DORSET FAMILY. PAPERS, 1850-1965 (BULK 1870-1952).   6 cubic feet (15 full size archives boxes)

Abstract

The Colwell-Dorset Family were prominent pioneers in La Crosse, Wis., originating from New England. Key family members include Nannie Hammer who married Capt. Wilson Colwell, who was killed in the Battle of South Mountain in 1862 during the Civil War. They had one daughter together also named Nannie Colwell. The widow Nannie Colwell then married Rev. C. P. Dorset, an Episcopal minister. The couple had several children together: Marian, Helen, and Bernard Dorset.

The collection has been divided up into four series: personal correspondence, business correspondence, genealogical notes, and miscellany. Because of the long span of correspondence, everyday family life in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in the midwest is well documented.

The papers consist mainly of correspondence among members of the Colwell-Dorset family. There are also some travel diaries, business correspondence, genealogy material, and miscellany.

Acc. No. 1984/7 (June 1984) and 1985/6 (Apr. 1985); processed by Anita Taylor Doering, March 1989

Formerly the property of the La Crosse County Historical Society; transferred to the La Crosse Public Library Archives May 2005 acc. no. 2005-44; artifacts still in the possession of the La Crosse County Historical Society

History

The history of the Dorset family began soon after the founding of La Crosse and continued until 1965, with the death of Helen Dorset.

The Hammer side of the family were the first to arrive. Joseph and Nancy Hammer and their children settled in La Crosse in 1856. In 1858 Nannie Hammer married Wilson Colwell. Nannie Colwell, their only daughter, was born in 1859. Wilson Colwell had settled in La Crosse in 1857. He was captain of the La Crosse Light Guards when the Civil War broke out, and immediately marched them off to Camp Randall, where they became Company B, 2nd Wisconsin of the Iron Brigade. Wilson Colwell was killed in the Battle of South Mountain in 1862.

The Reverend C. P. Dorset arrived in La Crosse in 1863; he was the new pastor of the Episcopal congregation. He succeeded in building the first Christ Church in 1864. In 1867 Rev. Dorset married Nannie Colwell in La Crosse; they then moved to Chicago where their first child, Marian, was born in 1869. Reverend Dorset served several churches in Chicago in the next five years. Helen Dorset was born in Willamette, Illinois in 1873. Bernard Dorset was born in 1877, in Nashville, Tennessee while his father was rector of the Episcopal Church in Pulaski. He then served as rector of churches in Rome, Georgia and Anniston, Alabama.

The Dorset family returned to La Crosse in 1879, never to leave again. However there were many visits to family and friends, trips abroad, and attendance at schools and universities that generated much correspondence between family members. In 1891, Rev. Dorset accepted a teaching post at St. John’s Military Academy in Delafield, Wisconsin. In 1896 he went to Texas where he taught a short time before opening his own school, the Texas Military Institute. He was president of the school until 1902. Besides teaching he did quite a bit of missionary work in Texas, before returning to Wisconsin in 1902, where he continued this work. He died in 1904.

Nannie Dorset remained in La Crosse for the most part, receiving letters from her children in their various endeavors. Nannie Colwell made two trips to Europe in 1878 and 1885, and a trip to China and Europe in 1900. She also made many visits to Colwell relatives in Pennsylvania and enjoyed traveling to Washington, D.C., whenever possible. She died in 1952.

Marian Dorset studied Physical Culture in Cleveland and Chicago before returning to teach that subject in La Crosse. She died in 1951.

Helen went to college at the University of Wisconsin at Madison and Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. She worked for the Red Cross during WW I and spent a summer in Europe in 1926. Her death was in 1965.

Bernard attended the University of Wisconsin as an undergraduate and the University of Pennsylvania as a medical student. He lived in Denver for many years before returning to La Crosse, where he died in 1944.

Scope and Content

The Dorset Family Papers consists of personal and business correspondence, diaries and genealogical information from one of the oldest families in La Crosse. The papers have been divided into series of PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE, BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE, GENEALOGY, and MISCELLANEOUS.

The PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE SERIES is the most voluminous series and is subdivided into correspondence to C.P. Dorset, Nannie Dorset, Nannie Colwell, Marian Dorset, Helen and Bernard Dorset, and Malinda Hammer. Letters to each person are grouped by immediate family, extended family and friends. For example, letters to Nannie Colwell first include those from her parents and siblings, then those from aunts, uncles, and cousins from the Colwell, Dorset, and Hammer families, and finally the many letters from friends around the world. Some of the more interesting letters to Nannie are those from Alice Seymour MacHaffie, who lived most of her life in China. There are also letters to her mother, grandmother and aunt in La Crosse, which are very illustrative of the social life in La Crosse in the late 1900’s. The earliest letter is from 1850; they continue until 1965.

The letters to C.P. Dorset are a small group of letters from Nannie Colwell and a few from other friends. The letters to Nannie Dorset are mostly from her children when they were away from home - at school or traveling. Nannie Colwell’s letters from Europe and China are most interesting. Helen’s letters have some very detailed accounts of university life. Letters from Nannie’s husband, Rev. Dorset, are very lively and informative about the life of a teacher and clergyman in Wisconsin and Texas. The letters to Marian Dorset are mainly from her father and her gentlemen friends, and include some pleasant love letters. In addition to the letters from her family, Helen Dorset’s letters are from her wide circle of friends and illustrate her many interests in life. Letters to Bernard contain a few from his father; the rest are from friends. The letters to Malinda Hammer are from her family and one distant cousin. The letters vary a lot in quality and interest. They are usually very formal in tone, as was the time period. At times however, the writer breaks through - some letters are very illuminating about the writer’s personality and attitudes.

The BUSINESS CORRESPONDENCE SERIES is divided into correspondence directed to Nannie Dorset and that directed to Nannie Colwell. The letters date from 1858 to 1952. Those to Nannie Dorset deal mainly with her real estate holdings in La Crosse. Nannie Colwell’s business correspondence concerns her as a legatee of the Lemon Estate, which began in 1896 and continued until her death. There are also papers from some Colwell family estates.

The GENEALOGICAL SERIES consists of family data, correspondence carried on with distant relatives, and answers to queries. There is information on the Dorset/Palmer family and the Hammer Family. The Hammer family lines are separated into Hammer/Otto/Brice and McClure/Fruit divisions. The interest in genealogy in the Dorset family began in the 1890’s when Malinda Hammer and Nannie Dorset and her three daughters joined DAR. Malinda Hammer wrote to many of the Hammer relatives during the 1890’s seeking further family information. Helen Dorset did more research later, mainly in the 1920’s and 1930’s, attempting to trace more family lines back to the Revolutionary period. There are copies of several letters written by relatives of the Hammer family, describing life in La Crosse in the early 1850's that are of historical interest.

The MISCELLANEOUS SERIES contains papers about some family members, such as Bernard Dorset’s school papers and letters of sympathy written on the death of J. T. Crawford, one of Nannie Colwell’s uncles. There are several diaries of trips taken by family members, the most complete being that of Nannie Colwell’s first trip to Europe in 1878. There are also notes made by Helen Dorset on her work with the Red Cross and plans made to convert the Dorset family home into a home for the elderly. There are several folders of Helen Dorset’s college notes while at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and Columbia University. Lastly is a folder on Lillian Kosanda who graduated in 1887 and taught in the La Crosse school district. These are mainly related to her teaching in the area.