Scope and arrangement
This collection spans multiple generations and consists of family papers, photographs, and genealogical research papers of the Fords, Roelkers, Turles and related families in the 19th and 20th centuries. Alfred K.F. is used to refer to Alfred Sr. who came to the United States from Germany, and Alfred is used when referring to Alfred K.F.'s son, who was born in the United States. Papers are filed alphabetically by family name or location name.
Most of the family papers belong to the Roelkers. Some items of interest include Alfred K.F.'s letters to and from family in Germany in the mid-19th century, which document his arrival at the age of 15 in the United States; Alfred K.F.'s sisters Isabella and Anna's sketchbook and book of poems, respectively; and Alfred's son Alfred's letters from the U.S.S. FDR to his wife Millicent in 1950 regarding Cuba. Other items of interest in the family papers include Kathleen Ford Turle's memoirs of Brooklyn Heights, a signed letter by Noah Webster to the Hartford Times in 1840, and the journal of the Turle Family European trip in1898.
The photographs are separated into two sub-series, files and daguerreotypes. The files contain portraits of family members, locations, and residences. Some particular points of interest are photographs of Emily Fowler Ford and Gordon Lester Ford; interior photos of the Ford home in Brooklyn Heights, New York; photographs of the Lawtons and their residences in Rhode Island; and photographs of Alfred K.F. Roelker from the mid-19th century.
The Roelkers and Lawtons are well-represented in the daguerreotypes. They span in date from the mid-to-late 19th century.
The genealogical research papers contain the combined research of multiple family members, including Madge Huntington Cooper, Anna E. Roelker, Charles Platt, Jr. (who wrote a comprehensive genealogy of the Roelkers), and others.
Some items of interest include copies of correspondence between Bernard Roelker and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; transcriptions of Emily Fowler Ford's notebook regarding her children; and photocopies of Kathleen Ford Turle's diary. Genealogical materials related to Alfred K.F. Roelker and Catherine Lawton Roelker include references to family domestic arrangements in the early 19th century in Osnabruck, Germany and Newport, Rhode Island.
The Ford, Roelker, Turle family papers are arranged in three series:
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1811-1950
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ca. 1847-1984