The Clark-Arnold letters (69 items) contain correspondence addressed to Celestia Mary Dean (who later used the surnames Clark and Arnold) and to other members of her family throughout the latter half of the 1800s. Thomas S. Arnold of Fairfield and Herkimer, New York, wrote to Dean, his cousin and fiancée, Celestia Mary Dean, between 1856 and 1858, the year they were married. He expressed his feelings for her and wrote about his social life and family. Additional letters from this period include some from Nancy A. Nelson to Ann Elira Arnold concerning farming and Nancy's social life in Madison, Wisconsin; in one letter, she discussed the settlement of her late husband's estate and encouraged Elira to visit Madison (January 2, 1858).
Three letters written between 1858 and 1872 include one providing news of Nathan Arnold's family (1865), and two by Simeon M. Dean, who described his work at a tannery in Port Hope, Michigan, in 1870 and 1872. The remainder of the collection (1880 and 1890) consists of material addressed to Celestia Mary Dean (now using the surname Arnold) by her friend and future husband, Charles A. Clark of Owego, New York, and by her daughter, Etta M. Arnold. Clark discussed his social life and his career as a lawyer and judge in Owego (September 21, 1880), and Etta wrote several letters during her travels through Europe, including trips to England in 1880, to Germany in 1881, and to England and Wales in 1890. She described the European scenery, particularly in London and Oxford. Celestia also received one letter from her cousin, S. J. Bowen (May 26, 1881).
Thomas Smith Arnold was born in Fairfield, New York, on November 16, 1831, and moved to Herkimer, New York, in the 1850s. He worked as a lawyer before enlisting in the 121st New York Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. He died of war wounds on May 19, 1863. He married his cousin, Celestia Mary Dean (1837-1924), in 1858. Their daughter, Etta Mary, was born on January 13, 1861, and married Gershom Willard Clark on October 20, 1897. After her husband's death, Celestia married Charles A. Clark, a lawyer from Oswego, New York; his children from a previous marriage were H. Austin and Emma.
