Papers of the Magee family, 1790-1952.

ArchivalResource

Magee family. Papers of the Magee family, 1790-1952.

Papers of the Magee family, 1790-1952.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/31528752

This collection of photographs and manuscripts relate to the nuclear and extended family of Christopher and Louisa Magee. There is a great deal of family correspondence, most notably letters between Christopher and Louisa from their courtship and marriage in the 1850s until her death in 1902. Louisa also received many letters from her family in New York state, including letters from her Aunt Sue (whose last name is not indicated in the letters), and her father, Reverend John M. McLeod. The collection also contains letters from their sons, Walter and Christopher, Jr., and their granddaughter, Louise. Christopher, Jr. corresponded with his mother during her various trips to New York, and Walter sent his father many letters from his travels abroad. Louisa also received letters from her relations in the Wylie family. Most of these letters relate to the health, work and travel of family members. Financial issues are sometimes mentioned. Some of the letters document a major family outing to the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, attended by Louisa, her son Walter, her sister-in-law Jane, and her granddaughter Louise. In addition to family correspondence, a small group of letters and mailings related to Christopher's mother, Jane Watson Magee, can be found in this collection. Stock certificates in the Algonquin Company, a Montana mining operation, and the Coal Hill Military Co. are present. The collection also contains extensive handwritten notes on cases argued by Christopher early in his career, and cases he heard as judge of the Court of Common Pleas. The collection includes the certificate of Judge Magee's appointment to the Court of Common Pleas No. 2 of the Fifth Judicial District in 1885, as well as his legal degree, and that of his son, Christopher, Jr., from the University of Pennsylvania. Extensive receipts document the purchase of household goods, utilities and payment of taxes and insurance. Many of these materials are undated and fragmentary, although it is clear that they relate to Magee and Watson family purchases from the late eighteenth through the early nineteenth century. A substantial portion of the receipts from both the Watson and Magee families relate to domestic purchases, including food, utilities, and clothing and household goods. The collection contains materials on land development in Pittsburgh, including large land plot diagrams related to the properties of Andrew Watson in the late 1700s and of Robert Watson and his sister Jane in the 1800s. Indentures and maps of Andrew Watson and Robert Watson's properties, land sales and leases from 1828 to 1881 are in the collection. The papers of Andrew Watson include a 1796 license issued by Thomas Mifflin to open a Public House, and the certificate of his appointment as Justice of the Peace in 1798. Additional Watson family papers relating to land sales were collected by the Darlington family as the Hugh Henry Brackenridge and Andrew Watson Papers, 1784-1827. The collection also contains non-manuscript items, including a family bible, a scrapbook of newspaper clippings about the early years of flight, and pairs of spectacles. It is unclear to which family member these items belonged. A number of photographic formats are present, and multiple large photo albums in which family members are identified, including Jane Watson Magee, Judge Christopher Magee, Walter Pollack Magee, Elizabeth Louise McLeod Magee, and other family members.

31 manuscript boxes + ca. 300 photographs.

University of Pittsburgh