Jean Sampson Lindsay was born in 1942 at Park Avenue Hospital in Rochester, New York. Her parents, Alexander Millar Lindsay III and Jean Adaline Sampson, had two other children, Alexander Millar Lindsay IV and James Courter Lindsay. As a child, Lindsay lived in Buffalo, New York, where her father was a test pilot at the Curtis Wright Corporation; Reno, Nevada, where her father later worked; Penfield, New York, where her grandfather Luther Courter Sampson owned a farm; and Ormond Beach, Florida, where her great-grandfather Alexander Millar Lindsay had built a house called Rowallan. She attended high school in Brighton, New York, before moving to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for her father's health. In 1958, she entered Rogers Hall, a boarding school in Lowell, Massachusetts, from which she graduated.
Lindsay attended Skidmore College for two years, leaving after the death of her father in 1964. She graduated from the University of Rochester in 1968, with a major in art history and a minor in English. She earned her master's in English from the University of Rochester in 1976 and her master's in library science from the School of Library and Information Science at SUNY Geneseo in 1980.
A collector and dealer of rare books, Lindsay started a business called Ayrshire Books, named after the county in Scotland where her great-grandfather Lindsay was born. She was also a leader of the Now Nameless Bibliophiles group in Rochester and served on the board of the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries. She was a docent and lecturer at the Memorial Art Gallery in Rochester, presenting on Victorian architecture and other topics.
From 1980 to 1982, Lindsay worked for Dr. James Sibley Watson Jr. and Nancy Prince Watson as archivist and curator of a collection of papers in their home at 6 Sibley Place in Rochester. This collection, now at the New York Public Library (James Sibley Watson/
After completing her project with the Watsons, Lindsay held positions at the Rochester Public Library, the Harvard University Archives, and the Library of Congress. While living in Alexandria, Virginia, she worked with various associations, helping them to set up libraries. She then worked at the Wyeth pharmaceutical company in Philadelphia, where her mother and stepfather lived, for ten years until her retirement. Lindsay focused on regulatory affairs and information technology at Wyeth, and she facilitated the company's development of a database for correspondence and other information. While living in Philadelphia, she took courses in law and clinical studies at Temple University. Lindsay has lived in Geneseo, New York, since 2003.
The Jean S. Lindsay papers are open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.
In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.
Gift of Jean S. Lindsay, 1981, with subsequent accruals.
[Item title, item date], Jean S. Lindsay Papers, D.191, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
The Jean S. Lindsay Papers contain three series: Career, Community, and Family Papers. Series I: Career includes typescripts, manuscripts, correspondence, research, notes, and photographs relating, with only a few exceptions, to Lindsay's work at the Watson Archives (1980-1982). Series II: Community consists chiefly of correspondence and notes for the Now Nameless Bibliophiles group and a small amount of material relating to the Friends of the University of Rochester Libraries (1980s). Series III: Family papers contains photographs, diaries, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and research relating primarily to Jean S. Lindsay's paternal ancestors (the Lindsay, Hatch, and Curtice families) and her maternal ancestors (the Courter and Sampson families). More detailed description is included at the series level.
Additional manuscript collections relating to the Lindsay, Sibley, and Watson families are available in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation:
Sibley, Lindsay and Curr Company Papers, BB.S56
Hiram Sibley Family Papers, D.81
Sibley Family Addition, D.226
Watson Family Papers, D.248
The following publications were separated from the manuscript collection and are available as cataloged materials. Please see the library's online catalog for call numbers and details:
Barnes, Djuna.
Butler-Thwing, Francis Wendell.
Campbell, Thomas.
Fenollosa, Mary McNeil.
Fletcher, Beaumont.
Ford, Helen T.
Geldhardt, Mrs.
Grey of Fallodon, Edward, Viscount.
Huckel, Oliver.
James, Paul.
Morgan, Angela.
Parson, Donald.
