The papers in this collection represent a small fraction of the business and personal records of the socially prominent Robinson and Coffin families of Wakefield, Rhode Island and New York City. The interests of the two families became intertwined with the marriage of Elsie Potter Robinson, daughter of Isaac Robinson and niece of Jeremiah Robinson, to Tristram R. Coffin. The Coffins had three children, sons Peter R. and Tristran. P. and daughter Trelsie. Tristram became a noted author and folklorist and Peter a college professor in Virginia. Unfortunately, there exists nothing in the papers to indicate the future course of Trelsie Coffin's later life.
Open for research.
Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Coffin/Robinson Family Papers, 1870-1970, Ms. 50, University of Rhode Island Library.
The collection spans the years 1870 to 1970 with the bulk of the papers between the years-of 1900 and 1940. It is divided into five series: Series one, Personal Papers; Series two, Business Records; Series three, Scrapbooks; Series four, Photographs; Series five, Maps and Blueprints.
In Series one can be found the Personal Papers of the Coffins and the Robinsons. The bulk of these are from the Coffin side of the family and consist of correspondence, prep school and college grade reports for Peter and Tristram P. Coffin, and the personal financial records and income statements of Elsie Potter Robinson Coffin. Though less fully represented than the Coffins in this series, the papers of the Robinson side of the family include the personal financial records of Isaac and Jeremiah Robinson, letterpress copybooks of Isaac, and correspondence and sketches of Isaac's daughter Ruth.
Series two, Business Records, is indistinguishable as to family source and contains materials relating to the Marginal Dock Company, a family-owned business in New York and Edgewood Farm, the family homestead in Wakefield and a working commercial farm in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Included are financial ledgers, crop ledgers, annual reports, day books, and journals.
Series three, Scrapbooks, consists of a number of scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, coats of arms, and monograms compiled by Elsie Potter Robinson [Coffin] when she was a child. Also included in this series are scrapbooks of newspaper clippings relating to the Marginal Dock Company and the New York Athletic Club.
The Photograph Series, Series IV, consists of a substantial number of both identified and unidentified photographs of members of the Coffin and Robinson families and the places they frequented. Included are photographs of Isaac and Jeremiah Robinson, Ruth Robinson, Elsie Potter Robinson Coffin and Tristram, Peter, and Trelsie Coffin. In addition, there is a group of unidentified photographs of people and places at the end of the series.
Series five, the Map and Blueprint Series, contains a group of blueprints and maps that reflect the Robinson family's extensive financial interests and landholdings in both Wakefield and New York City. Included are maps depicting family landholdings in South Kingstown, Narragansett and New York City, Marginal Dock Company blueprints, and floor plans for the family home at Edgewood Farm.
The collection spans the years 1870 to 1970 with the bulk of the papers between the years-of 1900 and 1940. It is divided into five series:
The Coffin/Robinson Family Papers were donated to the University of Rhode Library by Carlo Roberti, who removed them from the Coffin/Robinson family home after he purchased it in the summer of 1985. The papers were in no particular order when received by the Library and their provenance is unknown.
No further materials are expected for this collection.
The Personal Papers Series contains the personal, non-business records of the Coffin and Robinson families over an extended period. Among the papers included are correspondence, letterpress copybooks, income tax returns, bank statements, check stubs, school grade reports, and trust income statements.
Of particular interest in this series are the personal financial records of Isaac Robinson and Elsie Potter Robinson Coffin. The income tax returns, bank statements, check stubs, bills, and receipts reveal a good deal about the costs of goods and services in the early twentieth century, as well as indicating the income needed to sustain the lifestyle of an upper middle class family in the era of the Great Depression.
Also of interest in the series is the correspondence between Elsie and her sons Tristram and Peter while they were away at college at Haverford and Amherst respectively. The letters reveal a close familial relationship between mother and sons, one based on trust and mutual respect.
