Stephen T. Olney correspondence, 1817-1875
(bulk
1845-1875)
John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu
Published in
Collection Overview
| Title: |
Stephen T. Olney correspondence |
| Date range: |
1817-1875, 1845-1875 |
| Creator: |
Olney, Stephen T. (Stephen Thayer), 1812-1878 |
| Extent: |
0.5 linear feet
|
| Abstract: |
This collection contains correspndence written to and from Stephen T. Olney during
1817 and 1845-1875 with 46 other botanists regarding the study and collection of a wide
variety of plants. The bulk of his correspondence is with: Michael Schuck Bebb, John
Carey, Chester Dewey, and Earl Flint. |
| Language of materials: |
English |
| Repository: |
John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
|
| Collection number: |
Ms.2017.024 |
Scope & content
This collection contains correspndence written to and from Stephen T. Olney during
1817 and 1845-1875 with 46 other botanists regarding the study and collection of a wide
variety of plants. The bulk of his correspondence is with: Michael Schuck Bebb, John
Carey, Chester Dewey, and Earl Flint.
Access Points
Subject Names
Subject Topics
Occupations
Document Types
Subject Topics
Arrangement
The correspondence is arranged alphabetically.
Biographical/Historical note
Stephen T. Olney was born on Feb. 15, 1812, in Burrillville, R.I., and received his
education in Providence. He started work in the counting house of Isaac B. Cooke &
Co., which was probably located in Augusta, Georgia. Later he returned to the Providence
area and started the Wauskuck Co., a wollens firms, with Jesse Metcalf. The business
made Olney a wealthy man, and he devoted some of his wealth to the prusuit of his
botanical interests. He published a catalogue of Rhode Island plants in connection with
the Providence Franklin Society in 1845, with further additions in 1846-1847. He made
collections of algae from 1846 to 1848 that served as the basis for his
Algae Rhodiaceae. : A list of Rhode Island algae, collected and prepared by Stephen T. Olney, in the years 1846-1848, now distributed from his own herbarium published in 1871. He became especially interested in the study of Carex
and developed into an expert in the area. His publications on Carex include the Carex
section of Sereno Watson's Botany (1871) in the Report of the Geological Exploration of
the 40th Parallel led by Clarence King. He built up a private herbarium and botanical
library and carried on a broad botanical correspondence.
In his later years, Olney went into a decline: W.W. Bailey wrote that he "was an invalid
and incapacitated for business during the last years of his life," and Asa Gray wrote
that the end of his life was "obscured and afflicted by mental trouble." Olney died a
bachelor on July 27, 1878. He left his herbarium, library and correspondence to Brown
University and also gave substantial sums of money toward botanical studies at
Brown.
Access & Use
| Access to the collection: |
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by
prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on
the same day on which they are requested. |
| Use of the materials: |
All the materials in this collection are in the public domain and available for use without restriction. |
| Preferred citation: |
Stephen T. Olney correspondence, Ms.2017.024, Brown University Library. |
| Contact information: |
John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu
|
Administrative Information
| ABOUT THE COLLECTION |
| Acquisition: |
These materials were transferred to the John Hay Library from the Brown University
Herbarium in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in 2016. |
|
|
|
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| ABOUT THE FINDING AID |
| Author: |
Finding aid prepared by Karen Eberhart. |
| Descriptive rules: |
Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) |
Additional Information
Inventory
| Box 1, Folder 1 |
|
Allen, Timothy Field
|
|
1868-1871 |
| Box 1, Folder 2 |
|
Anderson, Nils Johan
|
|
1868-1870 |
| Box 1, Folder 3 |
|
Austin, Coe
|
|
1868-1873 |
| Box 1, Folder 4 |
|
Babcock, H. H.
