P2260 WALTER STONE PARDEE: An Inventory of His Autobiography and Related Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society Finding aid prepared by Kathryn A. Johnson. Minnesota Historical Society
St. Paul MN.

Manuscripts Collection

 Finding aid encoded by Lyda Morehouse, December 7, 1999. Finding aid written inEnglish August 2008 Converted from EAD Version 1.0 to Version 2002 by Monica Manny Ralston, Daniel Sher, and Joyce Chapman. OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Minnesota Historical Society Pardee, Walter Stone, 1852-1925. Autobiography and related papers. 1918-1923. A detailed autobiography (blueprint copy, 208 p., [1923?]) documenting the life of Pardee, a Minneapolis architect and engineer who came to St. Anthony Falls in 1866. 5 folders. See Detailed Description section for shelf location. BIOGRAPHY OF WALTER STONE PARDEE

Pardee was born in New Haven, Connecticut (August 21, 1852), the son of Joseph Henry (1818-1868) and Elvira Stone (d. 1855) Pardee. He was educated in private and public schools, and lived with his Stone grandparents in Orange, Connecticut after his mother's death. His father, a carriage maker, came to Minnesota in 1862, followed by Walter who arrived in St. Anthony Falls in 1866. Pardee entered the University of Minnesota preparatory school in 1868 and graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1877, with a degree in civil engineering. He worked in the architectural offices of L. S. Buffington, Minneapolis (1877-1885); became Minneapolis' first building inspector (1884-1887); was architect for the board of education (1887-1891); and worked in private architectural practice (1891-1899). He married Etta Sabin in 1881 and died in Minneapolis on May 24, 1925.

 SCOPE AND CONTENTS OF THE COLLECTION

There is considerable information on his early life and education in Connecticut; his family background, and his subsequent life and career in St. Anthony Falls and Minneapolis. The reminiscences are supplemented by a biographical speech (1918), a paper on Minnesota's climate and its relationship to the state's cultural development (1923), and a few photocopied obituaries and biographical articles (1908-1925).

RELATED MATERIALS

Minnesota history bulletin, 5:308-309 (November 1923).

 CATALOG HEADINGS

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics: Carriage and wagon making--Connecticut--New Haven. Carriages and carts--Connecticut--New Haven. Child rearing--Connecticut. Children--Connecticut. Clothing and dress. Congregational churches--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Education, Higher--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Family--Connecticut--Health and hygiene. Family--Connecticut--Religious life. Farm buildings--Connecticut. Farm life--Connecticut. Holidays--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Military education--Connecticut--New Haven. Parent and child--Connecticut. Roads--Minnesota--Territorial Road. Schools--Connecticut--New Haven. Schools--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Sewing. Stepmothers. Teenage boys--Connecticut. Teenage boys--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Universalist churches--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Universities and colleges--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Youth--Connecticut--New Haven. Youth--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Places: Connecticut--Description and travel. Minnesota--Description and travel. New England--Description and travel. New England--Social life and customs. Saint Anthony Falls (Minn.). Persons: Blaisdell, John T., d.1901. Elwell, Talmadge, 1823-1903. Folwell, William Watts, 1833-1929. Purdy family. Stone family. Tuttle, James Harvey, 1824-1903. Organizations: Plymouth Congregational Church (Minneapolis, Minn.). Universalist Church (Minneapolis, Minn.). University of Minnesota. Types of Documents: Reminiscences. Occupations: Farmers--Connecticut. Photographers--Minnesota--Minneapolis. Students--Connecticut--New Haven. Students--Minnesota--Minneapolis. ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Walter Stone Pardee Autobiography and Related Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

 Accession Information:

Accession number: 1838A; 2136; 2231

 Processing Information:

Processed by: Kathryn A. Johnson, October 1997

Catalog ID number: 09-00321304

 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION P2260 1-4 Autobiography, [1923?]. 4 folders.

A minutely detailed, but rather disjointed autobiography in which Pardee describes his life in Connecticut (pp.1-97) and in St. Anthony Falls and Minneapolis, Minnesota (pp. 102-208). Throughout the manuscript there are descriptions of events during the years 1919-1923.

The first section (pp. 1-101) contains information on Walter's birth in New Haven; information on the Pardee family; on his father's carriage making business in New Haven, and on carriage making in the 1830s; on the death of his mother (1855); and on his father's subsequent marriage (1857) to Fannie Elvira Clark. Following his mother's death, Walter lived with his maternal grandparents on a farm in Orange County, Connecticut, and Pardee recalls homemade clothing (pp. 5-6), child rearing practices (pp. 7-8, 21-22, 145-147), the Stone farm and farm life in Orange County (pp. 8-17), relations with his stepmother and other family members, gardening, and similar subjects.

In 1857 Pardee moved back to New Haven and joined his father there. He describes his attendance at a "Dame School" (1857-1860) (pp. 35-38), the New Haven Military School (1860) (p. 45), and Webster Public School (1861) (p. 57), and his final years at the Stone farm (1862-1866), again giving many details on rural life and his reactions to it including information on New England dairy farming and butter making (p. 92).

The second section (pp. 98-208) begins with the 1862 arrival of Pardee's father in St. Anthony Falls. It then describes Walter's trip from New Haven to St. Paul (April 1866) (p. 99). Pardee describes St. Anthony Falls and Minneapolis in the1860s; the Winslow House hotel (pp. 156-158); families living in the area; photographers (pp. 168-169) including Talmadge Elwell, Minneapolis' first daguerreotyper; Plymouth Congregational Church; a Christmas celebration at the home of John T. Blaisdell (pp. 129-130); and ice skating and descriptions of different types of skates. There is information on Universalist minister James Harvey Tuttle and the differences between Universalism and Puritanism (pp. 145-147); the Minnesota Territorial Road between St. Paul and Minneapolis (pp. 162-162); memories of New England (171-184); the collapse of the St. Anthony Falls tunnel (p. 205); considerable information on the University of Minnesota (pp. 190-202) detailing its 1867 reorganization and Pardee's attendance at its preparatory school; his entrance into the University in 1868; lists of students attending and descriptions of student life; and a long reminiscent account of Professor William Watts Folwell (p. 206).

 P2260 5 "St. Anthony Falls in 1866."

Notes for a speech delivered by Pardee to the Junior Pioneers of St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis on June 24, 1918. Another version of this manuscript is found in the autobiography, pages 156-161.

 P2260 5 "Minnesota Climate and Topography. Adventures on the Gorge," November 1923.

Includes fragile original and a photocopy. Pardee discusses the effects of the climate and topography on the growth of civilization. Using Ellsworth Huntington's theories that civilization flourishes in cooler or moderate climates, Pardee applies that theory to life in Minnesota.

 P2260 5 Obituaries and biographical miscellany, 1923-1925.

Obituaries of Pardee from theSt. Paul Dispatch and Minneapolis Journal, May 26, 1925; biographies of him in Minnesota Biographies and in Horce B. Hudson, A Half Century of Minneapolis (1908); obituaries of Talmadge Elwell and James Harve Tuttle; and the accession note from the Minnesota History Bulletin (November 1923).