Reverend Samuel Newbury (1802-1868), a Middlebury College graduate and Presbyterian from Vermont, came west to start churches and establish schools.  In 1853, he and the family came to Dubuque, Iowa.

Mary Newbury Adams (1837-1901), third child of Reverend and Mrs. Samuel Newbury, was born in Peru, Indiana.  Her father was a firm believer in education for both sexes. When Mary was nineteen years of age, she was sent to Mrs. Willard’s Female Seminary in Troy, New York, where she graduated in 1857.  She married Austin Adams, a young lawyer and teacher, a few months later.  Their home in Dubuque became an avant-garde salon for intellectuals of the period (1860's through 1880's).  In 1866, Mrs. Adams became interested in women’s suffrage and did much to promote it through writing and speaking.  She was a member of the Association for Advancement of Women, the American Historical Association, vice chairperson of Women’s Branch of the World’s Congress Auxiliary of the Colombian Exposition, and numerous literary societies.

Mary Newbury Adams’ husband, Austin Adams (1826-1890), came from Andover, Vermont, to Dubuque in 1854.  He graduated from Dartmouth College and studied law at Harvard.  He practiced law in Dubuque and was a member of the Supreme Court of Iowa (1876-1888) during which he served two terms as chief justice.  He was a regent of the University of Iowa, lecturer at the Law School for twenty-nine years, president of the Board of Education of Dubuque, and also started the public library in Dubuque.

Aside from the correspondence of prominent persons such as A. Bronson Alcott, many of the family letters offer insight into the interests and concerns of three generations during the second half of the 19th century in America.

Reverend Samuel Newbury (1802-1868) m. (1832)  Mary Ann Sergeant (1808-1863)                  
Children:

Frances Elizabeth Newbury (1833-1898) m. (1855) John Judson Bagley (1832-1881)

Samuel Sergeant Newbury (1835-1864) killed in battled on Welden Railroad, south of Petersburg, Virginia

Mary Ann Keeler Newbury (1837-1901) m. (1857) Austin Adams (1826-1890)

Elizabeth Margaret Newbury (1839-1841)

Catherine Sedgewick Newbury (1841-1873) m. (1861) Patrick Robb (d. 1867)

Egbert Starr Newbury (1843-1880) m. Francis Maria Kellogg

Jeanette Bishop Newbury (1846-1895)

Children of Mary Newbury Adams and Austin Adams

Annabel Adams (b. 1858)

Jerry Eugene Adams (b. 1860)

Herbert Francis Adams (b. 1863)

The collection (1836-1976, n.d.) contains mostly correspondence that has been organized chronologically.  The collection also includes biographical materials, which consist of newspaper clippings, journals, and diaries of the family members.

The first section features the correspondence of Reverend Samuel Newbury, Mary Sergeant Newbury, Thomas J. Newbury, Mary Newbury Adams, and Austin Adams. The letters of Mary Newbury Adams feature her experiences at Troy Female Seminary, correspondence with her sister Frances, and numerous family social events.   

The second section contains correspondence of the following major characters: Mary Newbury Adams and her husband, Austin Adams; Bronson and Abby May Alcott; Mary’s brothers Samuel S. Newbury and Egbert S. Newbury; Alvin Adams (cousin to Austin); Mary’s sisters Frances Newbury Bagley, Catherine Sedgewick, Newbury Robb, and Jeanette Bishop Newbury; and Mary’s Aunt Jeanette Newbury Rice.