The James Buchanan Collection, 1816-present, contains material that pertains to the life and legacy of James Buchanan and his Lancaster home, Wheatland. The collection includes correspondence of James Buchanan and letters written by his niece, Harriet Lane Johnston. Newspaper articles discuss Buchanan's life and Wheatland, tell the story of Buchanan's romance with Ann Coleman, and report on commemorative events. Legal and personal business are represented by deeds, financial matters, and Buchanan's probate records.
Political papers include the Presidential appointment of Buchanan as Minister to Russia, certification to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate, and a series of letters regarding the Atlantic slave trade in 1819 and Liberia in 1858. In letters, Buchanan outlined his reasons for not wanting to run for Governor, wrote about the confidence bestowed on him by the Democratic Party, and established a fund for the city of Lancaster to purchase wood and coal for poor women during the winter. After the Crimean War, Buchanan wrote to the ambassador to the United Kingdom and observed that Russia seemed to be intent on recovering its military prestige and had made vast naval preparations.
There is an assortment of ephemera, such as programs for memorial celebrations, material related to John Updike's play Buchanan Dying, commemorative stamps, sheet music, and invitations. Souvenir pamphlets from Wheatland provide history about Buchanan's home and the museum. Speeches range from those given by Buchanan to several that honor his life and Presidency. A scrapbook describes the establishment of Wheatland as a museum and contains newspaper articles about archaeology on the site in 1948.
Admin/Biographical History
James Buchanan was born on April 23, 1791 to James Buchanan and Elizabeth Speer. He was the second child born out of ten children, and he would go on to outlive all but one of his siblings. Most popularly remembered as Pennsylvania's only President and as a lifelong bachelor, Buchanan committed a lifetime to politics. In 1821, he left his law practice and embarked on his political career after having been voted into the U.S. House of Representatives. He would remain in the House for five consecutive terms before serving as the U.S. Minister to Russia, a Senator in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. Minister to Great Britain, and finally, the 15th President of the United States. He died in his bedchamber at Wheatland at 8:30 AM on June 1, 1868. He was 77 years old.
James Buchanan Papers, Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections http://archives.dickinson.edu/collection-descriptions/james-buchanan-papers
James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston Papers, Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/collections/james-buchanan-and-harriet-lane-johnston-papers/
James Buchanan Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/b/Buchanan0091.html
James Buchanan Papers, Penn State University Libraries, https://libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/1458.htm
Related Item Notes
James Buchanan Family Papers (JBFP)
Historical Society of Pennsylvania microfilm in the LancasterHistory Research Library
LancasterHistory Library collection
Photograph collection
Curatorial collection
Wheatland Mansion
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available.
Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
To make a request, please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Classification
MG0096
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Digitization of the James Buchanan Collection was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Appl ID # 201808013051, 2019-2020.
James Buchanan and Wheatland Scrapbook, February 1936-May
1948 was cataloged as part of a project funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, ME60112, 2007-2008.
The General Thomas Welsh Family Papers is a collection of original correspondence, official documents, and ephemera. Many of the papers were created by or directed to Thomas Welsh between approximately 1843 and his death in 1863. They provide glimpses into his youth, his experiences in the Mexican War, his life in Columbia between the wars, and his rise in rank to Brigadier General during the Civil War.
The collection contains correspondence with his wife and family from 1861-1863. There are also official correspondence and documents related to Welsh's military service, autobiographical pieces, correspondence following his death, obituaries, and family papers into the early twentieth century. Other items in the collection include genealogy pages from the family bible, photographic images of Thomas Welsh and family members, two scrapbooks, newspaper issues and newspaper clippings, written notes from recollections of one of Welsh's daughter, and a biographical sketch of Welsh written by his son.
Admin/Biographical History
Thomas Welsh (1824-1863) was a Lancaster County native (born and raised in Columbia), who rose from hardscrabble origins to local fame, first as a Mexican War hero, and then as a brigadier general during the Civil War. He was well known and well respected as a no nonsense officer, for his leadership and gallantry in battle, for his dedication to the service of his country, and for his concern for the welfare of his men.
