Coffin/Robinson Family Papers

Series 1. Personal papers
The Personal Papers Series contains the personal, non-business records of the Coffin and Robinson families over an extended period. Among the papers included are correspondence, letterpress copybooks, income tax returns, bank statements, check stubs, school grade reports, and trust income statements.

Of particular interest in this series are the personal financial records of Isaac Robinson and Elsie Potter Robinson Coffin. The income tax returns, bank statements, check stubs, bills, and receipts reveal a good deal about the costs of goods and services in the early twentieth century, as well as indicating the income needed to sustain the lifestyle of an upper middle class family in the era of the Great Depression.

Also of interest in the series is the correspondence between Elsie and her sons Tristram and Peter while they were away at college at Haverford and Amherst respectively. The letters reveal a close familial relationship between mother and sons, one based on trust and mutual respect.

Finally, in this series are reprints and copies of journal articles written by Tristram P. Coffin. Coffin became a renowned author, teacher, and lecturer in the field of American folklore.

The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by the name of the family member and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 2. Business records
Included in this series are ledgers, annual reports, daybooks, journals, and incorporation papers for such family owned businesses as the Marginal Dock Company, Robinson's Congress Stores of New York, the Point Judith Railroad Company, and the family owned Edgewood Farm.

Items of special interest in the Business Records Series include those records relating to the Edgewood Farm, the family homestead and a working commercial farm in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among the Edgewood Farm records are general financial ledgers, crop ledgers, journals, and day books spanning the years 1880 to 1907. The day books in particular offer fascinating insights into the daily activities of a moderately large commercial farm in turn of the century southern Rhode Island. Also of importance are the crop ledgers which give an indication of milk and cash crop production, as well the general farm ledgers which give one an idea of the capital involved in operating a farm the size of Edgewood.

Other items of interest in the series include the annual reports and ledgers of the Marginal Dock Company and the incorporation papers of the Point Judith Railroad, of which both Isaac and Jeremiah Robinson were original incorporators.

The records are arranged alphabetically by the name of the business and chronologically by date within folders.

Series 3. Scrapbooks
The Scrapbook Series consists of scrapbooks compiled by Elsie Potter Robinson Coffin during her childhood. Also in this series are two scrapbooks of unknown origin, one of newspaper clippings relating to the New York Athletic Club and another of clippings relating to the Marginal Dock Company.

Each of Elsie Potter Robinson's scrapbooks is unique and interesting. One is devoted solely to coats of arms and monograms of individuals, businesses and nations. A second is devoted to pictures of Greek and Roman ruins, apparently clipped from magazines. Finally, a third is a potpourri of newspaper clippings, cartoons, pictures, and parts of programs from Broadway plays. The subject matter ranges from fashion to the theatre, to the American Revolution to the Spanish-American War.

The scrapbooks are arranged alphabetically by the name of the compiler, or by the topic of the scrapbook if the compiler is unknown.

Series 4. Photograph series
The Photograph Series consists of a group of loose photographs and one photo album of the Robinson and Coffin families and the places they frequented. Although many of the photographs have been identified, about one quarter of them remain unidentified.

Perhaps the most interesting item in the series is an album of photographs are taken by Ruth Robinson in 1900 and 1901. All the photos are identified in her own handwriting and provide a fascinating glimpse of life in America at the turn of the century. In addition to the only photographs of Edgewood Farm in the collection, the album contains photographs taken during a visit to Camden, South Carolina. Those photographs reveal a great deal about the South as it poised on the brink of the twentieth century. There are photographs of antebellum mansions and former slave quarters in which blacks still lived. There is even a photograph of an elderly black couple identified as former slaves. Finally, in this album are several photographs of the remains of the famous Narragansett Casino, taken the day after the magnificent hotel along Ocean Road in Narragansett was destroyed by fire.

Also of interest in this series are photographs of most of the principal members of the two families, Isaac, Jeremiah, and Ruth Robinson, and Elsie, Tristram, Peter, and Trelsie Coffin.

The series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the person or place photographed. Ruth Robinson's photo album is at the beginning of the series and photographs of unidentified people and places are grouped together at the end of the series.

Series 5. Maps and blueprints
The Map/Blueprint Series contains 24 maps and blueprints of land, buildings, and wharves in which the Robinson family had an interest. Of particular interest are the maps depicting the extensive landholdings of Jeremiah Robinson in the Point Judith Pond, Narragansett Pier, and Wakefield areas. There are also maps in the series depicting Robinson family holdings along the Brooklyn, New York waterfront.

Also included in the series are blueprints and/or floor plans for the house at Edgewood Farm, the Robinson Congress Store in New York City, and Marginal Dock Company Wharves in Brooklyn.

The maps and blueprints have been assigned an arbitrary number from 1 to 24 and arranged numerically by that number in map drawers.