Fayerweather Family Papers (Mss. Gr. 121)

The Fayerweather Family Papers contain the personal papers and memorabilia of several generations of the Fayerweather family of Kingston, Rhode Island, of whom Sarah Harris Fayerweather was the most prominent member. The papers were removed from the Fayerweather cottage during its renovation by the Kingston Improvement Association in 1965 and deposited in the Kingston Free Library.

The papers have been divided into two series, Sarah Fayerweather Correspondence and a Subject Series. Series one, Sarah Fayerweather Correspondence, though consisting of only about ten items, merits separate treatment because of the significance of the correspondents involved. Among those represented is Helen Benson Garrison, wife of William Lloyd Garrison, and Prudence Crandall Philleo, founder of the school for girls in Canterbury, who set off an uproar by her decision to admit Sarah Harris to the school.

Series two, the Subject Series, contains a variety of materials relating to several generations of the Fayerweather family. The series includes account books, deeds, marriage and death certificates, address books, autograph books, mortgage notes, photographs, receipts and correspondence. Items of special interest include an account book for the blacksmith shop of Solomon and George Fayerweather for 1868 and those relating to the tangled web of the Fayerweather estate.