William McMurtrie papers, 1880-1936.

  1. Resources
  2. View Resource

ArchivalResource

William McMurtrie papers, 1880-1936.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/609578533

Correspondence, manuscripts, typescripts, contracts, legal briefs, patents, and other documents, music scores, cartoons, technical drawings, account books, blueprints, photographs, clippings, printed legal briefs & transcripts, proofs, scrapbooks, and other printed materials of William M. Speer. There are 14 manuscript boxes & 3 oversize volumes concerning his work as a journalist & publisher. Speer was the Albany correspondent for "The Sun" from 1884 until 1893. From 1893 to 1896 he was editor and part owner of "The Argus" in Albany and there are business records from this period. There is a scrapbook of his articles for "The Buffalo Express" for the period from 1896 until 1903. In 1896 he founded The Law Press as a commercial printer for lawyers, and The Cornucopia Company to publish music and a literary periodical. From 1904 to 1909, he was editorial and legislative writer for the "Evening World" in New York City and there are files of his correspondence, editorial writing, and his investigations of the insurance industry and the Panama Canal libel suit. From 1903 until 1922, he contributed to periodicals and wrote books and pamphlets on many subjects. Starting in 1919, he worked on a scenario and publicity for the Fox Film Corporation's film on wounded veterans of the war. In 1922, he became an editorial writer for "The Evening Mail". There are 10 boxes of material covering his activities as a public official and political appointee. In 1889, he was Secretary of the Johnstown Flood Committee; in 1889 and 1890, Secretary to The Committee for The International Exposition of 1892; in 1890, Secretary to Mayor of New York City Hugh J. Grant; in 1894, Delegate to the New York State Constitutional Convention. In 1910, he was appointed Special Counsel to New York City for the Ashokan Reservoir Compensation Claims, advising the city on landowners' claims in Ulster County. In 1912 and 1913, he was Special Counsel for the Aldermanic Police Investigation in New York City during the anticorruption drive of Mayor William J. Gaynor. In 1920, he bacame a Special Assistant to the Attorney General of the United States to investigate profiteering in the coal industry. There are 5 boxes of case files from his private legal practice for the period 1890 to 1923. And there are 4 boxes of papers and an oversize folder of drawings concerning his interests as an inventor, promoter, and businessman. These are files about the Snow Melter (his device to clear city streets), his New York & Brooklyn Economic Power & Construction Company (for the transmission of electricity), The Pneumatic Co. (to manufacture stencil cutting machines), The Philippines Company (a shipping business), hinge making machines (patents and contracts for manufacturing), rack cutting apparatus, an old age pension plan (for the sale of annuities), the Food Committee (a planned co-operative purchasing company), Fabricated Concrete Corporation (which built, rented, and sold houses made of cinder block), Sunlight Gas Machine Co. (which sold equipment for gas lighting), timber mill and timber land sales (acting as an agent for selling land in the southern states), and public transit reorganization (his plan for improving the transportation system in New York City). Among the cataloged correspondents are: Maxwell Anderson, Charles A. Dana, David B. Hill, Walter Hines Page, S.S. McClure, and Elihu Root.

17 linear ft. ( 33 boxes, 3 oversize volumes, & 1 oversize folder)

Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries

Information

SNAC Resource ID: 7790267

Columbia University in the City of New York, Columbia University Libraries

Related Entities

There are 46 Entities related to this resource.

Dana, Charles A. (Charles Anderson), 1819-1897

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6xj0gmk (person)

Charles Anderson Dana (August 8, 1819 – October 17, 1897) was an American journalist, author, and senior government official. He was a top aide to Horace Greeley as the managing editor of the powerful Republican newspaper New-York Tribune until 1862. During the American Civil War, he served as Assistant Secretary of War, playing especially the role of the liaison between the War Department and General Ulysses S. Grant. In 1868 he became the editor and part-owner of the New York Sun. He at first ...

Hearst, William Randolph, 1863-1951

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w63g5f2r (person)

William Randolph Hearst Sr. (April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboyant methods of yellow journalism influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human interest stories. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887 with Mitchell Trubitt after being given control of The San Francisco Examiner by his ...

