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McElroy family papers, 1847-1955
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- McElroy family
- Title
- McElroy family papers
- Dates
- 1847-1955 (inclusive)18471927
- 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
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)
