Smithsonian Institution Archives

Finding Aids to Personal Papers and
Special Collections in the Smithsonian Institution Archives

Record Unit 7071
George A. Boardman Papers,
1860-1899 and undated, with related papers to 1904

By William E. Cox

Introduction

Historical Note

Descriptive Entry


INTRODUCTION

This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.


HISTORICAL NOTE

George A. Boardman (1818-1901) was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He moved to Calais, Maine, with his family in 1828, and lived there for the remainder of his life. Boardman owned a lumber business for over 30 years, retiring in 1871. An amateur ornithologist, Boardman was acquainted with many prominent naturalists and corresponded extensively with Spencer F. Baird of the Smithsonian Institution. After his retirement from business, Boardman spent his winters in Florida collecting specimens, many of which were donated to the United States National Museum. His primary contribution to ornithological literature was the "Catalogue of the Birds Found in the Vicinity of Calais, ME., and about the Islands at the Mouth of the Bay of Fundy" which appeared in the Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History in 1862.


DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY

These papers document George A. Boardman's work as an ornithologist, and consist primarily of incoming correspondence to Boardman from naturalists, including Spencer F. Baird, Joel Asaph Allen, Thomas Mayo Brewer, Elliott Coues, Henry Eeles Dresser, Daniel Giraud Elliot, Robert Ridgway, Addison Emery Verrill, and William Wood. Small amounts of outgoing correspondence are included and are noted in the folder list. Also included is correspondence documenting the deposit of the Boardman papers in the Smithsonian Institution. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

Box 1 of 1
Folder1   A, general
Folder2   Adams, A.L., 1867-1868 and undated
Folder3   Allen, Joel Asaph, 1869-1871
Folder4   B, general
Folder5   Baird, Spencer F., 1865-1886. Concerns Boardman's collecting work for the Smithsonian.
Folder6   Batchelder, Charles F., 1881-1882
Folder7   Brewer, Thomas Mayo, 1867-1877 and undated
Folder8   C, general
Folder9   Coues, Elliott, 1862, 1877
Folder10   D, general
Folder11   Downes, Andrew, 1868-1869 and undated
Folder12   Dresser, Henry Eeles, 1862-1871
Folder13   Elliot, Daniel Giraud, 1862-1866
Folder14   Essex Institute, 1866-1867. Includes correspondence of Frederic Ward Putnam.
Folder15   F, general
Folder16   G, general
Folder17   H, general
Folder18   Hallock, Charles, 1871-1878, 1899
Folder19   J, general
Folder20   Jillson, S., 1864-1866
Folder21   Krider, John, 1862-1883
Folder22   L, general
Folder23   M, general
Folder24   Museum of Comparative Zoology, 1862-1868
Folder25   N, general
Folder26   Nesbitt, John, 1871-1881
Folder27   O, general
Folder28   P, general
Folder29   Q, general
Folder30   R, general
Folder31   Ridgway, Robert, 1887
Folder32   S, general
Folder33   Smithsonian Institution, 1864, 1868 and undated
Folder34   T, general
Folder35   Verrill, Addison Emery, 1861-1866
Folder36   W, general
Folder37   Wood, William, 1864-1885. Includes both incoming and outgoing correspondence.
Folder38   Unidentified correspondence
Folder39   Letter from Frederick Webb Hodge to William Jones Rhees (2 June 1904) regarding the deposit of the George A. Boardman papers in the Smithsonian Institution
Folder40   Specimen lists and notes


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