THE HENSHAW AND GLACKENS FAMILY ARCHIVES

HENSHAW FAMILY ARCHIVES

Summary
The Henshaw family arrived in America in the mid-1650s. Joshua Henshaw and his brother, Daniel, were sent to the colonies to prevent them from collecting an inheritance. Joshua tried later to recover this inheritance, but failed to do so.

Benjamin Henshaw, some four generations after Joshua, settled in Middletown, Conn., and became a wealthy merchant. His son Joshua graduated from Yale in 1785, and practiced law in Connecticut, and later in Middlebury, Vt. It is the children of Joshua that are the primary subject of the archive. Joshua moved to Montreal with his family in the early 1800s. HIs children married into established Brooklyn families. Joseph Burnham Henshaw married Grace Augusta Sands, of the Sands Point family. Charles Joshua Henshaw married Cornelia Middagh, of the old Middagh farm. Their nephew, George H. Henshaw, became an engineer, and it is he and his wife, Cornelia, and their six children: George Herbert, Frederick Valdemar, Sarah Middagh, Esther Holt, Walter Percival and Cornelia Gracie, who are the primary writers and subjects of photographs in the collection. These archives directly relate to a memoir by Cornelia Henshaw now in the possession of Smith College.

Real estate that was originally part of the Middagh farm in Brooklyn was distributed equally among three sisters, Magdalene, Cornelia and Sarah Middagh. A lease was signed by Martha Middagh, mother of the three, with the Ovington Brothers, who ran an high-end china shop. They expanded in 1880, signed another lease, but their buidling burned to the ground. Another building was completed by 1883, and a new lease was signed. A dispute arose among the parties, and was not settled until 1908. In the meantime, the Ovington Brothers vacated the building, although they still retained ownership, and the building was rented out to artists, who formed a community. Aleth Bjorn rented a studio on the same floor as portrait artist Stanislav Rembski and Leon Dabo in the 1920s, The photograph in the collection of the 1925 eclipse of the sun was taken by Bjorn in the company of Rembski at Hastings, New York.

Nancy Henshaw Middlebrook Glackens was the daughter of Esther Holt Henshaw and Frederic Kingsland Middlebrook. She married Ira Glackens, son of William Glackens, famed early 20th Century painter and member of the "Ashcan" school of artists.

BINDER I
Correspondence (approximately 46 letters)
1. 9 letters, 8 with envelopes, from Cornelia Henshaw, to her hushand George, 1860-1861, and two letters and one letter fragment from Geo. to Cornelia.
2. Letters from the Henshaw children to one another 1886-1896
3. Letters regarding the proposed marriage of sister Sarah to Clarence Childs (1888)
4. Letters of condolence on the passing of George H. Henshaw in 1891.
Other contents
5. Photographs of Geo H. Henshaw and Cornelia Henshaw.
6. Handwritten poem by Geo H. Henshaw to his wife
7. Handwritten essay on the afterlife by Geo H. Henshaw shortly before his death.
8.Handwritten poems (2) without authorship; poem written on the death of George H. Henshaw's father, by his father's sister, Maria Henshaw Blair.
9. Announcement of Abrhaham Lincoln's tour of his remains in New York City, 1865
10. Poster for meeting, Achille Filippucci, 1878
11. Certificate of marriage, 1858, between Cornelia and Birdsall Middagh Gracie and George Holt Henshaw at Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights.

BINDER 2
Photographs
1. Series of 68 photos of the Henshaw family, some with identifiying captions written on the back. Photos appear to have been taken in Bellport, Long Island, at the family house and environs.
2. 13 envelopes from unknown correspondence, family members, 1890s
3. 3 large photographs, unlabelled, but probably of Nancy Henshaw Middlebrook's classmates at Smith College in the 1930s.
4. Assortment of photos, including carte de visite portraits, tintypes, photograph of Nancy and Ira Glackens, portrait style, by Peter Juley and Sons, phtograph of the eclipse of the sun taken by Aleth Bjorn, Brooklyn Heights artist, in 1925.

BINDER 3
Legal documents
1. Two handwritten deed documents relating to the separation agreement of William R. Gracie and his wife, Sarah Gracie
2. Four legal documents, 1859-1908, relating to lease agreements between the Middagh/Gracie/Henshaw families and Ovington Brothers,. fine ceramics dealers.
3. Two typewritten letters from Charles Ovington to Cornelia Henshaw.
4. Ledger relating to Ovington Building income and expenses on Frederick V. Henshaw letterhead, and one stand-alone ledger.
5. Anti-prohibition essay, probably by G. Herbert Henshaw.
6. Legal document relating to the settlement of the estate of Sarah Gracie.
7. two books on natural history, soft cover, probably from 1860s, Denmark, perhaps used by the Henshaw children during their stay in that country.
8. Multiple copies of a one page picture of Wavetree Hall, the ancestral home of the Henshaw family in Great Britain