Welsh lost his father at the age of 2, and went to work to support his family at age 8. He had very little formal schooling, and was largely self-educated. In 1843, at age 19, he left Lancaster County for Washington City, then went west as an itinerant carpenter/laborer to Cincinnati, Little Rock, and Fort Smith.
When the Mexican War broke out in 1846, he enlisted in a Kentucky regiment, and was severely wounded at the battle of Buena Vista (1847) from which he never fully recovered. Returning home to Columbia, he re-enlisted as a second lieutenant, assigned to the 11th U.S. infantry regiment in Mexico City. Within days of his arrival in Mexico City, he was declared unfit for service on account of his battle wound, and sent home again.
Back in Columbia as a civilian, he dabbled in politics, and received a patronage job in the Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works (the rail and canal system connecting Philadelphia and Pittsburgh). After several years, he opened up a grocery and dry goods store in Columbia's canal basin. He also became an insurance agent. In 1857, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and his reputation grew as a community leader. By 1860, he was president of the Borough Council, a founding member of the Columbia Board of Trade, Vice President of the Columbia Cricket Club, and a canal boat operator, in addition to a dry goods merchant, insurance agent, and Justice of the Peace. He had a wife, 5 surviving children, and legal guardianship of his sister's 4 children.
When Confederate forces shelled Fort Sumter, marking the beginning of the Civil War, Thomas Welsh raised and organized the first company of volunteers from Lancaster County, and took them into the field as their Captain. Within days, he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, which served out its 90-day enlistment in the Shenandoah Valley.
Returning to Harrisburg, he was appointed Commandant of Camp Curtin, the problem-plagued processing center for new recruits. In short order, Welsh cleaned up the camp's poor sanitary conditions, improved the health of the camp, and implemented soldierly discipline and training.
In October 1861, he resigned from his camp duties, and as Colonel of the 45th Pennsylvania, led his regiment into the field. After brief service outside of Washington, they were sent to South Carolina in December, where they were posted to Otter Island. After the battle of James Island, they were recalled to Newport News, in July 1862, then sent to guard Aquia Creek.
In September, now in brigade command in Burnsides' 9th Corps, Welsh chased Lee's Confederate army west into central Maryland. His brigade broke the enemy line in Fox's Gap, on Sept. 14, then 3 days later achieved the furthest Union advance at Antietam, reaching the edge of Sharpsburg, and nearly cutting off Lee's only avenue of escape. Welsh's gallantry earned him a field promotion to brigadier general, which Congress confirmed on March 13, 1863.
The 9th Corps (Welsh now in command of the 1st Division) was sent west in the spring of 1863, then dispatched south to support Grant's investment of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg fell, they turned east and defeated Confederate General Johnston at the Battle of Jackson. Welsh contracted malaria in the southern swamps, and died in Cincinnati upon their return north. One of his men later recalled, "Had he lived, Welsh would undoubtedly have attained a much higher command. 1
1. Beauge, Eugene, in Albert, Allen D., Ed., History of the Forty-Fifth Regiment Pennsylvania Veteran Volunteer Infantry 1861-1865, Williamsport, PA: Grit Publ. Co, 1912, p. 79.
System of Arrangement
The collection is arranged in series:
Series A Thomas Welsh before the Mexican War
Series B Mexican War, 1846-1848
Series C Between the Mexican War and the Civil War, 1848-1861
Series D Civil War
Series E Post-Civil War
Series F Miscellaneous Family Papers
Series G Papers from the families of Gen. Thomas Welsh and Blanton C. Welsh
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material.
Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pa.
Classification
MG0828
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Almost all of the papers have been passed down through successive generations of Welsh's descendants, from Thomas Welsh's wife and children to his granddaughter, Emilie Benson (Welsh) Wiggin, to her daughter Nancy Jane (Wiggin) Townsend. After Nancy Townsend's death, her son Charles Townsend passed them on to his cousin, Richard Wiggin (grandson of Emilie Benson Wiggin) in 2015.
