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Winthrop and Chittenden family papers, ca. 1884-1921.
Amount:
1 cubic ft.
Medium Included:
Organization/Arrangement:
Arranged by topic or record type.
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Biographical/Historical:
The Winthrop and Chittenden families, connected through the marriage of Francis B. Winthrop and Gertrude Chittenden, lived in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida. John Still Winthrop, Jr. (1848-1920) a native of New Bern, North Carolina, moved to the Leon County area with his mother, Evelyn Susan Armistead Winthrop, shortly after his father's death in 1860. John attended the West Florida Military Institute (Seminary) during the Civil War and was among the cadets who fought in the Battle of Natural Bridge on March 6, 1865.
In 1862, John inherited Betton Hill Plantation from his great-grandmother Henrietta Smith. John established Barrow Hill, a large cotton plantation of 3,990 acres located in central Leon County. In 1874, he married Lilia Clemence Chouteau (1850-1932), a native of St. Louis, Missouri, and they moved back to Tallahassee in the late nineteenth century. The Winthrops had eight children: John Still (1875-1879), Evelyn Susan (1877-1962), Chouteau Henry (1879-1880), Gilman Joseph (1881-1925), Francis Bayard (1884-1936), Guy Louis (1886-1963), John S. (1888-1888), and Norbert Sylvestre (1893-1893).
In 1890, John and Lilia built a home on North Monroe Street in Tallahassee, where they were one of only a few families in the area to own both a telephone and an automobile. John and his sons were avid outdoorsmen and often visited their hunting camp on the Aucilla River. In 1945, the Winthrop family began subdividing the Betton Hill Plantation property for a new housing community called Betton Hills. Winthrop Park, a 14.4-acre recreational park located on Mitchell Avenue, is named for Guy and Ada Belle Winthrop.
Simeon Dudley Chittenden (1851-1919), a railroad conductor and haberdashery owner, and Jane "Jennie" Butler (1858-1936), natives of North Guilford, Connecticut, married in 1877 and they had four children: Grace "Gertrude" (1878-1946), Dudley Frisbee (1881-1935), August (1883-1884), and Augusta (1883-1982). The Chittenden family moved to Tallahassee from Newark, New Jersey in the 1890s. Around that time, Simeon D. Chittenden purchased a home on East Park Avenue. Chittenden Park, a 1.5-acre recreational park located on Spruce Street, is named for the Chittenden family.
Francis Bayard Winthrop attended West Florida Seminary/Florida State College in Tallahassee from about 1901-1903 and graduated from Yale University Law School in 1906. He became a member of the Tallahassee City Council in 1908, and mayor in 1909. In 1910, Francis won election to the Florida Legislature representing Leon County, serving as Chairman of the Committee on City and Town Organizations and as a committee member for Constitutional Amendments, Education and Judiciary. Francis married Grace "Gertrude" Chittenden, daughter of Simeon Dudley Chittenden, in 1910. Francis served briefly with the United States Army from August 29, 1918 until his honorable discharge on November 25, 1918. Years later, as a respected attorney, he became Vice President of the Exchange Bank from 1925-1930.
Summary:
This collection consists of papers and photographs documenting the lives and relationships of members of the Winthrop and Chittenden families of Leon County, Florida. The collection contains a small notebook/journal, two scrapbooks, postcards, photographs, poems, newspaper articles and clippings, a yearbook (The Argo), sailing documents, and legal and probate records.
The notebook/journal belonged to Francis B. Winthrop; it details his daily activities and events in 1905-1906. The first scrapbook is a volume of various postcards, identified and un-identified photographs, poems, and newspaper clippings that likely belonged to Gilman Joseph Winthrop. Some of the un-identified photographs appear to be from his time as the medical director with the Expedition to the Pueblo and Cliff Ruins of New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Colorado, and Utah. The newspaper clippings are from when he was completing his medical internship at Gouverneur Hospital in New York City. The second scrapbook is a photograph album of mostly un-identified photographs depicting hunting scenes, family members, military service members, automobile travel, life in the country or on the plantation, and sailing adventures at Lake Placid, New York in 1903.
Finding Aids:
Folder listing available. 0
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Ownership/Custodial History:
Collection was donated anonymously to the Tallahassee Historical Society, which in turn donated the collection to the State Archives.
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Electronic Records Access:
Subject Access Fields:
Chittenden family. Chittenden, Simeon Dudley, 1851-1919. 1851-1919 Winthrop family. Winthrop, Francis Bayard, 1884-1936. Winthrop, Gilman Joseph, 1881-1925. Winthrop, Guy Louis, 1886-1963. 1886-1963. Winthrop, John Still, 1848-1920. Winthrop, Lilia Clemence Choteau, 1850-1932.
Florida State University.
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Clippings. aat Legal instruments. aat Passenger lists. aat Photographs. aat Postcards. aat Probate records. aat Scrapbooks. aat Wills. aat
Florida. Leon County (Fla.) Tallahassee (Fla.)
for detailed listing.