Collection #

M 0930,
OM 0452

 

 

clanin and newton family
papers, 1881–1955

Collection Information

Biographical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Series Contents

Cataloging Information

 

 

 

Processed by

Kathryn Wilmot
August 2007

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

 

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF
COLLECTION:

1 manuscript box, 1 oversized manuscript folder, 1 artifact

COLLECTION
DATES:

1881–1955

PROVENANCE:

Douglas Clanin, Anderson, IN, September 1999

RESTRICTIONS:

None

COPYRIGHT:

 

REPRODUCTION
RIGHTS:

Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.

ALTERNATE
FORMATS:

None

RELATED
HOLDINGS:

 

ACCESSION
NUMBER:

1999.0632

NOTES:

 

BIOGRAPHiCAL SKETCH

Mary Ann “Mollie” Clanin was born in Clermont County, Ohio on 27 May 1849 to Benjamin Clanin and Sarah Sherman. Mary had at least three other siblings: Thomas, William H., and Benjamin.

Mary married John D. Newton (b. 14 July 1847–d. 20 Nov. 1898) on 25 July 1869. The couple lived on a farm in Swayzee, Grant County, Indiana. They had two daughters: Minnie F. Newton (b. 6 Sept. 1872–d. 12 May 1948) and Myrtle Newton (b. 10 Dec. 1874–d. 12 Feb. 1902). Mary Clanin Newton died on 12 November 1942 and is buried in Converse Cemetery, Grant County, Indiana.

Mary’s brother William H. Clanin was born in March 1844. He married a woman named Demaris. The couple lived in Huntington County, Indiana, and had at least three children: Russell, Charles, and George. Later in life, William married again to a woman named Lizzie Taylor. William died in September 1923.

Mary’s other brother Benjamin Clanin was a farm laborer. He had three children, Sherman, Della, and L. Guy. Sherman and Della lived in Colorado and Guy lived in Kansas City, Kansas.

 

Sources:

Information in the collection.

Ancestry Library Edition. Available at: http://www.ancestrylibrary.com

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

Series 1: Correspondence, 1888–1955 consists of letters belonging to the Clanin and Newton families. Most of the letters are addressed to Mary A. Clanin Newton, her husband John D. Newton, and their daughter Minnie from members of the Clanin family. Therefore, the letters primarily provide details on the lives of William H. Clanin and Benjamin Clanin and their children.  

Sharply worded letters written by William Clanin to John D. Newton reveal tensions between the two brothers-in-law over the care of “mother,” Mrs. Sarah Buroker. William also writes about farming, crops, financial difficulties, and illnesses such as scarlet fever, typhoid fever, and dysentery. After John D. Newton dies, William continues corresponding with his sister Mary.

Letters written to Mary from Arkansas, Kansas, and Colorado provide information on Benjamin Clanin and his children, Sherman, Della, and L. Guy. The correspondents discuss raising chickens and livestock, family reunions, the Depression and hard times, births, and health issues such as the neuritis paralyzing Sherman’s wife Alice. A letter from Benjamin to Mary and Minnie advises them to vote for Herbert Hoover rather than Alfred E. Smith, as Benjamin believed Smith was against Prohibition.

Series 2: Legal and financial documents, ca. 1880–1947 consists of account notebooks, indentures and powers of attorney, and obituaries and memoriams on the deaths of John D. Newton, Myrtle Newton, and Mary Clanin Newton. There are also a few documents pertaining to Mary Clanin Newton’s estate.

Series 3: Artifacts, 1905 contains a ribbon from the Twenty-Third Annual Reunion of the Morton Rifles held at Bluffton, Indiana in October 1905.

series CONTENTS

Series 1: Correspondence, 1888–1955

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Correspondence, 1888

OM 0452, Folder 1

Correspondence, April 1888–Sept. 1891

Box 1, Folder 1

Correspondence, May 1892–Dec. 1919

Box 1, Folder 2

Correspondence, Dec. 1921–24

Box 1, Folder 3

Correspondence, March 1925–Nov. 1926

Box 1, Folder 4

Correspondence, Dec. 1926–27

Box 1, Folder 5

Correspondence, Sept. 1928–June 1933

Box 1, Folder 6

Correspondence, Dec. 1940–Feb. 1955

Box 1, Folder 7

Envelopes providing genealogical information,
1918–55

Box 1, Folder 8

Series 2: Legal and financial documents, ca. 1880–1947

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Chromolithographic scraps, ca. 1880–1910

Box 1, Folder 9

Account notebook, 1881–87

Box 1, Folder 10

Account notebook, 1886–88

Box 1, Folder 11

Account notebook, 1887–89

Box 1, Folder 12

Account statements and receipts, 1887–1948

Box 1, Folder 13

Indentures and powers of attorney, 1888–93

Box 1, Folder 14

Obituaries and memoriams, 1898–1942

Box 1, Folder 15

Account notebook, 1909–50

Box 1, Folder 16

Quindaro Christian Church bulletin, 1924

Box 1, Folder 17

Mary A. Newton estate documents, 1943–47

Box 1, Folder 18

Swayzee M. P. Church newspaper clippings, n.d.

Box 1, Folder 19

Series 3: Artifacts, 1905

CONTENTS

CONTAINER

Morton Rifles Twenty-Third Annual Reunion ribbon, October 1905

Artifacts: 1999.0632

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1.      Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog:  http://opac.indianahistory.org/

2.      Click on the "Basic Search" icon.

3.      Select  "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.

4.      Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, M 0930).

5.      When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.