Paterson, James.
Ramsden, Guendolen, Lady.
Ruskin, John.
Sibley, James.
Smith, D. Murray.
Watson, Hildegarde Lasell.
Weguelin, H. W.
The Career series consists in large part of correspondence relating to James Sibley Watson Jr.'s
A key aspect of Lindsay's work was to explore links between the Watsons'
This series also contains research about the
Photographs show the Watson Archives space; Lindsay, the Watsons, and others; and events such as the Worcester Art Museum's
This folder includes a note from Lindsay to the Watsons in which she mentions an upcoming meeting with Cyrus H. Hoy to discuss a prospectus for the National Endowment for the Humanities. Other materials include notes and research for the
This folder contains a facsimile of a 15 April 1921 letter from attorney Minturn de S. Verdi to James Sibley Watson Jr. with "a short agreement I have drawn relating to the stock and notes of the
This folder includes correspondence with Nancy and James Sibley Watson Jr. and lists of questions for the latter. Subjects include Scofield Thayer, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, and Ezra Pound. One 17 September 1980 note from Nancy Watson appears on a facsimile of an 18 June 1926 letter written by Moore. Also included are Lindsay's transcriptions of several
This folder includes Lindsay's correspondence, through Faber and Faber, with Valerie Eliot, wife of T. S. Eliot, regarding Eliot materials in the Watson Archives. Some of these letters are facsimiles. Also included is a letter about this correspondence to James Sibley Watson Jr. Among the materials they discuss are two typescripts of
The
This folder contains information about
Dzwonkoski, then head of the University of Rochester's Department of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Archives, writes about a possible meeting with the Watsons. Nancy Watson thanks him for his advice about their collection and invites him to visit, including a tour of the Watson Archives. She describes the arrangement at the Watson home: "The Ivory tower is a pleasant (locked) attic retreat where Jean [Lindsay] does the work and we are planning a basement, climate-controlled room for scholars [and] researchers by appointment, to study the collection. Jean will supervise, screening also to decide who can interview [James] Sibley [Watson Jr.]." She adds, "We've begun tape-recording his conversations with odd poets etc. who appear after careful decisions by me, and he enjoys them."
Correspondence in this folder includes a 2 February 1981 letter to the society in which Lindsay indicates that she is sending "a prospectus for a checklist of
This folder contains correspondence, as well as note cards with citations, call slips, and housing information. Correspondents include David Schoonover, curator of the Yale Collection of American Literature.
This folder contains correspondence, notes, and questions for James Sibley Watson Jr., with answers. Correspondents include Leo Dolenski, who helped Lindsay with Marianne Moore materials at Bryn Mawr and with whom Lindsay shared a copy of her application for National Endowment for the Humanities funding.
Topics discussed in this correspondence include a typescript of
This folder contains correspondence with Charles Mann, chief of Rare Books and Special Collections at the Frederick Lewis Pattee Library. Lindsay and Mann discuss Kenneth Burke's papers at Penn State.
This folder includes correspondence with Herbert Cahoon, curator of Autograph Manuscripts at the Pierpont Morgan Library, who provided Lindsay with sample checklist entries and catalog cards that helped her plan for a
This folder includes correspondence with Patricia C. Willis, curator of the Marianne Moore Collection at the Rosenbach. Among other topics, Lindsay and Willis discuss border designs that Claude Bragdon appears to have sent to James Sibley Watson Jr. Other materials include correspondence with a researcher referred to the Watson Archives by Willis and a facsimile of a 5 November 1927 letter from Marianne Moore to Ezra Pound located in the Watson Archives.
The bulk of the material in this folder is Lindsay's correspondence with Shonnie Finnegan, University Archivist at SUNY Buffalo, who acted as a consultant for the Watson Archives. Other materials include correspondence with Robert Berholf, curator of the Poetry/Rare Books Collection at SUNY Buffalo; drafts of Lindsay's
This folder contains Lindsay's correspondence with Fredson Bowers, editor of
Condition: One draft of a letter is in pieces.
