Saretta G. Hicks papers on Lady Deborah Moody
In addition to materials pertaining to Lady Moody's life, this collection also contains correspondence. Most of this relates to Hicks's research during the period 1963 to 1965. A few letters, however, provide some insight into the author's personal life. Of particular note is a copy of the Hicks family's Christmas letter of 1964, written by Saretta Hicks and containing photographs of each of her family members. It provides a brief glimpse into Hicks's life as she balanced the demands of family and authorship. Another letter, written in 1965 to Ms. Mary Tatchell in England, sheds some light on why the book was never finished. This letter notes that she had two chapters ready to be sent to a publisher in hopes of obtaining a contract when she discovered some additional information that led her to question Lady Moody's date and place of birth. It appears that she decided to hold her manuscript until she could resolve the discrepancy. The exact dates of Lady Moody's birth and death still remain uncertain in current scholarship, as evidenced by her entry in The Encyclopedia of New York City, which gives her date of birth as "1583?" and her death as "between November 1658 and May 1659."
The collection is comprised of two accessions, 1978.170 and 1980.003. Material that comprises accession number 1978.170 consists of Ms. Hicks' correspondence and research notes. There are some magazine and newspaper clippings, as well as guidebooks to and photographs of sites in England. The photographs were at one time separated and assigned the number V1997.001. This portion of the collection also includes one book, English Historic Costume Painting Book: Elizabeth and James I, 1558-1625, No. 6 (London: Winsor & Newton, Ltd., 1947). Also included are copies of original documents about Lady Moody and her family, genealogical charts (pedigrees) tracing the lineage of the Moody family, and a genealogical chart for the Hicks family. Also included are a typed transcript of the 1645 patent for Gravesend and a four-page typed transcript of the Gravesend town meeting records of 1656.
Accession number 1980.003 consists of Hicks' typewritten manuscript of the first three chapters of "Dangerous Woman: A Biography of Deborah, Lady Moody of Coney Island" and outlines of the remaining chapters. The collection also contains newspaper and magazine clippings about various locations in Massachusetts, New York, and England, as well as four indexes. The first of these organizes information about significant people and events in Lady Moody's life. The second indexes major dates in the history of the Moody family. The third index presents information on Gravesend and includes a list of early settlers. The fourth indexes bibliographic sources.
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-09-26 17:11:13 +0000.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Description is written in: English, Latin script.
Brooklyn Historical Society
Series 1: Research subject files, circa 1960s, inclusive
Avebury
1, Folder: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes typed transcripts of depositions from 1598.
Bibliographies
1, Folder: 2 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Correspondence
1, Folder: 3 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
England - research on life in 1600
1, Folder: 4 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
England - travel journal, 1963
1, Folder: 5 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Garsdon
1, Folder: 6 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Gravesend
1, Folder: 7 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Notes, clippings, copies, transcript of 1645 patent, transcript of 1656 town meeting records.
Huntingdon
1, Folder: 8 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Indians
1, Folder: 9 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Inns of Court
1, Folder: 10 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes typed list of admissions to Lincoln's Inn for 1581-1619.
Kieft, William
1, Folder: 11 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Little and Long Wittenham
1, Folder: 12 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes typed transcript of translation of 1590s-1620s memorials to the Dunch family in the chapel at Little Wittenham.
London
1, Folder: 13 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Lovelace, Henry
1, Folder: 14 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Miscellaneous
1, Folder: 16 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Notes, guidebook, unidentified sketch bearing measurements.
Moody and Dunch families
2, Folder: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes copies of 16th-18th century originals.
Mervyn, Dunch, Stone and Moody families wills and funeral certificates
2, Folder: 2 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes copies of 16th-18th century originals.
Moody, Deborah
2, Folder: 3 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes English Historic Costume Painting Book.
New Haven
2, Folder: 4 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
New Netherlands
2, Folder: 5 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Oxford and Cambridge
2, Folder: 6 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Contains copies of original 1620s documents pertaining to Henry Moody.
Pedigrees
2, Folder: 7 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes reproduction of circa 1670-1719 portrait of Edmund Dunch.
Pilkington family
2, Folder: 8 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Rhode Island
2, Folder: 9 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
St. Mary Aldermary church, London
2, Folder: 10 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Includes typed transcript of church register, 1558-1611.
Thames river
2, Folder: 11 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Wiltshire map and index
2, Folder: 12 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Series 2: Research indices, circa 1960s, inclusive
Index to bibliographic sources
Index to people and events in Lady Deborah Moody's life
Index to dates in Moody family history
Series 3: Book manuscript, circa 1960s, inclusive
Story ideas
2, Folder: 13 (Material Type: Text)
Preface and prologue
2, Folder: 14 (Material Type: Text)
Chapters 1-3
2, Folder: 15 (Material Type: Text)
Outlines of chapters 4-16
2, Folder: 16 (Material Type: Text)
Series 4: Photographs, circa 1960s, inclusive
2, Folder: 17 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)
Includes photographs taken by Hicks of Avebury, Cambridge, Garsdon church, Henley, Huntingdon, Malmesbury, Little and Long Wittenham, London (including St. Mary Aldermary church), and Oxford in England, as well as Salem, Massachusetts.