1669-1926
Guide to the Microfilm Edition
Abstract
This microfilm edition is composed of five collections: the Horace Mann papers, 1669-1926; Horace Mann papers II, 1826-1882; Horace Mann papers III, 1709-1904; Horace Mann papers IV, 1827-1835; and Horace Mann papers V, 1841-1849. These collections pertain to the lives of Horace Mann (1796-1859), Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, Thomas Mann, Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, Elizabeth Amelia Dwight, George Albert Hubbell, William Bentley Fowle, Benjamin Pickman Mann, Horace Mann (1844-1868), and George Combe Mann, among others.
Biographical Timeline
4 May 1796 |
Mann is born in Franklin, Mass., the son of Thomas and Rebecca (Stanley) Mann. |
20 June 1809 |
Thomas Mann, father of Horace, dies. |
22 July 1810 |
Stephen Mann (born 1792), brother of Horace, drowns in Uncas Pond. |
Fall 1816 |
Mann enters Brown University in Providence, R.I., as a member of the sophomore
class. |
1 Sep. 1819 |
He graduates from Brown University with high honors. |
Fall 1819 |
Mann obtains a legal apprenticeship in the office of Josiah J. Fiske of Wrentham,
Mass. |
Feb. 1820 |
He returns to Brown University as a tutor in Latin and Greek; he is later appointed
school librarian as well. |
Feb. 1822 |
He attends Tapping Reeve's Law School in Litchfield, Connecticut. |
21 Dec. 1823 |
Mann is granted the privilege of practicing law in the Norfolk Court of Common Pleas
(Mass.). |
1824 |
Calvin Pennell, Mann's brother-in-law, dies. |
1825 |
Thomas Stanley Mann, Horace's older brother, loses three children within days of each
other. |
21 Dec. 1825 |
The Norfolk bar recommends that Mann be admitted to practice before the Supreme Judicial
Court. |
1 May 1827 |
Mann is elected as representative to the Massachusetts General Court from
Dedham. |
29 Sep. 1830 |
He marries Charlotte Messer, daughter of Brown University president Asa Messer. |
1 Aug. 1832 |
Charlotte Messer Mann dies. |
11 Aug. 1834 |
The Ursuline Convent in Charlestown, Mass., is attacked by a mob. For ten days, Mann
heads an ad hoc committee of citizens to investigate the incident, until he falls ill. |
Nov. 1834 |
Mann is elected as a Whig senator in Massachusetts. He is president of the Senate from
1836 to 1837. |
1835 |
Thomas Stanley Mann (born 1788) dies. |
11 Oct. 1836 |
Asa Messer dies. |
1837 |
Rebecca Stanley Mann dies. |
29 June 1837 |
Mann is elected secretary of the Board of Education of Massachusetts. |
Jan. 1840 |
Barre, Bridgewater, and Lexington are selected as sites for the new Normal Schools.
|
Spring 1840 |
Mann journeys south along the coast and then westward with George Combe. |
4 July 1842 |
He gives the Fourth of July oration in Boston. |
26 Mar. 1843 |
Mann proposes marriage to Mary Tyler Peabody. |
1 May 1843 |
The couple marry and depart on the Britannia for Europe
with Samuel G. and Julia Ward Howe. They visit England, Scotland, Hamburg, Magdeburg, Berlin,
Potsdam, Leipzig, Saxon Switzerland, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Utrecht, Leyden,
Haarlem, Amsterdam, Paris, England, and Ireland. |
Nov. 1843 |
The Britannia arrives in Boston after a rough
passage. |
24 Feb. 1844 |
Horace Mann, Jr. is born. |
27 Dec. 1845 |
George Combe Mann is born. |
Apr. 1848 |
Mann is elected from the Eighth District to the U.S. House of Representatives. |
15 Apr. 1848 |
At midnight, Daniel Drayton and Edward Sayres sail down the Potomac in the Pearl with 76 freedom seekers. They are apprehended on Apr.
