Finding Aids

Aaron A. Maple (1866-1938) was an asbestos building supplies traveling salesman for the Ohio branch of the Asbestos Shingle, Slate & Sheathing Co. This small collection contains fourteen of Maple's personal diaries from 1920 to 1936 (with some gaps) that document his home life, expenses, work, and travel throughout the northern and northwestern parts of the state.

The Bauduy family was associated with the prominent du Pont family, who immigrated to the United States from France in 1802 and established the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, which manufactured gunpowder at mills on the banks of the Brandywine River just north of Wilmington, Delaware. Peter Bauduy (1769?-1833), a French refugee from Santo Domingo who was a partner of Eleuthère Irénée "E.I." du Pont (1771-1834). This collection contains correspondence of Hélène Bauduy (1806-1881), Peter Bauduy's daughter, and Alexandre Aristide Bretton de Chapelles (1799-1850), and a journal kept by Eulalia Keating (1801-1873), Bauduy's daughter-in-law.

Charles H. Mason (1886–1949) was employed for thirty-five years by Pierre S. "P.S." du Pont (1870-1954), the industrialist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and horticulturalist who developed Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Mason worked as chief chauffeur and garage manager for du Pont. He lived with his family in a residence called "The Anvil" on the property at Longwood Gardens. This small collection includes Charles H. Mason and Marguerite Mason's journals (dictated by them and handwritten by Ann Mason, Charles Mason's sister) describing their early years in Lewes, Delaware.

Eleuthère Irénée du Pont (1771-1834), founder of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., and Sophie Madeleine Dalmas du Pont (1775-1828) had four daughters. This group of materials within the Winterthur Manuscripts collection contains the papers of the three eldest: Victorine (du Pont) Bauduy (1792-1861), Evelina (du Pont) Bidermann (1796-1863), and Eleuthera (du Pont) Smith (1806-1876), as well as their respective husbands: Ferdinand Bauduy (1791-1814), James Antoine Bidermann (1790-1865), and Thomas MacKie Smith (1809-1852). Victorine du Pont Bauduy and Eleuthera du Pont Smith were teachers at the Brandywine Manufacturers' Sunday School (BMSS), a nonsectarian school offering classes in reading, writing, arithmetic, and Bible lessons. Evelina du Pont Bidermann spent much of her adult life traveling alongside her husband and then building the Winterthur mansion in Delaware. Their papers document details about their education, social life, family, attitudes, and activities through incoming and outgoing correspondence, as well as personal papers such as diaries and account books.

Errett McLeod Graham (1877-1974) was a civil engineer for various railroads. He was married to Helena "Lena" Washburn Graham (1881-1970) for nearly sixty-six years. Helena Graham was a homemaker to the couple's three children. The Grahams spent the early years of their marriage in remote railroad construction camps and small towns in Tennessee and West Virginia before settling in Rensselaer, Indiana. This item is a single-volume diary handwritten by both Errett and Lena Graham in 1910 while living in Tunnelton, West Virginia, were Errett was working for the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company. The diary would be of interest to those researching women's studies, railroad history, and civil engineering.

Gabrielle Crofton (1873-1952) was the daughter of Gabrielle Josephine Shubrick (1835-1894) and Robert Erskine Anderson Crofton (1834-1898), and the great-granddaughter of Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827), a prominent French American diplomat and businessman. The collection consists of two diaries, dating from 1917 to 1926, and reflect the leisured life of a middle-class, unmarried woman in the first quarter of the twentieth century United States.

This diary's author is not given; however, many details indicate that the writer is likely Thomas R. Robinson (1889-1972), a thirty-two-year-old farmer mainly working as a coal miner, lumberman, and railroad worker. This item is a manuscript handwritten diary. The entries are dated February 20, 1922, through April 9, 1923; these include the weather, who the author worked beside each day, his duties and responsibilities, and other tasks he took upon himself to fulfill. This item will be of significant interest to labor historians wanting a view of daily life from the worker's point of view.

Henry Belin du Pont (1898-1970) was a research engineer with General Motors and the vice president of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1939 to 1963. This collection contains correspondence from several generations of the family from the early nineteenth through the twentieth century, including Francis Gurney Smith (1784-1873), Elizabeth (Eliza) MacKie Smith (1787-1861), Joanna Smith du Pont (1815-1876), Frances du Pont Coleman (1838-1902), Eleuthera "Ella" du Pont Bradford (1848-1906), Eleuthera Bradford du Pont (1873-1953), Alicia Bradford Maddox (1875-1920) and Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840).

