1720-1972
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of the papers of Boston lawyer and politician Henry Lee Shattuck and his father, Boston physician Frederick C. Shattuck, along with earlier documents of the related Shattuck, Cheever, Derby, and Brune families.
Biographical Sketches
Frederick Cheever Shattuck (1847-1929) was born in Boston, the son of George Cheyne Shattuck (1813-1893) and Anne Henrietta Brune Shattuck (1809-1894). An 1873 graduate of Harvard Medical School, Shattuck served as the Jackson Professor of Clinical Medicine at Harvard until 1912, specializing in tropical medicine and typhoid fever. He served as a consulting physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Overseer of Harvard University from 1913 to 1919. Shattuck married Elizabeth Perkins Lee in 1846, and the couple had four children: twins George Cheever Shattuck (1879-1972) and Henry Lee Shattuck (1879-1971), Elizabeth Perkins Shattuck (1881-1977), and Clara Lee Shattuck Richardson (1883-1921).
Henry Lee Shattuck (1879-1971) was the son of Frederick Cheever Shattuck (1847-1929) and Elizabeth Perkins Lee Shattuck (1846-1931). Born in Boston, Henry graduated from Harvard University in 1901 and received his law degree from Harvard in 1904. He became a partner in the Boston law firm of Ropes, Gray, and Gorham in 1909, served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives from 1920 to 1930 and again from 1943 to 1949, and was a member of the Boston City Council from 1934 to 1942. As a legislator, Shattuck chaired the House Ways and Means Committee (1923-1929) and the Joint Committee on Public Service (1943-1949). A noted philanthropist, Shattuck served as treasurer of Harvard University, president of Boston's North Bennet Street School, and treasurer of the Charitable Irish Society of Boston. Unmarried, he died in 1971 at the age of 91.
Collection Description
This collection primarily contains the papers of Boston lawyer and politician Henry Lee Shattuck and his father, Boston physician Frederick C. Shattuck, along with earlier documents of the related Shattuck, Cheever, Derby, and Brune families. It includes family correspondence, personal papers, diaries, writings, and political papers of Henry Lee Shattuck as Boston city councilor from 1934 to 1941 and Massachusetts state representative from 1920 to 1930 and from 1943 to 1948. Other family members represented include Frederick's parents, George Cheyne Shattuck and Anne Henrietta Brune Shattuck; Frederick's brother, George Brune Shattuck; and Frederick's son and Henry's twin brother, George Cheever Shattuck.
Diaries of Henry Lee Shattuck describe travels in the United States and voyages abroad to Ireland, Germany, and Great Britain, among other places, with a 1916 account of his service aboard the battleship Virginia. His 1897 scrapbook documents school activities.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Frederick C. Shattuck, 1925, 1926, 1927; Henry Lee Shattuck, 1970; and George C. Shattuck, 1971.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Family papers, 1720-1972
Arranged chronologically
Papers from 1720 to 1859 include wills, deeds, petitions, and correspondence of Frederick Brune, George Cheyne Shattuck (1783-1854), Anne Brune Shattuck, George Cheyne Shattuck (1813-1893), and others. Other correspondents include William Downes Cheever, Caleb Davis, John Hickey, John Derby, Jonathan Mason, Joseph Lee, Elizabeth Derby, and Eliza C. Shattuck. Papers from 1860 to 1899 are largely those of George Brune Shattuck and Frederick Cheever Shattuck, while papers from 1900 to 1905 are almost exclusively those of Henry Lee Shattuck. Materials dated from 1906 to 1909 include papers related to the political career of Henry Lee Shattuck; the writings of Frederick Cheever Shattuck; and memoirs of friends, classmates, and colleagues. 1929 papers include letters related to the death of Frederick Cheever Shattuck.
Undated material includes correspondence of George Cheyne Shattuck (1813-1893) with his wife Anne Henrietta Brune Shattuck. Biographical papers include notes on Frederick Cheever Shattuck by George Cheever Shattuck for his "Memoir of Frederick Cheever Shattuck," as well as material about other family members.
II. Diaries, 1835-1964
Arranged chronologically.
Diaries include those of Lucy Cheever Shattuck describing her daily activities in 1835 as a thirteen-year-old living in Boston. In the same volume are entries by Lucy's brother, George Cheyne Shattuck (1813-1893), from 1849 to 1855, 1864, and 1865. George Cheyne Shattuck's diary from 1836 and 1837 describes his travels in England, France, and Belgium. The 1865 and 1866 diaries of Harvard student Frederick C. Shattuck contain daily entries with monthly accounts at the end of each volume.
The diaries of Henry Lee Shattuck largely describe his widespread travels, including trips through England and Scotland (1897); the southern United States (1903); Michigan (1903); Indiana, Missouri, the World's Fair in St. Louis, Kansas, and Colorado (1904); the West Indies (1907); Washington State (1909); San Francisco to Boston through Canada and Chicago (1915); England and Scotland (1925); Ireland (1938, 1950, 1953, 1955, and 1961); Ireland and Germany (1958, 1960, and 1964); and Nova Scotia (1963). An Aug.-Sep. 1916 diary describes his service in the U.S. Navy on the Battleship Virginia during World War I. The 1953 and 1954 diaries chronicle his work in Germany as the chairman of the Interim Mixed Parole and Clemency Board for the U.S. State Department, including meetings with diplomats, social life and customs, and daily activities.
III. Printed material, 1834-1965
Arranged chronologically and by record type.
Preferred Citation
Shattuck family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.
Access Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.
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Materials Removed from the Collection
Photographs from this collection have been removed to the MHS Photo Archives.