George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives

Correspondence, 1790-1917
3.25 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M59.1

Series Description:
Approximately 2500 letters from 1790 to 1917, most to or from William Pitt Fessenden. Much of the correspondence deals with family matters, Fessenden's career, or his sons' Civil War experiences. Also included are typescripts of his son Samuel's letters.
Arrangement:Arranged chronologically.
General Note:Selected correspondence also available on microfilm.
Restrictions:

Correspondence on microfilm, 1820-1881, n.d.
5 reels.
Catalog Number: M59.1.1

Series Description:
Microfilm service copies, 35 mm, filmed by the University of Virginia. Four of the five reels contain selected correspondence from the Fessenden Collection: Correspondence. Letters in the Fessenden Collection are arranged chronologically, while letters on the microfilm are arranged by correspondent. This series is linked here to a pdf file with the arrangement of correspondence on the microfilm, followed by the corresponding reel number. The fifth reel contains correspondence from the James Shepherd Pike Papers, including letters from William Pitt Fessenden to Pike. Bowdoin College does not hold the original James Shepherd Pike Papers.
Arrangement:Arranged by correspondent.
Restrictions:None.

Legal documents, 1840-1864
0.25 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M59.2

Series Description:
Documents concerning military and political appointments and estate settlements, together with certificates and passports. Dating from 1840 to 1864, most relate to William Pitt, Francis or James Deering Fessenden.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically.
General Note:
Restrictions:

Biographical records, genealogies, and family history, 1855-1982
0.5 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M59.3

Series Description:
Biographical information on members of the Fessenden family, including general records, memoirs, educational material, etc.; together with essays concerning family members by 20th century scholars, and genealogical records on the Fessenden and Fox families. The material dates from 1855 to 1982.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically.
General Note:
Restrictions:

General addresses, speeches, reports and notes, 1825-1861, n.d.
0.5 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M59.4

Series Description:
Published and unpublished essays, notes, reports, addresses and speeches bound in two volumes, including several presented before Maine societies. Many concern political subjects such as reconstruction, the Treasury and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson; others cover more general topics such as temperance and the fourth of July. The volumes were compiled by James D. Fessenden.
Arrangement:
General Note:
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Personal and professional records, 1786-1968
1.0 linear foot
Catalog Number: M59.5

Series Description:
Items relating to the history and careers of several family members, 1786-1968. Featured are materials relating to Bowdoin College, including two essays written by Thomas A.D. Fessenden (Bowdoin 1845) while a student; the Civil War (i.e. appointments, orders, documents, a diary, etc.); printed items on reconstruction and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson; the family's finances (i.e. contracts, receipts, accounts, etc.); family bibles, and family manuscripts, including many sermons by William Fessenden (1747-1805).
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically.
General Note:
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Ephemeral notes, [18--]
3 folders.
Catalog Number: M59.6

Series Description:
Miscellaneous items including one folder on the northeast boundary controversy.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically.
General Note:
Restrictions:

Fessenden Association and John L. Baxter Archive records, 1955-1969
0.25 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M59.7

Series Description:
Material relating to the Fessenden Association and family archive created by John Lincoln Baxter. It includes correspondence from 1955 to 1969, Bowdoin College news releases, and material concerning the dedications of the Treasury Department portrait of William Pitt Fessenden and of the Fessenden Room at Bowdoin.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically.
General Note:
Restrictions:

Clippings, 1858-1909
0.75 linear feet.
Catalog Number: M59.8

Series Description:
Newsclippings, 1858-1909, on various subjects, comprised of items about 19th century notables, members of the family, the Civil War, politics, William Pitt Fessenden's legislative career, and his tenure at the Treasury Department.
Arrangement:Arranged alphabetically.
General Note:
Restrictions:

Images, 1841-1966, n.d.
1.0 linear foot.
Catalog Number: M59.9

Series Description:
Photographs and engravings of the Fessenden family are supplemented by Francis Fessenden's Civil War album, which contains cartes-de-visite of Union and Confederate Army and Navy officers; most are identified. There are also pocket-size cartes-de-visite, organized alphabetically, of John C. Fremont, Ulysses S. Grant, Hannibal Hamlin, Abraham Lincoln, William Henry Seward and other Civil War era government and military figures. Place images, mainly connected with the Civil War are also included in the series, as well as photographs from the 1966 dedication ceremony of the William Pitt Fessenden Room in Hawthorne-Longfellow Hall, Bowdoin College.
Arrangement:Alphabetical.
General Note:
Finding Aid/Index: Restrictions:None.

Realia, 1823-1869
5 items.
Catalog Number: M59.10

Series Description:
Realia from the Fessenden family, consisting of W.P. Fessenden's 1823 Bowdoin diploma; his portable writing desk; the Bowdoin autograph albums for Samuel Fessenden, Jr., of the class of 1861 and Joseph Palmer Fessenden of the class of 1851; and an 1869 map of Munjoy Hill, Portland, Maine.
Arrangement:
General Note:
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