Collection inventory

Biographical History

Birth place unknown, Harriet Randolph King was christened Ruth Ann, but changed her name to Harriet Randolph at the age of thirteen. As a child, she traveled extensively with her mother (Mary Ann Butler), who was married three times, her last husband being John King. Harriet King married a Baltimore merchant, Alpheus Hyatt, and for a time lived in Washington, where her son was Born on April 5, 1834, and named after his father. Harriet R. Hyatt had one other child, a daughter named Ida, while two other infants died earlier. After a few years, the family returned to Baltimore where they lived on an extensive estate on the edge of a-town called "Wansbeck."

Any other information known about Harriet R. Hyatt is scanty. She took her son, Alpheus Hyatt II, on a tour of Italy in 1858. She was very active in volunteer work during the Civil War, and established diet kitchens in Baltimore and Harpers Ferry for the soldiers, to correct some of the extremely poor sanitary conditions. She set up temporary hospitals to care for the wounded after the disastrous battle of Gettysburg, and used family funds to support them. She demanded an interview with President Lincoln to protest the conditions under which the soldiers suffered, and because of her stubbornness, gained the President's ear and sympathy.

In her later life, she again traveled abroad, and lived to an old age.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The papers of Harriet Randolph King Hyatt include correspondence, and an accounting of Mrs. Hyatt's estate after her death.

Correspondence, includes incoming letters, outgoing correspondence, and correspondence of others, which is a letter to Mrs. Harriet R. Hyatt's niece, asking about Mrs. Hyatt's ancestors. Subject File, contains an accounting of Mrs. Hyatt's estate after her death.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Incoming correspondence is arranged alphabetically by author, while outgoing correspondence is organized chronologically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

The Special Collections Research Center has numerous collections for the Hyatt-Mayor families. For information on members of the Hyatt, Mayor, Beebe, and Huntington families see the SCRC Subject Index for the finding aids of individual family members.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Places

Genres and Forms

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Harriet Randolph King Hyatt Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of A. Hyatt Mayor and Anna Hyatt Huntington, 1964-1967.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: --
Date: 1966?
Revision history: 20 Mar 2008 - converted to EAD (LDC)

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Inventory

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