A few papers passed out of the family's possession and found their way into other collections. Richard Abel of Columbia, PA began collecting Welsh papers and artifacts some years ago, and subsequently transferred this collection of Welsh materials to Richard Wiggin in 2012.
The James Buchanan Family Papers collection is organized into eight parts: Part 1 Papers of James Buchanan, Part 2 Papers of Harriet Lane Johnston, Part 3 Papers of James Buchanan Henry, Part 4 Papers of Edward Young Buchanan, Part 5 Papers of Other members of the Buchanan Family, Part 6 Papers of Hiram B. Swarr, Part 7 Papers of Jonathan Messersmith Foltz, and Part 8 Papers of Others (Not Part of the Family). The papers are arranged by category within each part.
The correspondence is both professional and personal. The letters provide information about family and social events, business and military affairs, social and political history, health and illnesses, religious beliefs, education, friendships, domestic staff, and Wheatland. Political letters specifically highlight the Democratic Party in the United States in the early to mid-nineteenth century, as well as foreign policy and politics while Buchanan was the ambassador to Russia and England. Personal letters share family, local, regional, and international news between family members and friends.
Financial and legal documents include business papers, property records, estate papers, plans for James Buchanan's tomb, and investments. James Buchanan's 1856 presidential campaign and 1857 inauguration are captured in campaign ephemera, political cartoons, Democratic tickets, invitations to the inaugural ball, newspaper articles, and a political song. Other items in the collection include speeches, ephemera, genealogy, diplomas and certificates, account books, scrapbooks, newspaper articles, invitations, programs, pastoral records, and poetry.
Admin/Biographical History
James Buchanan was born on April 23, 1791 to James Buchanan and Elizabeth Speer. He was the second child born out of ten children, and he would go on to outlive all but one of his siblings. Most popularly remembered as Pennsylvania's only President and as a lifelong bachelor, Buchanan committed a lifetime to politics. In 1821, he left his law practice and embarked on his political career after having been voted into the U.S. House of Representatives. He would remain in the House for five consecutive terms before serving as the U.S. Minister to Russia, a Senator in the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Secretary of State, the U.S. Minister to Great Britain, and finally, the 15th President of the United States. He died in his bedchamber at Wheatland at 8:30 AM on June 1, 1868. He was 77 years old. [https://www.lancasterhistory.org/about-wheatland, accessed 10/24/2019]
System of Arrangement
The James Buchanan Family Papers collection is arranged in eight parts:
English, French, German, Spanish, Swedish, Latin, Italian
Object ID
JBFP
Associated Material
James Buchanan Papers, Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections http://archives.dickinson.edu/collection-descriptions/james-buchanan-papers
James Buchanan and Harriet Lane Johnston Papers, Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/collections/james-buchanan-and-harriet-lane-johnston-papers/
James Buchanan Papers, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, http://www2.hsp.org/collections/manuscripts/b/Buchanan0091.html
James Buchanan Papers, Penn State University Libraries, https://libraries.psu.edu/findingaids/1458.htm
Related Item Notes
James Buchanan Family Papers
James Buchanan Collection (MG0096) https://collections.lancasterhistory.org/en/permalink/lhdo3760
Historical Society of Pennsylvania microfilm
Photograph Collection
Curatorial Collection
Wheatland Collection
Wheatland Mansion
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available.
Original documents may be used by appointment. Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org at least two weeks prior to visit.
Copyright
Images have been provided for research purposes only.
LancasterHistory retains the rights to the digital images and content presented. The doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder. Fair use includes comment, criticism, teaching, and private scholarship. Any images and data downloaded, printed or photocopied for these purposes should provide a citation. All other uses beyond those allowed by fair use require written permission.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory. Some items are photocopies from other collections--researchers must obtain permission for reproduction and publication from the owner of the original material. Persons wishing to publish any material from this site must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright or other use restrictions. Publication fees may apply.
Please contact archives@lancasterhistory.org for a high-resolution image and permission to publish.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
The James Buchanan Family Papers were collected by the James Buchanan Foundation for the Preservation of Wheatland. This collection was relocated from the Wheatland mansion to the LancasterHistory archives in the Spring of 2009. Digitization of the James Buchanan Family Papers was funded by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, PHMC Appl ID # 201808013051, 2019-2020.