16. |
30 Apr. 1848 |
Benjamin Pickman Mann is born. |
30 June 1848 |
Mann gives his maiden speech in Congress, strongly supporting the anti-slavery
cause. |
July 1848 |
Mann decides to serve as attorney for Drayton and Sayres in "the Pearl case." Drayton's trial begins. |
Nov. 1850 |
He is re-elected from the Eighth District. |
15 Sep. 1852 |
Mann is nominated as the Free-Soil candidate for governor of Massachusetts. He is
simultaneously appointed by the "Christian Connexion" as the president of Antioch College in
Yellow Springs, Ohio. He loses the gubernatorial election and accepts the presidency of
Antioch. |
Sep. 1853 |
The Manns arrive in Yellow Springs, Ohio. |
5 Oct. 1853 |
Mann is inaugurated as president of Antioch. |
Aug. 1858 |
George Combe dies. |
20 Apr. 1859 |
Antioch College is sold at auction to a group of Mann's friends led by Josiah
Quincy. |
29 June 1859 |
Mann gives his final baccalaureate address. |
2 Aug. 1859 |
Horace Mann dies. |
Collection Description
This microfilm edition of the papers of Horace Mann is composed of five separate collections of Horace Mann papers held by the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS). The five collections are: the Horace Mann papers, 1669-1926; the Horace Mann papers II, 1826-1882; the Horace Mann papers III, 1709-1904; the Horace Mann papers IV, 1827-1835; and the Horace Mann papers V, 1841-1849. The first collection is the largest and is represented in Series I-III of this microfilm. The Horace Mann papers II, III, IV, and V are represented in Series IV-VII of this microfilm. Series VIII consists of oversize material from all of the Horace Mann papers.
This collection consists of the papers of Horace Mann and other family members, including material from Mann's career as a lawyer, legislator, abolitionist, educator, and president of Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Mann's correspondence constitutes the bulk of the collection. His correspondents included most of his prominent contemporaries in his various fields of interest. The collection also contains the correspondence of reformers Mary Tyler Peabody Mann (1806-1887) and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1804-1894), as well as some of the letters of Elizabeth Amelia (White) Dwight (1809-1883). Also included in the collection are a number of Horace Mann's journals, legal papers, and speeches on wide-ranging subjects, such as education, politics, slavery, temperance, and religion.
Other individuals represented in this collection are: Thomas Mann (1756-1809), George Albert Hubbell (b. 1824), William Bentley Fowle (1795-1865), Benjamin Pickman Mann (1848-1926), Horace Mann (1844-1868), and George Combe Mann (b. 1845), among others.
Acquisition Information
Horace Mann papers: Gift of George Combe Mann and Benjamin Pickman Mann, Jan. 30, 1915. Additional material gifts of Laura E. Richards, 1940, and Horace Mann, Oct. 1945.
Horace Mann papers II: Deposited by Horace Mann (of Maine), May 1952.
Horace Mann papers III: Acquired by purchase, 1954.
Horace Mann papers IV: Gift of Mr. Wilder Dwight, Oct. 4, 1920.
Horace Mann papers V: Acquired by purchase, Waterston Fund I, Nov. 30, 1918.
Other Formats
Digital facsimiles of the Horace Mann, Jr. travel diary are available on Life at Sea, a digital publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS makes this resource available onsite; see a reference librarian for more information.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. General correspondence, 1669-1926
Arranged chronologically.
This series consists of Horace Mann's correspondence with many of his important contemporaries, including George Combe (1788-1858). Almost every one of the letters is individually described in the MHS manuscript catalog.
II. Lectures, sermons, and legal notes, 1820-1859
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains Mann's lectures, sermons, speeches, and legal notes. Undated miscellaneous notes are at the end of the series.
III. Volumes, 1782-1880
Arranged in arbitrary numerical order.
This series consists of journals, letterbooks, notebooks, accounts, and other volumes, with some loose pages. Included in this series are some of Mann's writings on slavery and those of Mary Tyler Peabody Mann on her husband's life and other topics.
IV. Horace Mann papers II, 1826-1882
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains correspondence of Mary Tyler Peabody Mann and Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, 1826-1882.
V. Horace Mann papers III, 1709-1904
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains correspondence and miscellaneous papers, including deeds and will of Thomas Mann, correspondence of Horace Mann, correspondence of Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, and correspondence of Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, 1709-1904.
Digital facsimiles of the Horace Mann, Jr. travel diary are available on Life at Sea, a digital publication of Adam Matthew Digital, Inc. This digital resource is available at subscribing libraries; speak to your local librarian to determine if your library has access. The MHS makes this resource available onsite; see a reference librarian for more information.
VI. Horace Mann papers IV, 1827-1835
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains correspondence from Elizabeth Amelia (White) Dwight to Mary Tyler Peabody Mann, 1827-1835.
VII. Horace Mann papers V, 1841-1849
Arranged chronologically.
This series contains correspondence from Horace Mann to William Bentley Fowle concerning Mann's lectures and writings on education and religious liberty, 1841-1849.
VIII. Oversize material, 1709-1864
Arranged chronologically.
This series consists of oversize material from the various Horace Mann collections that are joined in this microfilm edition.
Preferred Citation
Horace Mann collection, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
Persons:
Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs from this collection have been removed to the Horace Mann family photographs. Photo. Coll. 500.56.