Dr. Joseph Cullen Ayer family papers

The collection consists mainly of personal correspondence: fifty letters, most of which are from Carolyn Elizabeth Roberts Ayer to her husband Joseph Cullen Ayer (b. 1839) at various points in his life, beginning before their marriage (1861) when he was at Harvard; as a medical officer in the 18th Massachusetts Volunteers (1861-63); as a land speculator in Tennessee; and as a businessman in Boston. The collection also includes other family correspondence and legal materials, the latter comprised of family deeds and the settlement of Ayer's father's (Joseph Cullen Ayer, Sr. - 1846) and his mother's (Rachael Ellis Ayer-Washburn - c. 1888) estates. Miscellaneous materials include poetry and a medical thesis by Joseph Cullen Ayer, Sr.; printed materials contain three Civil War manuals.