COLLECTION GUIDES

1489-1937

Guide to the Collection


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of autographs collected by Grenville Howland Norcross, including autographs of United States presidents, politicians, and military officers; royal figures, military officers, and politicians from Great Britain and France; novelists and poets; performers; artists; musicians and composers; scientists; judges; social reformers; clergy; and many others.

Biographical Sketch

Grenville Howland Norcross (1854-1937) was born on 2 February 1854 to Otis and Lucy Ann (Lane) Norcross. Norcross attended the Public Latin School in Boston, Harvard College (Class of 1875), and Harvard Law School (Class of 1877). He practiced as an attorney in Boston and shared a law practice with his brother, Otis III (1848-1923). Norcross was active in historical and literary organizations, including the Massachusetts Historical Society, the American Antiquarian Society, the Bostonian Society, the Club of Odd Volumes, the St. Botolph Club, and the Harvard Club.

Norcross's father, Otis II, served as mayor of Boston from 1867-1868. The family lived at 9 Commonwealth Avenue, where Norcross continued to live until his death. In addition to Otis III, Norcross had two siblings who lived into adulthood: Laura Norcross Marrs (1845-1926) and Addison Norcross (1850-1873).

Norcross never married. He died at the age of 83 on 12 February 1937 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Collection Description

This collection consists of autographs collected by Grenville Howland Norcross, as well as Otis Norcross II, Otis Norcross III, and Laura Norcross Marrs. Autographs include those of United States presidents, politicians, and military officers; royal figures, military officers, and politicians from Great Britain and France; novelists and poets; performers; artists; musicians and composers; scientists; judges; social reformers; clergy; and many others. Among those represented are Abigail Adams, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Chester A. Arthur, James Buchanan, Grover Cleveland, (Buffalo) Bill Cody, Calvin Coolidge, Edward Everett, Millard Fillmore, Benjamin Franklin, James A. Garfield, William Lloyd Garrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Edward Everett Hale, Alexander Hamilton, John Hancock, Warren G. Harding, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, Harry Houdini, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Winslow Homer, Herbert Hoover, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, James Madison, James Monroe, Leopold Morse, Robert Russo Moten, Lucretia Mott, Florence Nightingale, Thomas Paine, Franklin Pierce, James K. Polk, Josiah Quincy, Paul Revere, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bernard Shaw, Charles Sumner, William Howard Taft, Zachary Taylor, John Tyler, Martin Van Buren, George Washington, and Daniel Webster.

Many of the items in the collection are letters written to Otis Norcross II, Laura Norcross Marrs, Otis Norcross III, and Kingsmill Marrs. There is some question as to whether all the items in this collection were meant to be collected as autographs; some items appear to be correspondence to Grenville Norcross as part of his day-to-day activities, particularly letters about club activities and donations. Autographs that were purchased from a dealer often have notes and related materials, such as newspaper clippings, engraved illustrations, or biographical histories included with the item. Additional materials are noted in the Detailed Description.

Some items are individually described in the MHS manuscript catalog.

Arrangement

The collection is separated into five series: (I) includes autographs collected in an autograph book; (II) includes alphabetically arranged autographs; (III) contains autographs of groups, arranged alphabetically; (IV) contains autographs that cannot be identified, arranged chronologically; and (V) contains autographs in three oversize boxes, alphabetically arranged.

Processing Note

This collection has been re-processed to create this collection guide. All efforts have been made to identify previously unidentified autographs in the collection, but a number of autographs remain unidentified. This guide may be updated in the future if any of those autographs are identified and placed in the collection accordingly.

Acquisition Information

Gift of the Grenville H. Norcross estate, 1937.

Detailed Description of the Collection

Expand all

II. Alphabetical autographs, 1489-1937

This series contains the autographs of individuals, organized alphabetically. Multiple autographs by the same individual are then filed chronologically. Autographed items include correspondence, cutslips, certificates, and legal documents, which are often identified. When possible, the recipient of the letter is noted in the description of the item. Although the majority of the collection is in English, some documents are in French, Spanish, German, and Latin. Autographs purchased by Norcross contain additional materials, included biographical histories, newspaper clippings, and engraved illustrations.

Close II. Alphabetical autographs, 1489-1937

V. Oversize autographs, 1622-1914

Arranged alphabetically.

Close V. Oversize autographs, 1622-1914

Preferred Citation

Grenville H. Norcross autograph collection, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Adams, Abigail, 1744-1818.
Adams, John, 1735-1826.
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848.
Arthur, Chester Alan, 1829-1886.
Buchanan, James, 1791-1868.
Cleveland, Grover, 1837-1908.
Cody, Bill, 1891-1948.
Coolidge, Calvin, 1872-1933.
Everett, Edward, 1794-1865.
Fillmore, Millard, 1800-1874.
Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790.
Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881.
Garrison, William Lloyd, 1805-1879.
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885.
Hale, Edward Everett, 1822-1909.
Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804.
Hancock, John, 1737-1793.
Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923.
Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901.
Hayes, Rutherford B., 1822-1893.
Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, 1823-1911.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
Homer, Winslow, 1836-1910.
Hoover, Herbert, 1874-1964.
Houdini, Harry, 1874-1926.
Jackson, Andrew, 1767-1845.
Jefferson, Thomas, 1743-1826.
Johnson, Andrew, 1808-1875.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
Madison, James, 1751-1836.
Monroe, James, 1758-1831.
Morse, Leopold, 1831-1892.
Moton, Robert Russa, 1867-1940.
Mott, Lucretia, 1793-1880.
Nightingale, Florence, 1820-1910.
Paine, Thomas, 1737-1809.
Pierce, Franklin, 1804-1869.
Polk, James K. (James Knox), 1795-1849.
Quincy, Josiah, 1772-1864.
Revere, Paul, 1735-1818.
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (Franklin Delano), 1882-1945.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919.
Shaw, Bernard, 1856-1950.
Sumner, Charles, 1811-1874.
Taft, William H. (William Howard), 1857-1930.
Taylor, Zachary, 1784-1850.
Tyler, John, 1790-1862.
Van Buren, Martin, 1782-1862.
Washington, George, 1732-1799.
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852.

Subjects:

Abolitionists--Autographs.
Artists--Autographs.
Authors--Autographs.
Autographs--Collections.
Autographs--Collectors and collecting.
Composers--Autographs.
France--Kings and rulers--Autographs.
Great Britain--Kings and rulers--Autographs.
Judges--Autographs.
Politicians--Autographs.
Presidents--United States--Autographs.
Reformers--Autographs.
Scientists--Autographs.

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