1892_2-19-Feb 6002-HKG copy.jpg

Henry Gilman Correspondence Collection

PI

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:41:08 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:26:48 PM

Added description

Description

Henry Gilman Correspondence Collection

Overview

The Henry Gilman Correspondence Collection is a set of five handwritten letters written by Henry K. Gilman to Elizabeth Alice Austen in February 1892. The letters were digitized as high‑resolution JPEG scans and accompanied by OCR‑derived transcriptions. A metadata file (pinax.json) records the collection’s provenance and cataloguing information. All documents are in English and reflect personal communication between friends and acquaintances of the Austen household.

Background

Henry K. Gilman was a contemporary of Alice Austen, residing in the New York metropolitan area. The letters were addressed to Austen while she was in Pennsylvania, and they discuss social events, travel, and mutual acquaintances. The correspondence is housed in the Alice Austen House Museum on Staten Island, a repository for Austen’s personal papers and related materials. The collection illustrates the social networks of late‑Victorian upper‑middle‑class families in the region.

Contents

  • Letter 6002 (19 Feb 1892) – mentions the Illustrated American and Lilian Russell.
  • Letter 6003 (19 Feb 1892) – references skating in Pennsylvania and a forthcoming meeting.
  • Letter 7001 (Feb 1892) – written from Flushing, L.I., and notes the “classic atmosphere of the Moravian town.”
  • Letter 7002 (Feb 1892) – signed by Harry H. Pilham, discussing travel plans and a scrapbook addition.
  • Letter Monday001 (Feb 1892) – a brief note about a storm and Valentine’s Day.
Each letter is available as a JPEG scan and a text file containing OCR output. The metadata file records the collection’s creation date, creator, and institutional affiliation.

Scope

The collection covers a single month—February 1892—and contains five letters addressed to Alice Austen. It includes only the correspondence from Henry K. Gilman and related documents (metadata, OCR). The collection does not contain letters from other correspondents, later or earlier dates, or unrelated materials. It provides a focused glimpse into the personal and social life of a Victorian friend of the Austen family, illustrating travel, leisure, and the maintenance of social ties in the early 1890s.

Raw Cheimarros Data

@henry_gilman_correspondence_collection:document {creator: @henry_k_gilman, institution: @alice_austen_house, created: @date_1892_02, description: "Personal letters from Henry K. Gilman to Alice Austen in February 1892"}

@alice_austen_house:organization {type: "Museum", location: @staten_island}

@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth_year: @date_1866, death_year: @date_1952, occupation: "Photographer", residence: @staten_island}

@henry_k_gilman:person {full_name: "Henry K. Gilman", role: "Correspondent"}

@staten_island:place {state: @new_york, country: @united_states}

@flushing_li:place {city: "Flushing", borough: "Queens", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}

@bethlehem:place {state: @pennsylvania, country: @united_states}

@moravian_town:place {alias_of: @bethlehem}

@illustrated_american:publication {type: "Magazine"}

@lilian_russell:person {full_name: "Lilian Russell"}

@julia_t_martin:person {full_name: "Julia T. Martin", relationship: "close friend"}

@julie_bredt:person {full_name: "Julie Bredt"}

@violet_m_e_ward:person {full_name: "Violet M.E. Ward"}

@isabella_king:person {full_name: "Isabella King", role: "photograph buyer"}

@bessie_strong:person {full_name: "Bessie Strong"}

@harry_h_pilham:person {full_name: "Harry H. Pilham"}

@sally_ew:person {full_name: "Sally Ew"}

@file_1892_2_19_feb_6002_hkg_copy_jpg:file {filename: "1892_2-19-Feb 6002-HKG copy.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}

@letter_6002:document {date: @date_1892_02_19, source_file: @file_1892_2_19_feb_6002_hkg_copy_jpg}

@henry_k_gilman -> wrote -> @letter_6002

@alice_austen -> recipient of -> @letter_6002

@letter_6002 -> mentions -> @illustrated_american

@letter_6002 -> mentions -> @lilian_russell


@file_1892_2_19_feb_6003_hkg_copy_jpg:file {filename: "1892_2-19-Feb 6003-HKG copy.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}

