Adams-Mills Family Papers Finding Aid : Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries

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Son of Nathaniel Dickinson Adams and Harriet Hastings, Charles Dickinson Adams (1839-1889) was valedictorian at Amherst College, finished the 2-year law program at Columbia in one year, and practiced law in New York City until his early death. He was active in church and community work, and married Mary Clark Wood. The couple had two children, Georgiana and Mason. In 1905, Georgiana Wood Adams (1874-1957) married Franklin Hubbell Mills, the only son of George Franklin Mills, a classics teacher and later Dean at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. George's father, Benjamin F. Mills, started the Greylock Institute which was active several decades, and both Franklin and his father George were graduates of Williams College. Franklin and Georgiana Mills lived in New York City, and had one child, Mary Mills (1908-1963). Mason Tyler Adams (1877-1933) married Juliette Emily Hubbell, and the couple had two children. Many in the Adams-Mills-Wood extended family are buried at Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, MA, as Mary Clark Adams and her mother-in-law Harriet bought two side-by-side lots for the family.

The Adams-Mills Family papers document three core generations of the Adams and Mills families with roots in western Massachusetts. Manuscript material, ephemera and numerous photographs document Charles Dickinson Adams, his wife Mary Clark Wood Adams, and George Franklin Mills; the merging of their families through Georgiana Wood Adams Mills and Franklin Hubbell Mills; and their children, other family, and friends. Highlights include Mary Mills' baby book, over 20 years of correspondence from Mason to his sister Georgiana, correspondence between other family members reflecting attitudes and events in the late 1800s through mid-1900s, several travel journals and scrapbooks, and records from local schools such as Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst College, and Williams College. Over one-third of the collection is photographs, reflecting photographic technology, clothing styles, vacation spots, and home aesthetics from the 19th and 20th centuries.

See similar SCUA collections:

Family

Mass Agricultural College (1863-1931)

Massachusetts (West)

Photographs

Background on Adams-Mills family

Son of Nathaniel Dickinson Adams and Harriet Hastings, Charles Dickinson Adams (1839-1889) was valedictorian at Amherst College, finished the 2-year law program at Columbia in one year, and practiced law in New York City until his early death. He was active in church and community work, and married Mary Clark Wood. The couple had two children, Georgiana and Mason. Charles's brother Henry Martyn Adams (1844-1909) was a West Point graduate, and became a general in the Army Corps of Engineers. Charles's youngest brother Herbert Baxter Adams (1850-1901) was encouraged to study in Germany, returned with a PhD and landed in the newly opened Johns Hopkins University where he taught (as well as a couple of courses at Smith College) until his death at the turn of the century. In 1905, Georgiana Wood Adams (1874-1957) married Franklin Hubbell Mills, the only son of George Franklin Mills, a classics teacher and later Dean at the Massachusetts Agricultural College. George's father, Benjamin F. Mills, started the Greylock Institute which was active several decades, and both Franklin and his father George were graduates of Williams College. Franklin and Georgiana Mills lived in New York City, and had one child, Mary Mills (1908-1963). Mason Tyler Adams (1877-1933) married Juliette Emily Hubbell, and the couple had two children. Many in the Adams-Mills-Wood extended family are buried at Wildwood Cemetery in Amherst, MA, as Mary Clark Adams and her mother-in-law Harriet bought two side-by-side lots for the family.

Scope of collection

The Adams-Mills Family papers document three core generations of the Adams and Mills families with roots in western Massachusetts. Manuscript material, ephemera and numerous photographs document Charles Dickinson Adams, his wife Mary Clark Wood Adams, and George Franklin Mills; the merging of their families through Georgiana Wood Adams Mills and Franklin Hubbell Mills; and their children, other family, and friends. Highlights include Mary Mills' baby book, over 20 years of correspondence from Mason to his sister Georgiana, correspondence between other family members reflecting attitudes and events in the late 1800s through mid-1900s, several travel journals and scrapbooks, and records from local schools such as Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst College, and Williams College.

Over one-third of the collection is photographs, another highlight of this small but significant family collection. Most photographs are formally taken portraits or studio shots, but there are certainly numerous images from the daily lives and gatherings of the extended Adams-Mills family communities and of their dwellings. In addition to reflecting the clothing and hair styles, home aesthetics, and vacation spots of these families in the 19th and 20th centuries, photographic technologies from these eras – including cyanotypes, tintypes, carbon prints, silver gelatin prints, carte de visite, and cabinet cards – are documented. Families and friends identified include members of the Adams, Buddy, Colby, Dickinson, Fowler, Hubbell, Mills, and Wood families.

Inventory

Manuscripts Material

Adams, Charles Dickinson - financial

1876, 1887-1889

Box 6: 1

Adams, Charles Dickinson - invitations, speeches

1840-1888

Box 6: 2

Adams, Charles Dickinson - Sabbath School certificate

1850

Box 8: 1

Adams, Charles Dickinson and Mary Clark - travel scrapbook

1884-07

Box 1: 1

Adams, Mary Clark - checkbooks

1920-1922

Box 1: 2

Adams, Mary Clark - correspondence to daughter

1904

Box 1: 3

Adams, Mary Clark - correspondence to daughter and FHM

1909

Box 1: 4

Adams, Mary Clark - correspondence

1922

Box 1: 5

Adams, Mary Clark - financial

1913-1921

Box 1: 6

Adams, Mary Clark - financial

1920

Box 6: 3

Adams, Mary Clark - income taxes

1917-1921

Box 1: 7

Adams, Mary Clark - notes, religious

1911

Box 1: 8

Adams, Mary Clark - travel diary

1894-1912

Box 1: 9