Scope and Contents
The papers consist of journals, correspondence, drawings, maps, architectural plans, family papers and business papers relating to Washington Hood, his father John McClellan Hood, and the Hood family. Journals document Hood's surveys of the Ohio and Michigan border in 1835 and of northeastern Oklahoma in 1839, and also include notes on painting and engineering. Family papers consist chiefly of correspondence and include letters to and from family members that describe Hood's expeditions. John Hood's business papers consist of correspondence, legal papers, and financial papers that document John Hood's personal finances and the business partnership of Hamilton and Hood in Philadelphia. One daguerreotype by photographer James M'Clees is included in the family papers, likely depicting John Hood circa 1850. Architectural plans include drawings that formed the basis of the Hood country home Bessie Bell in Limerick Township, Pennsylvania (built in 1834), and an 1834 proposal for a U.S. Government building designed to centralize executive staff. Maps include an early manuscript draft of Hood's 1835 map of Indian tribes west of Arkansas and Missouri. Printed maps depict charts and waterways in eastern North America.
Dates
- 1772-1861
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Washington Hood Papers 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 William Reese Co. on the Frederick W. and Carrie S. Beinecke Fund for Western Americana and the Walter McClintock Memorial Fund, 2000.
Arrangement
Organized into five series: I. Journals, 1834-1840. II. Correspondence, 1828-1840. III. John Hood and Hood Family Papers, 1787-1861. IV. Maps, 1829-1835. Series V. Architectural and Engineering Plans, 1772-1836.
Extent
1.46 Linear Feet ((4 boxes) + 2 broadside folders)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
The papers consist of journals, correspondence, drawings, maps, architectural plans, family papers and business papers relating to Washington Hood, his father John McClellan Hood, and the Hood family. Journals document Hood's surveys of the Ohio and Michigan border in 1835 and of northeastern Oklahoma in 1839, and also include notes on painting and engineering. Family papers consist chiefly of correspondence and include letters to and from family members that describe Hood's expeditions. John Hood's business papers consist of correspondence, legal papers, and financial papers that document John Hood's personal finances and the business partnership of Hamilton and Hood in Philadelphia. One daguerreotype by photographer James M'Clees is included in the family papers, likely depicting John Hood circa 1850. Architectural plans include drawings that formed the basis of the Hood country home Bessie Bell in Limerick Township, Pennsylvania (built in 1834), and an 1834 proposal for a U.S. Government building designed to centralize executive staff. Maps include an early manuscript draft of Hood's 1835 map of Indian tribes west of Arkansas and Missouri. Printed maps depict charts and waterways in eastern North America.
Washington Hood, 1808-1840
Washington Hood (1808-1840), a cartographer and surveyor, was the son of John and Elizabeth Hood of Philadelphia. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1827 and served in the Corps of Engineers and the Corps of Topographical Engineers from 1829 until he became ill on an expedition in 1839. He died in 1840 at the age of 31. Among Hood's most frequently-cited surveys and maps are those of Indian territories west of the Mississipi, and of the border region between Ohio and Michigan.
Processing Information
Collection 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.
This collection received a basic level of processing in 2011, including rehousing and minimal organization. Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
This collection received a basic level of processing in 2011, including rehousing and minimal organization. Information included in the Description of Papers note and Collection Contents section is drawn from information supplied with the collection and from an initial survey of the contents. Folder titles appearing in the contents list below are often based on those provided by the creator or previous custodian. Titles have not been verified against the contents of the folders in all cases. Otherwise, folder titles are supplied by staff during initial processing.
- Architectural drawings (visual works)
- Businessmen -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Businessmen -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Cartographers -- West (U.S.)
- Cartographers -- West (U.S.) -- 19th century
- Daguerreotypes (photographs)
- Hood, John M., 1778-1848
- Hood, Washington
- Indians of North America -- Maps
- Limerick (Pa.)
- M'Clees, Jas. E. (James E.)
- Maps -- West (U.S.)
- Maps -- West (U.S.) -- 19th century
- Michigan -- Boundaries
- Michigan -- Surveys
- Ohio -- Boundaries
- Ohio -- Surveys
- Oklahoma -- Surveys
- Philadelphia (Pa.)
- Surveyors -- West (U.S.)
- Surveyors -- West (U.S.) -- 19th century
- United States. Army. Corps of Topographical Engineers
- United States. War Department. Corps of Engineers
- West (U.S.) -- Surveys
Creator
- Title
- Guide to the Washington Hood Papers
- Author
- by Lisa Conathan
- Date
- 2011
- 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
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.