Hart Nichols Collection, 1730-1930

The collection was donated by Linda T. Hubbard, who married Ervin Stuart Hubbard, III (1945-), a direct descendant to the Hart Nichols Family, and who inherited the family’s ancestral home “Heartsease” near Poughkeepsie, NY, together with the family records and artifacts that accumulated in the home’s attic since 1838.

The collection spans the years 1730 to 1930 and covers the lives of two families who lived on Long Island and started out as farmers and clergy. The papers document many different aspects of farming life and also covers significant events in American history.

The collection contains correspondence, indentures including mortgages, quitclaim and warranty deeds, assignments, tenant agreements, labor books, cash books, ledgers, journals, check registers, stock certificates, and tax receipts for New York and Florida.  Also in the collection are household accounting, cooking and medicinal recipes, fire insurance policies, school notebooks, college diplomas, maps, personal and farming diaries, weather diaries, genealogies, bibles, ordination papers, sermons and hymns.  There are last will and testaments, baptism records, estate papers, poetry, essays and compositions, copybooks, common place books, advertisements, and printed material.  Present in the collection are images and art work including photographs, oil paintings, watercolors, pastels, and pencil and ink drawings.  Also, there are textiles and artifacts such as clothing, hair, jewelry, and spectacles.  

This collection is generously supported by funds from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.

	"A Selection of Family Records and Artifacts" An Online Exhibit showcasing the Hart Nichols Collection 1730-1930  This collection of family records and artifacts is from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. The women in the Hart and Nichols families were responsible for saving and preserving the family’s rich history. The range of topics that can be found in the collection include farming, religion, slavery, women’s issues, the Gold Rush of 1849, and the Civil War. Access the Exhibit
	"The Civil War - Letters Home " An Online Exhibit showcasing the Hart Nichols Collection 1730-1930 The Hart Nichols Collection 1730-1930 includes uncensored Civil War letters from brothers Ambrose Burnham Hart (1844-1909) and Walter Nichols Hart (1842-1884 ), the bulk written by the latter and dated from 1863 to 1866.  The women in the Hart and Nichols families were responsible for saving and preserving these letters. Access the Exhibit
	"Louisa Adelia Nichols (1818-1892) - Vignettes of her life" An Online Exhibit showcasing the Hart Nichols Collection 1730-1930  Louisa Adelia Nichols life’s work was preserved in the Hart Nichols Collection 1730-1930. It includes personal letters, art work, textiles, recipes, short stories, poems and ephemera.  Louisa was the fifth child of Gideon and Elizabeth Nichols of Hempstead, New York.  She never married or had any children.  The women in the Hart and Nichols families were responsible for saving and preserving these items. Access the Exhibit
	Hart Nichols Collection (1730-1930) - Collection Finding Aid This document contains a complete description and inventory of the collection. Access the Finding Aid