This folder includes Lindsay's correspondence with Richard Stuart Teitz, director of the Worcester Art Museum; letters between Teitz and the Watsons; a letter from Lindsay to the Watsons; information about the museum's preview of its exhibit
This folder includes an agenda for the symposium
These materials were removed from their original housing in a pocket folder.
These materials were removed from their original housing in a pocket folder bearing Lindsay's name.
This folder includes Hoy's formal evaluation as a reviewer of Lindsay's National Endowment for the Humanities grant application. Although Hoy specialized in English renaissance literature, he had worked with the Watson's papers. As he explains in his evaluation, he "edited a selection of Marianne Moore's letters to Hildegarde Watson (letters which were than [sic] in the Watson collection but which since have been given to Bryn Mawr College) for publication in the
This folder consists almost entirely of Lindsay's correspondence with Cyrus H. Hoy. Also included is a letter to Fredson Bowers, editor of
This folder includes drafts of Lindsay's application for a grant from the NEH, as well as related correspondence and notes.
This folder includes correspondence with Cyrus H. Hoy. It also contains photographs of the Watson Archives, included as part of the NEH application.
This folder includes Lindsay's correspondence with Margaret Child and Marjorie Berlincourt of the National Endowment for the Humanities. It contains letters written as Lindsay was planning and drafting the application as well as those relating to Lindsay's eventual withdrawal of the application. In a 3 December 1981 letter, Child informs Lindsay that her application "has now passed through both external review and evaluation by the panel." "However," Child explains, "the reviewers and panelists were also generally concerned that the collection was still in private hands and believed that it was inappropriate for federal funds to be expended to arrange and describe materials which were not in a publicly accessible research institution. The panel therefore recommended that a grant be made conditional on securing a legal document embodying Dr. Watson's commitment to deposit the papers permanently in a research library of his choice and to guarantee unrestricted public access to them." In a 14 December 1981 letter, Lindsay replies to Child that the Watsons "have determined that they would prefer to continue with their plans to maintain
This folder contains a letter Lindsay wrote to the Watsons from Bryn Mawr, where she was conducting
This folder includes correspondence written by Nancy Watson, Margaret Estey (cousin of James Sibley Watson Jr.), Jean Lindsay, and E. B. Meader of the Sibley Corporation. Letters discuss the development of the Watson Archives; Jean Lindsay's work there and research into related collections; and Lindsay's visits with Estey in Philadelphia, where she helped to organize, describe, and preserve Estey's Sibley papers. Some of these letters are facsimiles.
These are the initials of Margaret G. Estey.
In her letter to Nancy Watson, Lindsay writes, "Thank you for taking the time to track down Mrs. Estey's letter and for bringing me up to date on wither thy papers goest."
Selected materials in this folder include a Sibley family tree and information about Lindsay's travel to Philadelphia.
This folder contains facsimiles of publications and a letter to Lindsay from Karl Kabelac, University Archivist at the University of Rochester, with information about Hiram Sibley.
This folder includes an 11 August 1982 letter in which Nancy Watson thanks Lindsay for "the kindness you showed toward me and Sibley at the time of his death" and writes, "It's very hard for me to realize he is gone forever. He was such a dear, sweet, gentle man, along with all his brilliant accomplishments. I plan to carry on his interests in historic preservation and the support of living artists, as my resources permit." In a 23 October 1982 letter, she thanks Lindsay for her contributions while working for them and wishes her "a successful recovery of your health and happiness." The folder also includes correspondence relating to Lindsay's application for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant. Notes relate to the Watson Archives, including office or household matters and supplies, as well as questions for Nancy and James Sibley Watson Jr. about their papers; answers have sometimes been added by Nancy Watson. Photographs consist of several winter/Christmas photographs from 1966, and several Polaroids from 1982.