International Exposition of 1892.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6mm2vb6 (corporateBody)

Delaware and Eastern Railway Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6qp2p5h (corporateBody)

New York (N.Y.). Office of the Mayor

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62z53zs (corporateBody)

The mayor, who is elected to a four year term, is the chief executive officer of the city. The mayor may be removed by the governor after due process. In case of a vacancy, the President of the Council acts as mayor. If both the offices are vacant, the Comptroller acts as mayor. The mayor is responsible for the overall administration of the government of the City of New York. Vested in the mayor's office is the power to create, maintain, reorganize or eliminate city agen...

New York (State). Constitutional Convention (1894)

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w69s7kp6 (corporateBody)

Ralph, Julian, 1853-1903

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6474rp2 (person)

Julian Ralph believed he was born to be a newspaperman; his years of acclaimed work with the elite New York Sun reinforce his faith. Ralph covered the major events of his day with distinction, using resourceful investigative skill, personal integrity, and a gift for sketching scenes with words to be acclaimed the "Newspaperman's newspaperman." From the description of Julian Ralph story fragment, ca. 1848. (Pennsylvania State University Libraries). WorldCat record id: 51464338 ...

Sunlight Gas Machine Co., Inc.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f544fk (corporateBody)

Lord, Chester Sanders, 1850-1933

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6vt2r9r (person)

Gaynor, William Jay, 1849-1913.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6cc4pj0 (person)

Pulitzer, Joseph, 1847-1911

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6v51j60 (person)

Joseph Pulitzer (born József Pulitzer; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-born American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World. He became a leading national figure in the Democratic Party and was elected congressman from New York. He crusaded against big business and corruption, and helped keep the Statue of Liberty in New York. Born in Makó, Hungary, he grew up there and in Pest, where he was educated by private tutors and taught French and ...

Untermyer, Samuel, 1858-1940

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6hh782h (person)

Lawyer and civic and communal leader. From the description of Papers, 1912-1950. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 70947168 ...

Speer, William McMurtrie, 1865-1923

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6z35nmc (person)

William M. Speer was born in Huntingdon PA in 1865 and died in Piermont NY in 1923. He graduated from Yale University in 1880 and from the Albany Law School in 1887. He was a journalist, public official, lawyer, inventor, businessman, publisher, and author. From the description of William McMurtrie papers, 1880-1936. (Columbia University In the City of New York). WorldCat record id: 609578533 ...

New York (N.Y.). Police Department

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rz36qb (corporateBody)

New York and Brooklyn Economic Power and Construction Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6200kxk (corporateBody)

Page, Walter Hines, 1855-1918

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rx99kq (person)

Editor and American ambassador to Great Britain; of New York, N.Y. From the description of Papers, 1889-1917. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 20077806 Walter H. Page was editor of The Atlantic Monthly, 1895-98. Prior, he was with the Forum. Robert Johnson worked at the Century magazine. From the description of TLS, 1896 July 1, Boston, Mass. to Robert Underwood Johnson / Walter H. Page. (Haverford College Library). WorldCat record id: 37228165 ...

United States. Attorney-General

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6643gv6 (corporateBody)

New York (N.Y.). Dept. of Water Resources.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c88rm6 (corporateBody)

Fabricated Concrete Corporation.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6c31bv0 (corporateBody)

New York (N.Y.). Board of City Record

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64z08wp (corporateBody)

Cornucopia Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w68d6bnc (corporateBody)

Hill, David B. (David Bennett), 1843-1910

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6x63wnp (person)

David Bennett Hill (1843-1910) was an American politician from New York. He was mayor of Elmira, New York (1892) and shortly thereafter (1893-1895) became lieutenant governor of the state. He served as governor of New York from 1885-1891 and then was elected to the U. S. Senate where he served five years (1892-1897). From the guide to the David B. Hill Papers, 1885-1910, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries) Epithet: Governor of New York State ...

Pneumatic Co.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6tf6cvs (corporateBody)

Anderson, Maxwell, 1888-1959

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sf2wng (person)

American playwright. From the description of Maxwell Anderson papers, 1930-1948. WorldCat record id: 26661097 From the description of Typewritten letter signed, dated : New York, 25 October 1937, to Peggy Wood, 1937 Oct. 25. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 270873947 American playwright Maxwell Anderson was born in Atlantic, Penn., on 15 December 1888. He worked as a journalist early in his writing career and then turned largely to drama. He was the author of over 20 ...

