Genealogy and Family History

Thomas Miller Griffith (1834-1898) graduated from Dickinson College in 1858 and received an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the college in 1891. He was a member of the Philadelphia conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and served Pennsylvania congregations in Carlisle, Chestnut Hill, Churchtown, Cornwall, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Lebanon, Mauch Chunk, and Media. This collection contains correspondence, speeches, sermons and notes, preaching certificates, a Griffith family genealogy, some memorabilia from Griffith's college days, and his Dickinson diplomas.

The Hays family papers include correspondence, deeds, and memorabilia of six generations of this prominent Carlisle, Pa. family whose scions include General Ephraim Blaine (1741-1804), Commissary-General in the American Revolution and charter trustee of Dickinson College, and James G. Blaine (1830-1898), presidential candidate and U. S. Senator from Maine. Ephraim Blaine's account books from his war service, his will, deeds, and other papers are included. John Hays (II), great grandson of Ephraim Blaine, was an 1857 graduate of Dickinson College; many others of his family represented here were also alumni. John Hays' own papers reflect his Civil War service, his veterans' activities, literary interests, genealogy, his interest in the history of Carlisle and Cumberland county, and his varied career as lawyer, bank president, founder of the Carlisle Gas and Water Company and of the Carlisle Frog, Switch and Manufacturing Company. Also included is an exchange of correspondence between Mary Abigail Dodge and John Hays concerning her projected biography of James G. Blaine. In addition, there are significant bodies of 19th century correspondence of lawyers James Hamilton and George Metzger.

This collection primarily provides evidence of the personal and professional life of Charles Francis Himes, student, photographer, scientist, teacher, administrator, amateur historian and father. Also found in this collection is evidence of the lives of family members including, most notably, C. F. Himes' wife Mary and her father Joseph A. Murray. Information on Dickinson College is featured prominently throughout this collection through the close association of C. F. Himes with the institution during most of his life. Beyond family and institutional history, this collection offers information on a number of social, political, economic, and historic topics. Some of these broader topics include post-secondary education in the latter half of the nineteenth century, south central Pennsylvania society, the history of photography, and nineteenth century travel.

The collection consists of correspondence, genealogical materials, legal materials, printed and scrapbook materials relating to George Burt Lincoln. Correspondents include Abner Doubleday, Horace Greeley, Julia Ward Howe, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Of particular note is a letter from Julia Ward Howe discussing women's study clubs.

This collection primarily provides evidence of the personal and public life of Frank E. Masland Jr., environmentalist, preservationist, explorer, entrepreneur, author, and community leader.  Also found in this collection is correspondence from prominent twentieth-century figures such as leaders of the National Park Service, journalists, politicians throughout the world, and American presidents. Information on Dickinson College is featured prominently throughout this collection through the close association of Masland with the institution during most of his life. This collection offers information on a number of social, political, economic, and historic topics through the eyes of a man who witnessed nearly the entire twentieth century.  Some of these broader topics include the industrialization of the United States, south central Pennsylvania community, the rise of environmentalism, reactions to communism, the rise of the New Left, and twentieth-century exploration. The processing of this collection was made possible by a grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

The collection consists almost entirely of correspondence between Augusta McClintock and members of her family, including her step-sister (Maria Emory), her aunts (Jane and Pat), her father (John McClintock), and her elder brother (John Emory McClintock). There is also corresponendence between other members of the McClintock family not involving Augusta, a group of miscellaneous letters, a note, and two newspaper clippings.

Augusta was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1843. Her father was a Dickinson College professor at the time of her birth; her brother entered Dickinson College with the class of 1858, but he ultimately earned his bachelor's degree from Columbia University in 1859.

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.

Jacob Simmons Mosher (1834-1883) was a prominent physician and professor of medicine in Albany, New York. Samuel L. Southard (1787-1842) was a lawyer, politician, and cabinet member from New Jersey. These papers contain correspondence and other materials that reflect the professional and personal lives of these two men, as well as genealogical materials regarding their families.

The collection consists of the papers of Charles Nisbet, first president of Dickinson College, and his family, particularly his son-in-law, William Turnbull. The majority of these papers is correspondence conducted between Nisbet and his daughter, and also between Nisbet and Lady Leven of Scotland. The business ventures of William Turnbull are reflected through legal, financial, and other miscellaneous documents; the collection's single artifact is Turnbull's leather wallet.

The collection documents several generations of the Poulson family and its role in publishing Poulson's American Daily Advertiser. It includes submissions, woodcuts, and sample issues from the Daily Advertiser; correspondence; genalogical materials; and financial and legal documents. Correspondents include Horace Binney, Benjamin Rush (1811-1877), Samuel Sartain, John Sargeant (1779-1852), and Noah Webster. The genealogical notes address the Poulson, Carlyle, Graham, Gurney, Knorr, and Wood families.

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

This collection documents several members of the Dum family of Carlisle, PA, particularly Annie Spotts Dum, Blanche L. Dum (Class of 1910), George B. Dum, Miriam Dum Frey (Class of 1913), and Ray Spotts Dum (Class of 1908).  The collection is composed primarily of family correspondence from the 1880s through the 1930s. It also includes family memorabilia, such as event programs, school documents, and some documents regarding family history. 

Ruth Agnes Trout graduated from Dickinson College with the class of 1936. In 1983, she and her sister, Helen Elizabeth Trout, established the Trout Gallery at the college in honor of their parents, Brook and Mary Agnes Cook Trout. This collection of papers documents Trout's relationship with the college, primarily as an alumna. It contains correspondence with college officials and financial documents that particularly emphasize her support of the Trout Gallery. This collection also includes a record of her family's history back to approximately the Civil War. Family-related materials include correspondence, genealogical materials, photographs, legal and financial documents, and memorabilia from important life events. Surnames represented in the collection include Brindle, Cook, Dale(s), McCall, Ritter, Stringer, and Trout.

The collection consists of the papers of the families of Jacob and Cornelius Vanderbilt, farmers and tax assessors of Newton Township, Cumberland County, Pa. Accounts of the Civil War are included among family correspondence, bills, accounts, and tax lists. Also included in the collection are a Psalm book and a small Civil War photograph.

Paul Walker (1896-1985) was a 1921 graduate of Dickinson College and a longtime contributing editor and columnist with the Harrisburg Patriot-News; his column "Roundabout" appeared for over ten years. This collection is comprised of diaries, commonplace books, newspaper articles and other materials donated by Mrs. Paul R. Walker in 1985.