Papers of the Bledsoe-Herrick family, 1750-1964 (inclusive), 1819-1954 (bulk)

The Bledsoe-Herrick Family papers contain genealogies, memoirs, correspondence, writings, and photographs of various members of the Coxe, Bledsoe, Herrick, Fox, Wall, and Hunt families.

A substantial amount of the correspondence and manuscripts in the collection center on Sophia Bledsoe Herrick, most prominent being a long series of letters to her daughter Louise Herrick Wall. The manuscripts include her unpublished memoirs, her Coxe family memoirs, and notes for her work on other family history and genealogy.

The material relating to Albert Taylor Bledsoe is from the 1830s and consists of letters to and from Harriet Coxe, who became his wife. Some biographical and genealogical material on Albert Taylor Bledsoe can be found in Series I.

The remainder of the collection contains the papers of later members of the family, primarily Sophia Bledsoe Herrick's daughters and their families: Virginia Herrick and her husband Hugh Francis Fox; Louise Herrick and her husband Francis Richardson Wall. A large quantity of photographs, including three daguerreotypes, one ambrotype, and a scrapbook of photographs of the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake, complete this collection.

The papers are arranged in five series:

Series I, Coxe, Bledsoe, Herrick, and Fox Genealogies, contains histories of the families represented in this collection. Much of the material is manuscript or typescript though several genealogies are printed.

Series II, Coxe and Bledsoe Families: Correspondence, consists of letters among the members of the Coxe family and Harriet Coxe's correspondence with her fiance Albert Taylor Bledsoe (#14-18).

Series III, Sophia Bledsoe Herrick: Writings and Correspondence, contains the bulk of the papers in this collection, the major portion being Sophia Bledsoe Herrick's letters to her daughter Louise (#26-109). Also included are manuscript memoirs (#20-24), other correspondence, and manuscript cookbooks (#114v.-121).

Series IV, Children of Sophia Bledsoe Herrick, includes correspondence, writings, clippings, and other papers of Sophia Bledsoe Herrick's three children and their families. This series also contains biographical information not included in Series I.

Series V, Photographs, contains pictures of Sophia Bledsoe Herrick, her children, her ancestors, her descendant. Also included are photographs of Hugh Francis Fox's English relatives; the aftermath of the San Francisco earthquake; three daguerreotypes and one ambrotype.