Five College Archives and Manuscript Collections
Levi Stockbridge Papers, 1841-1978
4 boxes (2 linear ft.)
Collection number: RG 3/1 S76

Abstract:
Pioneering agriculturalist, public speaker, state legislator, instructor, and president of Massachusetts Agricultural College. Papers include correspondence, personal notebooks, travel diary, journal as a farmer (1842-1845), writings, lectures, notes on experiments, clippings, photocopies of personal and legal records, and biographical material, including reminiscences by Stockbridge's daughter. Also contains auction records, notebook of Amherst, Massachusetts town records (1876-1890), and printed matter about Amherst and national elections, including some about his candidacy for Congress on Labor-Greenback party ticket 1880. Also contains papers (13 items) of Stockbridge's son, Horace Edward Stockbridge (1857-1930), agricultural chemist and educator, including a letter (1885) from him to the elder Stockbridge, written from Japan while he was professor at Hokkaido University.

Terms of Access and Use:

The collection is open for research.

Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Biographical Note

Levi Stockbridge was born in Hadley, Massachusetts on March 13, 1820 to a well-known family of agriculturalists, lawyers, and educators. He attended local schools as a boy, and due largely to his own initiative and efforts, became a widely respected expert and pioneer in agriculture. He also had a reputation as a fine public speaker, a talent he cultivated at the local lyceum.

Stockbridge came to Massachusetts Agricultural College (M.A.C.) in 1867 as an instructor in agricultural research. During his tenure as instructor and president of M.A.C. (1867-1882), he conducted many experiments and developed experimental methods and formulas on manuering, and chemical fertilization, which won him wide acclaim. Stockbridge was also a consumer advocate of the time, demanding that public trials of farm equipment take place on the grounds M. A. C.

Stockbridge enjoyed the respect and devotion of his students. He was firm and demanding with them, as demonstrated in his carefully kept attendance and labor records, as well as fair and compassionate, often loaning money to his students and even to the college during hard times.

As a noted agriculturalist, he served on the Massachusetts Cattle Commission from 1869-1891, and on the State Board of Agriculture for 12 years. His work on the Cattle Commission dealt to a great extent with control of contagious diseases among cattle.

Stockbridge participated in civic affairs and politics. A stalwart of the Grange, he was a leader in the cooperative movement. He served as a town selectman, town moderator, and assessor at various times for the town of Amherst, as well as a state legislator - elected to the House of Representatives in 1855, 1870, and 1883, and serving in the Senate from 1865 -1866. He was unsuccessful in a bid for a U.S. Congress seat on the 1880 Labor-Greenback party ticket.

Stockbridge remained active lecturing and traveling until his death on May 2, 1904, at the age of 84.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Correspondence, personal notebooks, travel diary, journal as a farmer (1842-1845), drafts of articles and reports, published writings, lecture notes, notes on experiments, clippings, photocopies of personal and legal records, and biographical material, including reminiscences by Stockbridge's daughter; together with college rules and routines, review notes and examinations, committee notes, records of college finances, student attendance, student labor, payments to students, laboratory work, and work on buildings, auction records and assessor's notes, notebook of Amherst, Massachusetts town records (1876-1890), and printed matter about Amherst and national elections including some about his candidacy for Congress on Labor-Greenback party ticket 1880; and papers (13 items) of Stockbridge's son, Horace Edward Stockbridge (1857-1930), agricultural chemist and educator including letter (1885) from him to the elder Stockbridge, written from Japan while he was professor of chemistry and geology at Hokkaido University, handwritten recollections of Japan by his wife, Belle, and biographical material.


Information on Use
Terms of Access and Use
Restrictions on access:

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as Levi Stockbridge Papers (RG 3/1/1880). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

History of the Collection

Acquired pre-1972, for the most part, with no record of source; later additions from Stockbridge family via John M. Stockbridge (1977 and 1979) and from Mrs. John L. Blanchard (1962).

Processing Information

Processed by Michael C. King, 1975.


Additional Information
Contact Information
Special Collections and University Archives
W.E.B. Du Bois Library
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003-9275

Phone: (413) 545-2780
Fax: (413) 577-1399
Language
English.