Hinckley family collection, 1796-1956.

The Hinckley Family Collection contains correspondence, photographs, documents, and genealogical materials produced by or relating to the Hinckley and Lyman families of Northampton, Massachusetts. The collection has a particular focus on Samuel Lyman Hinckley (1810-1871), Henry Rose Hinckley (1838-1918), and the allied Lyman and Barrett families.

Samuel Lyman Hinckley, son of Jonathan Huntington Lyman, legally changed his name in 1831. Samuel is represented in this collection primarily as a recipient of correspondence, especially from son Henry Rose Hinckley (120 letters). Subjects covered in the letters from Henry include his education in Switzerland (1853-1855), European tour (1860-1862), and his service as a Second Lieutenant in the 5th Massachusetts Cavalry Regiment during the Civil War (1864-1865). Many of the Civil War letters were written from City Point, Virginia, and Point Lookout, Maryland. The collection also contains 57 letters Henry sent to his Mother for the same time period covering similar subjects. Other correspondents to Samuel L. Hinckley include James D. Blanding (9 letters), David Hinckley Lyman (46 letters), John Chester Lyman (27 letters), father Jonathan Huntington Lyman (26 letters), and Mellis and Murdock Forsyth of Elgin, Scotland (17 letters). There are also a few photographs of Samuel in the collection.

Henry Rose Hinckley (1838-1918) received correspondence from mother Anne (Parker) Hinckley and father Samuel Lyman Hinckley (177 letters), Rosa Isabella (Douglas) Baldwin (29 letters), S.L. Baldwin (27 letters), Sarah Rose Grier Beck (46 letters), Rev Albert Zabresk Gray (11 letters), Susan (Crothers) Hornblower (11 letters), John Chester Lyman (18 letters), Joseph Lyman (20 letters), and 21 others. There are five letter books containing copies of letters written by Henry R Hinckley from 1871 to 1916.

Original records concerning Henry R Hinckley include his military commission as Second Lieutenant (1864), honorable discharge (1865), letter granting him permission to practice as an attorney in Massachusetts (1866), and a fifty page handwritten journal documenting a tour through Switzerland and Italy in 1854 (illustrated with 31 post cards published by Lemercier of Paris including images of Vevey, Montreux et Chillo, Villeneux, Martigny, Louesch, Interlaken, and Chillon). The collection also contains twelve copies of articles written by Henry R Hinckley including "Aught a Minister of the Gospel Preach all He Believes" and "Capital and Labor". A significant amount of correspondence and documents in the collection relates to a lawsuit brought by Jonathan Huntington Lyman against the beneficiaries of Samuel Lyman Hinckley’s will: Henry Rose Hinckley, as executor and in his own right, Anne Hinckley, widow, Samuel P Hinckley, Susan Hinckley, and Robert Hinckley. The case, filed on 1 September 1876, was heard by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

The collection contains many photographs of Henry Rose Hinckley. The photos include a copy of a miniature done of him as a baby, portraits for the Yale College Class Book, photos of him in his Civil War uniform, and many other photos of him throughout his life.

Other family members represented in the collection include Samuel Parker Hinckley (1850-1935), Edward Barrett Hinckley (b. 1868), Henry Barrett Hinckley (1871-1940), George Lyman Hinckley (b. 1879), Joseph Lyman, Dr Benjamin Barrett, and Edward Benjamin Barrett. Rose Hinckley (1874-1963) was an amateur genealogist who did research into her family’s history. She collected much of the genealogical information present in the collection. There are also many photos of Rose from her youth through college and young adulthood. The photos are often of Rose with friends including a photo of Rose on the Smith College basketball team.

Additional documents of note include a scrapbook produced by Agnes Chamberlin (Childs) Hinckley while attending Smith College and Bible records for the families of David Adams, Benjamin Barrett, Caleb Strong, and Seth Wright.