McElroy family papers, 1847-1955

Overview of the Collection

Creator
McElroy family
Title
McElroy family papers
Dates
1847-1955 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.76 cubic feet (5 boxes) plus 1 oversize vertical file
Collection Number
0027 (Accession No. 0027-001)
Summary
Papers of a pioneer family relating to an overland journey to California in 1849, T.F. McElroy's printing business, social and political conditions in Washington Territory though the 1880s, and family memorabilia from the 1850s in Washington Territory through the early 20th century.
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Open to all users

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Pioneer family.

Thorton Fleming McElroy, 1825-1885. Sara Collins McElroy, 1827-1894. Harry Bates McElroy, 1861-1928. Thorton McElroy joined the gold rush to California, journeyed overland by wagon train to Oregon City, Or., to work on the Oregon Spectator, was sent by Thomas Dryer to Olympia, Washington to establish and publish "The Columbian" in 1852, was Territorial printer (1863-1872), and was foreman of the "Pioneer and Democrat".

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Family papers, including correspondence of Thornton F. McElroy (Washington Territorial official) his wife, Sara Elizabeth (Bates) McElroy, and their son, Harry Bates McElroy. Papers relate to T.F. McElroy's overland journey to California in 1849, the newspaper publishing and printing business in Oregon and Washington Territories, politics in Washington Territory, and social conditions in the Northwest during the pioneer period. 1847-1955.

Typewritten transcription of two T. F. McElroy letters to Sarah McElroy (May 8, 1849; June 8, 1849)

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format

Restrictions on Use

Creator's literary rights not transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donated by Mrs. Charles E. Allison, 1959-61. Additional pieces transferred approximately 1970 which had probably been given to Professor E.S. Meany by Harry B. McElroy and then given to Charles W. Smith for the library.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

T.F. (Thornton Fleming) McElroy, 1849-Return to Top

Container(s): Item Series 1

Thornton Fleming (T.F.) McElroy was born July 24, 1825 in West Middletown Pennsylvania and left home at age 18 to settle in Pittsfield, Illinois where he learned the printers' trade. He was married October 15, 1847 to Sarah E. Bates of Pittsfield Illinois; the couple had one child, Harry, born 1861.

In 1849 T.F. McElroy started across the country to work in the gold mines of California, though ended up in Oregon City, Oregon Territory, where he worked as a printer. McElroy did eventually go down to California where he worked in the mines for several months, returning to Oregon City in 1852. That same year, McElroy and J.W. Wiley went to Olympia (then Oregon Territory) and started the first newspaper north of the Columbia River -- The Columbian.