The author appears to have been a young man living on his mother's farm near Danville, Montour County, Pennsylvania, who earned additional money by casual day labor. The diary is a standard pocket diary of the period with notations of work done and other daily activities, with a small cash book section at the rear.

Manigault's papers consist of her own diaries and correspondence between her and Gabrielle Josephine du Pont (1770-1836), both which document the life of a female member of Charleston's merchant-planter elite during the Early National Period, and the web of connections linking Charleston, New York and Philadelphia society.

The Wilson and du Pont families were prominent families in the Wilmington, Delaware area. The papers document the daily activities of three generations of Natalies: Natalie Green Driver (Wilson)(1846-1912), Natalie Driver Wilson (du Pont)(1877-1918), and Natalie Wilson du Pont (Edmonds)(1904-1975).

This collection consists of a microfilm of volume twenty-four of the diary of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

This collection consists of a microfilm volumes one and two of the diaries of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

This collection consists of microfilms of volumes 1, 6-10, 15, 16, and 24 of the diaries of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

This collection consists of photocopies of volumes 7-10, 15, 16, and 24 of the diaries of Phoebe George Bradford (1794-1840), a native of Cecil County, Maryland, and resident of Wilmington, Delaware. The diaries contain descriptions of social doings and daily activities, opinions on family matters and religion, and occasional references to national matters and local happenings.

The Crofton and Shubrick families were descendants of a prominent French American diplomat and businessman, Victor Marie du Pont (1767-1827), and represent middle-class American women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This collection primarily consists of the papers of Gabrielle Josephine Crofton (1873-1952) and Mary Ethel Crofton Hunt (1875-1962), daughters of Gabrielle Shubrick Crofton (1835-1894) and Robert E.A. Crofton (1834-1898). It includes diaries, autograph book, notebook, and letters.

Simon Bolivar Camacho (1859-1906) was a traveling sales representative for the American Bank Note Company, a dominant American producer of bank notes, stock and bond certificates and similar commercial paper. The collection includes his diaries between 1892 and 1904, mostly relating to business travels in Latin America, but also containing information on daily events in the New York City area, news of the day, and domestic, personal and religious reflections.

Sophie du Pont Ford (1871-1957) was the daughter of Victor du Pont (1828-1888) and Alice Hounsfield du Pont (1833-1904) and the wife of Bruce Ford (1873-1931). Her papers consist primarily of her diaries but also include a scrapbook with news clippings relating to the DuPont Company, an address book with family birth dates, and a book with watercolor and text entitled "Life of Branch H. Giles."

Personal and business diaries of Thomas Savery documenting his career from 1864 to 1910 that include technical drawings and experimental data used in developing his patented papermaking machinery. Savery's career as machine shop foreman and general manager at Pusey & Jones is also described. The day to day activities of the shops in which he worked are detailed as well as his income, expenses, and investments. Among projects noted is the construction of Machinery Hall at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. There are also discussions of his involvement in the Harper Ferry Electric Light & Power Company, York Haven Water & Power Company and York Haven Paper Company. There is a volume detailing his involvement in the Denver pulp and paper industry. Savery's involvement with the Wilmington Board of Trade and the Society of Friends are described in these volumes. There are also numerous notations on his personal and cultural life.

Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910) was president of Pusey, Jones and Company, a ship builder and manufacturer of papermaking machinery in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Thomas H. Savery, Jr. (1871-1930), the second son of Savery, followed in his father's footsteps in the pulp and paper industry. The records consist of two private journals from the youth of Thomas H. Savery and his son, Thomas H. Savery, Jr.

Thomas H. Savery (1837-1910) was president of Pusey, Jones and Company, a shipbuilder and papermaking machinery manufacturer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. In 1864 he married Sarah Pim Savery (1837-1928). This collection consists of ther business and personal papers of Thomas H. Savery, primarily related to his papermaking machinery ventures, and twenty-nine diaries of Sarah Pim Savery.

Walter D. Gernet (1878-1928) was a civil engineer who worked for the Public Works Department in Philadelphia for fifteen years. After losing his position in 1918, he spent his remaining ten years working various engineering jobs. This collection of Gernet's diaries chronicles his daily life and covers eight years from the end of World War I until 1925. The diaries offer a view of an average workingman's day-to-day activities in a large urban center. This collection of diaries would be of great interest to social historians, especially those focused on early twentieth-century life in the greater Philadelphia area. Its detail encompasses work, family life, and interactions between family members and friends in the wider community.