Provenance Detail
Marion H. McClenchOwner/Agent
Marion H. McClenchAcquisition Method
TransferAcquisition Date
1928Disposition Method
Gift/DonationDisposition Date
Jun 11, 1951Authorities
Note written by Marion H. McClench dated June 11, 1951.Notes
Transcript of letter:
"June 11, 1951
To the Trustees of the
WHITTIER HOMESTEAD ASSOCIATION
Haverhill, Massachusetts
Dear Friends:
I am happy to have this opportunity of returning to the Whittier Homestead these books so closely identified with it. The DAVIDEIS and CHALKLEY'S JOURNAL belong to Whittier and 'Snowbound.' There is no better place than the home in which Mr. Whittier spent his youth for the marriage certificate of his mother and father.
In 1879, when Mr. Whittier moved to Danvers, Massachusetts, to make his home with his cousins at Oak Knoll, he took with him many cherished possessions. At his death, and by his will, these became the property of the cousins, Caroline and Mary Johnson and Mrs Abby (Johnson) Woodman.
These three sisters were the daughters of Col. Edmund Johnson, of East Weare, New Hampshire. My paternal grandmother, Mary Ann (Johnson) McClench, was the daughter of Col. Johnson's brother, John Johnson, also of East Weare. So my grandmother was an own cousin of the Johnsons of Oak Knoll.
At the death of Miss Caroline Johnson, the surviving sister, in 1926, Oak Knoll and its contents was transferred by her will to my father, William Wallace McClench, of Springfield, Massachusetts. Shortly afterward the house was sold, and following the death of my father in 1928, some of the furnishings and books were taken to my home in Michigan. They have been in my possession since that time.
I am pleased that the responsibility of taking these books 'back home' was accepted by Dr. John C. Hepler and the group of students from Central Michigan College, who are making this literary pilerimage.
Here, in Haverhill, their future care is assured. Within these walls, they round out the picture for those who visit this home to honor one of our great American poets. They are again part of our American heritage.
Yours very truly,
[signature]
Marion H. McClench