Blair, Henrotin, Hockaday, and Price Family. Papers, 1859-1962

This collection contains the correspondence of four generations of women from the Mills, Hockaday, Price, Blair, and Henrotin families, as well as some family records and photographs.

Emily Hockaday (née Blair) Henrotin (1883-1965) was born to Frank Preston and Florence Price Blair in 1883. The Blairs were a prominent Missourian family and Emily’s grandfather, also named Frank Preston Blair, was senator of Missouri from 1871-1873. Because Emily’s parents traveled frequently, she was often left in the care of her grandma, Eva Price, or her great-aunt, Elizabeth (Lizzie) Hockaday. Emily and her Aunt Lizzie had a very close relationship, as is reflected in the letters in this collection. In 1911, Emily married Edward (Ted) Henrotin and they later had a son, Preston Blair Henrotin. Emily’s father-in-law, Charles Henrotin, was one of the founders of the Chicago Stock Exchange; her mother-in-law, Ellen Martin Henrotin, was prominent Chicago labor reform and suffrage activist.

This collection contains approximately 550 items relating to four generations of women descending from Emily Mills Hockaday (1805-1890) and Irvine Otay Hockaday (1798-1864), to their daughters Eva (née Hockaday) Price (1833-1922) and Elizabeth Hockaday (1833-1907), granddaughter Florence Price Blair (1861-1935), and great-granddaughter Emily Hockaday Henrotin. Emily was likely the collector of these family materials. The majority of the correspondence is between her and her family members, and her mother Florence’s correspondence forms a significant portion of the remainder of the collection. The collection also contains school and medical records for Preston Blair Henrotin, Emily and Ted Henrotin’s son and Emily Mills Hockaday’s great-great-grandson. In a letter written on November 29, 1921, Emily Henrotin wrote to her "Aunt Lizzie" about her son visiting, "I have such happy recollections of the long visits I used to make when I was a little girl, and how you used to read to me, etc. that I want Blair to grow up with same remembrances."

The Library purchased this collection in 2022 with the support of the Bruce C. Creamer Fund.