Equitable Life Insurance Company

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gz0393 (corporateBody)

Johnstown Flood Committee.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6jb2nxz (corporateBody)

McClure, S. S. (Samuel Sidney), 1857-1949

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6th8jzn (person)

Journalist, writer of books for boys. From the description of S.S. McClure check to James Barnes, 1898 June 29. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 53795304 American publisher. From the description of Letter to Edward Sylvester Ellis, 1892 October 27. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 51846140 ...

Grant, Hugh John, 1855-

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6sz02h5 (person)

Sulzer, William, 1863-1941

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6bp03kp (person)

New York politician William Sulzer (1863-1941) served as a United States Representative from New York (1895-1912). During 1912 Sulzer chaired the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs. In January, 1913 Sulzer was elected governor of New York State. Shortly after his inauguration, he was impeached by the New York State Assembly on charges of having diverted campaign funds to his own use. Sulzer asserted that false charges had been brought against him because he refused to follow the wi...

New York Mail and Newspaper Transportation Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64r496k (corporateBody)

The New York Mail and Newspaper Transportation Company was the original contractor in 1898 for mail delivery by pneumatic tube between Manhattan and Brooklyn. The company later became a contractor for tube service between post offices within Manhattan. In 1953 pneumatic tube service ended in New York and the company's contract was cancelled. From the guide to the New York Mail and Newspaper Transportation Company records, 1897-1957, (The New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archi...

New York (N.Y.). Law Dept.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w65j3xdk (corporateBody)

Comstock, Anthony, 1844-1915

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6p27wp3 (person)

Reformer, and secretary of the Society for the Suppression of Vice from 1873 until his death in 1915. From the description of Letter to A. W. Parker [manuscript], 1892. (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 647996468 Head of Society for the Suppression of Vice. From the description of Postcard, 1882 June 29. (Duke University Library). WorldCat record id: 31421823 Inspector, Secretary and Chief special agent for The New York Society for the Suppre...

Law Press.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6dp0md8 (corporateBody)

New York (N.Y.). Board of Aldermen

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gr1qq7 (corporateBody)

Brooklyn Edison Company, Inc.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gf78w8 (corporateBody)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w60h488d (person)

Roosevelt, 26th U.S. president, served 1901-1909. From the description of DS, 1904 March 1. : Washington, D.C. Homestead Certificate. (Copley Press, J S Copley Library). WorldCat record id: 15210791 26th president of the United States, 1901-1909. From the description of Theodore Roosevelt letters, 1917, 1918. (Buffalo History Museum). WorldCat record id: 213408920 Roosevelt was then Governor of New York. Chapman was one of the founders of the New York St...

Douglass Barnes Corporation.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6f25f35 (corporateBody)

Dixie Transportation Co., Inc.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6r27gkd (corporateBody)

Dana, Paul, 1852-1930.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w64t7nv2 (person)

Laffan, William M.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6rj5d58 (person)

Dublin-born journalist and writer; editor and proprietor of the New York Sun; art expert. From the description of W. M. Laffan letter to Samuel Sidney McClure [manuscript] (University of Virginia). WorldCat record id: 191118851 ...

Glynn, Martin Henry, 1871-1924

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w62523qk (person)

Journalist and politician; Governor of New York State, 1913-1914. From the description of Papers, 1913-1924. (New York State Library). WorldCat record id: 85821850 Martin Henry Glynn (1871-1924) was an American politician and Democrat. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1899 and served one term as the representative of the 20th District of New York. He later served as New York State Comptroller (1907-1908) and Lieutenant Governor (1912). Glynn then became Gove...

O'Connor, Joseph 1841-1908

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w66q5kfp (person)

Fox film corporation

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6gf4zvz (corporateBody)

Philippines Company.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6q30fb7 (corporateBody)

Root, Elihu, 1845-1937

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6k7577f (person)

Elihu Root, born in Clinton, NY, attended Hamilton College (A.B., 1864, A.M. in course, 1867) and University Law School of New York. He served as member Alaskan Boundary Tribunal; United States District Attorney, Southern New York, 1883 - 85; Secretary of War, 1899 - 1904; Secretary of State, 1905 - 09; U.S. Senator from New York, 1909 - 15; Senior Counsel for the U.S., North Atlantic Fisheries Arbitration, The Hague, 1910; Ambassador at Head of Special Diplomatic Mission to Russia, 1...

Food Committee.

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6h76x8x (corporateBody)