Manuscript Register

This document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu

Posted to Internet: 2001

Acquisition Note: This collection was given to the University of Iowa Libraries in 1985 by Barbara Kent Buckley.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research.

Digital Surrogates: Except where indicated, this document describes but does not reproduce the actual text, images and objects which make up this collection. Materials are available only in the Special Collections Department.

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Use of Collections: The University of Iowa Libraries supports access to the materials, published and unpublished, in its collections. Nonetheless, access to some items may be restricted by their fragile condition or by contractual agreement with donors, and it may not be possible at all times to provide appropriate machinery for reading, viewing or accessing non-paper-based materials. Please read our Use of Manuscripts Statement.

Scope and Content

The Bean family papers consists of approximately 121 items, dating from 1833 to 1962, which are arranged chronologically within alphabetical divisions. The major correspondents are Dr. Asa A. Bean (1811 -- 1863), his wife Mary Powell Bean (1821 -- 1898), and their children John Victor (1843 -- 1919), James P. (b. 1847 or 1848), and Mary E. (1850? -- 1921). The Beans were residents of Ohio, where Dr. Bean practiced medicine and owned a small farm. The greatest part of this collection is made up of correspondence, but there are also medical notes, sick leave notes for Civil War soldiers, tickets, a leather pouch, and other related items.

The correspondence can be divided into three basic periods: pre-Civil War, war, and post-war letters. The pre-Civil War materials are primarily composed of letters from A.A. Bean to his wife during a period of separation while he was studying medicine in New York City. Here Dr. Bean details his medical training and describes New York City and the environs. The next grouping is made up of letters written by Dr. Bean and the rest of the family during his period of military service. Joining the 114th Ohio Volunteers in 1862, Bean was a hospital physician in Frederick, Maryland, and later a camp doctor in Tennessee and Mississippi. He died near Memphis in 1863. Included here is a great deal of descriptive material regarding medical treatment and life at home. The final section includes letters exchanged between the children and their mother. Much of this correspondence describes James' college life at Ann Arbor, Michigan.

 

Correspondence

1845-1860

1862-1863

1868-1898

Undated

Prescriptions, sick leave excuses, medical notes, tickets, fragments, etc. 1833-1863

Genealogical materials

Leather wallet belonging to Dr. J. V. Bean