Rutherford B. Hayes Collections

(Description ID: 594058)

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

John Monsarrat

HAYES-24

Introduction
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content
Inventory

Introduction
The collection consists of family correspondence which came to John Monsarrat from his grandmother, Laura Platt Mitchell, niece of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Included with the family correspondence, but not a part of the original collection is the published Letters of Fanny Arabella Hayes Platt and the Diary and Correspondence of Fanny Platt Fullerton, 1847-1896. The work, published in 1956 by Dorothy Hubbard Appleton, consists largely of Fanny Hayes Platt's (sister of President Rutherford B. Hayes) letters (1847-1854) to Harriet Solace, Fanny Platt Fullerton's (niece of President Rutherford B. Hayes) diary entries (1863-1865), and her correspondence (1865-1896) to her siblings: Emily Hayes Platt Hastings and Laura Platt Mitchell. Dorothy Hubbard Appleton was the granddaughter of Fanny Platt Fullerton.

Biographical Sketch
John Monsarrat, born in 1912 in Columbus, Ohio, was the son of Nicholas Monsarrat and Jean Andrews Mitchell Monsarrat and grandson of General John Grant Mitchell and Laura Platt Mitchell, niece of President Rutherford B. Hayes. The Monsarrat family eventually came into the possession of the Mitchell home, and John and his siblings spent most of their youth in the Mitchell residence on East Broad Street. The Monsarrats remained close with Fanny Hayes Smith, the only daughter of President Rutherford B. Hayes. John's sister, Corinne Monsarrat, married Dalton Hayes (Smith), son of Fanny Hayes. John attended the Columbus Academy and Hotchkiss in Lakeville, Connecticut. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II, serving on the staff of John H. Towers, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics in Washington; then on the staff of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, at Pearl Harbor; and finally, for a two-year tour of duty at sea, as Fighter Director Officer of the aircraft carrier USS Langley in the Pacific. He took part in all action from the capture of the Marshall Islands through the capture of Okinawa. Commander Monsarrat was heavily decorated for his meritorious service. Following his World War II service, Monsarrat became a vice president in the J. Walter Thompson Advertising firm. He and his wife, Margaret Jane Cashatt, were the parents of two sons, Nicholas and Grant.

Scope and Content
The collection consists of family correspondence which came to Mr. Monsarrat from his grandmother, Laura Platt Mitchell. Approximately fifty of the letters are from Rutherford B. Hayes and relate to family matters (1839-1892); Lucy Webb Hayes correspondence to Fanny Hayes Platt and Laura Platt Mitchell (1853-1862); miscellaneous Civil War correspondence and memorabilia of General John Grant Mitchell; and Platt family correspondence, including that of Fanny Hayes Platt, sister of President Rutherford B. Hayes (1851-1856), her husband, William A. Platt (1825-1858); and miscellaneous correspondence and material of Laura Platt Mitchell. Mr. Monsarrat also donated the Civil War commissions of General John Grant Mitchell. See also: General John Grant Mitchell Collection, John Grant Mitchell, Jr. Collection, Elizabeth Mitchell Heyl Collection, and Platt Family Correspondence. Much of the material has been moved to the Rutherford B. Hayes Papers, being replaced with photocopies.

Inventory
Ac. 566, 8017

Papers, 1825-1900

Folders:
1. Sarah Platt Brace Correspondence (to William A. Platt); 1828-1833
2. Sarah Platt Brace Correspondence (to William A. Platt); 1827-1830
3. William A. Platt Correspondence; 1825-1858
4. Fanny A. Platt Correspondence; 1851-1856
5. Lucy Webb Hayes Correspondence (to Fanny Hayes Platt and Laura Platt Mitchell);
    1853-1862
6. Rutherford B. Hayes Correspondence; 1839-1892
7. General John Grant Mitchell; Miscellaneous Civil War memorabilia and letters
8. Laura Platt Mitchell Correspondence and misc. material; 1850-1900
9. Misc. correspondence, manuscripts, and printed matter; 1832-1893
10. Empty envelopes and packets
11. Letters of Fanny Arabella Hayes Platt and Correspondence of Fanny Platt
      Fullerton: 1847-1898