The Paul A. Mueller, Jr. Collection contains a deed for property in Lancaster Borough, an early collection of recipes, a receipt book for the Hamilton Lots, a valentine, stock certificate books for the New Process Steel Corporation, and Civil War letters. The Honorable Paul A. Mueller, Jr. is a descendant of the Zahm, Shreiner, and Cochran families on his mother's side. The items in this collection were passed down through the family for several generations.
Admin/Biographical History
Klein, Huffnagle, and Mussertown
The deed shows the sale of property in Mussertown by innkeepers Leonard and Rosina Klein to Peter Huffnagle. Leonard (1725-1793) married Amalia Rosina Waidlin (1732-1795) at Warwick, Lancaster County in December 1749. At that time he was a saddler in Lancaster. Although they did not have children, they were sponsors at several baptisms at the Moravian Church and Trinity Lutheran Church, both in Lancaster. Peter Huffnagle (1746-1806) and his wife, Charlotte, had their children baptized at the First Reformed Church in Lancaster. They were also buried in that churchyard. Mussertown was laid out in 1760 by John Musser, and was later added onto by Henry Musser. Its original boundaries were the streets now called Church, Strawberry, Locust, and Rockland.
Hamilton Lots
In 1730, Andrew Hamilton, a skilled lawyer, purchased a tract of land in the newly incorporated Lancaster County and convinced the commissioners to place the county seat within his holdings. Queen Street and King Street run through that tract. James Hamilton (1710-1783) acquired 500 acres of land from his father in 1734, and started selling lots by 1735. Although Hamilton sold the lots, he imposed ground-rents so tenants had to pay for the right to occupy and improve the land that they owned. Tenants were also required to build dwellings on their property within two years and to meet certain building specifications. He continued to acquire and sell lots until 1773. Ground-rents were still being collected on the Hamilton Lots after World War II.
Zahm and Shreiner
Godfried Zahm was a brushmaker in Lancaster. His son, Michael (d.1883), learned the brushmaking business from his father and then learned the watchmaking and jewelry business from his brother-in-law, Martin Shreiner, Jr. (1767-1866). Godfried's daughter, Maria, married Martin Shreiner who is best remembered as a Lancaster clockmaker. Maria kept a trimming shop on North Queen Street in Lancaster.
Cochran and New Process Steel Corporation
Harry B. Cochran, great-grandfather of Paul A. Mueller, Jr., was the president of New Process Steel Corporation in 1916. New Process Steel Co. began as New Process Steel Wire Manufacturing Co. and was renamed in 1907. This manufacturer of drill rods and special steel shapes became a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation in 1919. It is significant that Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. owned stock in the New Process Steel Corporation in 1916. Sloan was president of Hyatt Roller Bearing Company when it merged with the United Motors Corporation in 1916. He then became president of United Motors which merged with General Motors Corporation in 1918. Sloan was president and CEO of General Motors from 1923-1946.
Shand, William and Dean Keller. 1965. "Twentieth Century Industrial Development of Lancaster." Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society 69: 151-162.
Wood, Stacy B. C. 1994. "Martin Shreiner: from Clocks to Fire Engines." Journal of the Lancaster County Historical Society 96: 114-137.
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Paul A. Mueller, Jr. Collection (MG0360), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-360
Other Number
MG-360
Classification
MG0360
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Folders 1-9 cataloged in 2005. Folder 10 cataloged in 2009. Added to database 7 September 2017.
This collection contains documents beginning with the American Revolution and continuing through the War of 1812, Mexican War, Civil War, World War I, World War II, and the Korean War. There are account books, notes and written letters, vouchers, inspections of camps, receipts of payments, honorable discharge certificates, lists of absentees, envelopes used during the Civil War, and lists of unpaid fines during the service of the Pennsylvania Militia soldiers. There are also newsletters and articles relating to World Wars I and II and the Korean War for advertisement and description of items including the history of the Philadelphia Naval Base.
