Featured historical finds · The Joseph Dow collection
Joseph Dow
The trunk & its contents
A Hampton historian. A wooden chest in Idaho. A collection of papers finding its way home.
A photographic record of the chest, books, and historical papers Whit documented before much of the collection returned east.
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The historian behind the papers
Joseph Dow was a Hampton, New Hampshire, teacher, historian, and genealogist. After his death in 1889, his daughter Lucy Ellen Dow brought his two-volume History of the Town of Hampton to publication in 1894. Lane Memorial Library’s biographical account tells more of his life and work.
From Idaho back to Hampton
Whit recovered this collection in Idaho and photographed the materials before sending much of it to the Hampton Historical Society. These images preserve the papers in bundles, the volumes and handwritten records, and the chest that held part of the collection.
The Society’s own “Dow’s Trunk” account describes the recovery of a trunk marked “J. Dow Hampton, NH” from an abandoned Idaho storage unit and its acquisition, with the contents, in 2017.
These are Whit’s photographs of the recovered collection. Most of the material was sent to the Hampton Historical Society; the galleries preserve views of it as Whit documented it in Idaho.
Inside the photographic record
Begin with the portrait and collection views, then explore the chest from the outside in. The archive currently preserves 2,387 photographs across one hundred eighteen galleries, including 2,323 views of correspondence and historical records. Select a photograph to open the larger image for closer study.
Documents · 1
16 photographs in three document groups: Seymour Morris’s letter, the Francis Dow note, and S. A. Dow’s correspondence. Written sides, reverses, blank sides, and details are kept together.
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Documents · 2
17 photographs in three document groups: Daniel Shaw’s letter and envelope, Joseph N. Dummer’s reply and envelope, and the two-page West Newbury Merrill letter.
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Documents · 3
20 photographs in three document groups: two J. W. Little burial-research letters, their supplied views and envelope, and a manuscript copy of the 1655 Hampton–Salisbury boundary agreement.
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Documents · 4
19 photographs in four document groups: the Appleton court paper, Palmer–Moulton land-exchange deed, smallpox compensation demands, and Great Ox Common meeting notes.
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Documents · 5
26 photographs in four document groups: a meetinghouse pew memorandum, the Shaw writ copy, Joseph Palmer’s will, and an undated name-and-amount list.
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Documents · 6
24 photographs in five document groups: a Palmer land agreement, Ebenezer and Lydia Dow notes, a genealogy letters wrapper, Drake family genealogy records, and a Simon Dow estate memorandum.
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Documents · 7
33 photographs in 17 document groups: collection views, boundary research, correspondence, early deeds, court records, a bond, and sawmill papers.
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Documents · 8
38 photographs in 18 document groups: the 1773 newspaper, early deeds, council and church papers, family records, a Revolutionary claim certificate, and later correspondence.
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Documents · 9
20 photographs in eight document groups: Salisbury family notes, marsh shares, early Hampton settlers, a religious manuscript, a deed transcription, a receipt, a Perkins family agreement, and a penciled memorandum.
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Documents · 10
12 photographs in nine document groups: delegates’ subscriptions, a receipt and release, a common-land meeting notice, a deed, manuscript fragments, a ruled table, loose papers, a clerk’s inscription, and a book-cover label.
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Documents · 11
15 photographs in four document groups: an addressed envelope and folded-paper edge, Samuel Nudd’s indenture with payment endorsements, a Charlestown letter, and a printed Pierce–Davis account.
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Documents · 12
Nine photographs in two groups: a five-page 1870 letter to Joseph Dow about English ancestry and travel, and four views of bundles, wrappers and folded-paper edges.
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Documents · 13
Twenty photographs in five groups: a penciled wrapper and compositions on temperance, school instruction, ancient Greece and travel, dated 1827–1830.
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Documents · 14
17 photographs in 2 document groups. School compositions on moral improvement and capital punishment.
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Documents · 15
32 photographs in 10 document groups. College compositions on literature, history, study and character.
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Documents · 16
33 photographs in 9 document groups. Politeness, public life, imagination, language and descriptive writing.
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Documents · 17
28 photographs in 7 document groups. A Latin address and compositions on influence, truth and religion.
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Documents · 18
16 photographs in six document groups: memory, popularity, religious opinions, character, and reverse inscriptions.
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Documents · 19
12 photographs in seven document groups: school compositions, Abigail French’s letters, and addressed wrappers.
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Documents · 20
18 photographs in twelve document groups: Abigail French’s compositions, correspondence, Dow family records and collection views.
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Documents · 21
9 photographs in three document groups: a Dow family lineage form, Hampton town-clerk research notes, and Herbert B. Dow’s 1895 letter to Lucy E. Dow with its envelope.
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Documents · 22
19 photographs in seven document groups: early deeds, Moulton family papers, a land-sale broadside, an account, a will, and Lowell Jenness’s sawmill research letter.
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Documents · 23
20 photographs in eight document groups: tax records, church council proceedings, a land receipt, town-meeting votes, a deed fragment, research notes, boundary trees, and a parsonage account.
