Maher Family Collection

The Maher Family Collection is divided into four separate series: S1. Correspondence, S2. Autographs, S3. Photographs and Drawings, and S4. Miscellaneous. Because of the fragility and value of many of the items, the Correspondence and Autograph series are followed by an alphabetical listing of the materials that are stored in the locked cabinets in the vault. Therefore, the researcher should also consult this part of the finding aid when searching for a particular item. Also, three of the autographs are oversized and are listed in a section titled "Autographs/Oversized Cabinet, Drawer 1 at the end of this series.

The first series, S1. Correspondence, consists primarily of letters written to, or collected by, William H. Maher, between 1863 and 1906. These letters were either written to him personally or to his company, Maher & Grosh Cutlery Company. Two letters are addressed to Anne (Kelsey) Maher, William Maher's wife and Amy Grace Maher's mother. There are also letters written to Amy G. Maher, mostly solicited from literary figures in the 1890s. The letters are arranged alphabetically using the names of the recipients are subheadings. The original criterion for the preservation of these letters appears to have been the celebrity of the letter writers. William H. Maher, as president of the Young Men’s Club of Windsor Locks, Connecticut, in 1866, attempted to engage several prominent individuals as lecturers. Mostly negative, replies were written by Horace Greeley, P. T. Barnum, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Louis Agassiz, and others. Later correspondence consists of acknowledgments from Ohio Congressmen and governors and from authors with whom Maher had contact as a reviewer for the Blade. Of note are two autographed poems: “Old Ironsides” by Oliver Wendell Holmes (1889) and “Xmas Greeting” by James Whitcomb Riley (1896). In a letter to Maher & Grosh Cutlery Company, for a large order of knives, the writer Jack London announces his intention to use them as trade goods on a seven-year cruise around the world.

The series S2. Autographs, contains a collection of signed letters and autographs of Revolutionary and Colonial figures, United States Presidents, Civil War generals, and others. These are arranged alphabetically by the name of the signer. Probably the most significant is a letter from James Madison, then Secretary of State, to the American minister in France, Robert R. Livingston, in which Madison gives instructions for negotiations with the French. An autograph album contains signatures of Colonial New England ministers, including two bookplates of the 17th-century Rhode Island Baptist John Clarke, and of congressmen of the first half of the nineteenth century. Someone living in Maine may have assembled this album. S3. Photographs and Drawings, contains photographs of Amy G. Maher and of others. It also contains a pencil drawing of Miss Maher done in 1921. The Olive A. Colton Collection should be consulted for related material. The final series, S4. Miscellaneous, contains additional material on the life of Amy G. Maher. Of particular note is an executive order signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointing Miss Maher to the Social Security Board. Here the researcher will also find a copy of a book by Amy G. Maher entitled Littlebrook. Since this collection is a highly selective group of letters, it is not possible to reconstruct the activities of William H. Maher or Amy G Maher in full. Researchers interested in the Independent Party, in Toledo banking, or in Progressivism, will find only a few items of interest.