Spear Family Papers

The Spear Family Papers contain an interesting array of manuscripts from the 1790s to the 1940s, which document four generations of a Vermont family.The majority of the manuscripts in the Papers came to the Wilbur Collection between 1978 and 1983. These acquisitions were part of the aftermath of a 1978 auction that dispersed the contents of the attic of Elhanan W. Spear's 1804 family homestead. This building, on Route 7 in Shelburne (just south of the Shelburne/South Burlington town line), is currently the headquarters of the Perry Restaurant Group. Additional materials in the collection, primarily Turrill family papers from the 1850s to the 1940s, were acquired in 1989, 1990 and 1996.

The collection consists of ten cartons, four oversize folders, and two oversize bound manuscripts. Collection contents, approximately ten linear feet, are divided into two series: Spear Family (1790s-1920s) and the Turrill Family (1850s-1940s), each approximately five linear feet in size. Subseries for each series consist of correspondence, financial papers, legal papers, family papers, photographs, and bound manuscripts. Correspondence is arranged chronologically, while all other subseries are in alphabetical order by title or description. Collection materials from both series include extensive correspondence, business papers, receipts & bills, deeds & mortgages, photographs, assorted writings, ephemera, songs & poems, and bound manuscripts, such as account books, diaries, notebooks, and schoolbooks. One map-case drawer contains four oversize folders; materials are primarily surveys and boat-building drawings by Orson S. Spear (1808-1890).

Cartons 2 and 7 contain some genealogical and biographical notes that may be useful in sorting out the Spears, Turrills, and other relatives. Researchers should also consult Verne R. Spear, The Descendants of George Spear who Settled at Braintree, Massachusetts 1642 - 1988 (West Hawley, MA, 1988), Wilbur Collection call-number CS 71 .S64 1988.

The Spear Family Papers include a bulk of papers concerning Elhanan W. Spear's (1782-1869) shoemaking and tanning operations, Orson S. Spear's (1808-1890) work as a land surveyor, housewright, and Lake Champlain steamboat and ship builder in the 1850s, and Clayton R. Turrill's (1849-1924) late nineteenth-century investments and business interests, particularly in Utah mining ventures. There are also a number of letters, postcards, and photographs that document Julius R. Turrill's (1876-1943) life in the U.S. Marine Corps in the early twentieth century. A scattering of Shelburne town records from the 1830s through the 1880s document some aspects of local government in the nineteenth century, particularly in regard to school management and finances. Numerous family letters, notebooks, and diaries detail the activities of four generations of Spears, offering a good look at the ties between those who stayed in Shelburne and those who moved away from the family homestead. The collection also contains an extensive selection of bills and receipts from the late 18th to the early 20th century; researchers interested in the financial papers of Spears and Turrills should also consult the bound manuscripts in each series. A small section of manuscript songs and poems sheds some light on popular music in early Vermont, while a comparably-sized section of schoolbooks and papers illuminate shifts in educational practices from the 1790s to 1910s.