Guide to the Papers of the Harper Family, 1796-1882(bulk 1855-1866)
Arrangement
Repository
Heinz History Center
Title
Harper Family Papers and Photographs
Creator
Harper Family.
Collection Number
MSS 8
Extent
5.75 linear feet(3 boxes, 2 shelf volumes, and 1 O/S box)
Date
1792-1993
Date
1855-1866
Abstract
John Harper (1811-1891) was the President of the Bank of Pittsburgh, and a community leader who held offices in various benevolent and commercial associations. John's son, Albert Metcalf Harper (1843-1871), participated in various battles of the U.S. Civil War, held the position of breveted Major and Assistant Adjutant-General of U.S. Volunteers, and after he was honorably discharged, he established the business Dilworth, Harper and Company. This collection includes correspondence, financial material, official Civil War documents of Albert Harper, materials related to John Harper's professional and philanthropic work, family histories, and images of family members. The collection also includes correspondence between John Harper and Dorotha Dix concerning theWestern Pennsylvania
Hospital for the Insane at Dixmont (later known as Dixmont State Hospital).
Language
The material in this collection is in English.
Author
This guide to the collection was originally prepared by Kristen Rall who rearranged the papers and rewrote the inventory on April 12, 1993. Revisions occurred to the finding aid as a part of the encoding process in Spring 2000. The guide to this collection was revised by Bryan Brown on May 19, 2020, following an accession to the collection.
Sponsor
A grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission supported processing and digitization in 2020.
John Harper (1811-1891) was born in County Donegal, Ireland, and emigrated to America with his parents in 1820. When the family first came to America, they settled in Washington, D.C. By 1826, several years after the death of John Harper's father, the family moved to Jefferson County, Ohio. In 1832, John Harper, who was already working as a bookkeeper in Pittsburgh, accepted a position of clerk with the Bank of Pittsburgh. He rose from clerk to cashier and finally to the president of the bank. As the president of the Bank of Pittsburgh, he became a community leader and held offices in various benevolent and commercial associations. He was actively involved in two important Pittsburgh receptions in 1865-- accommodating the funeral procession of President Lincoln and General Grant's celebration. He was the first secretary and treasury of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, and later served as president of the board of managers. He also served as a trustee of Western University of Pennsylvania (University of Pittsburgh), corporator and director of the Allegheny Cemetery and commissioner of the sinking fund of Allegheny County. With commercial organizations, John Harper served as president of the Pittsburgh Clearing House, president of the Pittsburgh and Allegheny Suspension Bridge Company, and director of the Monongahela Navigation Company.
John Harper was married for over 50 years to Lydia Electa, daughter of Nathan W. Metcalf of Otsego County, New York. The couple had five sons and one daughter who all survived childhood and received a college education. These children are: John A. Harper (born 1839), Albert Metcalf Harper (b. 1843), Orlando M. Harper (b. 1846), Charles S. Harper (b. 1853), and Lydia Mallory (died 1884). Of John and Lydia Harper's children, Albert Metcalf Harper (1843-1871), their second child, appears to have led the most prominent life. Albert attended the Kenwood School, a boarding preparatory school in New Brighton, Pennsylvania (Beaver County). At age eighteen, Albert entered Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of Troy, New York. Albert left Rensselaer during the summer of 1862 when he enlisted with the 139th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. Albert was mustered into service on September 1, 1862 and was immediately made an officer as regimental adjutant. The first order given to the 139th Regiment was to bury the dead of the Second Battle of Bull Run, a battle fought three days before the regiment was even mustered. Shortly after tending to the battlefield dead at the Second Bull Run, the 139th Regiment fought in the battles of Antietam (September 17, 1862), Fredericksburg (December 13, 1862), Chancellorsville (May 2, 1863), Battle of Mary's Heights at Sedgewick (May, 1863) and Gettysburg (July 2, 1863). At the close of 1863, he was ordered to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and stayed there throughout the winter. Albert's active military service ended on May 5, 1864 when Albert was wounded (so severely that he was initially presumed dead) at the Battle of the Wilderness. After recovering from his injuries, he remained in the