Archives of American Art

Edwin and Wilfred Whitefield papers

Summary

Collection ID:
AAA.whitedwi
Creators:
Whitefield, Edwin, 1816-1892
Whitefield, Wilfred, 1839-1926
Dates:
1854-1918
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
0.5 Linear feet
(on 1 microfilm reel)
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Letters (1856-1918), diaries (1863-1866), writings (1856-1863), printed material (1854-1857), and photographs document the activities of Edwin Whitefield and his son Wilfred and early settlement in Minnesota.
Scope and Contents
Edwin Whitefield papers consist of 2 of his business cards, a list of books and prints by Whitefield, 2 clippings "The View of Paris" (1854?) and "Minnesota Going East" (1856), a real estate advertisement for Whitefield's Minnesota Land Agency displaying a reproduction of Whitefield's drawing of Minnehaha Falls (1857), a letter of introduction written by James W. Taylor to William T. Bascom on Whitefield's behalf (1857), a letter illustrated with hand-drawn maps of a Minnesota townsite (1858?), and a letter written by Whitefield to his son Wilfred (1871). Writings consist of an 3 essays "Kandiyohi", "A Sketch of Minnesota" and "Minnesota" describing his travels as a member of the Whitefield exploration party (1856-1858).
Scope and Contents
Wilfred Whitefield papers include 17 typescripts of his letters to Louisa describing experiences as a soldier (1863), 15 letters (1895-1917) concerning his sketches from the Henry H. Sibley Expedition against the Sioux in 1863, a letter about his father's watercolors (1918), a letter supporting a pension application for a soldier from the Minnesota State Militia (1918), an essay "A Trip to the Sauk Valley" (1857?), an account of the Battle of Big Mound (1863), and minutes of a war meeting held at Sauk Center, Minnesota (1864). Diary fragments describe daily events in Kandotta, Minnesota (1859) and events during the Sibley Expedition (1863). A diary (1863-1866) contains pencil sketches and notes and is accompanied by a transcript and photographs of selected sketches.

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
Edwin Whitefield was born in England in 1816, immigrating to the United States ca. 1840. Between 1840 and 1855, he studied and taught drawing in New York and New England. In the latter 1850s, he became a real estate speculator in the Minnesota territory and became involved in land and and townsite promotion in what is now Kandiyohi County and the Sauk River Valley, Minn. Between 1860 and 1864 he lived in Chicago, but spent his final years in Massachusetts until his death in 1892. Edwin's son Wilfred Whitefield, also an artist, was born in 1839. He traveled to Minnesota with his father in 1856 and accompanied Henry H. Sibley's expedition against the Dakota (Sioux) Indians in 1863. He died in Sauk Center, Minn. in 1926.

Administration

Existence and Location of Copies
35mm microfilm reel 4309 available for use only in the Archives of American Art office in Washington, D. C., through interlibrary loan, and at the Minnesota Historical Society (reel MN 519).
Reproduction Note
Microfilmed by the Division of Library and Archives, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1986 (1 reel).
Existence and Location of Originals
Originals in the Division of Library and Archives, Minnesota Historical Society.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The microfilm was purchased from the Minnesota Historical Society.

Using the Collection

Conditions Governing Access
The Archives of American art does not own the original papers. Use is limited to the microfilm copy.
Conditions Governing Use
Authorization to publish, quote or reproduce requires written permission from the Division of Library and Archives, Minnesota Historical Society. Contact Reference Services for more information.
Terms of Use
The Archives of American Art makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational and personal use unless restricted by copyright and/or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. AAA makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user's responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce and publish the collections. Please refer to the Smithsonian's Terms of Use for additional information.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Dakota Indians -- Wars, 1862-1865 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Minnesota -- Description and Travel Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Minnesota -- History Geographic Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Drawings Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Real estate agents Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Draftsmen (artists) Occupation Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

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