Series 1 contains invoices, arrest warrants, and tax collector books for the city of Lancaster. Invoices that were approved by the city council in 1878, 1883 and 1884 for payroll and supplies include road and bridge maintenance, water works, fire departments, clerk and inspection work, and costs incurred by the city during an outbreak of small pox. Arrest warrants for 1918-1919 show names of defendant(s) and police officer, the charge, date and case number. There are also tax collector records for 1860-1889, incomplete.
Series 2 contains documents regarding the market houses, waterworks, lamps, roads, railroad and city ordinances. Petitions support a candidate for night watchman, seek to repeal an ordinance for hanging signs and regulations for public scales, and request a reward for the apprehension of a murderer. There is an 1815 naturalization certificate for James Williams and a resolution regarding a visit of Gen. Andrew Jackson.
Series 3 contains miscellaneous items related to the Borough of Lancaster (1742 to 1818) found in the Document Collection. Items include an act regulating the buildings and keeping in repair the streets, lanes, and alley of Lancaster, passed 14 January 1774; oaths of office sworn by various men from 1764 to 1769; and an extract of Lancaster Borough laws enacted 22 January 1774 reporting the regulations and fines of this borough.
George and Rhonda Andreadis Collection of Lancaster City Records (MG0545)
Notes
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Series #, Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Please use digital images and transcriptions when available. Original documents may be used by appointment--contact Research@LancasterHistory.org prior to visit.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at Research@LancasterHistory.org.
Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Collection of brochures relating to tourist attractions, museums, historic sites, events, stores, farmers' markets, hotels, and restaurants in Lancaster, Lebanon, and York Counties. Visitors' guides and road maps provide additional information about points of interest. Items in the collection date back to the late 1920s and continue to the present, but most are from the mid-twentieth century.
The Frank R. Diffenderffer Collection contains documents collected by Mr. Diffenderffer. These documents are primarily from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and include letters, legal and court papers, indentures, receipts, property and probate records, and financial and military papers. The people and businesses represented include George Ross, Jasper Yeates, A. Herr Smith, Timothy Matlack, Mount Hope Furnace, and the Lancaster, Elizabethtown & Middletown Turnpike Road Company.
Yeates, Lancaster County Historical Society Collection
Description
Yeates, Lancaster County Historical Society Collection provides insight into the Yeates family, local social history, and details of legal business from 1743-1870. These documents have been collected by the Lancaster County Historical Society over many years. Collection includes letters, receipts, articles, eviction notice, advertisement, estate inventories, wills, deeds, treaty, court transcript, drawings, photographs, copy of house plan, post road distances, daybook, letter book, catalog of books in Jasper Yeates' library, and an alphabetical catalog of law books.
Preferred Citation: Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Yeates, Lancaster County Historical Society Collection (MG0205), Folder #, LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Access Conditions / Restrictions
Restrictions noted at the item level. The letter copybooks in Folders 31 and 36 are restricted--please use the transcriptions available in the library.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please direct questions to Research Center Staff at research@lancasterhistory.org. Permission for reproduction and/or publication must be obtained in writing from LancasterHistory.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Other Numbers
MG-205
Classification
MG0205
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Folders 1-34 and Books 1-2 were processed and finding aid prepared prior to 1997. Added to PP on 26 March 2022.
The Yeates, Aungst Collection provides insight into the Yeates, Shippen, and Burd families, local social history, eighteenth century legal issues, and details of legal business from 1765-1810. The collection consists mainly of business correspondence and legal documents, and also includes receipts, an impression of the Burd family coat of arms, bail bonds, and a one shilling note.
Yeates, Lancaster County Historical Society Collection (MG0205)
Notes
Title or description of item, date (day, month, year), Collection Title (MG#), Series #, Box #, Folder #, (or Object ID), LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. URL if applicable. Date accessed (day, month, year).
Access Conditions / Restrictions
No restrictions.
Copyright
Collection may not be photocopied. Please contact Research Staff or Archives Staff with questions.
Credit
Courtesy of LancasterHistory, Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Classification
MG0206
Description Level
Fonds
Custodial History
Cataloged prior to 1997. Added to database on 11 August 2017.