Dodd Family
Biographical Notes
Rev. John Dodd
Presbyterian minister (ordained a Congregational cleric), life member of the American Missionary Association, held pastorates in Maine and New York, including Arcade, N.Y., where the family was living when he initiated correspondence with the Association about the interest of his daughter, Helen, in becoming a teacher to the freedmen in a school under the auspices of the organization. He and his wife had four children.
Mrs. John Dodd
Writer of the original letter in the collection that is addressed to her son, and recipient of eight letters from Helen in addition to those addressed to her parents jointly or to the household. The letter to her son is dated November 30, 1862.
Helen Dodd
Writer of most of the letters in the papers, she was described by her father in an 1863 letter to the Association as being almost 22 years of age. She later became a teacher of the freedmen in schools in Portsmouth, Va; Beaufort, N.C.; and other places in those two states. One of her letters mentions that the daughter of Captain John Brown came to work for one week as a supply teacher in the school where she taught. Another of her letters identified persons living in the Mission House and also working among the freedmen in Portsmouth. These included H.S. Beals, his wife Harriet, Rev. and Mrs. G. Greely, Miss Martha L. Kellogg, and Miss Esther T. Maltby, an Oberlin College graduate.
Martyn Dodd
Most likely the brother to whom Helen addressed many of her letters. His father identifies him in 1862 as a prospective graduate of Hamilton College. Helen was already teaching in Wyoming County, in which Arcade, N.Y. was located.
Mary Dodd
Identified by her father in his 1862 letter to his brother as being a student of high school age, not enrolled in Arcade because there was no high school as yet.
John Dodd
Identified by his father in 1862 as a boy of high school age expecting to continue his education in the next winter when the academy, then under construction, would be completed. He was then working in a printing shop and learning the trade.