Guide to the Jesse Metcalf family papers, circa 1845-1918

Rhode Island School of Design Archives
20 Washington Place
Providence, RI 02903
Tel: 401-709-5922
E-mail: risdarchives@risd.edu

Published in 2023

Collection Overview

Title:	Jesse Metcalf family papers
Date range:	circa 1845-1918, bulk 1845-1894
Creator:	Metcalf family
Extent:	1 linear foot
Abstract:	The collection consists of the Jesse Metcalf family papers including extensive correspondence, circa 1845-1894, and a family genealogy chart prepared circa 1918.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Rhode Island School of Design Archives
Collection number:	SP12.0

Scope & content

The collection consists of the Jesse Metcalf family papers including extensive correspondence, circa 1845-1894, and a family genealogy chart prepared circa 1918. The letters provide a window into Jesse's work as a cotton broker in antebellum Georgia, the family's post-Civil War woolen textile company, and the family's activities in Providence and foreign and domestic travels.

Access Points

Subject Names

Subject Organizations

Subject Topics

Business

Subject Topics

Arrangement

The materials in this collection are tentatively arranged in two series:

I. Metcalf family correspondence, circa 1845-1894
II. Metcalf genealogy charts, circa 1918

The Metcalf family settled in Providence, RI after the Revolutionary War and opened a leather business under the name Joel Metcalf and Sons. Jesse Metcalf (1790-1838) married Eunice Houghton (1793-1858) 1812 April 19. Widowed with five children, Eunice never remarried. Her oldest son Jesse Metcalf (1827-1899) apprenticed in the cotton broker business under the tutelage of Truman Beckwith and Stephen T. Olney. He moved to Macon, Georgia in 1848 and then Augusta in 1850. He and Olney began their own business under the name Olney and Mecalf, maintaining an office in Augusta until the Civil War.

Married to Helen Rowe in 1852, Metcalf returned to Providence in 1857/1858 where Olney and Metcalf entered the woolen mill business. They incorporated under the name the Wanskuck Company in partnership with Henry J. Steere during the Civil War. Helen Metcalf served on the 1876 Women's Centennial Committee of Rhode Island. She led the effort to use the committee's remaining funds to establish the Rhode Island School of Design in 1877. She and her daughter Eliza Radeke (1852-1931) guided RISD's operations for its first 50 years. Stephen O. (1857-1951), Manton B. (1864-1923), and Jesse H. (1860-1942) joined their father in the family's woolen mills business.

See Nancy Austin's dissertation "Towards a Genealogy of Visual Culture at the Rhode Island School of Design, 1875-1900" (Brown University, 2009) for a detailed history of the founding and early years of RISD.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	An appointment is required to view materials.
Use of the materials:	The use of certain documents and collections may be restricted. Please consult the Archives staff for further details.
Preferred citation:	Jesse Metcalf family papers, Rhode Island School of Design.
Contact information:	Rhode Island School of Design Archives 20 Washington Place Providence, RI 02903 Tel: 401-709-5922 E-mail: risdarchives@risd.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The papers are a gift of the Metcalf family.


ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Douglas Doe.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Douglas Doe, 2023 October 19
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Inventory

Series I. Correspondence
This series consists primarily of correspondence from family members and Jesse Metcalf's business associates, circa 1845-1894. The letters detail Jesse's life in Macon and Augusta, GA as a cotton broker, 1848-1857, including discussions of the local society, slavery and politics, and the cotton industry. Letters from family members provide a view of their activities and Providence social life before the Civil War. Helen Metcalf's brother, Cornelius Rowe, wrote letters en route to Australia, 1853-1854. Business associates include Truman Beckwith and Stephen T. Olney.

Post-Civil War letters document trips by family members to Europe and the American West. Other letters document the growth of the Wanskuck Company and the involvement of Jesse's sons in the woolen textile industry.

The correspondence has not been processed or organized, but a family member created typed transcripts of many of the letters.

Series II. Metcalf Genealogy charts
Metcalf family genealogy charts and notes prepared for Houghton Pierce Metcalf, circa 1918.