Fales Family letters, 1806-1840
(bulk 1813-1834)
John Hay Library
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu
Published in 2008
Collection Overview
| Title: | Fales Family letters |
| Date range: | 1806-1840, (bulk 1813-1834) |
| Creator: | Fales family |
| Extent: | 0.25 linear feet (1 clamshell box) |
| Abstract: | The Fales family letters number thirty six, most of them sent by Stephen (who often signed himself "Esteban") Smith Fales from his Cuban plantation to his sister Lydia (Fales) French in Bristol, Rhode Island. Although the earliest letter dates from 1806, most of the letters were written between 1813 and 1834 from various locations in Cuba. |
| Language of materials: | English |
| Repository: | John Hay Library |
| Collection number: | Ms. 2008.006 |
Scope & content
Although a small collection, the Fales Family letters comprise a remarkably complex portrait of a prominent Bristol, Rhode Island, family during the early days of the republic. The correspondence includes letters from three generations and touches upon such subjects as slavery, politics, religion and commerce. Altogether, they provide glimpses of a family’s attempts to maintain its bonds over distance and time.Most of the letters were written by Stephen Fales (who came to sign himself "Esteban") from his Cuban plantation to his sister Lydia (Fales) French in Bristol. Many of them concern arrangements he has made for his children’s education—his sons William and Thomas had extended stays with Lydia as boys—and general discussions of finances and health. Although the reader does not directly hear Lydia’s voice, Stephen’s responses to such topics as her money worries (". . . your present embarrassments . . .") suggest the culture of restraint and gentility that governed family relations during the early nineteenth century.
His son Thomas was a droll and affectionate correspondent, often teasing his Aunt Lydia and reporting on family and friends with self-deprecating humor. The bonds he formed during a childhood stay with his Bristol relatives seemed to have deepened over the years, as is evidenced by his acute disappointment at his aunt’s failure to write frequently.
The Stephen Fales family lived in Cuba during the later years of the so-called “sugar revolution”, which saw an explosion in the slave population as the sugar industry grew. The vigorous expansion of slavery in Cuba at a time when the rest of the western world was disavowing it is not discussed by these correspondents but it provides one context for a contemporary appreciation of the collection. The Fales family’s connections to the DeWolfs of Bristol perhaps allowed them to profit from slave labor long after it was abolished in their native state.
Access Points
Subject Names Subject Topics Geographical Names- Cuba--Social life and customs--19th century.
- Rhode Island--Social life and customs--19th century.
- Bristol (R.I.)
- Matanzas (Cuba)
- Rhode Island--Commerce--History.
Arrangement
This collection consists of a single series of letters, arranged in chronological order.
Biographical note
The history of the Fales family is socially, geographically and commercially aligned with their more prominent Bristol neighbors, the DeWolfs. Although the slave trade was officially abolished in 1808, the DeWolf Family used their wealth and political power to ply the "triangle trade" long afterwards. One of the points of that triangle was Cuba, where they owned coffee and sugar plantations well into the nineteenth century, and where Stephen Fales ran his plantation for twenty years.Stephen Smith Fales was born in Bristol, Rhode Island., on 24 November 1783, the eldest son of William and Mary (Smith) Fales. His father died in 1797 at age 38, and in 1803 Levi DeWolf (brother of Sen. James DeWolf, a prosperous Bristol slave trader) became the guardian of Stephen and his four surviving siblings. (According to some accounts, Levi was to his brother James as Moses was to John Brown; after one slave voyage, Levi abandoned the trade.) Stephen married his second cousin Phebe Wardwell (17 Feb.1784-26 Sept.1839) in 1804, with whom he had nine children. He was a shipmaster and lived on a plantation in Cuba for twenty years before returning to Bristol shortly before his death on 22 June 1839. His wife Phebe died the same year on September 26.
His sister Lydia Smith (Fales) French was born in Bristol, Rhode Island, on 15 November 1790. In 1816 she married Capt. Zechariah French, who died at sea six years later. After his death, Lydia kept a school in Bristol and died on 1 March 1877.
Thomas James Fales was born in Bristol on 18 June 1815. He married Anna Gray in Cuba and had one child.
References
- Fales, DeCoursey. The Fales Family of Bristol, Rhode Island. Boston: T.R. Marvin & Son, 1919.
