William Morris Davis papers
Collection 4290
circa 1846-1902(1.3 Linear feet ; 4 boxes.)
Table of Contents
Summary Information
- Repository
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Creator
- Davis, William Morris
- Title
- William Morris Davis papers
- ID
- 4290
- Date
- circa 1846-1902
- Extent
- 1.3 Linear feet ; 4 boxes.
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Sara H. Nash.
- Language
- English
- Abstract
- William Morris Davis was born 16 August 1815 in Keene Valley, New York. In 1845, he married Elizabeth M. Jacobs (b. 1824) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His friends included sculptor Henry Kirke Brown and Linus Yale, designer of the Yale lock. He was an abolitionist who served as a delegate to the 1856 Republican National Convention and represented Pennsylvania in the Thirty-seventh congress (1861-1863). His business endeavors included sugar refining operations in Philadelphia and gold mines and refineries in North Carolina. He died on August 5, 1891 and is buried at the Friends Fair Hill Burying Ground in Philadelphia. The collection includes documents and plans related to Philadelphia sugar refineries, North Carolina gold mines and refineries, correspondence, some printed materials, and collected clippings.
Preferred citation
Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], William Morris Davis papers (Collection 4290), Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Scope and content note
The William Morris Davis collection includes documents and plans related to sugar refineries in Philadelphia, gold mining in North Carolina, and detailed information on the chlorination process for refining gold. The collection also contains correspondence, typescripts of Davis' 1863-1863 letters, some printed material, and collected clippings.
Administrative Information
Publication Information
Historical Society of Pennsylvania ; 2022.
1300 Locust StreetPhiladelphia, PA, 19107
215-732-6200
Access restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Gift of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Institute Archives and Special Collections, 1985.
Accession number A1985.36.
Related Materials
Related Collections at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Davis, Brown, and Yale families correspondence (Collection 164).
Controlled Access Headings
Corporate Name(s)
- Massachusettes Institute of Technology. Institute Archives and Special Collections.
Subject(s)
- Gold mining.
- Gold--Refining.
- Sugar refining--Pennsylvania--Philadelphia--19th century.
Collection Inventory
| Box | Folder | |||
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Joseph A. Lovering and Company legal papers (1846-1867) |
1 | 1 | ||
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Lovering and Company/Davis, McKean and Company (1858-1871) |
1 | 2 | ||
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Joseph A. Lovering and Company legal papers (1863) |
2 | 1 | ||
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Davis, McKean and Company (1867) |
2 | 2 | ||
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William Morris Davis’ notes on Santo Domingo with maps (March 1871) |
1 | 3 | ||
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Samana Bay Company of Santo Domingo (1873) |
1 | 4 | ||
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William Morris Davis correspondence with Henry Brown Blackwell (1875) |
1 | 5 | ||
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Business correspondence with Louis Prang (1875-1887) |
1 | 6 | ||
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North Carolina Gold Mining and Reduction Company, general (1880-1884, undated) |
1 | 7 | ||
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Report of John Jacobs on Rimic Mine, North Carolina Gold Mining and Reduction Company (30 May 1882) |
1 | 8 | ||
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Equipment orders and receipts, North Carolina Gold Mining and Reduction Company (1870-1881) |
1 | 9 | ||
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North Carolina Gold Mining and Reduction Company diagrams and statements (1881-1882, undated) |
2 | 3 | ||
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Reimer (Rymer) Mine, Rowan County, North Carolina (1880-1884) |
1 | 10 | ||
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Rymer Mine, North Carolina expenses and plans (1881-1884, undated) |
2 | 4 | ||
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Report on Union Mine, Rowan County, North Carolina (circa 1879) |
1 | 11 | ||
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Yadkin Mine and Mills (1880-1882, undated) |
1 | 12 | ||
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Yadkin Mine, North Carolina (undated) |
2 | 5 | ||
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“Daily Expenses in Sinking Shaft” (undated) |
1 | 13 | ||
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Descriptions of Chlorination works and mine property (1884) |
1 | 14 | ||
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Chlorination mill plans and expenses (1882, undated) |
2 | 6 | ||
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“On the Conversion of Chlorine into Hydrochloric Acid…” (6 April 1883) |
1 | 15 | ||
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Papers regarding Mears Chlorination Company (1880-1881, undated) |
1 | 16 | ||
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Opinions of experts for and against Mears chlorine process for gold refining (1879-1880) |
1 | 17 | ||
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Opinions of experts for and against Mears chlorine process for gold refining (1881) |
1 | 18 | ||
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Opinions of experts for and against Mears chlorine process for gold refining (1882) |
1 | 19 | ||
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William Morris Davis and Eugene Zelenkoff agreement (1884) |
1 | 20 | ||
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Published material: Patents, articles, speeches (1862-1902, undated) |
3 | 1 | ||
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Financial papers of Edward M. Davis and Henry C. Davis (1859-1864) |
3 | 2 | ||
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Receipts book (1846-1859) |
3 | 3 | ||
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William Morris Davis’ notes on reading and observations with botanical drawings (circa 1846) |
3 | 4 | ||
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Correspondence (1859-1861) NoteIncludes pass to camp at Centerville the evening before the Battle of Bull Run. |
3 | 5 | ||
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Correspondence from Henry K. and Lydia Brown (1860-1861) |
3 | 6 | ||
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Typescript of William Morris Davis’ letters, part 1 [1861-1863] |
3 | 7 | ||
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Typescript of William Morris Davis’ letters, part 2 [1861-1863] |
3 | 8 | ||
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Typescript of William Morris Davis’ letters, part 3 [1861-1863] |
4 | 1 | ||
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Manuscript: “Value - Its Source in the Sun’s Ray (undated) |
4 | 2 | ||
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Poetry (undated) |
4 | 4 | ||
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Miscellaneous papers and fragments (undated) |
4 | 3 | ||
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Clippings, clipping photocopies (1896, undated) |
4 | 5 | ||
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Clippings (1880-1896, undated) |
2 | 7 | ||
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Covers of clippings scrapbook (undated) |
4 | 6 | ||
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