John Armstrong business papers

Survey map, June 1755 (Box 1, folder 10)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1755-1783

The collection contains papers related to John Armstrong's service as a surveyor in Cumberland County between 1755 and 1783. These papers include correspondence with the Surveyor-General of Pennsylvania and Delaware, John Lukens, complaints from his clients, and several survey maps drawn by Armstrong. Born in County Fermagh, Ireland in 1717, Armstrong emigrated to Pennsylvania with his wife, five brothers, and a sister. He established himself as a surveyor but in 1756 joined the militia as a captain during the Seven Years' War (French and Indian War). He led a victorious assault on the stronghold of Kittanning, earning forever the label "the Hero of Kittanning." After the war, Armstrong returned to surveying, being named deputy-surveyor in 1762. He later served several terms in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1788, and was a founding trustee of the Carlisle Grammar School and Dickinson College.

Location
MC 2001.4

Edward Shippen Burd family papers

Receipt for taxes, 1816 (Box 1, folder 9)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1792-1870

The collection includes business letters and legal papers of the Burd family, early deeds and patents, settlement of the Edward Shippen Burd estate 1848-1870, and correspondence concerning bequests for St. Stephen's Church, Philadelphia, the Burd memorial there, and the "Burd Orphan Asylum."

Location
MC 1999.10

John Chapman papers

Contract estimate, 1849 (Box 2, folder 6)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1833-1854

This collection consists of drafts, letters, manuscripts, notes, financial accounts, and a prospectus for the publication of a book. Specifically, there are lectures and notes on mechanics, as well as drafts for patents on inventions submitted to the Royal Commissioners of the Great Exhibition of 1850, including an air engine. The collection also includes letters and papers on W. L. Henson's Knitting Machine, plans and contracts for the establishment of railways and public works in India, and photographs of the "New" Lebaudy Airship and Airship Hanger.

People
Time Period
Location
MC 1999.8

George Dum business and estate papers

Time Book, 1910 (Box 1, folder 7)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1906-1955

George Dum (c.1863-1918) served as secretary and treasurer for the Perry County-based Oak Grove Lumber Company. This collection contains materials pertaining to his interest in this venture, as well as his family's legal dealings with the associated Oak Grove and Kennedy's Valley timber tracts after his death. The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence, financial and legal documents, and maps.

People
Location
MC 2008.1

Maps and Atlases Collection

Maps and Atlases Collection
Date Range
1839-1873, 1900

These images were taken from just a few of the maps and atlases housed in the Dickinson College Archives and Special Collections.

The sources include:

Thomas T. Smiley's Smiley’s Atlas for the Use of Schools and Families… (1839) 
S. Augustus Mitchell's New Universal Atlas… (1857), Mitchell’s New General Atlas… (1866), and  Mitchell’s Ancient Atlas, Classical and Sacred… (1873)
Frederick W. Beers' Atlas of Cumberland Co., Pennsylvania: From Actual Surveys (1872)
Joseph R. Bein's Atlas of the State of Pennsylvania: From Original Surveys and Various Local Surveys Revised and Corrected (1900)

Location
Special Collections - Oversized

J. Emory McClintock family papers

Autograph album, 1853 (Box 3, folder 04)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1853-1918

The collection consists of genealogical, financial, and scrapbook materials related to the McClintock and Wakeman families. Four ledgers concern research notes on George Washington. Also included in the collection are correspondence related to the Proeschel family. Julius N. Proeschel was secretary to Rev. John McClintock in Paris in the 1860's and a life long friend of Emory McClintock. The correspondence include a few letters by John McClintock and a large number by Emory, showing the personal side of both families.

Location
MC 1999.12

Edgar Miller scrapbook and artifact collection

Watercolor, undated (Box 1, folder 8)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
c.1955-1984

This collection is composed largely of artifacts which the Millers brought back from their nine year mission to Nepal, 1956-1965. Also included in the collection are a scrapbook, picture books of Nepal, and a Nepalese hymnal.

Location
MC 1999.3

John H. Murdoch papers

Photograph, 1979 (Photographs, folder 1)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1978-1986

The John H. Murdoch collection consists of various papers, newspaper clippings, audiotapes, and photographs collected by Murdoch during his involvement with Three Mile Island Alert. John Murdoch was a long-time resident of Lower Allen Township, Cumberland County and became involved in emergency communications and the activities of Three Mile Island Alert, the public-awareness group, following the accident at Three Mile Island on March 28, 1979. Throughout the decade after the accident, Murdoch devoted much of his time and energy to the fight against the restart of Three Mile Island.

Time Period
Location
TMI-Murdoch

Joseph Priestley miscellaneous papers

Envelope and postcard, 1983 (Box 2, folder 23)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1833-1994

This collection includes articles, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, and programs about Joseph Priestley and related topics. Also included in the collection are genealogical materials - correspondence, notes, charts - collected by Priestley family members

Location
MC 2003.8

William Charles Ford Reed papers and books

Copybook, c.1847-1851 (Box 1, folder 7)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1832-1861

The William Charles Ford Reed Collection was donated to the college in 1951 by the sons of William C. F. Reed, Class of 1851. The collection contains some of Reed's student writings, notebooks, and his complete set of school books. A subsequent donation in 1956 consisted of a few papers and 37 school books belonging to William's older sister, Ann Reed. The papers are arranged into three series: Notebooks, Writings, and Miscellaneous. There is also a photograph of William C.F. Reed.

Location
MC 2001.16

James Gordon Steese family papers

Passport, 1925 (Box 3, folder 13)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1882-1958

James Gordon Steese (1882-1958) was a member of the Dickinson College class of 1902. Among his many activities, Steese served as president of the Board of Road Commissioners for Alaska; the Steese Highway in Alaska is named for him. He later was involved with the development of railroads in both Alaska and Maryland and with several oil companies. Diaries and journals chronicle Steese's military service and his later years. The collection contains mostly professional correspondence, pamphlets, and reports on the Alaskan Road Commission and Steese's military service. Also included are several newspaper articles, maps, charts, and correspondence with Steese's family. A large photograph collection, mainly in the form of photo albums, supplements the document collection.

Location
MC 2002.4

Ferdinand De Wilton Ward family papers

Sermon, 1877 (Box 1, folder 17)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1837-1890

The collection contains papers of Ferdinand de Wilton Ward (1812-1891) concerning the Central Church in Geneseo, New York, the American Bible Society, and the genealogy of the Ward family. Also in the collection are a journal of Ward's voyage to India in 1837 and a letter book of the Indian mission.

Location
MC 2000.6

Isaac Wayne papers

Map, undated (Box 1, folder 7)
Collection Inventory
Date Range
1797-1841

This collection is comprised of letters written to Isaac Wayne, Dickinson College Class of 1792 and Pennsylvania statesman, on various subjects ranging from biographical information on his father (General Anthony Wayne) to Wayne's service in Congress. Also included are a few letters written by Wayne to others; of note are the letters of 1797 dealing with the settlement of his father's estate. Also included are miscellaneous items pertaining to family matters, including a map of the family estate at Waynesborough.

People
Location
MC 2001.11