- Davis, Paul. "Living Off the Trade: Bristol and the DeWolfs" from the series "The Unrighteous Traffick: Rhode Island's Slave History" (Providence Journal 17 Mar 2006)
Access & Use
| Access to the collection: | There are no restrictions on access and an advance appointment is not necessary to see the collection. |
| Use of the materials: | Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them. |
| Preferred citation: | Fales family letters, Ms. 2008.006, Brown University Library. |
| Contact information: | John Hay Library Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu |
Administrative Information
| ABOUT THE COLLECTION | |
| Acquisition: | The Fales Family Letters were purchased in 2008. |
| ABOUT THE FINDING AID | |
| Author: | Finding aid prepared by Deborah Peterson. |
| Encoding: | Finding aid encoded by Deborah Peterson, 2008 May 05 |
| Descriptive rules: | Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) |
Additional Information
| Related material: | Resources at other institutions: |
| Other information: |
|
Inventory
| Folder 1 | Fales, Mary to Fales, Stephen S.
Bristol, RI 3 pages Contents Note: Letter from Mary (Smith) Fales to her 22-year-old son Stephen Smith Fales in "Havanna" Cuba, sent by way of Levi DeWolf, guardian of the Fales children. In it she quotes Cowper and reports that Stephen's "sweet little boy [William] grows finely and is handsome as ever and I much fear I shall love him too well." |
1806 Jan 26 |
| Folder 2 | Fales, Mary to Fales, Lydia S.
Bristol, RI 3 pages Contents Note: Letter from Mary (Smith) Fales to her daughter Lydia at the Misses Patten School in Hartford, Conn., in which she mentions her own school in Bristol, Rhode Island, and Lydia's brother William's voyage to Calcutta, India. |
1806? Jun 12 |
| Folder 3 | Smith, Louisa to Fales, Lydia S.
Bristol, RI 2 pages Contents Note: Letter from Louisa Smith to Lydia Fales in Hartford, describing her own trip to Connecticut and referring to several of their friends' romances. |
1806 Jul 13 |
| Folder 4 | Fales, Mary to Fales, Lydia S.
Bristol, RI 3 pages Contents Note: Letter from Mary (Smith) Fales to her daughter Lydia in Hartford, written on Mary's birthday. She describes a funeral procession and reflects on her own mortality. |
1806 Jul 18 |
| Folder 5 | Fales, Mary to Fales, Lydia S.
Bristol, RI 3 pages Contents Note: Letter from Mary (Smith) Fales to daughter Lydia in Hartford, in which she expresses her longing to be reunited with her children and responds to Lydia's wish to remain longer at school: "...were my abilities equal to my wishes every rational desire of yours should be gratified as far as it lay in my power." She also worries about Lydia's brothers Stephen and William, both of whom are abroad. |
1806 Sep 2 |
| Folder 6 | Patton, Harriet to Fales, Lydia S.
East Hartford, CT 2 pages Contents Note: Letter from Harriet Patten to Lydia Fales in Bristol, Rhode Island. Harriet's effusive religious sentiment in this letter reflects the religious revivalism of the time: "...time will not admit or I would write you concerning the awakening..." |
1813 Jun 1 |
| Folder 7 | Fales, Stephen S. to Fales, Lydia S.