@letter_6003:document {date: @date_1892_02_19, source_file: @file_1892_2_19_feb_6003_hkg_copy_jpg}

@henry_k_gilman -> wrote -> @letter_6003

@alice_austen -> recipient of -> @letter_6003

@letter_6003 -> mentions -> @pennsylvania

@letter_6003 -> mentions -> @flushing_li


@file_1892_2_feb_7001_hkg_copy_jpg:file {filename: "1892_2-Feb 7001-HKG copy.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}

@letter_7001:document {date: @date_1892_02, source_file: @file_1892_2_feb_7001_hkg_copy_jpg}

@henry_k_gilman -> wrote -> @letter_7001

@alice_austen -> recipient of -> @letter_7001

@letter_7001 -> mentions -> @flushing_li

@letter_7001 -> mentions -> @moravian_town


@file_1892_2_feb_7002_hkg_copy_jpg:file {filename: "1892_2-Feb 7002-HKG copy.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}

@letter_7002:document {date: @date_1892_02, source_file: @file_1892_2_feb_7002_hkg_copy_jpg}

@harry_h_pilham -> wrote -> @letter_7002

@alice_austen -> recipient of -> @letter_7002


@file_1892_2_henry_gilman_monday001_copy_jpg:file {filename: "1892_2-Henry Gilman monday001 copy.jpg.ref.json", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}

@letter_monday001:document {date: @date_1892_02, source_file: @file_1892_2_henry_gilman_monday001_copy_jpg}

@henry_k_gilman -> wrote -> @letter_monday001

@alice_austen -> recipient of -> @letter_monday001


@file_pinax:file {filename: "pinax.json", type: "Metadata (PINAX)"}

@henry_gilman_correspondence_collection -> documented by -> @file_pinax


@file_sally_ew_letter:file {filename: "unknown", type: "Image/Asset with OCR"}

@letter_sally_ew:document {date: @date_1892_02, source_file: @file_sally_ew_letter}

@sally_ew -> wrote -> @letter_sally_ew

@alice_austen -> recipient of -> @letter_sally_ew

Metadata

Files (5)

1892_2-19-Feb 6002-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
586.69 KB
OCR Text

Sally Ew- Dear Miss Austen, This is only a little bit of a line, just "to say that I am well and hope you are the same." I am sending you a copy of the Illustrated American which is chiefly because it contains a very good picture of Miss Lilian Russell. I suppose you received the Life

1892_2-19-Feb 6003-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
953.4 KB
OCR Text

I sent you last week— It seems a long time since you went away but I suppose you are enjoying life in Pennsyl- vania. It looks so happy. You might be getting some good skating there lovely moonlight nights—Don't let any of the Freebies trifle with your young affections under the plea of the moonlight. I hope to have the pleasure of meeting you on your return if you will let me know what train you are coming by, so I can escort you across the river—Will you—Please? Don't stay too long. As always, Yours sincerely, Henry Kgilman— I might add that I think the little deal I told you about will be consummated next week.

1892_2-Feb 7001-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
947.89 KB
OCR Text

Thursday Flushing, L.I. Dear Miss Austin - I was very glad to receive your note and to learn that the classic atmosphere of the Moravian town is agreeing with you. I hope however that you won't forget that there are persons in this vicinity who will welcome your return to "our midst."

1892_2-Feb 7002-HKG copy.jpgJPEG
1.15 MB
OCR Text

once more. Whenever it may be. Don't forget to drop us a line to say by what train you will come if you will allow me to meet you. I think the enclosed is worthy of being preserved as an addition to your scrapbooks if you can tack it in some little corner. My family are filled with curiosity as to the identity of my correspondent in Bethlehem but I have As always. Truly Yours, Harry H. Pilham

1892_2-Henry Gilman monday001 copy.jpgJPEG
1.32 MB
OCR Text

Dear Miss Austin, I hope this nasty storm today will exhaust itself by Wednesday— Valentine's Day has got around again, I hear, and as a reminder of it I got Marcus

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:41:08 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:34:26 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:49:05 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:26:48 PM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Henry_Gilman_Correspondence"

Parent

01KC28TRADQCJWP4YC811VKY9V

No children (leaf entity)