Other material in metal box
1. Episcopal Book of Common Prayer of Ann Petit, biological mother of Cornelia M. Henshaw
2. Framed photo, unknown, Circa 1920, young man.
3. Series of photos of Nancy Middlebrook with dog, also unknown child photos, perhaps of Nancy Middlebrook as a child, also photos, perhaps of Cornelia G. Henshaw, and a picture of a child, Phyllis Tilson.
4. Photo of Albert Olney Meader
5. Photo, Sarah Petit?
6. Five letters, with envelopes, dated, 1895, 1881, 1892, 1879, 1878 (w photo) from Ms. Tran of Denmark to Cornelia Henshaw
7. An assortment of sentimental trinkets, some of which may be doll accessories.

Other photograph albums and photos
1. 38 cartes de visites of the Henshaw family
2. Assorrted Henshaw family photos, with written identifiers
3 Middlebrook family photos and gold medalion with portrait.
4. Photo of Charles Congdon; Photo of Harry Congdon; Photo of Nancy Middlebrook and wedding party at Alfred Middlebrook's wedding, circa 1927.

***

GLACKENS COLLECTION

Summary
The collection includes archives primarily relating to Ira Glackens and Lenna Glackens, the children of "Ashcan" artist William Glackens and his wife Edith Dimock.

1. Journal of Ira Glackens, son of William Glackens, 1923-1924
2. Journal of Ira Glackens, son of William Glackens, 1929-1931
3. Journal of Lenna Glackens, daughter of William Glackens, Vol I 1927
4. Journal of Lenna Glackens, Vol. II
5 Journals of Ira Glackens (9), 1957-1983, and one journal of Nancy Glackens (1978). These journals are primarily about trips Ira and Nancy took to Europe over the years.
6. Journal of Ira and Lenna Glacken's first attempts at art, probably compiled by their parents in the 1910s.
7.Sketchbooks: (1) Lenna Glackens; (3) Ira Glackens, Circa 1938-1939.
8. Sketchbooks, Ira Glackens (4), 1960s.
9. "The Brief": the Choate School yearbook (Ira attended), 1924.
10.Copy of the Apocrypha, inscribed to Lenna Glackens by Ira Glackens, 1935.
11. Binder of Photos: 76 negatives, 51 positives; letter head, Mrs. Ira Glackens
12. Binder of photos:165 photos and mailed post cards
13. Binder: assorted letters (10) primarily to James L. Ford, one-time editor of the New York Herald; Lenna Glackens's New Years Eve card; Memoir of Mr. and Mrs. Wood (pamphlet, 1840); press clippings; Eastern Slope Animal Welfare League stationary, with a hand drawn illustration on one piece.
14. Binder: letters of condolence on the occasion of the death of Nancy Glackens in 1990, Vol. I.
15. Binder, Nancy Glackens condolence letters, Vol. II
16. Binder with a few condolence letters and other correspondence, some press clippings, 3 Ira and Nancy Glackens Christmas Cards, and a handwritten draft letter by Nancy Glackens.
17. Folio of seven signed and numbered prints by Bennard Perlman, artist and art critique, friend of Ira Glackens, inscribed by the artist; autograph music score by Maria Pia Cafagna, inscribed to Ira Glackens in his 19th year.
18. Sketchbook of Charles Fitzgerald, brother in law of William Glackens. Includes numerous hand drawn sketches, loose and also glued to pages (executed 1884-1906). Several sketchbooks by Fitzgerald were donated by Ira Glackens to the Smithsonian, and one was donated by Susan Conway, owner of a gallery in Washington DC and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
19. Three Framed pictures: Ira and Lenna Glackens as children; Lenna Glackens and Nancy Henshaw Middlebrook; Nancy Henshaw Middlebrook Glackens and her husband, Ira Glackens.
20. Copy, "Udara. A Romance of Ancient Egypt," with Ira Glackens book plate, with 5 inserts, hand-made color illustrations by Ira Glackens, each signed, same size as book pages and inserted near the relevant text. Glackens was fond of this book.
21. Assorted books signed by Nancy and Ira Glackens, or belonging to them.
22. Unsorted photos, mostly of recent vintage.
23. A large folio of clippings, engravings, etc. relating to the history of the Spanish crown during the last 300 years.
24. A large photo of William Glackens (1932), another photo of earlier vintage, and four photos of Glackens paintings with descriptions.
25. Laborador Farm Book of Rules (recipes and recipe clippings, letters, etc.

BACK TO THE MUSEUM OF BROOKLYN ART AND CULTURE HOME PAGE