Western Reserve Historical Society

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Manuscripts Relating to the Early History of the Western Reserve, 1795-1869, was the first collection of manuscripts to be assembled by the Western Reserve Historical Society, and its provenance is closely intertwined with the circumstances of the institution's founding. Chiefly responsible for the acquisition of the materials comprising the collection was Charles W. Whittlesey, the Society's first president. According to the Society's second annual report (1869), Whittlesey assembled the collection from a variety of different sources and by several means: he purchased the papers of the Connecticut Land Company under the authority of the Cuyahoga County commissioners, solicited accounts and original manuscripts from early settlers and their descendants, and added documents that he and some earlier enthusiasts had gathered as their own personal collections. Prominent among these latter additions were the materials collected by John Barr and Leonard Case for an earlier, failed historical society. Both Whittlesey and Barr used the materials which came to comprise this collection to write their accounts of the history of Cleveland, Ohio, which were published in 1867 and 1846, respectively. The documents appear to have been bound together in the order they were received, and by 1870, numbered fifteen volumes. The remaining eight volumes were certainly collected before Whittlesey's death in 1886. Much later, the bound volumes were cut apart and the individual documents were placed in folders and boxes, but kept in their original order. The current arrangement of the documents into more rational series based on material type and subject has thus altered the collection's original sequence. Appendix II is a summary of the relations between the current and earlier modes of arrangement.

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Connecticut Land Company

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for the Western Reserve Historical Society

click here to view the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History entry for Charles W. Whittlesey

From the guide to the Manuscripts Relating to the Early History of the Connecticut Western Reserve, 1764-1874, (Western Reserve Historical Society)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Putnam, Frederic Ward, 1839-1915. Papers, 1807-1971 (bulk: 1855-1935) Peabody Museum Archives, Harvard University
creatorOf Manuscripts Relating to the Early History of the Connecticut Western Reserve, 1764-1874 Western Reserve Historical Society
creatorOf Bolton, Kenyon Castle. Kenyon C. Bolton papers, 1938-1983. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
creatorOf [Frederick C. Crawford Museum of Transportation and Industry planning documents]. Cleveland Public Library, Main Library
creatorOf Western Reserve Historical Society. Manuscripts relating to the early history of the Western Reserve, 1795-1869 [microform]. Cleveland State University Library, Michael Schwartz Library
referencedIn Babcock, Caroline Baldwin, 1841-1921. Papers, [ca. 1880]-[19--]. Hudson Library & Historical Society
creatorOf Jewish Community Federation (Cleveland, Ohio). Ratner family papers, 1891-2007. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
referencedIn Gallagher, Sean C. The Twinning of Cleveland, Ohio, and the Parish of Achill, County Mayo, Ireland records, 1996-2004. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
referencedIn Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary. Correspondence, 1863-1879 Smithsonian Institution Archives
creatorOf Western Reserve Printed Ephemera Collection, 1834-1995 Western Reserve Historical Society
referencedIn Lake County Historical Society (Lake County, Ohio). Lake County Historical Society records, 1938-1987 [microform]. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
creatorOf Hudson, David, 1761-1836. David Hudson family papers, 1799-1836 [microform]. Cleveland State University Library, Michael Schwartz Library
referencedIn Smithsonian Institution. Office of the Secretary. Correspondence, 1865-1891 Smithsonian Institution Archives
creatorOf Western Reserve Historical Society 100th Anniversary Photograph Album, 1967 Western Reserve Historical Society
creatorOf Brown, Ephraim, 1775-1845. Ephraim Brown papers. MSS 1872 [microform]. Cleveland State University Library, Michael Schwartz Library
referencedIn Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Western Reserve Region. Ohio Historic Preservation Office, Western Reserve Region records, 1969-1990. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
referencedIn Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881. James A. Garfield family papers, series II, 1871-1937. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
referencedIn Frederick C. Crawford Family Papers Western Reserve Historical Society
creatorOf Large, John. Cuyahoga County Auditor's tax duplicates, 1819-1869 [microform]. Cleveland Public Library, Main Library
creatorOf Silver, Abba Hillel, 1893-1963. The papers of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver microform HCL Technical Services, Harvard College Library
referencedIn Collection on Caroline Baldwin Babcock, 1827-1962 Hudson Library & Historical Society
referencedIn Babcock, Caroline Baldwin, 1841-1921. Collection on Caroline Baldwin Babcock 1827-1962 Cleveland Public Library, Main Library
creatorOf Solotko, Leslie Anne. Frances Payne Bolton oral history interviews, 1989. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
referencedIn Pickard-Whittier papers, 1815-1915. Houghton Library
referencedIn Inventory of the Everette B. Long Papers 1949-1981 Cushing Memorial Library,
referencedIn James A. Garfield Home (Mentor, Ohio). Lawnfield Farm records, 1880-1931. Western Reserve Historical Society, Research Library
referencedIn American Philosophical Society Archives. Record Group IIi, 1897 American Philosophical Society
creatorOf Bissell, Samuel, 1797-1895. Papers, 1797-1933 bulk 1797-1895 / Samuel Bissell. Library of Congress
creatorOf Silver, Abba Hillel, 1893-1963. The papers of Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver microform HCL Technical Services, Harvard College Library
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith American Philosophical Society. corporateBody
associatedWith Babcock, Caroline Baldwin, 1841-1921. person
associatedWith Bissell, Samuel, 1797-1895. person
associatedWith Bolton, Kenyon Castle. person
associatedWith Brown, Ephraim, 1775-1845. person
associatedWith Crawford, Frederick C., 1891- person
correspondedWith Frederic Ward Putnam, 1813-1915 person
associatedWith Garfield, James A. (James Abram), 1831-1881. person
correspondedWith Henry, Joseph, 1797-1878 person
associatedWith Hudson, David, 1761-1836. person
associatedWith James A. Garfield Home (Mentor, Ohio) corporateBody
associatedWith Lake County Historical Society (Lake County, Ohio) corporateBody
correspondedWith Long, E. B. (Everette Beach), 1919-1981 person
associatedWith Ohio Historic Preservation Office. Western Reserve Region. corporateBody
associatedWith Silver, Abba Hillel, 1893-1963. person
correspondedWith Whittier, John Greenleaf, 1807-1892 person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Subject
United States
Carter, Lorenzo, 1767-1814
Clarke, James S
Cleveland (Ohio)
Cleveland (Ohio)
Cleveland (Ohio)
Cleveland (Ohio)
Connecticut Land Company
Ethnology Archaeology Anthropology
Frontier and pioneer life
Northwest, Old
Perkins, Simon, 1771-1844
Pioneers
Real property
Surveyors
Tappan, Abraham, 1779-1855
Tappan, Benjamin, 1773-1857
Walworth, John, 1765-1812
Western Reserve Historical Society
Western Reserve (Ohio)
Western Reserve (Ohio)
Western Reserve (Ohio)
Western Reserve (Ohio)
Western Reserve (Ohio)
Western Reserve (Ohio)
Occupation
Activity

Corporate Body

Active 1938

Active 1983

Information

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