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COLLECTION Identifier: Mss:912 1802-1842

Henry W. Griswold papers

Scope and Contents

The Henry W. Griswold papers consist of accounts, army letters and documents, and family letters, dated 1813-1842. Accounts, 1817-1834 include bills and personal property sales. Army records include accounts current and accounts due to various creditors of the U.S. Army, bills of lading, receipts, and inventories.

Army letters, 1817-1834, which contain the bulk of the collection, consist of official and unofficial correspondence with army offices, departments, and officers. Letters were sent and received from various forts at which Griswold was stationed and detail courts of inquiry, court-martials, deserter pleas, and routine army matters. The names of recipients and senders of army letters are identified at the file level. Other army documents include recruitment and enlistment records and West Point papers from Griswold’s time as a cadet, 1814-1815, and as an infantry tactics instructor, 1821-1822.

Family letters, 1814-1842, detail many aspects of the Griswold and Heard family life. Correspondence with Griswold family members detail routine family matters; property that his father, Stanley Griswold, bought in Illinois and Ohio; his father’s death in 1815; and the illness and death of his mother, Elizabeth Flagg Griswold, from breast cancer in 1822. Letters also include correspondence between Griswold and his wife, Ann Heard Griswold.

Letters between Ann Heard Griswold and Heard family members relate mainly family news and general housekeeping information, including issues with domestic servants, sewing projects, and cooking. The names of recipients and senders of family letters are identified at the file level.

Dates

  • Creation: 1813-1842

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. Please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information regarding access procedures.

Extent

3.5 linear feet (9 boxes)

Biographical / Historical

Henry W. Griswold (1795?-1834) was a Captain in the United States Army. Born in Connecticut, Griswold graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1815 as Third Lieutenant, Corps of Artillery. Between 1815 and 1820, Griswold served in garrison at Ft. Niagara, N.Y., Sackett’s Harbor, N.Y., Ft. Washington, M.D., and New York harbor.

In 1821 Griswold returned to West Point as an Assistant Instructor of Infantry Tactics, gaining the rank of First Lieutenant, 1st Artillery. From 1822 to 1831 he served as Adjutant of the 1st Artillery, performing administrative duties, including the management of account records.

Griswold married Ann Heard, daughter of John Heard Jr., in 1825. He attained the rank of Captain, 3rd Artillery in 1832. After a short illness, Griswold died at Castle Pinckney, S.C. in 1834.

Physical Location

MANU

Processing Information

Processed: By: Bailey Brunick, February 2019.

Title
Griswold, Henry W., -1834. Henry W. Griswold Papers, 1813-1842: A Finding Aid
Author
Baker Library
Date
February 2019
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
bak00821

Repository Details

Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository

Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.

Contact:
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