Herman Haupt papers

The Herman Haupt Papers consist of business and personal correspondence, financial and legal papers, and writings of Herman Haupt, which were collected by Herman Haupt Chapman during his research on his grandfather's life. In addition the papers include the manuscript of Chapman's unpublished biography, as well as transcripts of documents, photographs, additional family correspondence, diaries, other family papers, and Chapman's own correspondence files which relate to his research and biographical writings. The papers highlight Haupt's career as a civil engineer, particularly his work on the Hoosac Tunnel and his subsequent legal contests with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and his service to the Union during the Civil War.

Herman Haupt Chapman and his wife donated the bulk of the material to the Yale Library between 1957 and 1964. A few additional items were added to the papers between 1974 and 1980. Additional papers concerning Herman Haupt Chapman's career as a member of the Yale School of Forestry faculty are located in the Herman Haupt Chapman Papers (MS 134). The Haupt Papers are arranged in three series: I. CORRESPONDENCE, 1800-1960; II. PERSONAL PAPERS, 1840-1955; and III. HERMAN HAUPT CHAPMAN FILES, 1845-1984.

Series I includes correspondence and other papers of Haupt, Chapman, and other family members, while Series II is composed mainly of Haupt's legal and financial papers. Series III contains Chapman's manuscript, notes, and other research material gathered for a projected biography of Herman Haupt. In quantity the papers are nearly equally divided between those of Haupt and his contemporaries and those relating to Chapman's research and writing.

Series I includes correspondence and other papers of several members of the Haupt family as well as transcripts of material copied by Herman Haupt Chapman, which are scattered throughout the series and concentrated in box 10. The series, which is arranged in chronological order, begins with business correspondence and papers of Haupt's father, John Jacob Houpt, a merchant in Philadelphia. Material of Herman Haupt begins in folder 3 and a diary of his wife Anna Cecilia Keller Haupt is in folder 4. This diary, which dates from 1842 to 1843, describes family life in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where Herman Haupt was serving as principal of the Oakridge Select Academy. The diary is also available on microfilm (HM 56). During periods of separation Herman Haupt wrote to his wife and provided descriptions of his work, addressing her as "dear Sis". Some letters after 1847 relate to Haupt's work as an assistant to J. Edgar Thomson on the Pennsylvania Railroad.

The files become increasingly more abundant and substantive after the commencement of Haupt's work for the Troy and Greenfield Railroad on the Hoosac Tunnel in 1856. The files include agreements, resolutions, and acts of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as correspondence with financial supporters and creditors such as Henry Cartwright, William A. Galbraith, Henry D. Steever, Samuel Lane, and Edward W. Serrell. The correspondence relates more to Haupt's financial problems and less to tunnel engineering. There are also exchanges with Haupt and Keller family members in Pennsylvania. Letterpress copybooks (folders 173-174) contain copies of Haupt's outgoing letters concerning work on the tunnel.

The state of Massachusetts took over the work on the tunnel in 1862, at about the same time that Haupt joined the staff of General Irvin McDowell. Haupt's letters to his wife and family in Cambridge, Massachusetts describe his activities. The files at this point also contain transcripts of correspondence and documents located in other repositories, relating to Haupt's Civil War service, particularly Haupt's role in the Gettysburg victory. Files after Haupt's return to Massachusetts in 1863 focus on Haupt's continuing legal battles with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for payment of debts incurred on the Hoosac Tunnel. During the winter of 1866 there are almost daily letters to Anna Cecilia Haupt concerning hearings on the matter.

Folder 74 contains another piece of Anna Cecilia Haupt's diary, which details a trip to England and Scotland during which Herman Haupt delivered a paper on the application of machinery to tunnelling. A copy of the paper is in folder 75. Correspondence in the 1870s documents Haupt's new business ventures in Virginia. The purchase and work of the Old Dominion Granite Company is discussed in exchanges with Thomas Ackley and son Lewis Muhlenberg Haupt, while the operation of a resort in Giles County, Virginia at Mt. Lake is the subject of family correspondence. The files also contain references to Haupt's work on the Piedmont Air Line Railway.

Files in the 1880s, containing affidavits, resolutions, claims, articles of agreement, and correspondence, mainly document the negotiations to reach a final settlement with the state of Massachusetts. The files contain much less detail on Haupt's activities for the last twenty-five years of his life. There is some correspondence with Edward Appleton and Robert Lenox Belknap concerning Haupt's employment by the Northern Pacific Railroad and exchanges with Frank Woodman concerning the Mt. Lake Land Company. After 1900 files concern Haupt's investments in the National Nutrient Company, which had perfected a process for producing powdered milk.

Files after Haupt's death in December, 1905 contain records kept by Lewis M. Haupt as executor of his father's estate. By the mid 1920s the correspondence is mainly that of Herman Haupt Chapman and concerns the Haupt family and his research on Herman Haupt. There is correspondence with the fledgling Colonial Haupt Association. Letters from Ethel M. Hughes and Florence H. Urren concern Chapman's research and manuscript, while correspondence with several historians and editors relates to Chapman's interest in publishing his research. Several librarians write to acknowledge receiving copies of Chapman's typescript of the "Unpublished Correspondence of Brigadier General Herman Haupt, July 1861-Septebmer 1862".

Series II contains numerous financial and legal documents such as agreements, testimony, affidavits, minutes, exhibits, contracts, payment schedules, patents and accounts relating to Haupt's work on the Hoosac Tunnel. There are also smaller but similar files for Haupt's involvement with the National Nutrient Company. Folders [illegible]217-218 contain photostats of circulars issued by Haupt as general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The series also includes a diary and school notebook kept by Haupt's seventeen year old sister Mary E. Haupt while teaching school in Gettysburg and studying in Philadelphia. Among the legal documents in box 12 is a copy of Anna Cecilia Haupt's will detailing her philanthropic bequests and her charitable interests in Giles County, Virginia.

Series III contains the manuscript for Herman Haupt Chapman's biography of his grandfather and typed transcripts of documents made for his research. The transcripts exist in multiple copies and are arranged chronologically and by topic. Photographs (or photostats) and print negatives of documents, Haupt, family members, residences, railroads, bridges, and tunnels are found in folders 331-348. There are only a few original photographs among them. Material in folders 349-381 was integrated into folders 331-348.

Folders 382-401 include additional resource material on Herman Haupt's life. They contain catalogues from the schools at which Haupt taught, Haupt's books and articles on engineering, steam heating, river improvements, compressed air, politics, and power transmission, and reports concerning the Pennsylvania Transportation Company pipeline and the Old Dominion Granite Company. Folders 289-291 contain a manuscript of Haupt's reminiscences of his Civil War experiences. Folders at the end of the series also include family histories, memorabilia, and additional transcripts by Herman Haupt Chapman.