Charles Andrews Heath Papers, 1880-1999

Gift, Gloria Frank, 2006, 2008-2010.

The Charles Andrews Heath Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

The Charles Andrews Heath Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

Charles Andrews Heath Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Kelly Kress, 2010.

This inventory was created with the generous support of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this inventory do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Chicago businessman, founder and president of Continental Seed Co.

Charles Andrews Heath was born December 24, 1860, in Curtisville (now Interlaken), a village in the town of Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Massachusetts. His parents were Theodore Selden Heath, a clockmaker, and Mary Eveline Slocum Heath. Charles Andrews Heath attended Williams College, graduating in 1882, and around this time met and married Jennie June Greene. The Heaths left Massachusetts shortly after for Chicago, where Charles Andrews Heath went to work for the Dickinson Seed Company. He later founded his own business, the Continental Seed Company, after 37 years with Dickinson. Charles Andrews and Jennie Heath had two children: Albert Greene, born 1888, and Alice, born 1892. Alice Heath married Harold Frank and the couple had one child, Gloria, born in 1926.

Beginning in 1880, Charles Andrews Heath kept diaries until 1949, just after his 90th birthday. After his wife Jennie died in 1925, Heath continued to work and provide financial support for his children and their families. Charles Andrews Heath died in 1959, a few months short of his 100th birthday.

The diaries of Charles Andrews Heath comprise the bulk of the collection, and consist of 66 volumes spanning the years 1880-1949. In the diaries, Heath discusses the Haymarket Riot, the World's Columbian Exposition, the World's Parliament of Religions, and many other Chicago-related events, as well as the Galveston flood, politics, and several wars.

There are also typed excerpts of the diaries, typed transcripts of letters Heath's family wrote to him during a 1912 European trip, photographs of Heath and his family, including several from the European trip, documents related to properties Heath owned, and other items related to Heath and his family.

Papers are organized in the following series:

Title Box Series 1: Family Papers, 1893-1999 Boxes 1-2 Series 2: Charles Andrews Heath Diaries, 1880-1949 Boxes 3-7

• NamesHeath, Charles A., (Charles Andrews) -- Diaries
• Subject
  • Chicago
  • Family Papers
  • Haymarket Square Riot, Chicago, Ill., 1886
  • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago
  • Religion
• Geographic Coverage
  • Chicago (Ill.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources
  • Chicago (Ill.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
  • Europe -- Description and travel