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Charles Russell Walworth
Family Papers, ca. 1876-1925

SC23359

Quantity: 1 box (0.25 cubic ft.)
Access: Open to research
Acquisition: Gift: Historical Society of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., February 2016
Processed By: Regina Berry, Student Assistant, State University of New York at Albany, February 2016

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Biographical Note:

Charles Russell Walworth was born in Richland, Oswego County, New York on August 27, 1848. His father, Charles Nash Walworth (1824-1907), was a millwright, also born in Oswego, who had served in the Civil War. His mother, Luanna Curtis, (1822-1900) was from Massachusetts. Charles Russell was the oldest of four children, with siblings Emma Elizabeth and two younger brothers. By the time Charles was 23, he was employed as a railroad brakeman and boarding in a home in Watertown, New York. 

On November 3, 1875, in Boylston, Oswego County, New York, he married Mary Aleda Rude (also spelled Alleda, Aled), born August 18, 1851, in Volney, New York.  Their only child, Lora (or Laura) Angelia Walworth, was born in Boylston on September 16, 1876.

Charles continued in his employment with the railroad, still boarding in Watertown in 1880, according to the 1880 Census, despite being married and a father by that time.  At the age of 41 Charles was taken ill and died quickly on April 19, 1890 in Pierrepont Manor, New York.  Both of his brothers having already passed away left his parents and his sister Emma, now married to Robert Tennant, and his wife and daughter as his surviving relatives.  

At the age of 21, Lora married blacksmith Ira Thomas Cobb, on December 24, 1897, in Pierrepont Manor, New York.  Her mother, Aleda was living with the young couple in Schuyler, Herkimer County, New York as of the 1900 Census.  She is listed as Mary Walrath [sic], dressmaker.  Mary Aleda Rude Walworth died September 2, 1907, in Utica, New York, at the age of 56.  Ira and Lora Walworth Cobb had 11 or 12 children, several of whom died very young.  Lora Cobb passed away on October 15, 1933, in Herkimer, New York.

Scope and Content Note:

This small collection of letters and papers primarily contains family correspondence. The earliest items are between Aleda Rude Walworth and her younger sister, Mina Durand Rude, who in 1876 married a bartender in Michigan.  Other letters are from Charles to Aleda, and from friends and family members to Aleda. There is one property deed for the purchase of land in Boylston, New York.  Included are some letters of unknown significance (Folder 6) and some genealogical material for the Calkins and Spencer families (Folder 7), also of unknown significance.  The photographs in the collection (Folder 10) are mostly unlabeled and it is not clear how they are related to Charles and Aleda Walworth. The photographs are not dated, but the content suggests they were taken sometime during the period circa 1915 to 1925. Three photographs bear inscriptions indicating an Illinois location, but this Walworth family does not appear to have lived anywhere but New York State.  The photographs may be from a later generation of the family.

Box and Folder List:

