Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1851-1990 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
3 sub-series
Context area
Archival history
Kerby A. Miller created his transcripts of the Joseph Hewitt Letters from copies provided by the Indiana Historical Society on 5 March 1990. The original manuscripts are held in the W.H. Smith Memorial Library, Indiana Historical Society [call number SC 0745].
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Materials pertaining to 21 letters written by emigrant Joseph Hewitt to his family in County Armagh. Joseph Hewitt was likely the son of a weaver/manufacturer and emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1851. By 1853, Hewitt was in Mount Carmel, Indiana working on farms and later teaching school. A brother, James, joined him there in 1855. Hewitt married in 1858 and moved to Cincinnati, where his uncle-in-law owned a major furniture manufacturer. Hewitt was high up in the company hierarchy when he died of consumption in 1872. The series consists of multiple versions of transcripts of the 21 letters (including six letter reproductions), and of research on Hewitt and his family both in Ireland and in Cincinnati.