Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation
Helen Aldrich De Kroyft papers
De Kroyft, Helen Aldrich, 1818-1915
D.241
/repositories/2/resources/725
1.75 cubic feet
(4 containers)
1844-1923
English
.
Biographical/Historical note
Helen (Aldrich) De Kroyft (October 29, 1818 - October 1915) was born in Rochester, New York. Christened Susan Helen Aldrich, and the oldest of twelve children, she was schooled at the Westfield Academy, Westfield, New York and at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, New York. Following an engagement of some years, she married William De Kroyft, M.D. on July 25, 1845. He died later that day.
The cause of his death is variously explained. An obituary describes him as beginning his medical practice "with health somewhat impaired," and Mrs. De Kroyft's account in A Place in Thy Memory (1849) describes "hemorrhage of the lungs" and "consumption" during the two months preceding their marriage. Mrs. De Kroyft's long-time companion, Effie Douglass Fox, mentions a "fall from a carriage", "three days prior" as the cause of internal injuries which killed him. In any event, Dr. De Kroyft died and a month later Mrs. De Kroyft became blind, apparently from some infection of the eyes.
Helen De Kroyft then attended the New York Institution for the Blind, in New York City, where she learned to write straight across a page with the help of a card which guided her hand. Her first book, A Place in Thy Memory (1849), is a collection of letters to family members and friends written during this period, 1846 to 1849.
Mrs. De Kroyft's success as an author was as much her success as a book seller. Her method was to call on businessmen and public officials who entered their own subscriptions in her order book, and usually paid the price of the book in advance. In this way Mrs. De Kroyft personally sold over 150,000 copies of various of her works. This method produced an order book with the signatures of seven U. S. presidents, their cabinets, and many members of Congress including the entire Senate of 1850, state governors and numerous prominent citizens. Following the publication in 1849 of A Place in Thy Memory, and until her 94th year, Mrs. De Kroyft spent much of her time traveling throughout the United States selling her books. Her book sales enabled her to support herself and her parents, and to educate eight younger sisters.
Mrs. De Kroyft's written works were published over a fifty-five year span from 1849 to 1904. Three of these works (A Place in Thy Memory, 1849; Mortara 1888; and The Foreshadowed Way, 1901) are autobiographical in nature, collections of letters to family members and friends, recounting her experiences and with the addition of a variety of religious, philosophical and aesthetic reflections. The Story of Little Jakey, 1875, is a work of juvenile literature, and The Soul of Eve, 1904, is an essay on the dignity of humankind and the superiority of woman. The Soul of Eve, in lecture form, was delivered before audiences in New York, Massachusetts and Pennsylvania during the years 1871 through 1876.
Mrs. De Kroyft's last years, 1912 to 1915, were spent in Dansville, New York where she had established her father in business many years before and where members of her family lived.
Scope and Contents
The De Kroyft Papers comprise letters, legal and financial documents, genealogical materials, miscellaneous items, advertising notices and press cuttings, and a collection of calling cards.
The correspondence, mostly between Mrs. De Kroyft and family members is concentrated during the years 1850 to 1869. The letters after 1912 are between Effie Douglas Fox, Mrs. De Kroyft's long time companion, and members of Mrs. De Kroyft's family.
The Legal and Financial papers include the subscription book, 1849, for A Place in Thy-Memory, and an 1892 will, later set aside, directing the disposition of her original manuscripts, other literary properties, including copyrights, bound autograph volumes, and her unique book of railroad passes. These items are now (1993) in the collections of the Local History Division of the Rochester Public Library, Rochester, New York.
The De Kroyft Papers also include Aldrich family genealogical materials gathered by Mrs. De Kroyft during the years 1856 to 1914, bearing on the Aldrich family in America during the 17th through the 19th centuries, and on English ancestors of earlier times.
The large section of miscellaneous items, folders 3:12 through 3:23, is explained on the folder list section of this register.
Also included in the collection are advertisements (broadsides) and newspaper review clippings concerning Mrs. De Kroyft's lecture "The Soul of Eve," 1871 through 1876, which she gave in a number of communities in upstate New York and a few adjacent states. Finally there are social calling cards, including those of Jenny Lind, the singer, and Amin Bey, Turkish Ambassador to the United States.
