The children of a textile investor, Mary and David Slade were students at the Friends' Boarding School in Providence, R.I., during the late 1830s. Both died tragically of consumption at a young age, David at 24 and Mary at 28.
The Slade family papers consist largely of the personal correspondence of the ill-starred David and Mary Slade, dating from and just after their time as students at the Friends' Boarding School in Providence, R.I. Written primarily by schoolmates and friends, with a few letters from David and Mary themselves, the letters include some fine examples of the intimacy of young people, with their sights set on their schooling or beginning to make their life.
William Slade (1780-1852) and his descendants were prominent among the early investors in cotton milling in Fall River, Mass. A resident of nearby Somerset, Mass., William provided land in 1812 for construction of one of the first cotton mills in Fall River, and over the next decade, he branched out to become one of the first stockholders in the Fall River Manufactory, one of eight incorporators of the Pocasset Manufacturing Company, and one of the original proprietors of the Watuppa Manufacturing Company.
After marrying in 1806, William and his wife Phebe (Lawton) raised a family of seven. Quakers and members of the Swansea (or Swansey) Monthly Meeting, the Slades were strong supporters of the Friends' Boarding School in Providence (later the Moses Brown School). According to printed catalogues of the school, William sent his eldest sons Jonathan and William Lawton Slade to study there -- and both followed their father into investing in the textile industry -- as well as his youngest son David (enrolled from 1837 to 1841) and daughters Amanda and Mary (1838 and 1841).
The youngest Slade children, David and Mary, died tragically of consumption at a young age, David at 24 and Mary at 28. Neither were ever married.
Scope of collection
The Slade family papers consist largely of the personal correspondence of the ill-starred David and Mary Slade, dating from and just after their time as students at the Friends' Boarding School in Providence, R.I. Written primarily by schoolmates and friends, with a few letters from David and Mary themselves, the letters include some fine examples of the intimacy of young people, with their sights set on their schooling or beginning to make their life. Of particular interest are the letters of Emily D. Stevens, who was embarking on a career as a teacher in Little Compton, R.I., and the enthusiastic John E. Fry, a friend of David's. The collection also includes Mary's excellent, though brief, diary from 1840, and typical exercise books in arithmetic (kept by Amanda Slade) and trigonometry (kept by David). There are several examples of cross-hatched letters, including ones written in two colors of ink.
Apart from David and Mary, the collection includes a handful of letters from other relatives, including their mother Phebe, and nieces and nephews who attended the school in later years. A series of catalogues from the school have been transferred for cataloging to our printed materials collection.
Inventory
Austin, Elizabeth
1840-1841
2 items
Box 1: 1
Barker, Benjamin
1841-1846
4 items
Box 1: 2
Barker, Elizabeth H.
1849
4 items
Box 1: 3
Although signed simply Lizzie, these letters are possibly from Elizabeth H. Barker, a student from Tiverton at the Friends Boarding School in 1843.
Bowen, Esther
1847-1848
6 items
Box 1: 4
Although signed simply Esther or Esther B., these letters are possibly from Esther Bowen, a fellow student of Mary Slade's at the Friends Boarding School in 1838. Bowen was listed in the school catalogue as being from Somerset.
Brown, Moses
1831
1 item
Box 1: 5
Buffington, P.
1840
1 item
Box 1: 6
Buffum, B.
1840
Box 1: 7
Buffum, Thomas B.
1844-1845
3 items
Box 1: 8
Bullock, E. A.
1844-1845
2 items
Box 1: 9
Chace, Daniel
1834
1 item
Box 1: 10
Chase, Samuel S.
1841
1 item
Box 1: 11
Colegrove, C. W.
1865
1 item
Box 1: 12
Earle, Catherine
1842
1 item
Box 1: 13
Elliott, S. F.
1845
1 item
Box 1: 14
Friends Boarding School ephemera
1859, 1892
2 items
Box 1: 15
Friends Boarding School receipts
1834-1860
6 items
Box 1: 16
Fry, John B.
1838-1844
9 items
Box 1: 17
Gray, Jeremiah
1842-1844
4 items
Box 1: 18
Huntington, E. A.
1837
1 item
Box 1: 19
Lawton, E. L.
1828-1836
3 items
Box 1: 20
Lawton, Sarah S.
1823
1 item
Box 1: 21
Livesey, Elizabeth W.
1846-1848
3 items
Box 1: 22
Marsh, Mary
1776
1 item
Box 1: 23
Powers, William
1843
1 item
Box 1: 24
Reade, Elizabeth W.
1837
1 item
Box 1: 25
Rodman, J.
1868
1 item
Box 1: 26
Shearman , Lydia
1790
1 item
Box 1: 27
Shove, Mary
1806
1 item
Box 1: 28
Slade, Amanda: Arithmetic exercise book
ca.1840
1 item
Box 1: 29
Slade, Benjamin
1860
1 item
Box 1: 30
Slade, David
1837-1840
10 items
Box 1: 31
Slade, David: Draft letters (originally laid in Trigonometry exercise book)
1840
8 items
Box 1: 32
Slade, David: Trigonometry exercise book
ca.1839
1 item
Box 1: 33
Slade, Mary (1821-1850)
1834-1841
7 items
Box 1: 34
Slade, Mary (b. ca.1852)
1867-1870
2 items
Box 1: 35
Slade, Mary: Diary
1840
1 item
Box 1: 36
Slade, Mary: Poetry notebook
ca.1840
1 item
Box 1: 37
Slade, Phebe L.
1830
1 item
Box 1: 38
Slade, William
ca.1840
1 item
Box 1: 39
Slade, William W.
1866
1 item
Box 1: 40
Slocum, Jonathan L.
1841-1843
7 items
Box 1: 41
Spencer, William
1854
1 item
Box 1: 42
Steere, Thomas E.
1843-1848
2 items
Box 1: 43
Stevens, Emily D.
1845-1849
6 items
Box 1: 44
Talbert, Caroline: carte de visite in Quaker outfit
The following pamphlets have been transferred to the printed materials collection for cataloging:
Ashbridge, Elizabeth, Some account of the early part of the life of Elizabeth Ashbridge. Providence, R.I.: H. M. Brown, 1831.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Students at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: Weeden and Cory, 1835.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Students at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: B. Cranston & Co., 1836.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: B. Cranston & Co., 1837.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: John E. Brown, 1838.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: Brown and Cady, 1839.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: B. Cranston & Co., 1840.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: B. Cranston & Co., 1841.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils at the Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I.. Providence: Lyceum Phoenix, 1843.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils of Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I., for the academical year 1859-60. Providence: Knowles, Anthony, & Co., 1860.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils of Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I., for the academical year 1862-63. Providence: Knowles, Anthony, & Co., 1863.
Friends Boarding School, Catalogue of the Officers and Pupils of Friends' Boarding School, Providence, R.I., for the academical year 1863-64. Providence: Knowles, Anthony, & Co., 1864.
Memorial of deceased Friends of the New-England Yearly Meeting. Providence: Joseph Knowles, 1849.
Organization and proceedings of the Alumni Association of the New England Yearly Meeting School, Providence. Providence: Knowles, Anthony, & Co., 1860.