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Documents 24 · Research charts & marsh-lot records
20 photographs in four groups: manuscript research charts, a 1699 deed fragment, 1747 marsh-lot proceedings and an address leaf.
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Documents · 25
20 photographs in twelve document groups: Hampton wills, pew plans, estate papers, land records, correspondence and militia records.
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Documents · 26
20 photographs in 10 document groups. Receipts, Congress notices & manuscripts.
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Documents · 27
24 photographs in 7 document groups. Deeds, account books & town rates.
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Documents · 28
30 photographs in 15 document groups. Hampton petitions, receipts & town accounts.
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Documents · 29
24 photographs in 10 document groups. Family records, genealogy & correspondence.
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Documents · 30
19 photographs in 8 document groups. Military returns & Hampton town proceedings.
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Documents · 31
19 photographs in 7 document groups. Civil War enlistments, bounties & town aid.
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Documents · 32
19 photographs in 5 document groups. Sanborne family drafts, causeway vote & Crown pines.
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Documents · 33
11 photographs in 4 document groups. Leavitt family notes, early defenses & road surveys.
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Documents · 34
19 photographs in 5 document groups. Mathematical manuscript & dated memoranda.
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Documents · 35
16 photographs in 6 document groups. Notebook entries, Concord Lyceum & Dow family notes.
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Documents · 36
19 photographs in 7 document groups. Dow family research, collection bundles & deeds.
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Documents · 37
10 photographs in 4 document groups. Land deeds and property records.
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Documents · 38
20 photographs in 10 document groups. Teaching recommendations and collection wrappers.
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Documents · 39
20 photographs in 8 document groups. Recommendations, society papers and official appointments.
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Documents · 40
20 photographs in 12 document groups. Justice commissions and Dearborn lineage.
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Documents · 41
30 photographs in 7 provisional document groups. Family records, town papers and manuscript copies.
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Documents · 42
28 photographs in 8 provisional document groups. Notebook, family notes and biographical papers.
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Documents · 43
20 photographs in 6 provisional document groups. Genealogical research papers and collection wrappers.
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Documents · 44
34 photographs in 10 provisional document groups. Almanacs with handwritten records.
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Documents · 45
34 photographs in 9 provisional document groups. Correspondence and genealogical manuscripts.
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Documents · 46
31 photographs in 5 provisional document groups. Family lineages and research notebooks.
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Documents · 47
30 photographs in 6 provisional document groups. Genealogical notes and family research correspondence.
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Documents · 48
30 photographs in 11 provisional document groups. Clippings, early manuscripts and town records.
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Documents · 49
36 photographs in 17 provisional document groups. Receipts, bonds and land records.
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Documents · 50
21 photographs in 12 document groups. Lot 2G: deeds, family property and Hampton land divisions.
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Documents · 51
18 photographs in 7 document groups. Parsonage accounts, Revolutionary receipts and town petitions.
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Documents · 52
19 photographs in 10 document groups. Household accounts, Chase genealogy and early land records.
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Documents · 53
19 photographs in 8 document groups. Family property, early deeds and a letter from the army.
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Documents · 54
12 photographs in 7 document groups. Jenness and Moulton property, family history and Lot 2H.
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Documents · 55
15 photographs in 6 document groups. Hampton’s anniversary, a boundary map and early newspapers.
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Documents · 56
20 photographs in 8 document groups. Leases, ministerial salary, worship articles and land returns.
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Documents · 57
23 photographs in 5 document groups. Lot 2I: academy pupils and family record rolls.
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Documents · 58
23 photographs in 8 document groups. Freedmen’s songs, Raleigh teaching papers and diary fragments.
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Documents · 59
17 photographs in 10 document groups. Church records and Gookin–Eliot genealogical correspondence.
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Documents · 60
26 photographs in 14 document groups. Lot 3A: Hampton church records and family research.
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Documents · 61
14 photographs in 7 document groups. Marston estate: warrant and partition of property, 1826.
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Documents · 62
18 photographs in 7 document groups. Loose papers: genealogy, labor, invention and religious teaching.
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Documents · 63
23 photographs in 12 document groups. Manuscript miscellany: music, household lists and technical ideas.
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Documents · 64
21 photographs in 8 document groups. Holyoke expenses and receipts, 1853–1854.
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Documents · 65
6 photographs in 4 document groups. Lot 3B: portraits of Joseph Dow.
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Documents · 66
22 photographs in 6 document groups. Lot 3C: early account ledger, first sequence.
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Documents · 67
20 photographs in 7 document groups. Early ledger continued: accounts, community agreements and material condition.
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Documents · 68
20 photographs in 7 document groups. Lot 3D: church attendance and sermon notebook, first sequence.
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Documents · 69
23 photographs in 8 document groups. Church notebook continued: sermons, drought and community worship, 1798–1802.
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Documents · 70
25 photographs in 7 document groups. Lot 3E: navigation exercises and a worked sailing journal.
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Documents · 71
20 photographs in 8 document groups. Lot 3F: a local register of deaths, 1798–1819.