Topics include developments in Lindsay's work at the Watson Archives, including research about the
The eulogy is a facsimile in Nancy Watson's hand, and it includes a poem called "On Plum Blossoms" written by Dale Davis in memory of Watson. This folder also includes facsimiles of letters to Hildegarde Watson and Lindsay's transcriptions of correspondence relating to the
This folder includes Lindsay's correspondence with John L. Clark of Edwards and Angell and Robert J. Whipple of Fletcher, Tilton and Whipple, P.C., relating to the deaths of James Sibley Watson Jr. and Scofield Thayer. It also contains Lindsay's correspondence with Clark requesting permission to access, photocopy, and create a checklist of the
This folder includes correspondence with John L. Clark of Edwards and Angell, in which Clark grants Lindsay permission to access the
The contents of this folder were removed from their original housing in the front pocket of a three-ring binder. This binder also contained Lindsay's "Inventory or Checklist of
This is a typescript with annotations in pen and pencil. The checklist is divided into several sections:
The contents of this folder were removed from their original housing in a three-ring binder.
This is a typescript with annotations in pen and pencil. The checklist is divided into several sections:
The contents of this folder were removed from their original housing in a three-ring binder.
This is a typescript with annotations in pen and pencil. The checklist is divided into several sections:
The contents of this folder were removed from their original housing in a three-ring binder.
Selected materials in this folder include call slips and notes.
The contents of this folder were removed from their original housing in the front pocket of a three-ring binder. "Dallying with
This folder contains journal entries, notes, and drafts of correspondence written by Lindsay, including a draft of a letter to Cyrus H. Hoy; a clipping about Ezra Pound; and a University of Rochester Library newsletter.
The contents of this folder were removed from their original housing in a three-ring binder, where they had been inserted, but not bound. "Dallying with
This folder contains journal entries written by Lindsay.
The contents of this folder were removed from their original housing in a three-ring binder. "Dallying with
Contact sheets and negatives have been removed from their original envelopes; each envelope has been placed after the materials it contained.
This album includes primarily photographs of the Watson Archives, people involved in the project (including Lindsay, the Watsons, and Cyrus H. Hoy), and related events such as the Worcester Art Museum's exhibit about the
For preservation reasons, these items were removed from their original housing in an album and placed into folders. The original order of pages has been noted and retained. When multiple photographs or other items appeared on a single page in the album, a photocopy of the original layout has been inserted next to the originals.
This article is a feature story about James Sibley Watson Jr. The cover of the
Articles discuss the
Articles discuss the
A note on an airplane ticket to New York City in fall 1981 indicates, "Grandma Died--Did not go."
The group discusses the
This CD is a 2013 transfer of an audio cassette.
Among other topics, Lindsay discusses hear research into
This CD is a 2013 transfer of an audio cassette.
Opera singer Claire McLamore Watson was a graduate of the Eastman School of Music. She was married to Michael Lasell Watson, son of James Sibley Watson Jr.
These CDs are 2013 transfers of an audio cassette.
Jeanne Quackenbush, daughter of James Sibley Watson Jr. and Hildegarde Watson, describes to Lindsay her family's trip to Switzerland in 1938, where they visited Powys and Gregory.
This CD is a 2013 transfer of an audio cassette.
This recording contains the audio component of a Rochester television news story about Watson.
This CD is a 2013 transfer of an audio cassette.
Jean Lindsay introduces her work at the Watson Archives and summarizes a meeting with Hoy and the Watsons at the Watsons' home. Among other topics, she discusses Hoy's suggestion that she create a checklist of
This CD is a 2013 transfer of an audio cassette.
Lindsay presents about the Lindsay family and the Sibley, Lindsay, and Curr Company using nineteenth- and early twentieth-century photographs of buildings. She is introduced by architecture historian Jean France, organizer of the Memorial Art Gallery lecture series "Architecture: The Art We Live In."
