Scope and Content Note

The Charles M. Dickinson Family Papers cover the years 1830-1964, with emphasis on the first quarter of the 20th century. The major portion of the collection is the correspondence of Mr. Dickinson and his second wife, Alice Bond Minard Dickinson, but also includes poems, other correspondence, financial records, pictures and photographs, and miscellaneous papers.

The poetry of Charles M. Dickinson nearly parallels his law and newspaper careers, which covered a period from 1860 continuing up until about 1900. Many references are made in Charles M.'s correspondence to “The Children”, his most famous poem.

Mr. Dickinson's diplomatic career is covered more completely by the collection in the Library of Congress, but his 1922 letters to Henry Morgenthau, Oscar S. Heizer, Wilbur Carr, and Douglas Robinson offer further insights to the abduction - ransoming incident involving Miss Ellen M. Stone, in 1901.

The general correspondence makes up most of the important part of the collection, beginning soon after Mr. Dickinson's diplomatic career ends. There is a wide range of political letters from 1912 to 1914. It is also during this period that Mr. Dickinson exchanged frequent letters with John L. Stoddard, famous author and traveler. These letters may be important indicators of the turmoil in Europe just before World War I. The correspondence between Hugh and Mary Poynter and Dickinson (addressed to him as, “Dearest Good Man”), from 1917-1922 gives insights to British and American opinion during and after World War I.

The incident concerning Daniel Stevens Dickinson (1800-1866) who was a New York State delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1852 is explained in detail in Charles Monroe Dickinson's letters to Ray Franklin Nichols on September 7 and November 6, 1922. They offer substantiation to the theory that by refusing to allow his name to be placed in nomination for the presidency by the Virginia and North Carolina delegations, Daniel S. Dickinson in effect denied his own chances and threw the convention to Franklin Pierce who was later elected president. This incident is referred to in other 1922 correspondence.

The material continues after the death of Mr. Dickinson in 1924, in the form of the correspondence of his second wife and her subsequent career as a prominent community and state club leader. This series continues, from 1938-1943, under the name of Mrs. Louis Balog. Still another group of papers covers the financial affairs of several members of the family.

Lastly, there is a wide assortment of general miscellaneous papers, including genealogical records, newspaper clippings, photographs and negatives (many unidentified), club notes and minutes, and assorted notebooks.

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