Charlotte Stowe Autobiography

Charlotte Stowe Autobiography, 1960

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Stowe, Charlotte, 1870-1968
Title: Charlotte Stowe Autobiography
Dates: 1960
19601960
Quantity: .2 linear feet
Collection Number: Collection 1377, MtBC, us (collection)
Summary: The Charlotte Stowe Autobiography consists of a handwritten manuscript prepared by her at the age of 90. A typed transcription with extensive handwritten addendum is also included. The identity of the preparer of the typescript is unknown. The author describes her childhood in New York, her journey to Bozeman and her years there, and subsequent travels and homes with her husband and son, Edward Jr. The description of family members is extensive, along with the minutiae of their daily lives.
Repository: Montana State University Library, Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections
Montana State University-Bozeman Library
Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
P.O. Box 173320
Bozeman, MT
59717-3320
Telephone: 4069944242
Fax: 4069942851
Access Restrictions: This collection is open for research.
Languages: English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Charlotte Martin was born on February 12, 1870 in Catskill, New York. She travelled to Bozeman, Montana sometime in the early 1890s and eventually lived with her sister and brother-in-law, Jenny and Feron Mack. On September 11, 1893 Charlotte married Edward L. Stowe (1868-1948), who had been a boarder in the Mack home and owner of a small restaurant in town. The couple afterwards purchased and operated a hotel, and the business apparently flourished due to a temporary housing shortage resulting from the establishment of the Montana State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. The Stowes left Bozeman after 1900, settling first in Seattle and afterwards in British Columbia and California. They eventually returned to Washington, and Charlotte died on Christmas Day, 1968 in Spokane.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Charlotte Stowe Autobiography consists of a handwritten manuscript prepared by her at the age of 90, consisting of 167 numbered pages, although the first eighteen pages are missing. An eighty-seven page typed transcription with extensive handwritten addendum is also included. The identity of the preparer of the typescript is unknown. The author describes her childhood in New York, her journey to Bozeman and her years there, and subsequent travels and homes with her husband and son, Edward Jr. The description of family members is extensive, along with the minutiae of their daily lives.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

An original handwritten reminiscence, with accompanying typed transcription, was donated to the Museum of the Rockies by Donald McRoberts of Brookings, South Dakota and transferred to the Merrill G. Burlingame Special Collections in the summer of 1983.

Processing Note

This collection was processed 2014 November 19

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Frontier and pioneer life -- Montana
Overland journeys to Montana -- Personal narratives

Personal Names

Stowe, Charlotte, 1870-1968

Family Names

Stowe family

Geographical Names

Montana -- History -- 19th century

Form or Genre Terms

Autobiographies

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