Stansbury Family Papers

Collection

Identifier: LU-MS-088

Staff Only

This collection consists of papers documenting several generations of the Stansbury family, primarily from the 1850s through the 1950s. Papers include correspondence received by Mary A. Phinney Stansbury, class of 1859, documenting student life at Lawrence in the 1850s, the experiences of Mary's former classmates who were soldiers in the Civil War, and Mary's work with publishers of her poetry in the late 1880s. Articles and biographical information pertaining to various members of the Stansbury, Phinney, and Young families as well as family photographs are also included.

Dates

1847-1993
Other: Date acquired: 12/06/2012

Creator

Stansbury, Mary A. Phinney (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Lawrence University does not hold the copyright for all materials in this collection. Uses beyond those allowed for fair use under U. S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) require the researcher to secure permission from the copyright holder.

Extent

0.80 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Biographical or Historical Information

Three Phinney brothers (Samuel, James, and Hiram) moved to Appleton, Wisconsin from New York in the late 1840s and early 1850s. Samuel Phinney and his wife, Loriam, had two daughters: Mary and Lora. Mary Phinney entered Lawrence University at age 11 in 1853 and graduated at age 16 in 1859. She remains the youngest graduate in Lawrence history. After graduating, she taught in the preparatory department at Lawrence for one year. She went on to write many poems and short stories published in widely circulated magazines and journals in the late 1800s, including Scribner's, The Youth's Companion, and Cottage Hearth. Mary was also one of the first women trustees at Lawrence, serving in that role from 1874 to 1880. Stansbury Theatre in the Music-Drama Center is named in her honor. Mary Phinney married Edward P. Humphrey in 1862, who died in 1865. Their son, Edward Payson Humphrey, was born in 1865 and graduated from Lawrence in 1885. In 1872, Mary married Dr. Emory Stansbury, Lawrence trustee from 1884 to 1899. They had three children who all went on to become Lawrence alumni: Clara, born 1877 and class of 1897; Karl, born 1879 and class of 1901; and George, born 1881 and class of 1901. Emory Stansbury died in 1899, and Mary A. P. Stansbury died in 1928. Clara Stansbury married Frank P. Young in 1913. They had one son, F. Stansbury "Stans" Young, born in 1914 and graduated from Lawrence in 1936. Stans married Carmen Negrescou, class of 1931, in 1942. Karl Stansbury worked for 23 years as president and chairman of the board of the Thilmany Pulp and Paper Company in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. Karl served as a Lawrence trustee from 1923 to 1961. He died in 1966.

Arrangement Note

Materials are arranged in three series and then alphabetically by name or format of material at the folder level: 1. Papers of Mary A. P. Stansbury, 1855-1972 2. Papers of other Phinney, Stansbury, and Young family members, 1847-1993 3. Photographs, circa 1865-1960

Method of Acquisition

Materials in biographical information files were collected by the Lawrence University Archives prior to 2005. The remainder of the collection was transferred to the Archives from the Appleton Public Library, where the papers had been anonymously donated, in December, 2012.

Separated Materials

The following publication was removed from this collection and cataloged with the library general collection: Stansbury, Mary A. P. The Path of Years. Appleton : The Post Publishing Company, Printers and Binders, 1907. [signed copy]