|
|
1872-1874 |
| Box 1, Folder 5 |
|
Beardslee, Henry Curtis
|
|
1870-1873 |
| Box 1, Folder 6 |
|
Bebb, Michael Schuck
|
|
1870-1875 |
| Box 1, Folder 7 |
|
Carey, John
|
|
1845-1852 |
| Box 2, Folder 1 |
|
Chapman, Alvan Wentworth
|
|
1849-1872 |
| Box 2, Folder 2 |
|
Clarke, Daniel
|
|
1871 |
| Box 2, Folder 3 |
|
Clinton, George W.
|
|
1864-1871 |
| Box 2, Folder 4 |
|
Cowles, Samuel N.
|
|
1871-1872 |
| Box 2, Folder 5 |
|
Curtiss, Allen Hiram
|
|
1870-1874 |
| Box 2, Folder 6 |
|
Dewey, Chester
|
|
1845-1867 |
| Box 2, Folder 7 |
|
Diffenbaugh, Elias
|
|
1868-1869 |
| Box 2, Folder 8 |
|
Eaton, Daniel C.
|
|
1868-1873 |
| Box 2, Folder 9 |
|
Elliott, Stephen
Contents Note: To William Baldwin
|
|
1817 |
| Box 2, Folder 10 |
|
Engelmann, George
|
|
1867-1875 |
| Box 2, Folder 11 |
|
Flint, Earl
|
|
1846-1848 |
| Box 2, Folder 12 |
|
Fowler, James (Rev.)
|
|
1870-1873 |
| Box 2, Folder 13 |
|
Garber, Abram Paschal
|
|
1871-1873 |
| Box 2, Folder 14 |
|
Gibbes, Lewis R.
|
|
1870 |
| Box 2, Folder 15 |
|
Gillman, Henry
|
|
1869-1875 |
| Box 3, Folder 1 |
|
Hale, T. Josiah
|
|
1850, 1860-1862 |
| Box 3, Folder 2 |
|
Hall, Elihu
|
|
1867-1873 |
| Box 3, Folder 3 |
|
Halsted, Robert
|
|
1873 |
| Box 3, Folder 4 |
|
Hervey, E. W.
|
|
1868 |
| Box 3, Folder 5 |
|
Holton, I. F.
|
|
1850 |
| Box 3, Folder 6 |
|
Howe, E. C.
|
|
1869-1872 |
| Box 3, Folder 7 |
|
Hunt, Edwin
|
|
1871 |
| Box 3, Folder 8 |
|
James, Thomas P.
|
|
1868-1870 |
| Box 3, Folder 9 |
|
Jesup, Henry G.
|
|
1871-1872 |
| Box 3, Folder 10 |
|
Kemp, A. F. (Rev.)
|
|
1872 |
| Box 3, Folder 11 |
|
Knieskern, Peter D.
|
|
1845-1846, 1868 |
| Box 3, Folder 12 |
|
Leggett, William H.
|
|
1871-1875 |
| Box 3, Folder 13 |
|
LeRoy, P. V.
|
|
1874 |
| Box 3, Folder 14 |
|
Lord, Henry B.
|
|
1868-1870 |
| Box 3, Folder 15 |
|
Lowell, John A.
|
|
1848, 1852 |
| Box 3, Folder 16 |
|
Macoun, John
|
|
1869 |
| Box 3, Folder 17 |
|
Mann, Horace
|
|
1867-1868 |
| Box 3, Folder 18 |
|
Mellichamp, J. H.
|
|
1872-1874 |
| Box 3, Folder 19 |
|
Minn, J. M. M.
|
|
1870 |
| Box 3, Folder 20 |
|
Mitchell, Anne
|
|
1852-1855 |
| Box 3, Folder 21 |
|
Mueller, Baron von
|
|
1872 |
| Box 3, Folder 22 |
|
Robbins, James W.
|
|
1845 |
| Box 3, Folder 23 |
|
Tenney, Sanborn
|
|
1870-1872 |
| Box 3, Folder 24 |
|
Warne, H. A.
|
|
1873 |