This CD is a 2013 transfer of an audio cassette.
When Lindsay was a graduate student at the University of Rochester, she collaborated with English Department Chairman Rowland Lee Collins and others to form a group that would bring together book collectors from the University and the community. Never settling on a name, the group came was known as the Now Nameless Bibliophiles. Meetings, as Lindsay's papers explain, were held at members' homes and had elements of "exhibition, short lecture and social meeting." Her materials about the group, of which she was secretary, include correspondence, meeting and membership information, meeting minutes, photographs, book information, and ephemera. They also include remarks that Lindsay prepared for meetings, including biographical introductions of James Sibley Watson Jr. and Nancy Prince Watson. The group first assembled on 4 December 1980 at the home of Lindsay's cousin Daniel M. Beach and his wife Sibyl. Other attendees included Peter Dzwonkowski, head of the University of Rochester's Department of Rare Books, Manuscripts and Archives; Frank Shuffelton, professor of English at the University of Rochester; and poet Dale Davis. Lindsay's correspondence on behalf of this group sometimes intersects with her work at the Watson Archives.
This folder contains an introduction to Sojourner Hall for Women and a newsletter that Nancy Watson, who was secretary of the organization, addressed to Lindsay.
Lindsay applied her archival, curatorial, and architectural knowledge to her family's history. Indeed, David C. Sargent dedicated his book
As Sargent explains, Alexander Millar Lindsay (1841-1920) was born in Stewarton, Scotland, the youngest child of Marion Millar (1800-1881) and Alexander Lindsay (1794-1872), a cabinetmaker. His experience with the dry goods business, in which he would make his fortune, began when he served as a draper's apprentice in Kilmarnock and then Glasgow. Lindsay moved to Boston in 1865 to take a position with the dry goods company Hogg, Brown and Taylor; it was there that he met his future business partners, John Curr and Rufus Adams Sibley. In 1868, the three founded the Sibley, Lindsay, and Curr Company (later known as "Sibley's") in Rochester, New York. Describing their roles in the venture, Sargent notes that "Sibley's strength was finance . . . ; Curr was a mechanical genius and manufacturing would become his forte; as for Lindsay, he was destined to become one of the great merchandising men of his time" (pages 12-13). Sibley, Lindsay, and Curr was incorporated in 1897 and withstood the "great Sibley fire" of 1904.
In 1871, Lindsay married Adelaide Hatch (1845-1927), whom he met at the Brick Presbyterian Church in Rochester. A singer whose performances included benefit concerts during the Civil War, Adelaide Hatch was the daughter of the prominent shoe manufacturer Jesse Williams Hatch (1812-1910) and Harriet Emeline Flint (1811-1867). Adelaide and Alexander Millar Lindsay had seven children: Harriet Millar Lindsay Kaime Levin (1872-1940), Marion Hatch Lindsay Beach (1873-1956), Alexander ("Al") Millar Lindsay Jr. (1875-1949), Jesse Williams Hatch Lindsay (1876-1958), Jean Lindsay DuPuy (1879-1949), Robert Bruce Lindsay (1885-1945), and Adelaide Lindsay Thomson (1888-1968).
Adelaide and Alexander Millar Lindsay's first home was at 45 Park Avenue in Rochester. In 1878, they built a house on a plot between East and Park Avenue. The "Lindsay House," the current address of which is 973 East Avenue, was designed by James G. Cutler, with landscaping by Alling de Forest and a tea house (no longer standing) designed by Claude Bragdon. The Lindsays also built a house in Ormond Beach, Florida, which they called Rowallan.
A prominent businessman and citizen, Alexander Millar Lindsay served on the board of several companies and organizations in Rochester, including the Eastman Kodak Company, the Security Trust Company, the Gas and Electric Corporation, and Mechanics Institute (later the Rochester Institute of Technology).
