Marking the Landscape of Memory: The Legacy of Lewis Henry Morgan
Courtesy of Rare Books, Special Collection and Preservation, University of Rochester.
Authored by: Jacqueline Tran.
The Rochester Herald Press’s 1908 record of appeal on the matter of Lewis Henry Morgan’s will contains Morgan’s final will and testament of May 23rd, 1878. This final will indicates Morgan’s priorities at the end of his life, and what he wished to live on beyond his and his family members’ death.
In the will, Morgan appoints his brother-in-law George B. Steele, his nephew Charles R. Morgan, his friend Frederick L. Durand, and his wife Mary Steele as executors. These people were individuals Morgan deeply trusted to handle the matters of the will, indicating their status as figures important to Morgan toward the end of his life. Outlined in 9 separate sections, the will bequeaths Morgan’s entire estate and income to Mary Steele and their son Lemuel, and for these life estates to be passed down to his potential grandchildren. Lemuel’s mental and emotional condition entailed lifelong dependence upon others. Aware of the possibility that Lemuel may not have children of his own, Morgan directed that his entire estate (with the exception of his family tomb in Mount Hope Cemetery, his library, and his artifact collections) be converted into money and paid to the Trustees of the University of Rochester. These funds were intended to be used for the purposes of “female education of high grade” under the management of the University of Rochester. His library and collections were passed down to Lemuel to use, but instead of bequeathing it to his potential grandchildren, Morgan designates these items to go directly to the University of Rochester after Lemuel’s death. In this instance, it seems as though Morgan stipulated passing his estate to potential grandchildren as a mark of courtesy. In reality, Morgan knew further descendants would be nearly impossible, and saw his scientific materials of his books and collections better suited for the university.
Morgan’s final item of concern is his family mausoleum. He leaves the tomb in the care of the Commissioners of Mount Hope and strictly limits burial in the mausoleum to only his immediate family members, grandchildren, and brothers or sisters of Mary Steele or himself, with the exception of two non-relatives, Doctor Gerard Arink and Ellen M. Arink. Morgan bequeathed a total of $350 to Mount Hope for the purposes of maintaining the family tomb and cleaning it every spring. In the final two sections, Morgan designates funds for his sister Harriet Power and his namesake and nephew Lewis H. Morgan.
Some of Morgan’s values here are clear. His will reveals not only the particular individuals who were important in his life, but also what he did to ensure that his legacy and family name would live on in the memory of others. While he designated the matters of his will to be executed by certain people, Morgan left the responsibility of his three most precious items (his tomb, library, and collections) to the institutions of Mount Hope Cemetery and the University of Rochester. He planned for a future in which he would have no descendants and that Lemuel would be the last of his direct family line. Instead of relying on other relatives, such as the descendants of his brothers and sisters, Morgan left the responsibility of maintaining his legacy to institutions that would far outlive the rest of his family. His choice of who was to be buried in the family mausoleum is also telling of the individuals to whom he felt most connected, but not to the extent of depending on them to care for his belongings and the tomb.
Morgan’s will testifies to the extent to which he had planned for his and his family’s afterlife. Genealogy and family were important subjects in Morgan’s life, as demonstrated by his work with Native American kinship systems and his own genealogical records in his family bible. Paralyzed with grief over the death of his two daughters in 1862, he claimed that his family was now “destroyed”. After being prevented by Smithsonian secretary Joseph Henry from inserting a dedication to his daughters in his work Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity in the Human Family, Morgan understood that his scientific research would only sustain part of his legacy, purified of any personal matters. Foreseeing that his family line was coming to an end, he wanted to make sure that his family name would carry on for years to come. Morgan’s last attempt to preserve his legacy and that of his family was executed with his final will and testament.