Mary Saltonstall Parker (1856-1920) Papers

MARY SALTONSTALL PARKER (1856-1920) PAPERS, 1763-1985

Series List

Scope and Content Note

This collection contains correspondence, diaries, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, original artwork, and sampler patterns from Mary Saltonstall Parker and other family members. Included is a letter from George Washington to his cousin, Mrs. Jane Washington, introducing Mr. Leverett Saltonstall before his visit to Mount Vernon (Box 10, Folder11). Each of the seven series is arranged chronologically except for "Hildred's Published Material" which is arranged alphabetically.

Series I. Mary Saltonstall Parker (1856-1920) contains correspondence, diaries, newspaper clippings, photographs, scrapbooks, original artwork, a map, and sampler patterns from Mary Saltonstall Parker. Subseries A.Sampler Patterns contains the patterns for Mary's samplers.

Series II. William Phineas Parker (1855-1923) contains some documents relating to pets.

Series III. Francis Tuckerman Parker (1899-1973) contains correspondence, business papers, drawings, programs, posters, certificates, writings, genealogy, and a lock of hair.

Series IV. William Bradstreet Parker (1890-1977) contains business papers and a membership certificate to the Salem Marine Society.

Series V. Hildred Elizabeth Parker (1893-1985) contains correspondence, postcards, cards, writings, and her will. Subseries A. Published Material contains various printed material.

Series VI. Other Family Members contains correspondence, receipts, poetry, newspaper clippings, and more for Anne Elizabeth Saltonstall, John Francis Tuckerman, Leverett S. Tuckerman, Lucy Saltonstall Tuckerman, Elizabeth Sanders, and other Saltonstall family members.

Series VII. Photographs contains five boxes of photographs of various family members.

Biographical Sketches

Dr. John Francis Tuckerman was born June 13, 1817, graduated from Harvard College in 1837 and earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1841. He then entered the United States Navy as an assistant surgeon and was assigned to the United States ship John Adams. He married Lucy Saunders Saltonstall, daughter of the Honorable Leverett Saltonstall, the first mayor of Salem, Massachusetts. They had four children: Leverett, Francis, Charles, and Mary. Soon after his marriage, he resigned his commission in the Navy and engaged in other pursuits. He was a trustee and manager of private trusts in Boston. He was also an accomplished musician and composed a number of hymns. A small volume of his church music has been published. At the time of his death he was the trustee and manager of a large number of private trusts. He died in 1855.

Mary Saltonstall Tuckerman was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 12, 1856. She was educated at private schools kept by Miss Caroline H. King and Miss Jane Phillips. In 1877 she married William Phineas Parker (1855-1923), a businessman and cousin of Salem's famous Parker Brothers, the game manufacturers. They had two sons, Francis Tuckerman Parker in 1889 and William Bradstreet Parker in 1890. In the 1890s Mary Parker authored and published several books on Colonial Revival themes. In the first decade of the 20th century, Parker created embroidered samplers, one of which was featured on the cover of House Beautiful magazine in 1915. She died in 1920.

Francis Tuckerman Parker was born on February 17, 1889. He attended the Noble and Greenough School in Boston, Massachusetts. He graduated from Harvard College in 1911. From 1911 to 1913 he attended New School of Design, an art school in Boston. From 1913 to 1914 he taught at "Red House" in Groton, Massachusetts, which was a prep school for the Groton School run by Mr. C. A. Shaw. From 1915 to 1918 he had his own private school for boys for ages eight to fifteen in Lynn, Massachusetts. In May 1918, he enlisted in the Naval Reserve. When discharged, he worked at Parker Brothers, in Salem. He married Hildred Elizabeth Kavanaugh on April 8, 1919. He served as Chairman of the Board of Assessors in Salem and had a real estate business. Francis Parker was a master of the Salem Marine Society, a trustee of the Essex Institute, and president of the House of Seven Gables Association. He died in1973.

William Bradstreet Parker was born in Salem, Massachusetts on July 24, 1890 and graduated from the Noble and Greenough School in Boston in 1908. He worked at the Old Colony Trust Company. He held various town offices in New Hampshire and was a member of the New Hampshire State legislature for several terms. He was a member of the Salem Marine Society and treasurer and warden of Christ Episcopal Church, North Conway, New Hampshire for 25 years. He was a well-known violinist and played for many years in the Conway town orchestra.

Index Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in Philcat. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Administrative Information

Copyright

Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be submitted in writing to the Manuscript Librarian in the Phillips Library at the Peabody Essex Museum.

Preferred Citation

Mary Saltonstall Parker (1856-1920) Papers, MSS 388, Phillips Library, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

Provenance

This material was donated in part by Gary A. Peterson of Naumkeag Trust Company for the estate of Hildred Parker (acc #85011) and in part by Alan Waller. Photograph donated by A. Loring in 1984.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Tamara Gaydos, Barbara Kampas, Lee Jacoby, February 2009.

Related Material

Richter, Paula Bradstreet. Painted with Thread: The Art of American Embroidery, Salem, MA: Peabody Essex Museum, 2000.

Richter, Paula Bradstreet. "Stories from Her Needle: Colonial Revival Samplers of Mary Saltonstall Parker", Textiles in New England II: Four Centuries of Material Life [Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife], Ed. Benes, Peter. Boston: Boston University, 2001. 212-232.