Isaac Dewey Harmon correspondence and journals
Collection
Call Number: WA MSS S-3455
Scope and Contents
165 letters, two journals, and other ephemera, papers, and two tintypes by or relating to Isaac Dewey Harmon, 1831-1861. Letters concern Harmon's business and family affairs primarily in Chicago, Naperville, and Peru, Illinois. Among Harmon's correspondents are brother Charles Loomis Harmon, father E. D. Harmon, mother Welthyan Loomis Harmon, sister Harriet Harmon, sister Welthyan Loomis Harmon (later Welthyan Loomis Harmon Burley), and business partner Churchill Coffing.
Journals document Harmon's travels to New Orleans, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; the Republic of Texas; and along the Mississippi River.
Journals document Harmon's travels to New Orleans, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; the Republic of Texas; and along the Mississippi River.
Dates
- 1831-1861
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Isaac Dewey Harmon Correspondence and Journals is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Michael Vinson on the Thomas W. Streeter Fund, 2017, and on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana, 2019 and 2020.
Arrangement
Organized into three series: I. Correspondence, 1831-1855. II. Journals, 1839-1859. III. Other Ephemera, Papers, and Photographs, 1840-1861, undated.
Extent
1.25 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
165 letters, two journals, and other ephemera, papers, and two tintypes by or relating to Isaac Dewey Harmon, 1831-1861. Letters concern Harmon's business and family affairs primarily in Chicago, Naperville, and Peru, Illinois. Among Harmon's correspondents are brother Charles Loomis Harmon, father E. D. Harmon, mother Welthyan Loomis Harmon, sister Harriet Harmon, sister Welthyan Loomis Harmon (later Welthyan Loomis Harmon Burley), and business partner Churchill Coffing.
Journals document Harmon's travels to New Orleans, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; the Republic of Texas; and along the Mississippi River.
Journals document Harmon's travels to New Orleans, Louisiana; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore, Maryland; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, New York; the Republic of Texas; and along the Mississippi River.
Biographical / Historical
Isaac Dewey Harmon (1814-1886) was born in Burlington, Vermont, to Dr. Elijah Dewey Harmon (1782-1869) and Welthyan Loomis Harmon (1783-1865). In 1830, Dr. E. D. Harmon moved to Chicago, Illinois--Isaac and siblings Charles Loomis Harmon ( -1868), Harriet Harmon, Lucretia Harmon, and Welthyan Loomis Harmon (1825-1897) followed in 1831, while mother Welthyan Loomis Harmon remained in Burlington.
Isaac Harmon first found employment with George W. Dole, an Indian trader, while at the same time serving as a corporal at Fort Dearborn during the Black Hawk War in 1832. After the war, Harmon began the general trading firms Harmon, Loomis & Co. and I. D. Harmon & Co. He married Anne M. R. Huntoon Harmon (1817-1896) in 1842 and moved to Naperville in 1844, setting up the trading firm Harmon & Napier. In 1846, he began a forwarding, commission, and transportation business with E. D. Taylor in Peru (Taylor & Harmon) as well as Harmon & Huntoon. In 1855, the headquarters of Harmon & Huntoon was moved to Chicago and the firm was combined with Chapin, Hurlbut & Co. to form the Union Line Transporation Company.
Isaac Harmon moved to Texas in 1870 to care for his property there before returning to Chicago in 1874 and continuing to work until 1876.
Isaac Harmon first found employment with George W. Dole, an Indian trader, while at the same time serving as a corporal at Fort Dearborn during the Black Hawk War in 1832. After the war, Harmon began the general trading firms Harmon, Loomis & Co. and I. D. Harmon & Co. He married Anne M. R. Huntoon Harmon (1817-1896) in 1842 and moved to Naperville in 1844, setting up the trading firm Harmon & Napier. In 1846, he began a forwarding, commission, and transportation business with E. D. Taylor in Peru (Taylor & Harmon) as well as Harmon & Huntoon. In 1855, the headquarters of Harmon & Huntoon was moved to Chicago and the firm was combined with Chapin, Hurlbut & Co. to form the Union Line Transporation Company.
Isaac Harmon moved to Texas in 1870 to care for his property there before returning to Chicago in 1874 and continuing to work until 1876.
Processing Information
Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.
These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.
These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.
- Baltimore (Md.)
- Businessmen -- Illinois -- 19th century
- Chicago (Ill.)
- Diaries
- Harmon, Charles Loomis, -1868
- Illinois -- Economic conditions -- 19th century
- Illinois -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
- Louisiana -- Description and travel
- Maryland -- Description and travel
- Merchants -- Illinois -- 19th century
- Mississippi River -- Description and travel
- Naperville (Ill.)
- New Orleans (La.)
- New York (N.Y.)
- New York -- Description and travel
- Pennsylvania -- Description and travel
- Peru (Ill.)
- Philadelphia (Pa.)
- Photographs
- Texas -- Description and travel
- Tintypes (prints)
- Washington (D.C.)
- Title
- Guide to the Isaac Dewey Harmon Correspondence and Journals
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Lerner
- Date
- October 2020
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
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