Bristol, RI 2 pages Contents Note: Letter from Stephen S. Fales to his sister Lydia at the Rev. Henshaw's in "Brookline" Long Island. He writes about his need of spiritual revival, "so far from God, so little engaged in things of eternity," and closes with news of the improved health of their Aunt Howe. |
1815 May 26 |
| Folder 8 | Fales, William to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Madruga, Cuba 1 page Contents Note: Letter to Lydia (Fales) French from her nephew William Fales describing family matters on the plantation in Cuba. Of his younger brother he writes: "Thomas can talk very plain and a little spanish and he is all the time a playing with the little Negroes..." |
1818 Nov 7 |
| Folder 9 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Madruga, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Stephen Fales writes from Madruga to his sister Lydia with instructions for his son William's care and education during William's stay in Bristol, Rhode Island. |
1819 Apr 23 |
| Folder 10 | Fales, Esteban [i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Madruga, Cuba 1 page Contents Note: Upon the return of William to Cuba, Stephen expresses his gratitude to Lydia and asks about her husband, Captain Zechariah French. |
1819 Oct 1 |
| Folder 11 | Fales, Esteban [i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Matanzas, Cuba 1 page Contents Note: Stephen writes Lydia to tell her that he and his family are well and hopes that she is "equally blessed." |
1820 Jun 9 |
| Folder 12 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to [French, Lydia S. Fales;
addressed to "Capt. Zech[ariah] French"]
Madruga, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: In this letter Stephen chides Lydia for not responding to his last letter, which informed her of their brother William's death. "Poor William ... express'd his fear that if he was taken sick he should not survive--his apprehension poor fellow was not groundless." He also expresses his wish that his daughter Betsey go to school in either Baltimore (where the Rev. Henshaw is now located) or Boston, and asks Lydia to inquire about tuition. |
1820 Jul 21 |
| Folder 13 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Sumedero, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Stephen describes to Lydia his "flourishing" plantation and wishes that "brother Zach." (Lydia's husband) could settle in Cuba "as I know you would be charmed with the country." He also praises his own son Tom for his planting skills. |
1822 Jun 24 |
| Folder 14 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Sumedero, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Stephen expresses his shock at the news of the death of Lydia's husband, Captain Zechariah French, and promises a visit to Bristol from his wife Phebe and daughter Betsey. |
1822 Aug 22 |
| Folder 15 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Sumedero, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Stephen reports to Lydia that he has spent the previous autumn confined with illness, relying on his wife Phebe to oversee the plantation. He, along with several members of his family, suffered from parasitic Guinea worms. Although his wife and daughter did not make the promised trip to Bristol, he is considering sending his daughter Harriet, "she is growing quite wild having no school..." |
1823 Apr 18 |
| Folder 16 | Fales, Estaban [i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Sumedero, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Stephen remarks on the death of his maternal grandmother as well as that of Levi DeWolf. He devotes the remainder of the letter to a description of "Mrs. O", the pampered wife of his business partner, Captain Oliver. She has "a very limited understanding [and her] whole time is devoted to dress and flesh and not unfrequently given to fibbing." |
1823 May 26 |
| Folder 17 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Sumedero, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Suffering once more from Guinea worms Stephen responds to Lydia's last letter, in which she described the family's financial straits. "[I]t would have given me infinite pleasure to have had it in my power to extricate you from your present embarrassments...but [I] am still a debtor." Later he alludes to "the recent change in Gov't. here" and reassures her that no local disturbances have ensued. |
1824 Apr [?] 4 |
| Folder 18 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Sumedero, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Description of the slave uprising in Cuba on 15 June 1825, the death of all the members of the Armitage family who owned a coffee estate near the Fales, and the escape of the Fales family into the woods. Stephen wrote: "I have great reason to be grateful that my Negroes are perfectly contented & submissive. Had they have joined the insurgents no doubt our names would have been added to the killed, as we live retired from the main road." Includes transcription. |
1825 Jun 21 |
| Folder 19 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Sumedero, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Writes of family matters and reports that the slave rebellion which began in June of 1825 has been stopped. |
1826 Jan 28 |
| Folder 20 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. and W[illiam] Fales to French,
Lydia S. [Fales]
Ciguapa, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: In this letter, Stephen promises Lydia two sacks of coffee and asks after his son Thomas who is being schooled in Bristol. On the verso (dated two days later) Stephen's son William writes that he is unable to send the promised coffee and chides his aunt for failing to write. |
1827 May 22 and 24 |
| Folder 21 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Ciguapa, Cuba 1 page Contents Note: Stephen expresses his gratitude to Lydia for overseeing Thomas's education. |
1827 Jun 10 |
| Folder 22 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Siguapa [i.e. Ciguapa], Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Stephen describes his financial difficulties and reports that his daughter Mary has given birth to another son. |
1829 Jan 22 |
| Folder 23 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Siguapa [i.e. Ciguapa], Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Stephen expresses his gratitude to Lydia for taking care of his son Thomas, who has now returned to Cuba. |
1830 Feb 4 |
| Folder 24 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Siguapa [i.e. Ciguapa], Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Stephen reports that his daugher-in-law Martha (wife of William Fales) is recovering from smallpox, but the rest of the family is well. He requests that Lydia collect a $70 debt from James Fales: "If you cannot collect but by coercion I wish you attempt it, after getting proper advice..." |
1830 Mar 24 |
| Folder 25 | Fales, T[homas] J[ames] to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Camarioca, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: An affectionate letter from sixteen-year-old Thomas Fales to his aunt, expressing his wish to be back in Bristol. He hopes to find a position as a clerk in a "mercantile house in Matanzas" he tells her, "... but there are so many young men that are seeking the same situation ... that I almost despair of finding one ..." |
1831 Mar 5 |
| Folder 26 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Siguapa [i.e. Ciguapa], Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Stephen sends news of his family and promises Lydia "a barrel of good brown sugar" by way of Capt. Usher of the Brig Clyde. |
1831 Aug 26 |
| Folder 27 | [Fales], Thomas [James] to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Camarioca, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Thomas expresses his disappointment at not receiving a letter from Lydia, despite the arrival of several ships from Bristol. He reports that he has grown very tall since he left her and "am much changed in looks too I believe (They tell me it is not for the better)." |
1832 Jan 25 |
| Folder 28 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Siguapa [i.e. Ciguapa], Cuba 1 page Contents Note: Stephen writes that his daughter Mary has given birth to a girl and that she and her husband William Brown will be leaving Matanzas for New Orleans. He ends with a nota bene: "Please write oft'ner." |
1832 Apr 16 |
| Folder 29 | [Fales], Thomas [James] to [French, Lydia S. Fales?]
