Manuscripts

Correspondence and documents

Description: The material in this box contains letters to and from Ferdinand J. Dreer, including 3 letters from Benson John Lossing, a typewritten biography of Dreer, and material related to Edwin Greble Dreer (grandson of Ferdinand J. Dreer). Also included is material related to the Wichterman family and others, 9 of these letters are in German. Some of the material in this box is pasted down to pages from a scrapbook or album.
Type: Manuscripts(Opens in new tab)
Date: 1751-1936
Call number: mssDreer
Creator: Dreer, Ferdinand J (1812-1902)(Opens in new tab)
Provenance: Gift of Mrs. Otto J. Zahn, September 1960.
Restrictions: Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Ferdinand J. Dreer papers

Manuscripts

A collection of 274 items which contains personal and family papers of Ferdinand J. Dreer. Included are: a typescript biography of Dreer (approximately 1895), fifty letters and documents addressed to him (including a few letters from Benson John Lossing), letters addressed to Edwin Greble Dreer, grandson of Ferdinand J. Dreer, papers related to the Wichtermans, the family of his grandparents, miscellaneous tributes in verse written in memory of Dreer family members. Also included are family photographs, memorabilia, newspaper clippings, and ephemera. There are a few miscellaneous documents relating to Jonathan Dickinson, first President of Princeton, and genealogies of Dreer, Annin, Miller, and Dickinson families.

mssDreer

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Documents, genealogies, and ephemera

Manuscripts

The box contains material (1738-1751) related to Jonathan Dickinson, first president of Princeton; genealogies and family documents for the Dreer, Annin, Miller, and Dickinson families. Also included is miscellaneous poetry (approximately 1849-1902), and ephemera including photographs, mementos, clippings, and a Coat of Arms.

mssDreer

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The Congress of 1774

Manuscripts

Compiled by Ferdinand J. Dreer, this volume consists of extra-illustrated copies of Oration of Henry Armitt Brown : on the one hundredth anniversary of the meeting of Congress in Carpenters' Hall ... [Philadelphia] : Printed by the order of the Carpenters' Company of the City and County of Philadelphia, 1874 and of Oration delivered in Carpenters' Hall on the one hundredth anniversary of the meeting of the Congress of 1774, Philadelphia : Privately printed, 1875. The 1874 edition is lacking title page. Pages are inlaid from the original 23 cm to 27 cm. It is followed by the title page and text of the 1875 edition. Both are extra-illustrated with correspondence to and from Ferdinand Dreer. Contains various portraits and autographs of prominent individuals and manuscripts including ones by Abraham Lincoln (mssHM 25023), John Adams (mssHM 25026), George Washington (mssHM 25043), Thomas Jefferson (mssHM 25045) and Ulysses S. Grant (mssHM 25052). The presidential items have been separately cataloged and full descriptions may be found in the online catalog. The frontispiece is an original watercolor drawing of Carpenter's Hall.

mssHM 3000-3026, mssHM 25001-25058

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Letters and ephemera related to William Gannaway Brownlow, (bulk 1862)

Manuscripts

Letters and ephemeral concerning Brownlow's public activities in 1862. Pages include correspondence to Ferdinand J. Dreer, Esq. in 1841 and from Brownlow's publisher George W. Childs in 1862. Topics largely concern the publication and distribution of Brownlow's "book," most likely the Sketches of the rise, progress, and decline of secession; with a narrative of personal adventures among the rebels (1862). Ephemera include invitations, bills, and announcements for Brownlow's lectures and public receptions in New York, Boston, and Philadelphia.

mssHM 80433-80437

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Correspondence and documents

Manuscripts

A collection of 42 items from 1848 to 1935, it primarily contains documents, such as agreements, deeds, and maps relating to the Painter family and the Pasadena Land and Water Company. The majority of the maps and plats show the land owned or controlled by the Painter family in Southern California. There are also personal letters from John H. Painter and Alonzo J. Painter to Milton D. Painter from the late 1800s.

mssPainter

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Correspondence and documents

Manuscripts

The majority of the collection consists of the correspondence of the Eldred J. Simkins family and their close relatives. Subjects discussed include the California Gold Rush and life in Mariposa County, Calif., during the 1850s and 1870s; the Civil War in Charleston, S.C., from a confederate soldier's point of view; life in South Carolina and Florida after the Civil War; and life in Austin and Corsicana, Texas, during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The collection also contains some photographs, including tintypes, of various members of the Simkins family. Of note in the collection is Edward Henry Trescot's descriptions of his ocean voyage around Cape Horn to California in 1849 abord the "Thomas Bennet" and his descriptions of life in Mariposa County, California. The Civil War correspondence in the collection is primarily between Eldred J. Simkins and his future wife, Eliza Josephine Trescot Simkins. The collection contains letters from both Eldred and Eliza. Eldred describes his station with the South Carolina Artillery and fighting for the confederacy. The letters also discuss the hardships of civilian life in South Carolina during the Civil War. The family correspondence also reflects plantation life in the Beaufort District of South Carolina and Madison County, Florida. Eldred J. Simkins also practiced law with his brother, William Stewart Simkins, in Texas, and there are also materials by William in the colection.

mssSIM

Correspondence and documents

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Ferdinand J. Dreer papers

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The Congress of 1774

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