Family collection of Eve Grantham Kingsland, 1870-1947 (inclusive), 1891-1905 (bulk)

The collection contains a pamphlet, "A Few Recollections of Early Life Written by Mary Seymour Welles In Her Seventy-Sixth Year Giving History of Her Childhood, Girlhood and Courtship, Meeting With and Marriage To Alfred Kelley, and Their Early Married Life," 1905, describing Mary Seymour Welles's childhood in Massachusetts and New York State; her father's professional and financial difficulties; her marriage to Alfred Kelley and their moves to Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio; the births of their children, and the deaths of some of the children in infancy or early childhood. She also reflects on changes in society she has seen over her lifetime. (The text of the pamphlet was written approximately thirty years before it was printed.)

The collection also includes also typed transcripts of letters by Mary Seymour Bates describing her 1891 trip abroad with her aunt Helen. Early letters refer to a serious illness Helen experienced, attributed to taking too much bromide, which apparently affected both her mind and her body. Bates describes Helen's slow recovery and the difficulties of caring for her. The letters also describe visits paid to acquaintances during the trip, shopping and cultural excursions, fashion, a cholera outbreak and its impact on her travel, and her impressions of the various countries she visited. In a letter written in Castellamare, Italy, she notes, "The people in Italy, or Southern Italy, seem to naturally arrange themselves in artistic groups, and in riding or walking through the narrow streets, one cannot look into an archway or through a door without seeing a picture....Their domestic life is carried on in the narrow streets, such as sewing, knitting, combing the hair, etc.!!" The letters were transcribed by Bates's niece Alene S. Little in 1947; Little apparently shared the transcribed letters with family members and she included an introductory note giving some context and background to Bates's trip. Two photographs of Bates (circa 1870 and 1882) are also included.