Manchester (Conn.)

James Bradford Olcott (1830-1910) was a horticulturist and writer from Manchester, Conn. Correspondence, diaries, photographs, plat books of the Manchester Turf Garden, file of agricultural articles from the Hartford Courant by Olcott, letters from a trip around Cape Horn and life in Sacramento, California.

Leila M. Church (1879-1932) was a writer, composer and director of plays and historical pageants primarily in Connecticut. The collection includes scripts, stories, essays, personal papers, scores and correspondence in reference to her professional artistic work.

Record books, 1850-1972, bulk 1850-1920; Probate files, None.

The papers consist of material pertaining to Mathias Spiess who was an amateur historian with an interest in Connecticut Indians and the town of Manchester. Spiess in 1936 served as a Republican selectman and in 1937 and 1938 was a police commissioner for the town of Manchester. Included in the papers are correspondence, subject files, writings, and maps.