T.F. McElroy worked in the printing business until his death, working for several years as the public printer for the Washington Territory (1863-1870). McElroy served in several public capacities including as a representative in the Territorial Legislature from 1855-1856, as Mayor of the City of Olympia, as a member of the Olympia City Council, as Treasurer for Thurston County, and he was the first grand master of the Grand Lodge of the Masons of Washington Territory. T.F. McElroy remained in Olympia until his death in 1885.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/2
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, Ann [mother]
1849
1/3
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, George W. [brother]
1847-1848
1/4
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, Zenas [brother]
1844-1883
1/5
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, Sarah (Sallie) [wife]
1869-1882
1/6
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, Harry (Harrie) [son]
1876-1882
1/7
Correspondence (incoming): Miscellaneous
1856-1881
1/8
Correspondence (incoming)
Includes correspondence from Thomas Dryer, J.C. Ainsworth, John Nicolay, D.L. Phillips, the San Francisco Bulletin Co., Jack Myers, James Nesmith, Vestatia Gove, James Goudy, F.A. Hyde, Phillips Horton & Company.
1853-1881
1/9
Correspondence (incoming): Lewis, J.R.
1880-1887
1/10
Correspondence (incoming): Legal
Correspondence regarding a lawsuit involving William F. Tolmie, Charles C. Terry, Henry L. Yesler, Judge Edward Lander, and T.F. McElroy.
1865-1880
1/11
Correspondence (incoming): Enclosures
Includes correspondence between: William Slocum from Lydia Blacklee (1870); Reed from Charles E. Williams (1881); Mr. Hatch from John Hay (assistant and private secretary to President Lincoln and later Secretary of State under McKinley and T. Roosevelt) regarding patronage policy (1879); John M. Chapman (in Olympia) from John B. Chapman (in Washington D.C.) regarding patronage of the office of Indian Affairs and reflections on the strategic political problems of the Johnson administration (1866); Mr. Baker from F.M. Brubaker (in Olympia) regarding the Indian wars and business opportunities (1856).
1856-1881
1/12
Correspondence (outgoing)
1867-1881
1/13
Legal Documents: Plat for town of Olympia
Possibly platted by Edmund Sylvester approximately 1850.
undated (approximately 1850)
1/14
Legal Documents: Oregon Territory petition (draft)
1852
1/15
Legal Documents: Subscription list to The Columbian
July 1852
1/16
Legal Documents: Power of Attorney
1852
1/17
Legal Documents: Indentures
1854-1871
1/18
Legal Documents: Washington Territory Treasury Warrants
1858-1861
1/19
Legal Documents: Miscellaneous
approximately 1850-1883
1/20
Legal Documents: Last will and testament
1883
1/21
Financial miscellany
1848-1884
1/22
Printed miscellany: Annual Message of the Governor of the Territory of Washington
William Pickering, Governor of the Territory of Washington, 1862-1866.
December 17, 1862
1/23
Printed miscellany: Eleventh session of the Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington
Includes Council Bill no. 13, Council Joint Resolution no. 5, House Bill nos. 3, 4, 30, 36, 45, 51, 90, 94, 95, 99, and 101.
1863
1/24
Printed miscellany: Statement of the Financial Condition of the Territory of Washington and Annual Report of the Territorial Treasurer
Printed by T.F. McElroy
1864
1/25
Printed miscellany: Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Washington
Pieces printed by T.F. McElroy which includes: Rules & Orders of the House of Representatives of the Territory of Washington (1864-1865); Report of the House Committee on the Territorial Library (1865); Report of the Joint Committee of the Legislative Assembly Relative to the Territorial University (1865); Supplemental Report of the Territorial Auditor to the Legislative Assembly (1865); Report of the Territorial Librarian (1864); and an excerpt from Local and Private Laws (1871).
1864-1871
1/26
Printed miscellany: Statutes of the Territory of Washington
Printed by T.F. McElroy.
1871
1/27
Miscellany
1854-1877; undated

Ann Collins McElroy [mother of T.F. McElroy], 1836-Return to Top

Container(s): Item Series 2

Ann (Collins) McElroy was born in Maryland in 1789 and died in Zanesville, Ohio in 1873. The second wife of Archibald McElroy, Ann McElroy was mother to twelve children, including six of her own (Zenas, Elizabeth, Archibald, Isaac, Esther, and Thornton).

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/28
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, T.F. [son]
1849-1864
2/1
Correspondence (incoming)
1836-1858

Sarah (Sallie) Elizabeth (Bates) McElroy [wife of T.F. McElroy], 1849-Return to Top

Container(s): Item Series 3

Sarah Elizabeth (Bates) McElroy was born in 1827 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and as a child moved to Pittsfield, Illinois where she met and married T.F. McElroy. Five years after her husband left for California, Sarah (“Sallie”) McElroy joined T.F. McElroy in Olympia, Washington in 1854 where their son Harry was born in 1861. Sarah McElroy died in 1894.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/29
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, T.F. [husband]
Includes two transcriptions of letters to "Sallie" from T.F. McElroy.
1849-1854
2/2
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, T.F. [husband]
1870-1876
2/3
Correspondence (incoming)
Letters from sister Helen Nicolay and son Harrie McElroy.
1849-1883; undated
2/4
Correspondence (outgoing)
1850-1862; 1873-1890
2/5
Miscellany
Story narrated to Sarah McElroy by Mrs. Katy Kautz
undated
3/11
Recipe book
One volume, hand-written with loose leaves.
undated
3/12-14
Journals
Includes a garden journal, a travel diary of a trip to Illinois via SF and Denver, and an account book and diary.
1880-1891

