Hubbard Family Papers Finding Aid Title: Hubbard Family Papers Dates (inclusive): 1835-1945 Creator: Hubbard Family members, descendent Havis Motisher Abstract: This is a collection of correspondence of the five children of Dr. Hiram F. Hubbard and his wife, Cynthia. The most substantial part of the collection dates between 1858 and 1868 when the family lived in Spring Green (Sauk County), Wisconsin. Part of the collection includes letters from the siblings to each other and their parents when they were away at boarding school in Madison. There are a significant number of letters from eldest daughter, Elizabeth, who was married and lived in Ohio. Another noteworthy group of letters is the correspondence from the elder son, Hiram Phay (“Fay”) Hubbard during his Civil War service with the Wisconsin 3rd Light Artillery Battery. Letters from other Union soldiers are also included. Correspondence from school friends of the siblings and some other relatives add to the collection, and provide insight into daily life during the mid 19th century. A smaller part of the collection relates to Longmont, where both Royal M. Hubbard and his sister, Kittie (Caroline D. Hubbard), and her husband, John Brigham Thompson, settled in 1871. These items include limited correspondence, deeds for lots in the Colony town of Longmont, and other financial and legal documents. They are of some value to researchers interested in the early settlement of Longmont. A small number of greeting cards, invitations, silhouettes, business cards, poems, and two unidentified photographs are also part of the collection. While not of great research value, they do provide evidence of the social customs of the day. Collection Number: A1997.003 Size/Extent: One document case (0.5 cubic foot) Repository: Longmont Museum & Cultural Center Languages: English Related Collections: Name Location Box # Hubbard Collection (includes some photos) AS-1A-3-3 55 Hubbard Family Photo Album AO-1A-5-5 Album Box 6 Kitty Hubbard School Paper: “Longmont.” Ca 1887 AS-1A-6-4 171 Royal Hubbard, Last will & Testament AS-1A-4-1 74 Papers of Royal M. Hubbard AS-1A-7-1 194 Hubbard, Gladys, “The History of Education in Longmont, Colorado.” MA Thesis. CU 1944 Archives Reference Shelf LH Photographs of Hubbard Family Members (about 50) Scattered Photo Boxes Search PastPerfect October 2010 Page 1 of 18 History and Biography: During the late 1850’s and 1860’s Dr. H.F. (Hiram) Hubbard, MD (born ca. 1802 in Massachusetts) and his wife, Cynthia (born ca. 1809 in Connecticut) lived in the small town of Spring Green, Wisconsin, located in Sauk County about 35 miles Southwest of Madison. They had moved there from their previous home in Olmsted, Cuyahoga County, Ohio (where the family is listed on the 1850 US Census.) The Hubbards had five children, two of whom later settled in Longmont, CO during the town’s founding year, 1871. Elizabeth, the eldest, (b. ca. 1829) married ca. 1849-50 while the family still resided in Ohio and did not move to Wisconsin. She married Melvin Parmely, a dry goods merchant and remained in Ohio. Elizabeth (“Lizzie” to her family) during the period of this correspondence had four children: Mary (known as Minnie) b.1852, Kittie, Dickey, and Willie Fay. She and her husband lived first in Sullivan Ohio and then ca. 1858 moved to Ashland, Ohio. The 1870 census of the family in Ashland OH seems to indicate that both Dicky and Willie Fay died and the couple had had two more children: Harriett (b.1866) and Melvin P. (born 1869). Minerva or Marina (both names show on census records) was known to her family as “Minnie.” Born ca. 1838, she married D.T. (Temple) Noyes in 1861. Noyes was killed in Civil War action in the summer of 1862. Minnie remained for some time in the home the couple had established in Decatur IL. Hiram Phay Hubbard (born ca. 1840) was known to the family as “Fay” or “Brother Fay.” He studied in Madison (ca 1859-1861) and then enlisted in the Wisconsin 3rd Light Artillery Battery on August 26, 1861 as a private, was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant in August 1862, and to 1st Lieutenant on March 8, 1864. He was mustered out of the Union Army October 10, 1864. No information has been found about his life subsequent to his Civil War Service. Caroline D. Hubbard (known to friends and family as “Kittie” and occasionally as “Carrie”) was born ca. 1842. She studied music at the Madison Female Seminary during 1861-1862 and then returned to Spring Green to teach piano. On May 3, 1866, Kittie married John Brigham Thompson in Dane County, Wisconsin. Thompson (born 8/21/1841 in Machias, Maine) had moved with his family to Oshgosh WI in 1856. On April 21, 1861 he enlisted in Company E of the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry. In 1871, the Thompsons moved to Longmont, CO where