Collections by Subject: American History, 1820-1865
A Selected List of Holdings in Special Collections, University of Maryland Libraries
For more information about how to access materials in this guide, please visit the Maryland Room web page or fill out an information request.
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John H. Alexander papers, 1824-1857. 0.75 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Correspondence received by Marylander John H. Alexander (1812-1867) from a variety of notable figures of his day. Alexander pursued a diverse career as lawyer, civil engineer, geologist, and teacher.
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Samuel Moore Barclay papers, 1818-1849. 23 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Samuel Moore Barclay was a Bedford, Pennsylvania, attorney who corresponded with a number of prominent Maryland individuals and business firms on legal, political, and business matters. Among Barclay's correspondents were William Tiffany and Co., H. P. Hepburn, Jonathan M. Edgar, and C. D. Slingluff. Topics discussed include legal cases, monetary claims, and business arrangements.
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Bowie Family papers, 1748-1956. 0.50 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The collection contains genealogical information, business papers, and correspondence from one of the state's leading families as well as important information about plantation life and slavery before the American Civil War.
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Mary Eliza Bradbury papers, January 8, 1855-November 26, 1855. 1 linear inch.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Letters from Bradbury, an Elkton, Maryland schoolteacher, to her friend and beau, Lewis H. Jackson of Wilmington, Delaware, ca. 1855.
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Chapman Family papers, 1816-1895. 2.00 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The personal records of a family of politicians and landowners in Charles County, Maryland. John Grant Chapman and his son Andrew Grant Chapman were members of the Maryland House of Delegates and the U.S. House of Representatives. The bulk dates of the papers span the years 1816 to 1895.
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Claude-Gray-Hughes-Tuck-Whittington Family papers, 1793-1938. 13.50 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The personal records of a prominent extended family in the Annapolis, Maryland area. The bulk dates of the papers span the years 1820 to 1870.
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David Stewart Courtenay papers, 1787-1900. 0.25 linear feet (20 items).
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The papers of David Stewart Courtenay consist of correspondence, guardians' and executors' financial records, and biographical/genealogical materials pertaining to various family members, including the family of Courtenay's mother, Isabella Purviance. Included are documents created in the course of conducting various business transactions, such as the settlement of the estate of Dr. John Boyd, receipts of debts owed, and receipts pertaining to David Courtenay's guardianship of John Larsh. The latter documents the cost of clothing, board, tuition, and other items around 1830. David Courtenay's account book dating from 1820 to 1824 documents the estate of John H. Purviance as well as the accounts of members of the Courtenay family. Correspondence among David Courtenay and his nephew, David Courtenay, Jr., and three insurance companies discusses the transfer of stock in 1871. Also included is a certificate verifying Sarah M. Courtenay's donation of $1 to the Washington National Monument Society. Zachary Taylor signed the certificate.
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Leonidas Dodson papers, 1842-1889. 1.00 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
This collection consists of the journals of Leonidas Dodson (1822-1889), banker, teacher, and prominent citizen of Easton, Maryland. The journals are a rich source of information about local and national events, and about Dodson's church, civic, and work responsibilities. They consist of diary entries, extensive quotations and transcriptions, a number of laid-in materials, and information of Dodson's death. Subjects covered include church and religion, disease and death, crime and justice, politics, temperance, the Civil War, and slavery.
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Edmondson/Jacobs Family papers, 1836-1954. 1.75 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Included in this collection is a diary belonging to Emma V. E. Jacobs, dated 1854, and describing her life and how her beau asked her father for her hand in marriage. This collection is unprocessed, but a detailed inventory is available.
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Robert Garrett and Sons archives, 1830-1863. 2.00 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The records of a Baltimore wholesale grocery firm which cover the period 1830-1863.
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Reuben Gilder papers, 1815-1827. 1 linear inch.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The papers of Reuben Gilder consist of twenty-six letters written by Gilder to his former military comrade, Isaac Dutton Barnard, between 1815 and 1822. Subjects covered in the correspondence include: former military comrades, acquaintances, and experiences related to the War of 1812 in Canadian territory; military conflict with the Creek tribes of Native Americans; a variety of contemporaneous political matters and figures, including those in the local, national, and international arenas; and family, business, and health matters.
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Grimes Family papers, 1821-1902. 3.25 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The Grimes family of Oxon Hill, Prince George's County, Maryland maintained a farm as well as a store and tavern or 'ordinary' throughout the nineteenth century. The Grimes family papers include financial ledgers from the store, daybooks recording work on the farm, weather, and local and family news, legal agreements about land and labor, and correspondence.
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Hagerstown Bank Collection, 1814-1852. 309 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
This grouping of letters is primarily addressed to Elie Beatty, cashier of the Hagerstown Bank, and concerns various financial matters to be handled by Beatty and other cashiers between 1814 and 1850. The collection provides an overview of banking operations in early to mid-nineteenth century western Maryland.
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Hamilton Family papers, 1803-1923 and undated. 1.25 linear feet (109 items).
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The papers of this Charles County, Maryland, family include letters written by John Hamilton, Jr., to his father, John Hamilton, of Port Tobacco, Maryland. John Jr., while attending school, describes in his letters how the impending war has affected his school; he later writes of the murder of President Lincoln. Also, John's cousin, Susan A. Hill, sends letters to her uncle about the tense atmosphere in Washington, D.C., as the Civil War begins and troops are garrisoned in the city.
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Harwood Family papers, 1652-1842. 53 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Legal documents, land plats, and receipts primarily relating to Richard and Thomas Harwood and their lands on Buzzard's Island and other places in Calvert County, Maryland. Included are materials from Aquila Beall, Thomas Holliday, and a property named "Glengary" in Frederick County, Maryland.
