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Washington Hood papers

 Collection
Call Number: WA MSS S-2687

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

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.hoodw

Abstract

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.

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

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

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.