Horatio Allen (1802-1889) was a noted civil engineer and inventor, who worked with the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company, the Croton Aqueduct, and the New York & Erie Railroad. The bulk of his the papers is personal correspondence (1818-1864), and biographical materials collected by his family. Also included is a small collection of Allen's business papers, particularly concerning his work on the New York & Erie Railroad.

The Wurts family were involved in the anthracite coal industry. In 1823 four brothers: Maurice Wurts (1783-1854), William Wurts (1788-1858), Charles Stewart Wurts (1790–1859), and John Wurts (1792-1861) founded the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company originally to mine anthracite coal and transport the resource to New York. The company built the Delaware and Hudson Canal and later became the Delaware and Hudson Railway. The Wurts family papers were collected by John Sparhawk Wurts (1876-1958) and reflect both family papers and business records.