Collection ID: HK001

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Helen Lucy Stebbins Kennard
Abstract:
Helen Lucy Kennard was a direct descendant of the Ledyard family name. Throughout her life, Helen took a great interest in her family's history and compiled genealogical research piecing together her history that she wanted to publish as a book. Her collection contain that same genealogical research, correspondence pertaining to said research, original land and business papers and original correspondence between her ancestors. The collection also contains ephemera, printed materials, newspaper clippings, and photographs that pertain to her research and her family history.
Extent:
7.09 linear feet and 17 manuscript boxes
Language:
English

Background

Scope and Content:

The Helen Lucy Kennard Collection documents her genealogical research and the primary documents she used to aid in her research. For her genealogical research, the collection contains notebooks, typed histories, genealogical ledgers, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, printed materials, ephemera, and correspondence pertaining to the history of the family itself and related family names.

The collection also includes business and land papers, legal documents, and original correspondence from Helen's ancestors. The correspondence dates back to 1700, but a bulk of the correspondence spans from the 1800s to the 1930s. The correspondence also includes communication related to Helen Lucy Kennard's genealogical research. This includes close family members, distant, relatives, genealogical societies, and public libraries. This correspondence ranges from the 1890s to the 1940s.

The business and land papers are comprised of land sales, leases, mortgages, and agreements, and the business papers are comprised of, but not limited to, business conducted by Charles Stebbins as the Receiver of The Oswego Bank. These papers range from the 1700s to 1954, with a bulking being from the 1800s to the 1890s.

The legal documents contain, but are not limited to, a New York State Supreme Court Case involving Charles Stebbins and The Oswego Bank, wills, estate inheritance documents, and written inventories of estates. The dates for these documents are 1820s to 1900s.

The newspaper clippings contain mostly Cazenovia related events and news. They also contain genealogical information, obituaries, wedding announcements, and political news, mostly pertaining to the Democratic Party. The date range for this series is 1825-1967. Printed Materials include magazines, genealogical booklets, Cazenovia related booklets, early Cazenovia historical materials, postcards, and event pamphlets. The date range for this series is 1811-1952.

The ephemera in the collection pertains to correspondence in the collection due to its collection of envelopes. The rest contain, cards, gift tags, advertisements, event flyers for meetings are performances in Cazenovia, passports, poems, a cookbook, a scrapbook of drawings, a diary, and invitations. The dates for this series range from 1832-1942.

The photographs in this collection are of various family members and dolls. The dates range from ca. 1860-1960.

Biographical / Historical:

Helen Lucy Kennard was born on January 11th, 1874 in Cazenovia, New York. In 1896, she married Arthur Wood Kennard, son of William Henry and Philena (Hubbard) Kennard.

Helen Lucy Kennard was the ninth generation of Ledyards in Cazenovia. Given her family's rich history and early roots in America, she conducted her own research in which she was going to write a book.

Acquisition information:
The acquisition information for The Helen Lucy Kennard Collection is unknown as of October 31st, 2022.
Processing information:

The Helen Lucy Kennard Collection was processed by Russell Grills and Sharon Cooney c. 1980s and reprocessed by Lucy Bell for the 2021/2022 grant funded project from the New York State Parks and Recreation Department to create and publish finding aids for the archives of the Lorenzo State Historic Site.

Arrangement:

The Helen Lucy Kennard Collection is arranged into nine series: I. Correspondence, II. Land Documents, III. Business Papers, IV. Legal Documents, V. Ephemera, VI. Printed Materials, VII. Genealogy, VIII. Newspaper Clippings, IX. Photographs. The correspondence, business papers, legal documents, land documents, and photographs are arranged chronologically by decade. The genealogical correspondence within the correspondence series, genealogy, newspaper clippings, ephemera, and printed materials series is arranged chronologically by exact date.

Some series are arranged within this collection differently than other collections due to the processing archivist utilizing the Getty Art and Architecture Thesaurus in later collections.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: a Content Standard

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

The Helen Lucy Kennard Collection is open to public research. The Lorenzo State Historic Site archives are open to researchers, Monday through Friday, by appointment only. Please call 315-655-3200 to set up your appointment.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Copyrighted material will be copied in accordance with copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code) and the CONTU Guidelines. Written permission from copyright owner or payment of a royalty fee may be required. The copyright law governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or other reproduction is not to be “used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research.” If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for a purpose in excess of “fair use,” that user may be liable for copyright infringement. All responsibility for use of the reproductions is assumed by the applicant. NYS OPRHP reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its sole judgement, fulfillment of the order would involve a violation of copyright law.

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
South Cottage
17 Rippleton Road
Cazenovia, NY 13035, United States
CONTACT:
315-655-3200