Fred R. Colley collection on the history of Forbes Road
Collection 3929
1915-1976, undated(1.1 Linear feet ; 3 boxes, 8 flat files)
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Creator
- Colley, Fred R.
- Title
- Fred R. Colley collection on the history of Forbes Road
- ID
- 3929
- Date
- 1915-1976, undated
- Extent
- 1.1 Linear feet ; 3 boxes, 8 flat files
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Benjamin David Walter-Range.
- Language
- English
Preferred citation
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Fred R. Colley collection on the history of Forbes Road (Collection 3929), Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Abstract
In 1758, a road was constructed by a British expedition headed by Brigadier General John Forbes from Carlisle, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, to Fort Duquesne (Pittsburgh). It became known as "Forbes Road," and it was one of two roads (the other being "Braddock's Road") that the British military built in order to access Pennsylvania's western lands.
This collection of documentation on the historic Forbes Road was compiled by Fred R. Colley (died 1977) of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. He and a local friend (John P. Finnigan Jr., a Boy Scout troopmaster) studied and hiked the old road in the mid to late twentieth century. Much of their work was based off of a collection of notes that were bequeathed to Colley from another Forbes Road enthusiast, Dwight Roberts, who was also from Johnstown and who studied the road in the 1920s and 1930s. The collection also contains writing from fellow Forbes Road enthusiast Robert Beers. Comprising the papers are mostly photocopies, transcriptions, and typescripts with some original notes from Roberts and Colley. Among the photocopies (including Photostats, facsimiles, and other old reproductions) are those from publications about Forbes Road, maps, surveys, photographs, and letters from General John Forbes and General Edward Braddock.
Two boxes of books related to Pennsylvania's western frontier and general history were removed to the library for general cataloguing. See separation report for the listing.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2019.
1300 Locust StreetPhiladelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200
Access restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of Carolyn Tyndall, 2015.
Accession number 2015.011.
Related Materials
Separated materials
The following books were removed from the collection for transferral to the library:
Adams, Charles Francis. Lee at Appomattox and Other Papers. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902.
Albert, George Dallas. Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Harrisburg: William Stanley Ray, 1916.
Allen, William Hervey. The Forest and the Fort. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1943.
Brodie, Fawn M. Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1974.
Brymner, Douglas. Report on Canadian Archives. Ottawa: Brown Chamberlain, Printer to the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, 1890.
Cleland, Hugh. George Washington in the Ohio Valley. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1955.
Espenshade, A. Howry. Pennsylvania Place Names. State College: Pennsylvania State College, 1925.
Hamilton, Charles. Braddock’s Defeat: Three Eyewitness Accounts. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959.
Hunter, William A. Forts on the Pennsylvania Frontier, 1753-1758. Harrisburg: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1960.
James, Alfred Procter. Writings of General John Forbes. Menasha: Collegiate Press, 1938.
Kent, Donald H., Autumn L. Leonard, and Louis M. Waddell. The Papers of Henry Bouquet. Vol. 3. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Hist. and Museum Commission, 1976.
Le Suer, Meridel. North Star Country. New York: Book Find Club, 1945.
Linn, John Blair, and William Henry Egle. Pennsylvania in the War of the Revolution, Battalions and Line 1775-1783. Vol. 2. Harrisburg: Lane S. Hart, State Printers, 1880.
McCardell, Lee. Ill-Starred General: Braddock of the Coldstream Guards. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1958.
“Memoir of Robert Emmet,” (n.p.) 1837.
Montgomery, Thomas Lynch. Report of the Commission to Locate the Site of the Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Harrisburg: William Stanley Ray, 1916.
Nolan, J. Bennett. General Benjamin Franklin; the Military Career of a Philosopher. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1936.
Reed, George Edward. Papers of the Governors 1747-1759. Vol. 2. Harrisburg: The State of Pennsylvania, W.M. Stanley Kay, State Printer, 1900.
Sargent, Winthrop. Braddock’s Expedition: A Monograph the History of an Expedition against Fort Duquesne, in 1755; under Major-General Edward Braddock. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Grambo & Co., for the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 1855.
Sipe, C. Hale. The Indian Wars of Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: The Telegraph Press, 1929.
Stevens, Sylvester Kirby, and Donald H. Kent. Wilderness Chronicles of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical Commission, 1941.
Stevens, Sylvester Kirby., Donald H. Kent, and Autumn L. Leonard. The Papers of Henry Bouquet. Vol. 1. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Hist. and Museum Commission, 1972.
