Fra Broadwell Dana Papers, 1819-1947

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Dana, Fra Broadwell, 1874-1948
Title
Fra Broadwell Dana Papers
Dates
1819-1947 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 linear feet
Collection Number
Mss 096 (collection)
Summary
The Broadwell and Dana families included an important Montana artist, Fra Dana, and a significant ranching business. This collection contains genealogical information on many branches from Fra Broadwell's family and Edwin Dana's family.
Repository
University of Montana, Mansfield Library, Archives and Special Collections
Archives and Special Collections
Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library
University of Montana
32 Campus Dr. #9936
59812-9936
Missoula, MT
Telephone: 406-243-2053
library.archives@umontana.edu
Access Restrictions

Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for creating this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historic Publications and Records Commission. Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Fra Marie Broadwell was born Nov. 26, 1874, in Terra Haute, Indiana. Soon afeeter this she moved with her family to Rockville, Indiana, where she lived until she was 16 years old. She was then sent to Cincinnati to study painting; from there she went to New York where she attended the American Art School as a pupil of William M. Chase. She later continued her art studies in Paris, where she was a pupil of Alfred Maurer. In 1891 she first went to Wyoming where her mother, who had remarried, lived. Her second trip to Wyoming was in 1893, where she met her future husband, Edwin Lester Dana. They married July 1, 1896. She was a collector of art and several pieces of the collection were willed to the University of Montana. Mrs. Dana died Dec. 1, 1948, in Great Falls, Montana, where she is buried.

Edwin Lester Dana was born October 15, 1864, and his family moved to Montana in 1866. They lived first in Philipsburg, then Missoula, then Helena. In 1878 the family moved to a cattle ranch on the Little Big Horn River in southeastern Montana, where Edwin began his cattle business. He bought his first small herd in 1887. By 1918 he owned one of the largest pure bred Hereford cattle herds in America. Mr. Dana owned a ranch in Parkman, Wyoming, and later, a second one in Cascade County, Montana. Mrs. Dana was his secretary and keen business partner in spite of her frail health. E.L. Dana died in 1946.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This collection contains genealogical information on many branches from Fra Broadwell's family and Edwin Dana's family. There is correspondence from family members to Fra and Edwin about their families histories. Some of the families that have excellent research included are lines from the Anderson, Brewster, Broadwell, Dana, Forester, Maxwell, Page, Paine, Putnam, and Sunderland families, although this does not include all of the lines researched in this collection. There are copied accounts from family members early history, and publications on the Paine and Dana family.

Fra Dana also had publications on Astrology and scientific papers. There are also notes on the Crow language from Father Prando and Fra's own notes. Included also is a brand book of the cattle herd of the Blackfoot, which was purchased by E.L. Dana.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to The University of Montana.

Preferred Citation

[Name of document], Fra Broadwell Dana Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is divided into three series:

Series I: Genealogical, 0.7 linear feet, 1819-1938

Series II: Research Material, 0.7 linear feet, 1850-1947

Series III: Photographs, 0.1 linear feet, undated

Acquisition Information

Gift of Fra Broadwell Dana, date unknown.

Processing Note

The actions of the original processors are unknown. In 1999, the collection was re-described and separated into two series. This collection included photos of unidentified family members, which have been removed and added to the K. Ross Toole Archives photo collection. This collection was originally two separate collections, LC 17 and LC 96. The two collections were combined into one collection, Mss 96, and re-described.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  Genealogical , 1819-1938 Return to Top

0.7 linear feet

This series includes all of the genealogical information Fra Dana was able to gather on family descent. There are twenty-six families researched in this collection. Included is a direct line decent of Fra Broadwell Dana. There are several marriage certificates. These include the certificate for the marriage of John Sunderland to Elizabeth Page on February 14, 1819, a certificate for Samuel F. Maxwell and Eliza Ann Sunderland on November 8, 1848, a certificate for John W. Broadwell and Jewel H. Maxwell's marriage on May 12, 1873, and the marriage of E.L. Dana to Fra Broadwell on July 1, 1896. Parts of a will for E.L. Dana dated to 1916 are included and a copy of the will for Ann E. Broadwell dated to May 14, 1889, copied November 18, 1912 are included. There are also applications to the Daughters of the American Revolution for Jessie A. Sunderland (1899) and Emma R. Griffin (1909). The Paine and Dana lines also have published material on their families.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Genealogical letters
1899-1933
1/2
Anderson line
undated, 1912, 1914, 1933
1/3
Andrew line
undated
1/4
Andrews line
undated
1/5
Brewster line
undated
1/6
Broadwell line
undated, 1873, 1941
1/7
Fra Broadwell Dana's direct line
undated
1/8
Chappel line
1935
1/9
Dana family history (reprint)
undated
1/10
Dana line
1911-1914, 1927, 1933-1934, 1938
1/11
Legal Documents
1896, 1916
1/12
Deacon line
undated
1/13
Dinwiddie line
undated
1/14
Dunn line
undated
1/15
Dunster line
undated
1/16
Forester line
undated
1/17
Foster line
undated
1/18
Hathorne line
undated
1/19
Jackson line
undated, 1912
1/20
Lawrence line
undated
1/21
Maxwell line, 1848, from document dated 1886, 1899, 1909, 1911-1914, 1916, 1938
1911
1/22
Morse line
undated
1/23
Page line
undated, 1916
1/24
Paine family publications, volume 1, numbers 1-8 dating 1879-1881, volume 2, numbers 1-12 dating 1882-1883
1/25
Paine line
undated
1/26
Peabody (Paybody) line
undated
1/27
Porter line
undated
1/28
Putnam line
undated
2/1
Sunderland line
undated, 1819, 1898, 1900, 1912-1916
2/2
Ver Planck line
undated
2/3
Miscellaneous Genealogical researched material
undated