Army and held staff positions in Pennsylvania. By August 1864, Albert was promoted to the rank of Captain and Assistant Adjutant-General of U.S. Volunteers of the Department of the Monongahela. He was detailed by General Couch to head a force of infantry, calvary and artillery in the mountains near Uniontown, during a threatened invasion of Pennsylvania. In January 1865, Albert was assigned to the staff of General Cadwalader, Department of Pennsylvania, headquartered in Philadelphia. He was appointed to the honor guard for President Lincoln's remains as the procession stopped in Philadelphia during the travel from Washington, D.C. to Springfield, Ill. In May 1865 he was breveted Major and Assistant Adjutant-General of U.S. Volunteers, but turned down an offer for full commission in the United States Army. He was honorably discharged on June 27, 1865 upon his parents' petition to Secretary of War Stanton (a family friend). He immediately resumed his education at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and completed his degree in 1867. Upon graduation, Albert took a position in the mercantile business, establishing Dilworth, Harper and Company. Albert contracted typhoid fever in 1871 and did not recover. The 181st Post of the Grand Army of the Republic was named in his honor and they erected a monument to his war service in 1886.
Scope and Content Notes
The Harper Family Papers and Photographs include correspondence, financial material, official documents about the Civil War, family histories, and images of family members. Papers in this collection primarily document the personal and professional life of John Harper and the school and military life of his son, Albert Harper. The largest component of these papers is the personal correspondence between John and Albert Harper while Albert was at boarding school, college, and serving in the military in the Civil War. Particularly valuable is their near-daily correspondence during Albert's tenure with the 139th Regiment and the remainder of the war. Albert's letters provide detailed accounts of camp life, troop movement, and the battles engaged by Albert's regiment. Many of these letters were quoted directly by Pittsburgh newspapers for their readers. John Harper also corresponded with several other officers of the 139th Regiment, namely Col. Frederick Collier and Lt. Col. William Moody. He also petitioned his friend, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton, on several occasions. There are a few remarks concerning Pittsburgh's reaction to the Civil War, as his interest is focused on the events and personnel of the 139th, especially his son's own success and performance. Correspondence also exists on the planning of a memorial to Albert Harper in 1882. A significant amount of correspondence documents Albert's school years at the Kenwood School (1858-1859), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (1861-1862 and 1866-1867). Also included is a small amount of correspondence between other family members, including letters from Harper's oldest son, John A. Harper written while he was at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio (1856-1859). Letters originating from outside the family include a letter to John Harper concerning a cholera epidemic in Pittsburgh (1833), correspondence on the death of General Hays (1862), and a letter from Daniel Agnew concerning a dispute over the patent of the air brake, which he presumably invented (1869), and a letter from James Park regarding magnesium light (1865). Numerous printed materials are also in these papers and include a program for the Pittsburgh Sanitary Fair of 1864, documents for calling volunteers to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War, articles written about the 139th Regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, and books regarding John Harper's role in the development of banking in Pittsburgh. In addition, two letters have no clear provenance to the Harper family: a letter written by James Ross to Alexander Addison (1796), and one by Neville B. Craig to the Bank of Pittsburgh in 1819.
Papers specifically relating to Albert Harper's military career and John Harper's professional career have been arranged separately. Albert Harper's official papers while serving in the Civil War may be found in two locations. All of Albert's correspondence while serving in the military has been arranged with the general correspondence. The items that are arranged separately under the 139th Regiment are those which document his official role in the Pennsylvania Volunteers. These items primarily document Albert's quartermaster duties and include official reports, publications, and quartermaster's lists. Material relating to the Grand Army of the Republic includes material and correspondence written about Albert after his death in 1871.
