Alexander M. and Laura S. Bartlett Papers, 1850-1989, n.d. | Oberlin College Archives
Alexander Maitland Bartlett (1826-1883) and Laura Salome Merrill (Mrs. A. Bartlett) (1829-1891)
As an Oberlin College graduate with three degrees (A.B. 1853, A.M. 1856, School of Theology 1859), Alexander Bartlett’s career focused on education and ministry. He was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, February 5, 1826, one of five children in the family of Isaiah Bartlett, a mechanic and farmer (b. 1792) and Marian Mason Bartlett (n.d.). He came to Oberlin College from his home in Johnston, Trumbull County, Ohio, in 1847.
After his graduation in 1853, he married an Oberlin student, Laura Salome Merrill (O.C. 1850-1852) on August 25, 1853 in First Church in Oberlin. Laura Merrill was born on November 16, 1829 in Nunda, New York, the fifth daughter of Riley Merrill, Sr. (b. 1794, d. June 3, 1860) and Anna Cravath (b. 1797). She grew up in a well educated family, one directly descended from an original Mayflower passenger. Her father, an educator, worked in the Nunda, New York public schools. She entered Oberlin College in 1850, left in 1852, and then returned to Oberlin in 1853 to marry Alexander Bartlett. The couple raised two sons (Robert and Addison) and four daughters (Clara, Cora, Nellie, and Edith). All the children except Edith graduated from Marysville College in Tennessee.
Alexander Bartlett’s career began immediately following graduation in Mansfield, Ohio, 1853-55, and Putnam, Ohio, 1855-57, as Superintendent of Public Instruction. he completed an A.M. at Oberlin in 1856, and earned a divinity degree at the Oberlin School of Theology, 1857-59. Thereafter he served Congregational churches in Wellington, Ohio, 1860; Conneaut, Ohio, 1863; and Austinburg, Ohio, 1866. He returned to Marysville, Tennessee, and served as Superintendent of Schools, 1870-1873, and then as Professor of Latin at Marysville College, 1873-83.
Alexander Bartlett died in Marysville, November 19, 1883, and was buried there with his wife (d. July 16, 1891).
Sources Consulted
Alumni File (RG 28) of Alexander Bartlett.
This collection, although small, thoroughly documents the long-distance courtship between Alexander and Laura through a long series of letters. However, little else in terms of their childhood, time spent at Oberlin, or adult lives is included. The Biographical File series contains an article which makes use of the courtship letters in the collection and a few dates and places. Additional correspondence provides a few ties between the Bartletts and their family and friends. The collection also contains three essays of Laura Bartlett in which she wrote about patriotism, childhood, sorrow and happiness.
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1. Biographical File, 1864, 1978, and n.d. (1f)
This series consists of one file which includes a general catalog entry and other notes of important events in Alexander’s and Laura’s life. Also included is a copy of an article, entitled “A Congregational Romance; Or, Victorian Love by Mail,” written by Victor Hicken, which makes use of the letters in the correspondence series in this collection. The original commission given to Alexander Bartlett to act as a delegate of the U.S. Christian Commission is also in this file.
Series 2. Correspondence, 1852-53, 1864-65, 1883, 1989, and n.d. (6f)
This series, consisting of six folders, arranged chronologically, includes many letters written between Alexander and Laura during their courtship. These letters, to a large extent, make up the primary source material for Hicken’s work mentioned above. To a lesser extent are letters between Alexander and Laura and their family and friends. A final folder includes two letters between Eugenia Stephens and Merrill Lynch & Co. concerning the transfer of these letters.
Series 3. Writings, 1850, 1852, n.d. (1f)
This series, consisting of one folder, includes three unpublished essays by Laura Bartlett: “Patriots of the Revolution” (original and typescript), “Twas ever thus from childhood’s hour...,” and “Why art thou sad?”
INVENTORY
Series 1. Biographical File, 1864, 1978, and n.d. (1f)
Box 1
Biographical information on Laura Salome
Merrill, n.d.
“A Congregational Romance; Or, Victorian
Love by Mail,” by Victor Hicken of Western
Illinois University (The Old Northwest, Vol. 4,
No.1, March 1978, pp. 35-48)
Alexander Bartlett’s commission to act as a
delegate of the U.S. Christain commission
(affiliated with YWCA), June 28, 1864
Series 2. Correspondence, 1852-53, 1864-65, 1883, 1989, and n.d. (6f)
Box 1 (cont.)
Undated Letters (11)
Karr Valley, Sept. 1
Saturday night
Almond, Saturday night, May 29
Monday evening
Nunda Station House
Thursday evening
Tuesday night
Saturday night
Sabbath morning
Friday evening
Saturday night
(Note: The undated letters are identified by the location or time that they were written.)
1852 (10)
Iva Stone to Alexander Bartlett [AB],
Willoughby, Lake County,
[Ohio], 1852
Salome Merrill [SMB] to AB, Almond,
Allegany Co., NY, May 7
SMB to AB, June 19
SMB to AB, Karr Valley, July 27
SMB to AB, Karr Valley, Sept. 7
SMB to AB, Karr Valley, Oct. 7
SMB to AB, Oct. 15
SMB to AB, Nov. 1
SMB to AB, Nov. 22
SMB to AB, Dec. 23
1853 (15)
SMB to AB, Jan. 1
SMB to AB, Jan. 17
SMB to AB, Jan. 22
AB to SMB, Feb. 5
SMB to AB, Feb. 19
SMB to AB, Mar. 9
Gussie to AB, Will. Fem. Sem., Mar. 19
AB to SMB, Oberlin, Mar. 30
SMB to AB, Nunda, April 11
SMB to AB, Nunda, April 24
SMB to AB, May 31
SMB to AB, June 25
AB to SMB, June 26
Louisa to Alex, Ravenna [Ohio], July 3
SMB to AB, July 23
1864-65 (2)
AB to children Edith, Nellie, and Cora,
July 27, 1864
AB to children Edith, Nellie, Cora, and
Addy, June 16, 1865
1883 (3)
Sister Amelia to SMB, Bennett, Nov. 5
Brother Riley [Mead Merrill] to SMB,
Oklahoma, Florida, Dec. 5
Samuel T. Wilson to SMB, Mexico, Dec. 30
1989 (2)
Eugenia Stephens to Merrill Lynch
& Co., July 14
Betty Hope, to Eugenia Stephens, July 31
Series 3. Writings, 1850, 1852, n.d. (1f)
Box 1 (cont.)
“Patriots of the Revolution” (original and
typescript), Oberlin, 1852
“Twas ever thus from childhood’s hour...,” n.d.
“Why art thou sad?” September 17, 1850