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Hendricks and Hamilton families papers, 1845-1961. 244 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Documents in the collection relate to donor Virginia Harrold's paternal great-grandparents, Oliver and Susan Hamilton, who lived in Petersburg, Virginia during the Civil War. Susan Hamilton took out a life insurance policy on her husband from New York Life Insurance in 1857. During the Civil War, the Hamiltons had business dealings with the Confederate States of America.
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Lafayette Family Papers, 1549-1957. 2.25 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The papers of the Lafayette family relate primarily to General Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier de Lafayette (1757-1834) who participated in the American and French Revolutions. The collection consists mainly of correspondence (copies and originals) and newspaper clippings, primarily in French.
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Brantz Mayer papers, 1820-1853. 2 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Brantz Mayer was a prominent citizen, historian, and writer in Baltimore, Maryland, in the nineteenth century. Mayer spent a portion of his life traveling, and, as a result, this collection emphasizes two of Mayer's works on the history of Mexico: Mexico as It Was and as It Is (1844) and Mexico, Aztec, Spanish and Republican (1851).The Brantz Mayer Papers also include diaries kept by Mayer during his travels, and other notes he kept on daily life.
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John McConnell Collection, 1859-1885. 49 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The collection consists of forty-nine letters written to John McConnell between October 1859 and August 1885 by a variety of correspondents, including his fellow ministers in the German Reformed Church and his brother George McConnell. Of particular interest are discussions of the organization of the German Reformed Church, relations of the German Reformed Church to other Christian denominations, problems in individual churches, and theological questions. George McConnell discussed many personal issues with his brother, including his wife Catharine's mental problems, his son John F.'s alcoholism, and his unhappiness at his son Elias's choice of a wife.
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Alonzo W. Phillips Papers, May 9, 1858 - December 11, 1861. 0.25 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Alonzo W. Phillips was a Union Corporal in Company F of the 15th Massachusetts Volunteers during the American Civil War. The collection includes twelve letters written by Alonzo to his aunt, Hannah Folsom, and one letter to her husband, Simeon. Major topics include military life, the health and affairs of numerous family members, and civilian attitudes toward the war. His letters detail his travels throughout Maryland, his defense of the Potomac River near Poolesville, and the Battle of Ball's Bluff near Leesburg, Virginia. He was discharged due to illness in 1862.
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Preston Family papers, 1799-1916. 4.75 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The Prestons were an upper-middle-class family in nineteenth-century Baltimore and Balitmore County, Maryland. William P. Preston, a lawyer who dabbled in state and local politics, his wife Margaret "Madge" Smith Preston, and their daughter May Preston McNeal have recorded, through their correspondence, diaries, and other documents, comments on entertainment; domestic life; the Catholic Church; local politics; theater and the arts; court cases; business; travel; fashions; weather and natural disasters; food; slavery; domestic abuse; health; boarding school; and life in Maryland during the Civil War.
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Joseph Raynes papers, 1831-1849. 10 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Correspondence between British immigrant Joseph Raynes to his family in Bonsall, Derbyshire, England, describing an Atlantic sea voyage; the Chesapeake Bay; Baltimore life in the nineteenth century, including buildings, prices, and Lexington Market; slavery; the failure of the Bank of Maryland; and the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Cincinnati. Also included is news of friends, family and deaths.
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Sellman Family papers, 1828-1908. 1.50 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The Sellman Family Papers span the years 1828 through 1908 with the bulk of the material dating between 1850 and 1865 and document the lives of a landowning family in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. The collection contains family and business correspondence; bills and receipts; guardianship documents; handwriting exercises; and household and farm account books and diaries. Subjects covered include daily life; farm management; the cholera epidemic in Grand Gulf, Mississippi; treatment of slaves; sale of crops in Baltimore; and the education of the Sellman children at home and at St. John's College in Annapolis.
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Sterling Family papers, 1862-1864. 0.25 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Personal comments on life in Annapolis, Maryland during the Civil War are expressed in the collection.
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Stoddert Family papers, 1797-1939. 38 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
The Stoddert family of Virginia and Maryland traces its history to Richard Parker, the Viriginia judge at the trial of abolitionist John Brown, and General William Smallwood, a Revoluntionary War soldier from Charles County, Maryland. The collection contains family correspondence, legal documents, and genealogies of various families connected to the Stodderts. It also includes material related to West Hatton, the Stoddert family home in Charles County; the trial of abolitionist John Brown; and a 1906 "colored" wedding in Winchester, Virginia.
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James Thompson papers, 1808-1841. 6 items.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
Six handwritten business letters to and from James Thompson of Pennsylvania from correspondents located in Maryland. The letters contain information concerning the cost and condition of goods such as flour, whiskey and corn and their transportation via the Tidewater Canal. Two of the letters were from Magraw and Virdin of Havre de Grace, Maryland, a company Thompson used in his merchandising business. Also included is an invitation to visit a wholesale clothier, Tiffany, Fite & Co. of Baltimore. It gives a description of their latest stock.
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Weems-Reynolds Family papers, 1713-1940. 1.50 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
A collection of personal papers belonging to one of the oldest families in Maryland (Weems) and in-laws of the family. Part of the correspondence dates from the mid-nineteenth century.
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William Wilson papers, 1848-1849. 0.25 linear feet.
Location: State of Maryland and Historical Collections
William Wilson was an agent for the milling firm of Hoover and Frick, which was located near Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. He apparently spent much of his time at the harbor in Baltimore, Maryland, gathering the news of the day, which he then transmitted to his employers in a series of letters. In his correspondence Wilson discusses cattle and grain prices, political news and events of Europe and Mexico, the effects of the California gold rush on the east coast, and prospects for trade with England and other European countries.