J.B. Thompson became a successful hardware merchant and respected community leader and Kittie was a stalwart in the temperance movement. They had one son, John Royal Thompson (b. December 23, 1874), who died at the age of 36 on June 18, 1909, leaving a wife and son, John Frederick Thompson. At some point, Kittie’s widowed mother, Cynthia, moved to Longmont and is listed on the 1880 census as living in the Thompson household. Kittie died in Longmont 10/31/1893. J.B. Thompson subsequently married Maude Wirt in 1895. He died in Longmont on September 19, 1921. (See also They Came To Stay listing for J.B. Thompson) Royal Millard Hubbard, born in Ohio in October 1847, was known affectionately by his family (and signed most of his letters) as “Millie.” During the Civil War years, Royal was too young to serve and spent those years either home in Spring Green or boarding in Madison WI with family friends named Bliss, where he clerked in their book store. He moved to the new Colony town of Longmont in 1871 and became Postmaster in 1872, a position he held for 14 years until August 1886, when he resigned. Royal operated a grocery store on Main Street in Longmont, which also served as the Post Office. On November 2, 1873 at Library Hall in Longmont, Royal married Mary Adelaide “Addie” Easton, one of Longmont’s first school teachers and niece of Byron and Mary Carr, Longmont’s first teachers. Royal and Adelaide had four children: Kittie, named for her Aunt, Royal’s sister ( b. 1875, d. 1957); John (b. 1877, d. 1953); Royal Jr. (b.1881 d. 1955); Gladys (b.1884 d. 1961). Royal M. Hubbard died in Longmont September 1, 1890 at the age of 49. Addie operated the Hubbard grocery store after Royal’s death until it was sold on May 3, 1907. Neither John, Royal, nor Gladys married. Kittie Hubbard married Jacob Choate on August 16, 1907. They had one child, Havis, who married Charles S. Motisher. The Motishers had no children. They lived in Denver for many years and later retired to Arizona, but retained a keen interest in Longmont. The letters in this collection were preserved and donated to the Longmont Museum & Cultural Center by Havis Motisher. (See also They Came to Stay listing for Royal Hubbard.) October 2010 Page 2 of 18 Arrangement: Fonds are arranged generally in series, and within series in chronological order. The letters from Elizabeth Hubbard and her family are arranged together, as are the Civil War letters of Hiram “Fay” Hubbard. Civil War letters from other soldiers (not family members) are arranged as a group. Scope and Content: Hubbard Family Correspondence: Folder # 1 – 3 letters 1835-1851 Folder # 2 – 15 letters 1854-1860 Folder # 3 - 7 letters January – December 1861 Folder #4 - 13 letters February – August 1862 Folder # 5 – 9 letters August – December 1862 Folder # 6 – 11 letters January 1863 – September 1868 Letters of Hiram Phay “Fay” Hubbard: Folder #7 – 7 letters from Camp Utley, Racine, WI September 1861 – January 1862 Folder # 8 – 17 letters Civil War Letters January – May 1862 Folder # 9 – 7 letters Civil War Letters June – December 1862 Folder # 10 – 8 letters Civil War Letters February – September 1863 Other Union Soldiers Letters: Folder # 11 – 6 letters Civil War Letters John Brigham Thompson June 1861 – November 1864 Folder # 12 - 1 letter Civil War Letter Ira E. Babcock October 1894 Folder # 13 – 5 letters Civil War Letters from soldiers to Kittie Hubbard January – June 1865 Folder # 14 – 2 items Related to U.S. Military 1858 Letters of Elizabeth Hubbard Parmely & Family: Folder #15 – 15 letters 1858-1861 Folder # 16 – 17 letters 1862-1865 Miscellaneous Hubbard Family Correspondence: Folder #17 – 11 Letters Undated Letters Folder #18 – 6 letters Undated, partial letters Folder # 19 – 3 letters Letters of Frances L. Wirt 1871-???? Correspondence and Documents Related to Longmont, Colorado: Folder #20 – 4 letters Letters of Royal M. Hubbard Family 1875-1891 Folder # 21 – 1 letter Letter to Adelaide (Easton) Hubbard 1876 Folder #22 – 15 documents Legal & Financial Documents of Royal M. Hubbard Family 1871-1925 Folder #23 – 1 item Copy of Longmont Times-Call April 11, 1945 Miscellaneous Items: Folder #24 – 5 items Poems/silhouette/business card Folder #25 – 2 items Unidentified photographs Folder #26 – 1 item Elaborate valentine (undated) Folder #27 – 20 items Envelopes separated from original letters Restrictions Access Restrictions: None Copy Restrictions: None Preferred Citation: Hubbard Family Papers, Longmont Museum & Cultural Center Processed by: The material was processed by Erik Mason in 1997 and rearranged by Dale Bernard in 2010. October 2010 Page 3 of 18 Provenance/Source of Acquisition: This collection was preserved by Havis Choate Motisher, the daughter of Kittie Hubbard Choate and only granddaughter (and descendent) of Royal and Adelaide Hubbard.