Harry (Harrie) Bates McElroy [son of Sarah and T.F. McElroy], 1865-1927Return to Top

Container(s): Item Series 4

Harry Bates McElroy, born 1861 in Olympia, Washington, was the only child of T.F. and Sarah McElroy. Harry spent his childhood in Olympia and went to secondary school at the California Military Academy in Oakland, California. Harry McElroy married Caroline (Carrie) Williams in 1883 and had two daughters, Hilda (1887) and Elizabeth (1900). Harry McElroy died in 1928.

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/30
Academic papers: California Military Academy
1877-1879
1/31
Miscellany: S.S. Beaver
undated; 1909; 1925
2/6
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, Zenas [uncle]
1865-1883
2/7
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, Ann [grandmother]
1866; 1877
2/8
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, T.F. [father]
1869-1885
2/9-12
Correspondence (incoming): McElroy, Sarah [mother]
undated; 1877-1891
2/13
Correspondence (incoming)
Letters from D.P. Ballard, George O'Kelly, H.H. and R.J. Lewis, Clarence B. Bagley, Stephen J. Chadwick, Oregon Historical Society, Edmond S. Meany, and F.H. Whitworth.
1885-1927
2/14
Correspondence (incoming): Miscellaneous
1870-1920
3/1-2
Correspondence (outgoing)
undated; 1877-1882; 1916-1927
3/3
Financial miscellany
1878-1890
3/4
Miscellany
1870-1925
5/1
Letter book
A book of carbon copied letters written by Harry McElroy 1914-1916.
1914-1916

McElroy FamilyReturn to Top

Container(s): Item Series 5

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Genealogical information
1856-1959
3/5
Correspondence
Includes letters to Caroline McElroy (wife of Harry McElroy) and Elizabeth McElroy Allison (daughter of Harry and Carrie McElroy),and letters between John and Zenas McElroy (brothers of T.F. McElroy), and Elizabeth and Hilda McElroy (daughters of Harry and Caroline McElroy).
1867-1909?
3/6
Correspondence: Envelopes
undated
3/7
Printed miscellany: Journal of the House of Representatives, Washington Territory
1854
3/8
Printed miscellany
1955; undated
3/9
Memorabilia
1864-1926
3/10
Photographs
Includes cartes de visite, cabinet cards, photographic postcards, and b/w photographs. Photos of McElroy family home in Olympia, Washington. Includes photos of T.F. McElroy, Sarah McElroy, Harry McElroy, Dr. Zenas McElroy, Helen Nicolay, John Nicolay, Norton Bates, Mrs. Norton Bates, and A.J. Falkner.
1850-1961
4/1-3
Printed miscellany
Newspaper clippings, postcards, other printed materials.
undated; 1889-1954
4/4
Printed miscellany: The Daily Olympian
"State celebrating golden jubilee"
March 16, 1939
4/5
Printed miscellany: The Daily Olympian, Golden Jubilee Edition
November 8, 1939
4/6
Printed miscellany: The Daily Olympian (photocopies)
1939
VF:oversize
OSVF
Issues of The Pacific Mason
Three issues of a weekly Seattle-area Masonic newspaper with biographical sketches and pictures of important figures in early Masonic history in Washington Territory. Thornton Fleming McElroy, the first Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Washington, is featured in the October 3, 1903 issue.
1903

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Frontier and pioneer life--Washington Territory
  • Overland journeys to the Pacific
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Publishers and publishing--Oregon Territory
  • Publishers and publishing--Washington Territory

Personal Names

  • McElroy, T. F. (Thornton Fleming)

Family Names

  • McElroy family--Archives
  • McElroy family--Political activity

Geographical Names

  • Washington Territory

Titles within the Collection

  • Pioneer and democrat

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Bagley, Clarence, 1843-1932 (creator)
    • Lewis, J. R (creator)
    • McElroy, Harry Bates (creator)
    • McElroy, Sarah Elizabeth (Bates) (creator)