Matanzas, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Thomas sends news of his position in the counting house of Mr. Albers in Matanzas, and he mentions the cholera epidemic in Philadelphia and New York. |
1832 Aug 25 |
| Folder 30 | Fales, E[steban, i.e. Stephen] S. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Camarioca, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: A relatively long and informative letter in which Stephen expresses his concerns about "the Colera" spreading to Cuba, having heard of its occurrence in Rhode Island. "Our Cities are dreadfully filthy," he writes and "... most of our practioners [sic] are merely charlatans..." |
1833 Jan 19 |
| Folder 31 | [Fales], Thomas [James] to [French, Lydia s. Fales?]
Matanzas, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Thomas informs Lydia of his sister Betsey's marriage to John Mayo and of his sister Harriet's new son. |
1833 Feb 20 |
| Folder 32 | Fales, Tho[ma]s [James] to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Matanzas, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Thomas writes about the prospect of a visit to Bristol and describes the Cholera epidemic in Cuba: "It is supposed that near ten thousand persons mostly negroes have been attacked in the Havanna nearly all of them died." |
1833 Apr 13 |
| Folder 33 | Fales, Tho[ma]s [James] to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Matanzas, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Having received no reply to his letter of 13 Apr. 1833, Thomas pleads with Lydia to write to him. He sends news of his own health (an eye inflammation treated by "a Dunce of a Doctor") and that of his family. |
1834 Feb 15 |
| Folder 34 | Fales, Tho[ma]s [James] to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Matanzas, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Thomas thanks Lydia for her last letter and writes of family matters. He sends her a half-barrel each of white and brown sugar "as a token of my affection for you" and asks her to send him "one or two Bottles of good Rose Water." |
1834 Mar 24 |
| Folder 35 | Fales, Tomas [i.e. Thomas Jones] to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Matanzas, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: Thomas writes that he is happy to hear that Lydia has given up her school "as I am convinced it must be a great bore to any body to keep one." He notes that he has passed his two-year anniversary in the mercantile house. |
1834 Jul 1 |
| Folder 36 | Howe, J. B. to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
"The Rectory" [no town or city indicated] 2 pages Contents Note: This letter describes a recent church fair and some of the articles that were sold at it. |
1834 Jul 1 |
| Folder 37 | Fales, Tomas [i.e. Thomas Jones] to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Matanzas, Cuba 3 pages Contents Note: Thomas writes with news of the family ("Harriet 'is in a way that all wives like to be who love their lords'...") and requests that Lydia price several books, including The Life of Napoleon and The Natural History of Insects. |
1834 Sep 13 |
| Folder 38 | Fales, William to French, Lydia S. [Fales]
Matanzas, Cuba 2 pages Contents Note: William responds to Lydia's letter informing him of the deaths of both parents--Stephen and Phebe Fales--during a visit to Bristol. |
1840 Jan 4 |
| Folder 39 | Article by Richard B. Jordan, "Letters to Lydia: The Fales Family,
1806-1856" in the S.P.A. Journal, Vol. 44, No. 3 12 pages Contents Note: Article relating the history of the Fales family in Cuba as described in their letters. Includes transcriptions of many of the letters and a table of the postmarks used on all of them. |
1981 Nov |