Jean S. Lindsay's paternal grandparents were Alexander Millar Lindsay's son Jesse and Grace Christine Curtice, whose family owned the Curtice Brothers canning company in Rochester. On her maternal side, Lindsay is descended from Aaron Burr Courter and Adeline Whalen, who moved to Penfield, New York, from Saratoga County. Their daughter Rebecca Courter and her first husband, Luther Clark Sampson, were the parents of Howard Courter Sampson, Lindsay's great-grandfather, whose wife's name was Violet Barnes. Lindsay's grandfather Luther Courter Sampson was a prominent doctor at Park Ridge Hospital in Rochester, and his sister Adaline Sampson was a nurse in World War I. Aaron Burr Courter's brother James fought in the War of 1812.
This series includes, in order of arrangement: a Queen Victoria Jubilee pin; diaries of, memorials to, and research about members of the Lindsay, Hatch, and Curtice families; correspondence of and research about the Courter and Sampson families; Jean S. Lindsay's correspondence with family and friends, including Barry B. Clune, son of historian and author Henry W. Clune; and photographs, which are from the 1860s to the 1980s (bulk 1890s-1920s). With the exception of several prints that Lindsay filed with associated papers, photographs are located together at the end of the series. They include images of the Lindsays, their extended family, and friends; their homes; and their vacation trips.
When facsimiles, modern reprints, or images transferred to 35mm slides appear, dates of originals have been indicated in order to provide a sense of the time period.
The pin is a silver brooch, oval in shape, printed with "Jubilee" and "V R." It is decorated with a crown, rose, thistles, and shamrocks. The date is probably either 1887, the year of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, or 1897, the year of her Diamond Jubilee.
This scrapbook includes clippings and other ephemera relating to topics such as motherhood, domesticity, musical concerts (including benefit concerts in which Adelaide Hatch performed), Rochester history, and the Lindsay and Hatch families. Clippings about the Lindsay family describe, among other topics, the Scottish Lindsay clan; weddings of Adelaide and Alexander M. Lindsay's children; gatherings hosted by Adelaide and Alexander M. Lindsay; a burglary at Alexander M. Lindsay Jr.'s home; and the Sibley, Lindsay, and Curr Company.
A note written by Jean S. Lindsay on the folder in which this facsimile was previously housed indicates that the original scrapbook is the property of Mrs. Daniel M. Beach Jr. of Rochester and that the copies were a gift of Jean S. Lindsay in 1983. The facsimile includes several annotations by Jean S. Lindsay.
This family tree begins with Alexander Millar Lindsay's parents, Alexander Lindsay and Marion Miller. Jean S. Lindsay has noted on the family tree that Miller and Millar are alternative spellings of the same name.
All of the materials in this folder are facsimiles that Jean S. Lindsay has annotated in pencil, providing details about family members. Correspondence consists of a 25 May 1925 letter from John Lindsay to his sister-in-law Christina Rachel Lindsay (Mrs. Robert M. Lindsay). The folder also includes clippings about Alexander M. Lindsay's brothers John and Robert; memorial cards for his mother, his sister Marion Lindsay, and her husband James Sim; and a clipping about a Professor R. Bruce Lindsay of Brown University who, Lindsay notes, "could be a distant relative." Lindsay has noted that the originals of the letter and the memorial card for Marion Miller belong to Jean Stewart, granddaughter of Christina and Robert Lindsay.
Selected topics in these programs and articles include Civil War-era benefit concerts, with Adelaide Hatch as one of the singers; marriages of members of the Lindsay family; the Sibley, Lindsay and Curr Company; a burglary at the Lindsay home in 1908; and "Reminiscences" about Rochester by Jesse W. Hatch, a paper delivered at a Rochester Historical Society meeting. Some pages were annotated by Jean S. Lindsay in the 1980s.
Jean Lindsay Stevenson was the younger daughter of Grace Curtice and Jesse W. H. Lindsay.
