Guide to the Mary Elinor Lazenby Papers, 1933-1955 DAR.1958.01
- Repository
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Title
- Mary Elinor Lazenby Papers
- Creator
- Lazenby, Mary E.
- Collection Number
- DAR.1958.01
- Extent
- 0.42 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Date
- 1933-1955
- Abstract
- Mary Elinor Lazenby published her three part work, Herman Husband: A Story of His Life, on the Revolutionary War era Quaker in 1940. Husband was a leader of the Regulator movement in North Carolina in the late 1760s and early 1770s. This collection contains photostats of Herman Husband's sermons and the Regulator Papers used by Lazenby during her research. The collection also includes Lazenby's research correspondence and a scrapbook documenting critical response to her book and its connection to Husband's descendant, Admiral Husband E. Kimmel.
- Language
- English .
- Publisher
- ULS Archives & Special Collections
- Address
- University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
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URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Biography
Mary Elinor Lazenby was originally from Iredell County, North Carolina, and spent many years in Washington, D.C. In 1940, Lazenby published her three part work, Herman Husband: A Story of His Life, on the Revolutionary War era Quaker. Lazenby was not an academic historian, and her work was not well received by professional historians. However, Lazenby's book garnered some attention at the time of its publication because of the controversy surrounding Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, one of Husband's descendants. Admiral Kimmel was one of the naval officers criticized by the American press for the military's unreadiness for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Herman Husband is a significant and controversial figure in early American politics. Sometimes referred to as Hermon or Haemon, Husband was born in Maryland into an Anglican family in 1724. Husband came of age during the first Great Awakening, a period of Protestant religious revival typified by English preacher George Whitfield. In the 1760s, Husband practiced Presbyterianism, but later became a Quaker.
Husband became a spokesman for farmers in the Piedmont region, known as the Regulators, in the state legislature of North Carolina. The Regulators opposed excessive taxes levied on them by corrupt officials. William Tryon, the royal governor of North Carolina, failed to remedy the situation because he wanted to maintain the loyalty of local officials who directly profited from excessive taxes. A declared pacifist, Husband did not participate or approve of the armed skirmishes between Regulators and local officials in the western counties in the late 1760s and early 1770s. Husband published a number of tracts related to the conflict, and was arrested for libel against Governor Tryon. After his release from prison, Husband fled North Carolina, moving to Maryland. Soon after, two thousand disorganized Regulators gathered at Alamance to demonstrate their superior numbers to the governor. The Regulators had poor battlefield leadership and weak supply lines, and were soundly defeated by one thousand government troops. Husband later moved to Bedford, Pennsylvania, and became entrenched in frontier politics. In western Pennsylvania, Husband was involved in the Whiskey Rebellion; he acted as a delegate to the meetings at Parkinson's Ferry and Redstone and encouraged peaceful resolution of the conflict. Although moderate Hugh Henry Brackenridge managed to narrowly avoid criminal charges, Husband was arrested. Husband was marched to Philadelphia and incarcerated by federal troops after the rebellion was quashed. Less than a month after his release from prison, Husband died of pneumonia near Philadelphia in June 1795.
Scope and Content Notes
This collection documents Lazenby's research for her 1940 book, Herman Husband: A Story of His Life, and media response to its publication. The collection contains photostats of Herman Husband's sermons and the Regulator Papers, and a typewritten transcription of a 1770 letter from James Hunter to Maurice Moore (the original letter is not in this collection). Also included are letters from archivists, librarians, and city and state records managers to Lazenby regarding her requests for information during her research into the life of Herman Husband. Lazenby also communicated with descendents of Herman Husband, including Singleton Husband Kimmel and Charles M. Husband. Clippings and a scrapbook document the media response to her book. Many of the clippings are descriptions of the book published in local newspapers; others are reviews in the academic literature. Not all of the response to Lazenby's book was positive. For example, Lazenby's dismissed the Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography's response to her book, claiming the review was "replete with virulence and untruth." A connection between Lazenby's book and his descendant Admiral Husband E. Kimmel is demonstrated by clippings in the scrapbook. Also present are two small publications about Herman Husband. The copy ofHerman Husband's Continuation of the Imperial Relation is inscribed as a gift to Lazenby from its author, Archibald Henderson.
Arrangement
Series I. Manuscript Photostats and Transcriptions, 1750-1770
Series II. Research Correspondence, 1933-1947
Series III. Response to Publication, 1947-1955
Series IV. Related Materials, 1939-1941
Access Restrictions
No restrictions.
Acquisition Information
Gift to the Darlington Memorial Library in 1958.
Previous Citation
Mary Elinor Lazenby Papers, 1933-1955, DAR.1958.01, Darlington Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
Preferred Citation
Mary Elinor Lazenby Papers, 1933-1955, DAR.1958.01, Darlington Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Angela Manella in April 2007.
Copyright
No copyright restrictions.
Custodial History
This collection was located in the Darlington Memorial Library in the University's Cathedral of Learning until 2007 when it was moved to the ULS Archives Service Center for processing, storage, preservation and service. However, it remains in the custodianship of the ULS Special Collections Department.
Related Material
Jones, Marc H. Herman Husband: Millenarian, Carolina regulator, and Whiskey Rebel. PhD Diss, 1982. Hamilton, John Jay.
Herman Husband: Penman of the regulation, a study of Husband's Role in the North Carolina Regulation. PhD Diss, 1969. Lazenby, Mary Elinor.
Herman Husband, A Story of His Life. Washington, D. C., Old Neighborhoods Press, 1940.
Subjects
- Husbands, Hermon
- Lazenby, Mary E.
- Pennsylvania -- History
- Personal papers
- Reviews
- Scrapbooks
- Correspondence
- Herman Husbands
- Whiskey Rebellion, Pa., 1794
- Soldiers -- United States