Finally, in this series are reprints and copies of journal articles written by Tristram P. Coffin. Coffin became a renowned author, teacher, and lecturer in the field of American folklore.
The records in this series are arranged alphabetically by the name of the family member and chronologically by date within folders.
Included in this series are ledgers, annual reports, daybooks, journals, and incorporation papers for such family owned businesses as the Marginal Dock Company, Robinson's Congress Stores of New York, the Point Judith Railroad Company, and the family owned Edgewood Farm.
Items of special interest in the Business Records Series include those records relating to the Edgewood Farm, the family homestead and a working commercial farm in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Among the Edgewood Farm records are general financial ledgers, crop ledgers, journals, and daybooks spanning the years 1880 to 1907. The daybooks in particular offer fascinating insights into the daily activities of a moderately large commercial farm in turn of the century southern Rhode Island. Also of importance are the crop ledgers which give an indication of milk and cash crop production, as well the general farm ledgers which give one an idea of the capital involved in operating a farm the size of Edgewood.
Other items of interest in the series include the annual reports and ledgers of the Marginal Dock Company and the incorporation papers of the Point Judith Railroad, of which both Isaac and Jeremiah Robinson were original incorporators.
The records are arranged alphabetically by the name of the business and chronologically by date within folders.
The Scrapbook Series consists of scrapbooks compiled by Elsie Potter Robinson Coffin during her childhood. Also in this series are two scrapbooks of unknown origin, one of newspaper clippings relating to the New York Athletic Club and another of clippings relating to the Marginal Dock Company.
Each of Elsie Potter Robinson's scrapbooks is unique and interesting. One is devoted solely to coats of arms and monograms of individuals, businesses and nations. A second is devoted to pictures of Greek and Roman ruins, apparently clipped from magazines. Finally, a third is a potpourri of newspaper clippings, cartoons, pictures, and parts of programs from Broadway plays. The subject matter ranges from fashion to the theatre, to the American Revolution to the Spanish-American War.
The scrapbooks are arranged alphabetically by the name of the compiler, or by the topic of the scrapbook if the compiler is unknown.
The Photograph Series consists of a group of loose photographs and one photo album of the Robinson and Coffin families and the places they frequented. Although many of the photographs have been identified, about one quarter of them remain unidentified.
Perhaps the most interesting item in the series is an album of photographs are taken by Ruth Robinson in 1900 and 1901. All the photos are identified in her own handwriting and provide a fascinating glimpse of life in America at the turn of the century. In addition to the only photographs of Edgewood Farm in the collection, the album contains photographs taken during a visit to Camden, South Carolina. Those photographs reveal a great deal about the South as it poised on the brink of the twentieth century. There are photographs of antebellum mansions and former slave quarters in which blacks still lived. There is even a photograph of an elderly black couple identified as former slaves. Finally, in this album are several photographs of the remains of the famous Narragansett Casino, taken the day after the magnificent hotel along Ocean Road in Narragansett was destroyed by fire.
Also of interest in this series are photographs of most of the principal members of the two families, Isaac, Jeremiah, and Ruth Robinson, and Elsie, Tristram, Peter, and Trelsie Coffin.
The series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the person or place photographed. Ruth Robinson's photo album is at the beginning of the series and photographs of unidentified people and places are grouped together at the end of the series.
The Map/Blueprint Series contains 24 maps and blueprints of land, buildings, and wharves in which the Robinson family had an interest. Of particular interest are the maps depicting the extensive landholdings of Jeremiah Robinson in the Point Judith Pond, Narragansett Pier, and Wakefield areas. There are also maps in the series depicting Robinson family holdings along the Brooklyn, New York waterfront.
Also included in the series are blueprints and/or floor plans for the house at Edgewood Farm, the Robinson Congress Store in New York City, and Marginal Dock Company Wharves in Brooklyn.
The maps and blueprints have been assigned an arbitrary number from 1 to 24 and arranged numerically by that number in map drawers.