Jean S. Lindsay has noted on the archival envelope in which this item is housed that John Curr was a co-founder of the Sibley, Lindsay, and Curr Company.
An illustration on the cover of this book shows Harold Hardrada's invasion of England in the eleventh century, with the title "No 'Lebensraum.'" On the inside of the cover is printed, "The Ferguson Toast / 'A Victorious 1941'." The book was printed in London, and its pages are blank.
Selected materials include Jean S. Lindsay's correspondence with the Niagara Historical Society, in which she discusses research her mother, Mrs. Francis Grebe (Jean Adaline Sampson), is conducting about their ancestor James Courter (facsimile); Lindsay's transcription of a letter, dated 3 July 1813, from Courter to his wife, Hannah, during the War of 1812; and a document discussing the formation of the Niagara Historical Society in 1895 (facsimile).
The poem is handwritten and is followed by the name Carrie.
The handwritten poem appears to have been sent in an envelope addressed to "Miss Rebecca Courter." Below it is written "Poor Carrie." The folder contains a second envelope with Rebecca Courter's name, as well as the calling cards of Mr. and Mrs. J. C. Winans / Susan W. Crocker; [Freeman?] Stanton Courter of Cobbleskill, New York; and Captain and Mrs. W. Watrous / Charlotte E. Lamb).
One envelope bears the name Miss R. Courtier [sic], another the names Mr. and Mrs. Luther Sampson. (Rebecca Courter became Mrs. Luther Clark Sampson.) Calling cards, which have been removed from the envelope with the Sampsons' name, are from Miss Libbie Orr and Mr. and Mrs. F. N. Lewis.
The membership card, from the New York Treasury Department, indicates that Adaline Sampson is a member of the East Rochester, New York, Committee for the Fourth Liberty Loan. The ribbon is a fragment, but a note indicates that it is also related to World War I.
In two letters to her brother Walter Farwell Sampson in October 1918, Adaline Sampson discusses her training as a nurse during World War I, the influenza epidemic, and Farwell's interest in enlisting, among other topics. This folder also includes two postcards, one from Adaline to H. C. Sampson (probably her father, Howard Courter Sampson), showing a military hospital in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and another, with no writing, showing a yacht club on Saint Simons Island, Georgia.
Materials about the Courter family include a note from Farwell Sampson to Jean Adaline Sampson (Jean S. Lindsay's mother) explaining, "Rebecca Phoebe Courter Sampson/Strowger ... was your Great Grandmother. I lived with her two years 1911-1912." Another note, which appears to have been written by Jean Adaline Sampson, contains information about "James Courter -- Brother of Aaron Burr Courter -- my great great grandfather": "J. Courter lived in Schenectady, NY. All of the Courters' original home was at Bal[l]ston Spa N.Y. Aaron Courter and wife came to Penfield in 1827 the first year the Erie Canal was open on a packet. Brought all furniture with them -- The Hitchcock chairs were theirs in Mother Sampson's house. Aaron Burr Courter married Adeline Whalen at Milton, N.Y." Aaron Burr Courter was Rebecca Courter's father.
This letter is incomplete.
The letter mentions enclosures that do not appear in this collection.
The date 22 April 1986 was added by Lindsay to a letter in this folder. Lindsay has also noted that Mary MacDowell Townson Nix is Mrs. Andrew Townson.
Slides have been transferred from envelopes to archival sleeves. On the envelopes, which have been placed at the front of this folder, Jean S. Lindsay provided descriptions of the images. She assigned each envelope a letter (A-E) and numbered the slides within it; this order has been maintained in the new housing. Slides show members of the Lindsay family and the architecture of their homes on East Avenue in Rochester. Included are images of the grounds at 973 East Avenue, which were designed by landscape architect Alling de Forest, and a tea house built for Alexander Millar Lindsay's daughter Jean at this address, which was designed by architect Claude Bragdon. The tea house was destroyed by fire in the 1950s.