Box Folder Description
1 1 Letters: To Charles and Mary Aleda Rude Walworth from her Rude siblings, 1876-1881 (5 items):
  1. To Mrs. Mary Walworth, Boylston Center, Oswego Co., N.Y., from M. S. Rude, East Saginaw, Mich., January [9] 1876 (postcard)
  2. To Mrs. Alleda M. Walworth, Lacona, Oswego Co., N.Y., from William and Mina S. Woodley, East Saginaw, Mich., May 24, 1876
  3. To Mrs. Alleda M. Walworth, Boylston Center, Oswego Co., N.Y., from Mrs. M. S. Woodley, East Saginaw, Mich., February 15, 1877
  4. To Mrs. Alleda M. Walworth, Boylston Center, Oswego Co., N.Y., from sister Mina, March 2, [?]
  5. To Mrs. Charles R. Walworth, Watertown, Jefferson Co., N.Y., from Thomas A. Rude, Fulton, N.Y., November 3, 1881
1 2 Letters: Charles Walworth to Aleda Walworth, 1882-1889 (4 items):
  1. From Mexico, N.Y., April 30, 1882
  2. From Boylston, N.Y., April 29, 1887 (postcard)
  3. From Theresa, N.Y., June 17, 1889
  4. From Barnes Corners, N.Y., September 20, 1889 (includes mortgage receipt from S. W. Tilton)
1 3 Letters: To Rev. Charles R. Walworth, Pierpont [sic] Manor, N.Y., from cousin Ed Miller, Garfield, Kansas, December 5, 1886 and July 10, 1887 (2 items)
1 4 Letters: Condolences to Charles and Aleda Walworth, 1890 (3 items):
  1. To C.R. Walworth, Pierrepont Manor, N.Y. from Geo[rge] A. Russell, Secretary, Independent Order of Odd Fellows, Watertown, N.Y., April 11, 1890
  2. To Mrs. C.H. Walworth, Pierrepont Manor, N.Y., from Lilla T. Manwarren [?], Mexico, N.Y., April 20, 1890
  3. To Mrs. C.R. Walworth, Pierrepont Manor, N.Y., from Mrs. Emma Jacquett, Syracuse, N.Y., May 28, 1890
1 5 Letters: To Aleda Walworth from family members, 1895-1907, n.d.(5 items):
  1. To Aunt [Aleda Walworth] from nephew Roy [?], Hermon, [N.Y.], January 29, [?]
  2. To Aleda [Walworth] from [brother-in-law] R[obert]. Tennant, Boylston [N.Y.], May 26, 1895
  3. To Mrs. Aleda M. Walworth, Pierrepont Manor, N.Y., from [mother or father], Fulton, N.Y., October 6, 1897
  4. To Mrs. Aleda Walworth, Deerfield, Oneida Co., N.Y., from [?] Farrell, Antwerp, N.Y., December 24, 1906
  5. To Mrs. Alleda Walworth, Deerfield, N.Y., (care of I. T. Cobb) from L. L. Rude, Utica, N.Y., February 1, 1907
1 6 Letters, 1886, 1893 (2 items):
  1. To unknown from John G.R. Merriam, Waltham, Mass., December 12, 1886
  2. To Mr. Ira T. Cobb, Grass Lake, Lake Co., Ill., from Mrs. Bushel, Chicago, Ill., September 29, 1893 (p. 5-8; p. 1-4 missing)
1 7 Genealogy correspondence and notes (relating to the Calkins and Spencer families, relationship unknown), 1888, n.d. (3 items)
1 8 Envelopes, addressed, empty (6 items):
  1. Four to Mrs. Walworth, 1890-1906
  2. One to Miss Lara Walworth, Pierrepont Manor, N.Y., from the I.O.O.F. Lodge, Watertown, N.Y., January 29, 1892
  3. One to Mr. Ira Cobb, Grass Lake, Lake Co., Ill., from Antioch Ill., September 27, [?]
1 9 Deed, mortgage and financial papers, 1880-1897 (5 items):
  1. Deed of sale of property in Town of Boylston, Oswego Co., N.Y., from Julius and Nancy Martin to Aled [sic] M. Walworth, for $1300, March 5, 1880
  2. Mortgage receipts from S.W. Tilton to Mrs. Walworth, 1892, 1894
  3. Letter forwarding $2 from the Watertown I.O.O.F. to Mrs. Walworth, December 18, 1897
1 10 Photographs, black and white, undated, ca. 1915-1925  (13 items):
  1. Man and woman sitting on the steps of a two-story house, notation on reverse: "Aunt Hinnie [?] and Uncle Charles, Antioch Ill."
  2. Same house as above, notation on reverse: "Uncle Charles house in Antioch Ill."
  3. Sailboat with sailor on a lake, notation on reverse:  "looks like Ice [?] Boat, Lake Marie, Ill.?"
  4. Two men by lake holding ducks or birds they have shot
  5. One of the above men with a small dog
  6. Three or four men with a small boat in the water
  7. Family group of seven adults and two children, with house and cars behind
  8. Group of two men and two women, posing by a small monument
  9. Group of various-aged children and an adult woman outside what is probably a schoolhouse
  10. House from a distance surrounded by water, possibly flooded
  11. Couple on skates, with a dog, on a frozen lake
  12. Three men and a horse in the snow by a lake, possibly cutting ice
  13. A young man perched on a piece of [farm?] equipment
Last Updated: March 16, 2022