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Documents · 72
22 photographs in 7 document groups. Lot 3H: Hampton taxes, fines and household accounts.
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Documents · 73
12 photographs in 6 document groups. Revolutionary service claims, deeds and legal memoranda.
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Documents · 74
19 photographs in 8 document groups. Lot 3G: Joseph Dow’s notes on Hampton houses, families and town records.
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Documents · 75
17 photographs in 9 document groups. Joseph Dow’s notes continued: land rights, public office and ministry.
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Documents · 76
16 photographs in 7 document groups. Lot 3I: a tied research bundle and the 1810 North Hampton census.
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Documents · 77
16 photographs in 9 document groups. Research correspondence, history drafts and a coastal survey sketch.
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Documents · 78
23 photographs in 9 document groups. Star Island survey continuation, a marbled volume and loose historical papers.
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Documents · 79
33 photographs in 11 document groups. School register: students and term accounts, 1833–1836.
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Documents · 80
9 photographs in 4 document groups. Hampton Academy, 1835, and teaching accounts at Quincy, 1845–1846.
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Documents · 81
27 photographs in 12 document groups. Washington Academy, East Machias: term registers, 1848–1851.
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Documents · 82
7 photographs in 4 document groups. Village Seminary at Hyannis: term register, 1855.
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Documents · 83
21 photographs in 8 document groups. Dow genealogy notebook, Lot 3K: numbered family entries.
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Documents · 84
20 photographs in 9 document groups. Dow genealogy notebook: later entries, town records and source notes.
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Documents · 85
20 photographs. Hampton grantees: notebook title and early entries.
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Documents · 86
20 photographs. Hampton grantees: Dalton through Hussey.
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Documents · 87
12 photographs. Hampton grantees: Johnson through Marston and the closing entries.
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Documents · 88
28 photographs. Plain Reasons, Albany 1783: covers, title and psalmody.
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Documents · 89
12 photographs. Plain Reasons: ministers, family government and rear notes.
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Documents · 90
21 photographs. Lot 3N: loose religious manuscript leaves and household remedies.
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Documents · 91
27 photographs. Henry Dow volume: covers, land notes, court copy and sermons.
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Documents · 92
20 photographs. Henry Dow volume: prayer, calling upon God and repentance.
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Documents · 93
20 photographs. Henry Dow volume: the call to repent and trust divine mercy.
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Documents · 94
20 photographs. Henry Dow volume: providence, affliction and reliance on God.
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Documents · 95
20 photographs. Henry Dow volume: trust, faith and the call to return.
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Documents · 96
20 photographs. Henry Dow volume: returning to God and the gospel call.
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Documents · 97
20 photographs. Henry Dow volume: worship, the Spirit and Christian love.
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Documents · 98
20 photographs. Henry Dow volume: love of God and neighbour.
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Documents · 99
17 photographs. Henry Dow volume: children, charity and final end-leaf views.
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Documents · 100
18 photographs. Lot 3P notebook: binding and early Hampton civic records.
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Documents · 101
22 photographs. Lot 3P notebook: Hampton government, land and petitions.
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Documents · 102
20 photographs. Lot 3P notebook: inhabitants, population and public accounts.
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Documents · 103
15 photographs. Lot 3P notebook: public taxes, military lists and representatives.
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Documents · 104
16 photographs. Lot 3P notebook: family births, marriages and deaths.
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Documents · 105
21 photographs. Lot 3P notebook: later notes, wills, lists and end leaves.
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Documents · 106
18 photographs. Lot 3Q: physical views and religious manuscript.
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Documents · 107
17 photographs. Lot 3Q: manuscript continuation and dated notes.
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Documents · 108
17 photographs. Lot 3Q: family records, historical remedies and end leaves.
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Documents · 109
23 photographs. Lot 3R: first passbook of Hampton historical extracts.
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Documents · 110
14 photographs. Lot 3R: second passbook of deeds and local records.
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Documents · 111
13 photographs. Lot 3R: third passbook of names, dates and Hampton extracts.
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Documents · 112
26 photographs. Lot 3S: notebook covers and early Hampton record extracts.
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Documents · 113
26 photographs. Lot 3S: Hampton extracts, inserted clipping and court records.
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Documents · 114
17 photographs. Lot 3S: reading lists, family notes and Joshua Wingate.
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Portrait & collection
21 photographs: Joseph Dow’s portrait, books, handwritten records, and views of the recovered papers.
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Chest · exterior & contents
19 photographs: exterior views, markings, nameplate, and the chest with papers inside.
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Chest · construction & interior
20 photographs: woodwork, rope handle, hinges, fittings, and the open interior.
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Chest · measurements
4 photographs: the chest photographed alongside a measuring tape.
Open gallery →A collection with more to reveal
This archive begins with the photographs already shared. Further document groups can be added as their own galleries, keeping the chest, the papers, and their stories connected as the photographic record grows.
Sources & photographs: collection account and photographs supplied by Whit; historical context from Lane Memorial Library and the Hampton Historical Society, linked above.