A drawing of the tea house at 973 East Avenue in Rochester is available in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation:
Bragdon Family Papers -- Claude Fayette Bragdon Architectural Drawings, D.97, roll 154
On the back of one of three portraits in this folder is written "J G Averill ? / Friend [of] J[esse] W[.] L[indsay]."
This folder contains two family photographs. Writing on the back of one photograph says, "Merry Christmas from the Charles Mixters."
This folder contains three portraits of women, one of whom is holding a baby.
This folder contains three portraits of men; one of these is identified as J. K. M Perri[ine?], and another is posed with a violin. The folder also contains two portraits of children.
This folder contains portraits of a man and children.
This folder consists mainly of portraits, and Lindsay has identified Kathryn Gillis and Mrs. Willard (?). It also contains two exterior shots (one showing a house and the other showing a decorative mirror with the date 1810) and an empty photograph holder from the studio McKeen of Haverhill.
One of the photographs in this folder is a modern reprint (original circa 1865).
This folder includes a portrait of Lindsay Beach (later Mrs. George Norton) as a baby, and a portrait of her "as presented to court at St. James." The latter photograph was taken by Hugh Cecil, 8 Grafton Street, London.
This photograph is torn.
Rochester city directories indicate that in 1910 Grace Curtice lived at 17 North Goodman Street, and that in 1912 she lived at 30 North Goodman Street.
Jean S. Lindsay noted that Harriet Francis Durstan was a friend of Grace Curtice. The file includes copies of newspaper articles about Durstan and her parents, Ambassador Charles S. Francis and Alice Francis.
Photographs of Jean S. Lindsay, Alexander Millar Lindsay IV, and their parents are attached to the card, which reads, "Happy Happy Birthday to Grandma."
The name of the artist who created the drawing is Mary Hoffman. Jean S. Lindsay has noted on the original folder that the print is contemporary.
This folder includes a photograph of Adelaide Lindsay and James Thomson, their children Jean Thomson Sargent and Alexander Lindsay Thomson, and their grandchildren.
Photographs show the Lindsay family's home "Rowallan" in Ormond Beach, Florida, and surrounding areas, including outings by horse and buggy. Individuals shown include Grace Curtice and Jesse W. H. Lindsay and their children, Carolyn, Alexander, and Jean; Adelaide Lindsay; Jean Lindsay and her husband Archibald DuPuy; and Art Whitcomb. Some photographs also serve as postcards.
Some pages are annotated, identifying individuals pictured or providing other information. Those identified include Herb M. Sten (or Stern?), Jesse W. H. Lindsay, Jean Lindsay, and Charles Stearns. The album appears to show a vacation trip. A note indicates that the "Beulah Plantation" is a possible location.
The pages of this album are loose. They have been distributed among three folders in their original order. Folder 1 contains pages 1-7, folder 2 pages 8-15, and folder 3 pages 16-23.
This album shows members of the Lindsay family, including Jesse W. H. Lindsay and Jean Lindsay, possibly at the family's winter home in Ormond Beach, Florida, or on a vacation.
This album shows a Western trip and includes photographs of Alexander Millar Lindsay Jr. and Jesse W. H. Lindsay. In addition to indicating their names, Jean S. Lindsay listed the following subjects on the former housing of this album: "R[ailroad] Station at Crawford," "Studebaker Wagon," and "Cheating at Cards."
This album shows a Western trip to Saddle Rock and other locations in Wyoming, including the Frost and Richards ranch in Cody. Jesse W. H. Lindsay and Arthur Stern are tentatively identified.
This album shows a Western trip; Jesse W. H. Lindsay is identified.
This album shows a Western trip. Arthur Stern is identified in one of the photographs.
This album shows a Western trip. Jesse W. H. Lindsay and Alexander Millar Lindsay Jr. are identified. The album includes images of the Crawford railroad station.