Emerson family papers

The Emerson Family Papers trace the lives of John Louville Emerson, Edwin Ruthven Emerson, Charles H. Emerson, and Joseph W. Emerson of Portland, Maine and central Colorado, focusing on their mining, entrepreneurial, and inventing interests. The papers span the years 1848 to 1929, but the bulk of the material covers the period 1861 to 1921.

The papers are divided into five series: I.Correspondence (Boxes 1-4), II.Diaries (Boxes 5-7), III.Business and Legal Papers (Boxes 8-9), IV.Printed Material (Box 10), V.Family Papers (Box 11). Box 12 holds Oversize materials.

InSeries I,Correspondence , the chronologically arranged correspondence is divided into three distinct segments; 1861-67, 1867-1906, and 1907-21. The 1861-67 part consists primarily of letters between two Maine businessmen, Freeman Bradford and Charles H. Harris, probably an uncle of the Emerson brothers, involved in securing pensions for discharged wounded Civil War soldiers. The letters discuss estate settlements, issuing of status certificates, battles, and related events. In an April 15, 1865 letter, for example, Bradford expressed his fears for the country after hearing of President Lincoln's assassination.

The first Emerson letters in the collection date from 1867; John Louville's first letter to Edwin from Colorado was dated July 29, 1867. The bulk of the letters between 1867 and 1906 are from John L. Emerson to Edwin Ruthven Emerson, although a handful were written to John L. and Charles H. Emerson and to their sister Addie Roberts. John L. Emerson's letters speak of general mining business, engineering of mining shafts, legalities of staking mining claims, and the finances required to work a claim. The three brothers, John, Edwin, and Charles, discussed mining and investment, including the development of a suction device to draw water out of mine shafts and Charles's invention of a boomerang gun. The brothers participated in the development of several mining companies, including the the Sedalia Copper Company, the Colorado Mountain Chief Mining Company, and the Mineral Land Improvement Company. Due to a gap in the correspondence, the organization and development of the Emerson Gold and Silver Mining Company is not covered. The collection also includes letters of several individuals who invested in Emerson mining ventures, the most important being V. D. Upham, J. W. O'Connor, Norvin Green, William S. Eno, and S. J. Spray.

Family issues are addressed by Edwin's wife, Ellen Russell Emerson, who outlined early family genealogy in a letter written from London on July 20, 1888. She also wrote to family members after her father-in-law's death, appealing for help in supporting their mother. Charles described his childhood memories and travels in Mexico.

Correspondence from the period 1907-21 consists primarily of letters from Joseph W. Emerson to his father Charles H. Emerson, although there is a small quantity of additional family correspondence and letters from business associates like E. W. Tisdall and P. M. Culling. The letters from son to father primarily concern such subjects as mining operations, chemical analyses of ores, working conditions during the Colorado winter, and methods of cross-country travel. Father and son also evaluated investment possibilities in tungsten, oil shale, alabaster, and gypsum. Charles H. Emerson's poor health and family news are also mentioned. Helen R. Behrman, of Buena Vista, Colorado, a friend of the elderly widower, wrote Charles about a dozen letters in 1907-08 describing her social life and travels.

Series II,Diaries , contains diaries of John L., Charles H., and Edwin R. Emerson. John's journals chronicle his long mining career and contain references to the many Colorado mines in which he worked: Emerson Lode, Empire Lode, Little Chief, Sappho, Sedalia, Pawnolos, Prinsetti, Garnet, and Caledonia. In his daily records John Emerson described the weather, his work, the people he met, and his reading. Charles Emerson's diaries include an 1880 travel log from Denver to Leadville, Colorado, describing his stagecoach ride through Mosquito Gulch to avoid an Indian attack. A 1907 entry records seeing Maude Adams inPeter Pan.

Series III,Business and Legal Papers , is divided into two sections. The first consists of a variety ofMining Records, including accounts, stock agreements, contracts, reports, and mine location notices of a number of mining companies with which the Emersons were associated. The largest quantity of papers concerns Kuenzel's Process Smelting Company. Agreements, articles of incorporation, correspondence, reports, and other papers document the short history of this firm. Papers related to specific mines come first and are followed by related papers not connected with a named mine. The second section,Reports, contains a variety of reports on mining by Joseph W. Emerson plus one by Edward Ginlett and one jointly authored by S. V. V. Zabriskie and Emerson. The reports concern the nature of ores, mine potential, and smelting processes.

Box 10 housesSeries IV,Printed Material , which is composed primarily of brochures, flyers, magazines, and newspapers on mining, innovations in ore treatment, and business developments. Also included, however, are such things as a business guide to Old Orchard, Maine, beekeeping supplies papers, and a program for a 1920 production of "Way Down East: A Simple Story of Plain People," starring Lillian Gish.

Series V,Family Papers , is arranged alphabetically by individual. Most of the Charles H. Emerson material concerns his boomerang gun invention and patents for a game apparatus and question answering device. The Edwin R. Emerson papers include cancelled checks, a scrapbook of 1893-95 newspaper clippings from Cripple Creek and Leadville, Colorado newspapers, and a fraternal membership. The collection contains smaller quantities of papers related to John L. Emerson, Joseph W. Emerson, and Charles M. Harris, plus two folders of miscellaneous papers and photographs.

Oversize business and legal papers, printed material, and family papers are housed in Box 12. Of particular interest are documentation on three Colorado mines, copies of several Colorado newspapers, and a handful of maps.