Series II:  Research Material , 1850-1947 Return to Top

0.7 linear feet

This series includes copies of accounts from early family history from various family members, such as H.W. Baldwin (1895-1897), M.A. Whipple (undated, 1935), Abraham Given (1850) and Theophilus and Debora Dana (1862). Poems written by E.L. Dana (published 1947) and Edna Dinwiddie (copy undated) are also included. There are copies of letters (undated, 1914, 1917-1918) from World War I and papers (1915, 1917, 1926) from World War I--correspondents are not identified by last name. There is a certificate from the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) and Colonial Dames of America (undated, 1911-1912). Jewel Dinwiddie's Daughters of the American Revolution pin and tartan are in this collection as well. Family newspaper clippings are also included. This series also includes notes on the Crow language from Father Prando and Fra Dana and the brand book for the Blackfoot herd of cattle (undated).

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
2/4
Miscellaneous Astrology papers and scientific papers
1887, 1888, 1890, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1907, 1925
2/5
Baldwin, H.W., Early Day Camping Trips (copy, remembered to 1895-1897)
undated
2/6
D.A.R certificates and Colonial Dames of America
undated, 1911-1912
2/7
D.A.R pin and tartan
undated
2/8
Diary entry copied from Aunt Lou (entry dated 1862)
undated
2/9
Dinwiddie, Edna- Poems
undated
2/10
Account of 1871 Christmas Ball in Rockville, Indiana (copy)
undated
2/11
Whipple, M.A.- Twenty-five Years In Persia (copy)
undated, 1931
2/12
World War I letters (copy)
undated, 1914-1918
2/13
World War I papers
1915-1926
3/1
Publications
1882-1903
3/2
Family newspaper clippings
undated
3/3
Newspaper clippings from Rockville, Indiana
undated
3/4
Mrs. Dana's list of collection contents
undated
3/5
Poems of E.L. Dana
1947
3/6
Bound but unpublished books of poems by E.L. Dana which also contains 4 letters by Fra Dana to Dean Crowder and an autobiography written by E.L. Dana
1945-1947
3/7
Reminiscence titled "An Overland Trip to California in 1850" by Abraham Given (copy)
undated
3/8
Reminiscences of an overland trip to California in 1862, by Theophilus and Debora Dana (copy)
undated
3/9
Grammar and notes on the Crow Language, by Father Prando
undated
3/10
Grammar and notes on the Crow Language, by Fra Dana
undated
3/11
Brand book of the cattle from the Blackfoot
undated

Series III:  Photographs, undatedReturn to Top

0.1 linear feet
Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
3/12
96(III)1: Two women by tombstone of John Broadwell
undated
3/13
96(III)2: Two Sunderland tombstones
undated
3/14
96(III)3: Three tombstones
undated
3/15
96(III)4: John Sunderland's tombstone
undated
3/16
96(III)5: Nancy and Elizabeth Sunderland's tombstones
undated
3/17
96(III)6: Woman in bonnet and man in suitcoat
undated
3/18
96(III)7: Man with beard
undated
3/19
96(III)8: Woman seated in chair
undated
3/20
Woman and child: 96(III)9
undated
3/21
96(III)10: Man with mustache
undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Astrology
  • Blackfoot Indians
  • Cattle brands--Montana
  • Crow Indians
  • Sihasapa Indians--Domestic animals--Montana

Family Names

  • Anderson family
  • Brewster family
  • Broadwell family
  • Dana family
  • Forester family
  • Foster family
  • Maxwell family
  • Page family
  • Paine family
  • Payne family
  • Putnam family
  • Sunderland family

Form or Genre Terms

  • Family papers--Montana
  • Genealogies--Montana

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Dana, E. L. (Edwin Lester), 1864-1946