Access
The Helen Aldrich De Kroyft Papers is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was the gift of Alice N. Fedder, January 21, 1993.
Use
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.
Preferred Citation
[Item title, item date], Helen Aldrich De Kroyft Papers, D.241, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Authors, American
Blind
Correspondence
Legal instruments
Genealogy
Visiting cards
Broadsides
De Kroyft, Helen Aldrich, 1818-1915
Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461281844-184911Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461291850-March 185112Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/146130April-December 185113Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/146131185214Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461321853-185415Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461331855-185616Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/146134185717Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461351858-185918Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461361860-186319Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461371864110Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461381865111Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461391866-1867112Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461401868-1869113Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461411870-1880114Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461421881-1885115Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461561886-189921Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461571900-190322Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461581904-190923Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461591910-192224Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/146160192325Correspondence/repositories/2/archival_objects/146161No Date26Correspondence, envelopes lacking letters/repositories/2/archival_objects/14616227Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461641852-187928Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461651880-189529Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461661896-1904210Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461671905-1916211Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461681917-1920212Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461691921213Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461701922-1924214Legal and financial/repositories/2/archival_objects/146171No Date215Legal and financial: will/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461721892216Legal and financial: funerals/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461731913-1921217Legal and financial: coal bills/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461741915-1921218Legal and financial: copyrights/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461751850-1906219Legal and financial: subscription book/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461761849220Legal and financial: book account/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461771853 221Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146179185631Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146180188932Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146181189533Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146182189834Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146183190335Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146184190736Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146185191437Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146186No Date38Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146187No Date39Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146188No Date310Genealogical/repositories/2/archival_objects/146189No Date311Miscellaneous: W. De Kroyft's diary/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461911839-1844312Miscellaneous: ceremonies/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461921842-1844313Scope and Contents3 printed programs
Miscellaneous: poem and invitation/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461931844314Miscellaneous: W. De Kroyft's medical diploma/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461941844315Miscellaneous: W. De Kroyft's obituary/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461951845316Miscellaneous: phrenological chart/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461961850317Miscellaneous: signature/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461971874318Miscellaneous: Collins horoscopes/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461981892-1894319Miscellaneous: "Greenbacks"/repositories/2/archival_objects/1461991901320Miscellaneous: photographs, M. Lincoln/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462001921321Miscellaneous: shorthand notes/repositories/2/archival_objects/146201no date322Miscellaneous: biographical sketch/repositories/2/archival_objects/146202no date323Notices: advertising/repositories/2/archival_objects/146203circa 1850-1901324Notices: lecture tickets/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462041871-1874325Notices: broadsides/repositories/2/archival_objects/146206no date326Notices: broadsides, Dansville/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462071875327Notices: broadsides, Watkins/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462081876328Notices: broadsides, Canandaigua/repositories/2/archival_objects/146209no date329Notices: news clippings, Addison and Auburn/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462111874-1875330Notices: news clippings, Batavia/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462121875331Notices: news clippings, Binghamton/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462131874332Notices: news clippings, Canandaigua/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462141876333Notices: news clippings, Corning/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462151874334Notices: news clippings, Cortland/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462161874335Notices: news clippings, Dansville/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462171875336Notices: news clippings, Elmira/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462181874337Notices: news clippings, Gloversville and Johnstown/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462191875338Notices: news clippings, Hornellsville/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462201875339Notices: news clippings, Ithaca/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462211874340Notices: news clippings, New York/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462221871-1872341Notices: news clippings, Penn Yan/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462231875342Notices: news clippings, Schenectady/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462241875343Notices: news clippings, Scranton/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462251874344Notices: news clippings, Watkins/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462261875345Notices: news clippings, Westfield, Massachusetts/repositories/2/archival_objects/1462271871346Notices: news clippings, not identified/repositories/2/archival_objects/146228[?] - 1875347Calling cards, Jenny Lind/repositories/2/archival_objects/14615141Calling cards/repositories/2/archival_objects/14615242Calling cards/repositories/2/archival_objects/14615343Calling cards/repositories/2/archival_objects/14615444