig ticket in 1852 and then on the Republican ticket in 1856. He was unsuccessful in his first bid for national office in 1853 but was elected to the U. S. House of Representatives in 1857. He was re-elected twice and served until Tennessee seceded from the Union. He went on to serve as the Attorney General of Tennessee (1863-1865) and as a delegate to the Southern Loyalist Convention in Philadelphia (1866).
After Tennessee was readmitted to the Union, Maynard was once again elected to the U. S. House of Representatives. He served until 1875 but chose not to run for re-election in 1874 in order to campaign (unsuccessfully) for the governorship of Tennessee. President Ulysses S. Grant appointed him U. S. Ambassador to Turkey in 1875, and he remained at this post until May of 1880. President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed him Postmaster General in June of 1880, and he served until 1881. Maynard died in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 3, 1882 and is buried in Old Gray Cemetery.
Maynard married Laura Ann Washburn (1813-1896), daughter of Azel and Sally Skinner Washburn. Together, Horace and Laura had seven children: Edward (1843-1868), Washburn (1844-1913), Eleanor (1846-1848), Ephraim Horace (1848-1850), Laura (1851-1852), James (1853-1926), and Anne Mary (Maynard) Kidder (1856-).
Their oldest son, Edward Maynard, Sr., married Lida Harper in 1866. The couple's only son, Edward Eddie Maynard, was born a month after his father's death.
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single folder. The letter transcriptions are arranged chronologically.
Acquisition Note
These transcriptions were found among the papers of Mrs. Elizabeth Lindsay King, great-granddaughter of Edward Maynard, Sr., in 1997.
Repository Details
Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository