IrvingGay

Series A.1. Corresponences. This series contains personal letters and Chrstimas greeting cards
from family and friends during. We also have numerous sympathy cards offering condolences to
Irving on the death of his wife Adelia Evelyn Gilbert on January 13, 1940.
Series A.2. Photographs. This series contains a small number of personal photographs.
Series A.3. Genealogy. Family pedegree charts of the Gay Family and the Libby Family.
Series A.4 Personal Journals. These small personal journals describe the day to day happenings
on the Gay Farm. These are Irving’s personal notes on weather and farming.
Series A.5. Publications. This series contains a number of Famer’s Almanacs, The Youth Companion
and the Tripod (Thornton Academy Publication).
Series A.6. Financial Record/Papers. This series contains all of Irvings business transactions
on the farm as well as some personal billing records.
Series A.7. Ephemera and Miscellaneous Papers. This series contains a variety of papers and
ephemera such as name cards, business cards, building mailing labels, programs, etc.

Series A.8. Artifacts. In this series, we find two items, a Victorian learning game and an illustrated

banner housed in small tube, courtesy of the Youth’s Companion.

Series B.1. Correspondences. This series contains holiday greeting cards, sympathy cards on
the death of his mother and personal letters.
Series B.2. Education Records. This series contains Merritt’s school records from elementary to
Jr. College including interestin attending Bates College.
Series B.3 Miscellaneous personal papers. Various loose papers inlcuding paid receipts, school
class notes, a small personal journal and illustrated piece.

Series A.1. Correspondences [1934-1953]

Subseries A.1a. General Subseries A.1b. Sympathy

Series A.2.Photographs (1899-1945)
Series A.3 Personal Journals (1938-1952)
Series A.4.Genealogy
Series A.5.Publications (1871-1955)
Series A.6.Finacial Records

Subseries A.6a. Bank Statements (1935-1950)
Subseries A.6b. Deposit Slips (1920-1954)
Subseries A.6c. Invoices/ Bills (1908-1954)

1. Business
2. Personal

Subseries A.6d. Cancelled Checks/Deposit Slips (1898-1952)
Subseries A.6e. Donations
Subseries A.6f. Tax Slips (1908-1921)

Series A.7.Supporting Documents/ Misc. (1893-1958)

Series A. 8.Artifacts (1881)

Series B.1. Correspondences

Series B.1a. Personal
Series B.1b. Sympathy

Series B.2. Education Records

Series B.3. Miscellaneous Papers

Creator/Compiler	Irving Jesse Gay (b. 1871-d.1954)
Repository	Dyer Library Archives & Special Collections
Inclusive Dates	1871-1957
Bulk Dates	1906-1957
Collection Size	3 linear feet
Bio/Hist. Notes	Notes: Irving Gay (1871-1954) was the third child of seven children born to Emeline Libby and the Reverend Jesse Gay. The Gay family owned a farm located on the corner of Flag Pond Road and the Hearn Road. After his father’s death in 1897, Irving took over the reigns of the farm with his younger brother Fred and the two ran it for a total of ten years. After taking a few years off working at other various jobs, Irving came back to Maine and began working on the Gay farm again. In 1922, Irving and his wife gave birth to their one and only son, Merritt Gay. As Merritt grew older, he was able to help out around the farm and played a major role in running the farm with his father for several years. For Irving Gay the idea of farming was not only a job, but a way of life. During the early 20th century, Saco had an extremely strong agricultural base and many of the farms within the community were able to make a decent living from farming. When Irving first inherited the farm, everything was done with horses and manpower, but as the years passed, the sound of hooves against the soil was quickly replaced with the sound of tires from tractors and automobiles, which would change the local farming scene forever. A photo of Irving Gay can be seen on pages 216-217 of Peter Scontras’ book, “Saco: Then and Now”.
Scope/Content Notes	This collection is comprised of photographs, publications, correspondence and financial records along with a few other supporting documents. The collection is made up of both personal and business related materials of both Irving and Merritt Gay. Many of the letters that are included in the collection are sympathy cards and notes that were sent to Irving and Merritt over the death of Irving’s wife, in 1944. Another large area of the collection is Irving’s financial records. These records are broken into both personal and business. This collection also has various things which belonged to Merritt Gay, including papers and reports cards, relating to education and also personal letters that he had received.
Provenance	This collection was donated by Richard Manning, 401 Seaside Avenue, Old Orchard Beach, Maine. There are not accession records or Deed of Gift. Mr. Manning also donated the Merritt Gay Collection (MS 37) at the same time.
Restrictions	Unrestricted
Series Descriptions	Subgroup A. Irving Jesse Gay [b.1871-d.1954] Series A.1. Corresponences. This series contains personal letters and Chrstimas greeting cards from family and friends during. We also have numerous sympathy cards offering condolences to Irving on the death of his wife Adelia Evelyn Gilbert on January 13, 1940. Series A.2. Photographs. This series contains a small number of personal photographs. Series A.3. Genealogy. Family pedegree charts of the Gay Family and the Libby Family. Series A.4 Personal Journals. These small personal journals describe the day to day happenings on the Gay Farm. These are Irving’s personal notes on weather and farming. Series A.5. Publications. This series contains a number of Famer’s Almanacs, The Youth Companion and the Tripod (Thornton Academy Publication). Series A.6. Financial Record/Papers. This series contains all of Irvings business transactions on the farm as well as some personal billing records. Series A.7. Ephemera and Miscellaneous Papers. This series contains a variety of papers and ephemera such as name cards, business cards, building mailing labels, programs, etc. Series A.8. Artifacts. In this series, we find two items, a Victorian learning game and an illustrated banner housed in small tube, courtesy of the Youth’s Companion. Subgroup B. Merritt Gay [1922-1989] Series B.1. Correspondences. This series contains holiday greeting cards, sympathy cards on the death of his mother and personal letters. Series B.2. Education Records. This series contains Merritt’s school records from elementary to Jr. College including interestin attending Bates College. Series B.3 Miscellaneous personal papers. Various loose papers inlcuding paid receipts, school class notes, a small personal journal and illustrated piece.
Organizaton of Series	SubgroupA. Irving Gay [1881-1958] Series A.1. Correspondences [1934-1953] Subseries A.1a. General Subseries A.1b. Sympathy Series A.2.Photographs (1899-1945) Series A.3 Personal Journals (1938-1952) Series A.4.Genealogy Series A.5.Publications (1871-1955) Series A.6.Finacial Records Subseries A.6a. Bank Statements (1935-1950) Subseries A.6b. Deposit Slips (1920-1954) Subseries A.6c. Invoices/ Bills (1908-1954) 1. Business 2. Personal Subseries A.6d. Cancelled Checks/Deposit Slips (1898-1952) Subseries A.6e. Donations Subseries A.6f. Tax Slips (1908-1921) Series A.7.Supporting Documents/ Misc. (1893-1958) Series A. 8.Artifacts (1881) Subgroup B. Merritt Gay Papers [1930-1954] Series B.1. Correspondences Series B.1a. Personal Series B.1b. Sympathy Series B.2. Education Records Series B.3. Miscellaneous Papers