Research Catalog

Colles family papers

Title
Colles family papers, 1801-1957.
Author
Colles family.
Supplementary Content
Finding Aid

Details

Additional Authors
  • Colles, George W. (George Wetmore), 1836-1911.
  • Colles, George W. (George Wetmore), 1871-1951.
  • Colles, Gertrude, 1869-1957.
  • Colles, James, 1788-1883.
  • Colles, James, 1828-1898.
  • Colles, Julia Keese.
  • Colles, Julia Nelson, 1876-1903.
  • Corson, Juliet, 1842-1897.
  • Cuyler, Theodore L. (Theodore Ledyard), 1822-1909.
  • Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
  • Hudson, Logan R.
  • Smith, Samuel Francis, 1808-1895.
  • Rogers, David I.
Description
14 linear feet ( 33 boxes, 3 v.)
Summary
  • The Colles family papers, 1801-1957, contain extensive correspondence, diaries, legal and financial records, photographs, and personal miscellany documenting the lives of three generations of the Colles family of New York City and Morristown, New Jersey.
  • The James Colles papers, 1801-1883, contain correspondence, travel diaries, and legal and financial documents documenting his personal life, travels, and business affairs, including his mercantile activities in Canada during the War of 1812; his dry-goods partnership with David I. Rogers of New Orleans; his position as a Director of the New Orleans branch of the Bank of the United States; and his later engagement in private business and return to New York. Personal topics include his children's upbringing; the family's tour of Europe, 1842-1844; and construction of the family residence in Morristown, N.J. The bulk of the Gertrude Colles papers, 1871-1957, consists of correspondence from friends, family, and clients, as well as from organizations associated with the single tax movement, the women's suffrage movement, and Christian Science. Her schooling and career as an artist are also reflected in the Julia Keese Colles papers.
  • Materials across the collection document the personal and family life, schooling, social activities, and professional concerns of family members. European travels are recorded in correspondence, travel diaries and drawings, notably James Colles, Jr.'s sketchbook of a tour of Italy in 1882, and a journal kept in Belgium at the outbreak of World War I by Mary A. Colles, whose papers also contain letters from Logan R. Hudson, a serviceman stationed at a military hospital in France during the war. Julia Keese Colles' papers include letters from Juliet Corson, a household management expert; Presbyterian minister Rev. Theodore L. Cuyler of Brooklyn; Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes; and Rev. Samuel Francis Smith, author of the patriotic hymn "America." The collection also contains letters and miscellany of other members of the Colles and related Keese, Nelson, Metcalfe, Johnston, De Forest, and Farragut families; genealogical notes; family photographs; and blueprints for George W. Colles, Jr.'s ranch and waterworks in Rosharon, Texas.
Subjects
Genre/Form
  • Blueprints.
  • Diaries.
  • Genealogies.
  • Photographs.
  • Sketches.
Note
  • The James Colles Papers and the Gertrude Colles Papers were re-processed in 2007 as the Colles Family Papers.
Access (note)
  • Restricted access;
Biography (note)
  • The Colles family represented in this collection includes James Colles (1788-1883), a prominent New York City and New Orleans merchant who married Harriet Wetmore (1795-1868); their sons James Colles, Jr., a New York City merchant, and George W. Colles (1836-1911), attorney, of New York City and Morristown, New Jersey; George's wife, Julia Keese Nelson Colles (1840-1913), a writer and lecturer; and their three children: artist Gertrude Colles (1869-1957) of New York City and Morristown, N.J., engineer George W. Colles, Jr. (1871-1951), who settled in Texas, and Julia Nelson Colles (1876-1903), who taught physics at Barnard College, New York City.
Provenance (note)
  • Papers of James Colles, Jr., his wife, and children were originally in the possession of Mary A. Colles. Papers of other family members were in the custody of Gertrude Colles.
Call Number
MssCol 17772
OCLC
213488079
Author
Colles family.
Title
Colles family papers, 1801-1957.
Restricted Access
Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.
Biography
The Colles family represented in this collection includes James Colles (1788-1883), a prominent New York City and New Orleans merchant who married Harriet Wetmore (1795-1868); their sons James Colles, Jr., a New York City merchant, and George W. Colles (1836-1911), attorney, of New York City and Morristown, New Jersey; George's wife, Julia Keese Nelson Colles (1840-1913), a writer and lecturer; and their three children: artist Gertrude Colles (1869-1957) of New York City and Morristown, N.J., engineer George W. Colles, Jr. (1871-1951), who settled in Texas, and Julia Nelson Colles (1876-1903), who taught physics at Barnard College, New York City.
Provenance
Papers of James Colles, Jr., his wife, and children were originally in the possession of Mary A. Colles. Papers of other family members were in the custody of Gertrude Colles.
Finding Aids
Finding aid available in repository and on internet.
Location of Other Archival Materials
Related collections include the Colles Family Papers and Julia Keese Colles Papers, Morristown and Morris Township Library, Morristown, N.J.; Julia Keese Nelson Colles Papers, New Jersey Historical Society, Newark, N.J.; and the Gertrude Colles Papers, New York State Library, Albany, N.Y.
Connect to:
Finding Aid
Occupation
Authors.
Artists.
Bankers.
Lawyers.
Merchants.
Added Author
Colles, George W. (George Wetmore), 1836-1911.
Colles, George W. (George Wetmore), 1871-1951.
Colles, Gertrude, 1869-1957.
Colles, James, 1788-1883.
Colles, James, 1828-1898.
Colles, Julia Keese.
Colles, Julia Nelson, 1876-1903.
Corson, Juliet, 1842-1897.
Cuyler, Theodore L. (Theodore Ledyard), 1822-1909.
Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 1809-1894.
Hudson, Logan R.
Smith, Samuel Francis, 1808-1895.
Rogers, David I.
Research Call Number
MssCol 17772
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