Stevens, Sylvester Kirby., Donald H. Kent, and Autumn L. Leonard. The Papers of Henry Bouquet: The Forbes Expedition. Vol. 2. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Hist. and Museum Commission, 1951.
Trussell, John B. B. Birthplace of an Army: A Study of the Valley Forge Encampment. Harrisburg: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1976.
Van Doren, Carl. Benjamin Franklin. Garden City: Garden City Publishing Co., Inc., 1941.
Van Every, Dale. Men of the Western Waters. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1956.
Wallace, Paul A.W. Indians in Pennsylvania. Harrisburg: The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1961.
Controlled Access Headings
Personal Name(s)
- Beers, Robert.
- Finnegan, John P. Jr.
- Roberts, Dwight.
- Tyndall, Carolyn
Subject(s)
- Land surveys--Pennsylvania--18th century.
- Roads--Pennsylvania--18th century
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | |||
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Assorted Research Material focused on the 1700s Folder 1 or 2 |
1 | 1 | ||
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Assorted Research Material focused on the 1700s Folder 2 of 2 |
1 | 2 | ||
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Writings of John Forbes |
1 | 3 | ||
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PA-VA Boundary Settlement Ewing Tour-The Whirlwhind of 1784, Jehu Eyre's Diary-1760 1760, 1784 |
1 | 4 | ||
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Forbes Campaign and Subsequent Events Including Bullitt's Defeat and death of Captain Joscelyn 1758-1759 |
1 | 5 | ||
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Excerpts from "Drums In The Forest" Includes "Decision At The Forks" by Alfred Procter James and "Defense In The Wilderness" by Charles Morse Stotz |
1 | 6 | ||
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Assorted Research Material pertaining to John Forbes and Ft. Duquesne |
1 | 7 | ||
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Survey Maps dating from 1700s to 1800s, undated undated |
1 | 8 | ||
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John Melish Travels 1811 |
1 | 9 | ||
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Miscellaneous research materials and correspondence |
1 | 10 | ||
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Materials pertaining to hiking Forbes Road, undated |
1 | 11 | ||
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Assorted Correspondence |
1 | 12 | ||
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Printed Materials and Clippings 1935-1936, 1973 |
1 | 13 | ||
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Historical Material including 1758 Forbes Road Expedition (1721-1821) Part 1 |
2 | 1 | ||
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Historical Material including 1758 Forbes Road Expedition (1721-1821) Part 2 |
2 | 2 | ||
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Historical Material including 1758 Forbes Road Expedition (1721-1821) Part 3 |
2 | 3 | ||
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Historical Material including 1758 Forbes Road Expedition (1721-1821) Part 4 |
2 | 4 | ||
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Historical Material including 1758 Forbes Road Expedition (1721-1821) Part 5 |
2 | 5 | ||
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Historical Material including 1758 Forbes Road Expedition (1721-1821) Part 6 Cross-Index |
2 | 6 | ||
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Robert Beers Diary (Typescript Copy and Edited Typescript) |
2 | 7 | ||
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Dwight Robert's Letterbook |
2 | 8 | ||
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Road Bedford-Pittsburgh 1790 |
3 | 1 | ||
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Random + True Line + Distance etc. 1790 |
3 | 2 | ||
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Info, Properties, Maps, Forts, Etc. Forbes Road Bedford-Ligonier (GBG) Index-Dwight Roberts Old Records |
3 | 3 | ||
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Copies of Survey Maps along with Survey Notes |
3 | 4 | ||
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Notes for Thesis |
3 | 5 | ||
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The French Lead Plate at the forks of the Ohio River |
3 | 6 | ||
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3 Photographic Prints dating from 1865 and 1930 1865, 1930 |
3 | 7 | ||
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Fort Dewart-As related by Mr. Frank Frazier May 12th, 1976 May 12, 1976 |
3 | 8 | ||
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Forbes Road Marker Descriptions |
3 | 9 | ||
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Wood Carving of covered wagon |
3 | 10 | ||
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| Oversize | ||||
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Maps pertaining to Forbes Road 1915, undated |
Flat File 1 | |||
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Assorted Photostats and copies of correspondence of Forbes and others, many from the collections of the British Museum; and other Forbes Road-related documents circa 1750-circa 1950 |
Flat file 2-7 | |||
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Series of hand-drawn copies of Forbes Road surveys from research of Dwight Roberts undated |
Flat file 8 | |||
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