Papers specifically relating to John Harper include materials that document his professional, financial, and philanthropic work. Professional material primarily includes papers relating to his work with the Bank of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Board of Trade. The papers relating to the Bank of Pittsburgh specifically document the Bank's role in providing munitions to Pittsburgh banks to create militia in the first years of the Civil War. The papers relating to the Pittsburgh Board of Trade document more facets of the Board's activities. Included are accounts books, correspondence, member lists and yearly reports. While not extensive, these papers document the role of commerce, railroad and water transportation in the growing city of Pittsburgh. Also of note is significant material relating to the planning of an 1865 reception in Pittsburgh for General Grant and the preparations for President Lincoln's funeral procession, minutes and reports of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, and financial material relating to John Harper's land holdings in and around Chicago, Illinois during the period before the Civil War. Letters between John Harper and Dorothea Dix concerning the Western Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane at Dixmont appear in this collection.
This collection also includes materials related to the genealogy of the Harper family and related families. Materials include family trees, biographies of family members, family bibles, and official records of family members. Associated families include the Clarke, French, Hyde, Metcalf, and Sherburne, families.
Images within this collection include daguerreotypes, tintypes, and photographs of members of the Harper family and related families; the grounds, buildings, and participants of the Pittsburgh Sanitary Fair (1864); and numerous Civil War officers, many of whom were officers of the 139th Pennsylvania Volunteers. The Harper Family Photographs, MSQ 8, 1861-1865, Thomas and Katherine Detre Library and Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center, was incorporated into this collection.
Arrangement
The Harper Family Papers are arranged in six series:
Series I: Correspondence, 1796-1956
Series II: Albert Harper Papers, c. 1850-1882
Series III: John Harper Papers, 1834-1934
Series IV: Genealogy Materials, 1792-1982
Series V: Printed Items, 1862-1993
Series VI: Photographs, c. 1820-1951
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
These materials were received in two accessions.
Gift of Mrs. Franklin C. Irish in 1933. Acc# 1933
Additions to this collection gifted by Charlotte O'Neil Oliver on 4/11/2017. Archives accession 2017.0188
Custodial History
Letters between John Harper and Dorothea Dix concerning the Western Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane at Dixmont and other items, were removed from the collection by a member of the Irish family in 1943. These materials were returned to the collection in 2017 as part of the additions gifted by Charlotte O'Neil Oliver.
Processing Information
This collection was rearranged and inventory rewritten by Kristen Rall on 4/12/1993.
Revision and rearrangement for the encoded version of the finding aid provided by Rachel Benbow on 4/7/2000.
Additions to collection processed by Bryan Brown on 5/19/2020.
Preferred Citation
The Harper Family Papers and Photographs, 1792-1993 (bulk 1855-1866), MSS 8, Detre Library & Archives, Heinz History Center
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with the Senator John Heinz History Center. Copyright may be retained by the creators of the records and their heirs. Researchers are therefore advised to follow the regulations set forth in the U.S. Copyright Code when publishing, quoting, or reproducing material from this collection without the consent of the creator/author or that go beyond what is allowed by fair use.
Subjects
Corporate Names
Pennsylvania Infantry. 139th Regiment
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Troy, N.Y.).
United States. -- Army. -- Dept. of the Monongahela.
Bank of Pittsburgh.
Grand Army of the Republic. -- Post 181.
Kenwood School (New Brighton, Pa.)
United States. -- Army. -- Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 139th (1862-1865)
Pittsburgh Board of Trade.
Union Veteran Corp (Washington, D.C.)
Western Pennsylvania Hospital
Dixmont State Hospital
Personal Names
Lincoln, Abraham, -- 1809-1865 -- Death and burial
Harper Family.
Agnew, Daniel, -- 1809-1902.
Collier, Frederick, -- 1826-
Craig, Neville B., -- 1787-1863
Grant, Ulysses S. -- (Ulysses Simpson), -- 1822-1885.
