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Sherwood Sterling papers

 Collection
Call Number: MS 1164
Scope and Contents

These papers pertain to manufacturing and mining enterprises in which Sherwood Sterling (1840-\) of Newark, New Jersey, and New Haven and Ansonia, Connecticut, was engaged. The greatest amount of material relates to the Sterling Grate Bar Company of Newark. Included are correspondence about patents for furnace grates and legal problems stemming from the patents, advertising, orders, and so forth; legal and financial papers such as agreements, patents, receipts and bills; and printed circulars, business cards, et cetera. The folio contains several large hand-drawn diagrams of grates and furnace bars.

The bulk of the remaining papers documents Sterling's involvement with the Golden Sands Mining Company of Cape Nome, Alaska, with the Ideal Mining and Development Company, also of Alaska, and with the Sterling Syndicate of New Haven and Ansonia, which was founded to raise money for the mining ventures. Neither mining company was successful, and the correspondence deals largely with difficulties in raising money, legal problems with the claims in Alaska, and the eventual failure of the companies. Items of particular interest include a letter dated 1900 Apr 13 containing a list of food and other supplies deemed necessary for an Alaskan prospector (folder 4), and a series of letters from Sterling's son-in-law Henry Miller discussing Miller's plans to mine the claims in Alaska. Also included among these papers are legal and financial documents and printed matter such as advertising prospectuses. A map of the Golden Sands Mining Company claims is located in the folio.

The final material in the collection is a group of letters and printed items from F. T. McIntyre of the Metropolitan Institute of Sciences advertising his Hypnotic Ball Treatment for the cure of diseases and for psychic self-improvement.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased in 1947.

Dates
1880-1905
Extent
2.5 Linear Feet
Related Names
Sterling, Sherwood, 1840-
Language of Materials
English