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THE LIFE AND CONFESSION / OF JOHN M’AFFEE

1). [Ohio--Broadside Ballad]: A SERIOUS WARNING TO / YOUNG MEN, OR / THE LIFE AND CONFESSION / OF JOHN M’AFFEE [caption title]. Dayton, Ohio, March 28, 1825. Printed by R. J. Skinner, and for sale at the Miami Republican Office. Broadside. 6 3/4 x 13 in. (17 x 33 cm). Untrimmed, old folds with small pinholes costing no text, small stains, edge wear, lightly tanned. Overall very good. Morgan 8431, not in McMurtrie or McDade.



McAffee’s Confession: The First Printing of an Iconic American Ballad

The folk ballad is among the earliest Anglo-American musical traditions, having deep roots in the oral, vernacular cultures of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. With the advent of cheap paper in the early 16th century, balladry was expanded by the profusion of published broadsides and broadsheets, which opened a new mode of communication in literary, printed contexts. Yet each format--the spoken and the printed word--would later develop in tandem, as many traditional folk ballads found their way into print and some broadside ballads took root in folk tradition. Like most of the genre, this rare broadside ballad, “A Serious Warning to Young Men, or The Life and Confession of John M’Affee,” is based on an actual event, in this case the execution of the titular character at Dayton, Ohio, in 1825 for the murder of his wife. Less commonly, though, the ballad of John McAffee, under the title “McAfee’s Confession” or “Murdered Wife,” would become one of the most widespread spoken word ballads of the 19th century, with versions of its lyrics recorded by folklorists from Virginia to Iowa and Missouri. Printed at Dayton on the occasion of the actual McAffee’s hanging, this striking broadside not only contains the original composition, but is the only printed version of the ballad to appear until the early 20th century. Known in only two other copies, it is the earliest broadside ballad printed in the trans-Allegheny West.

“The Life and Confession of John M’Affee” was published by printer Robert J. Skinner on March 28, 1825, at the offices of the Miami Republican newspaper. On that date, more than five thousand citizens of Dayton and nearby villages massed at what was then the edge of town, near the rain-swollen Miami River, to witness Montgomery County’s first public execution. Less than a year before, a young man named John McAffee had committed what is believed to be the first murder in Dayton, and now the multitudes had gathered to witness him hang. McAffee seems to have been born about 1803 in Huntington County, Pennsylvania, just over a hundred miles east of Pittsburgh (all of the known details of McAffee’s life come from this broadside or a small pamphlet that Skinner published simultaneously, summarized by Howard Burba in an article for the Daily Dayton News, Nov. 23. 1930). Orphaned at the age of five, McAffee was taken in and raised by an uncle who provided him a “friendly roof.” Developing wanderlust as a teenager, he ran away from his uncle’s home and some years later found himself in Dayton. Dayton in the early 1820s was still a new town, incorporated in 1805, with a population of just about a thousand people. Even so, it was Ohio’s fifth largest community, nearly three times larger than Cleveland. McAffee was 18 when he arrived and soon met the daughter of a prominent early family--her name is apparently unrecorded in any of the surviving sources--whom he married the following year. They were happy for a brief time (“But she was kind and good to me / As any woman need to be”), but McAfee soon fell back into his old ways of gambling, drinking. and other wickedness. Worse, he became infatuated with another woman, “Miss Hetty Shoup,” who resided at the home of a neighboring family. County records indicate that Shoup encouraged McAffee’s affections and imply that she played an accomplice’s role in subsequent events. On the evening of June 20, 1824, he came home with medicine for his wife, who had been ill with “vile fits.” Yet McAffee’s supposed cure was poison, and she quickly lapsed into a deep slumber. An impatient McAffee, unsure his poison had worked, then strangled her to death. He hid her body beneath the bed, and wanting nothing more to do with Miss Shoup, fled the house and disappeared. The body of McAffee’s wife was discovered soon after, but despite weeks of searches, the murderer himself was not to be found. After several months passed, early in the autumn, McAffee reappeared in Dayton. He was recognized almost immediately, arrested, and arraigned on a charge of murder. He told his captors that he had hidden in an abandoned building for three days, then walked into western Virginia and found work in a coal mine until he was overcome with a desire to revisit the scene of his crime. A trial was held later that year, and after a short deliberation the jury returned a verdict of guilty. While awaiting his fate, McAffee supposedly wrote a confession in rhyme, which Skinner helpfully published in the form of this broadside. Given that the tropes of the broadside confession were well established by 1825, it is quite unlikely that these words are the murderer’s own (though who can say as for the sentiment of remorse). In any event, McAffee made no confession from the scaffold and was hung on March 28, 1825.



Skinner’s broadside bears the same date as McAffee’s execution, so it was likely printed for distribution at the hanging. So, too, was the 14-page pamphlet containing a summary of court proceedings and the text of the judgement. While the broadside confession is illustrated with a crude woodcut of a hanging man, hooded and with his arms bound by his sides, the pamphlet wraps are illustrated with a woodcut coffin. Skinner had been a key figure in early Dayton printing since at least 1816, when he published his first issue of the Ohio Watchman, Dayton’s fourth recorded newspaper. He would later be affiliated with the Miami Republican, on which press he probably ran off these accounts of McAffee’s crime and punishment. In 1826 he would publish the town’s first set of ordinances; Douglas McMurtrie (1935) located only a single copy of this book, held in the collection of Dr. A. W. Drury, though its present whereabouts is unknown. Likewise, only a single copy of the McAffee pamphlet and two examples of the broadside were known to have survived prior to the discovery of this broadside; one of each are held in the James V. Medler Crime Collection at the Clements Library, while a second copy of the broadside is included in the William F. Wade folklore collection in the Indiana State Library. While the historical context of McAffee’s crime is all but forgotten, the confessional ballad appearing for the first time here in Skinner’s broadside is not. Whether composed by Skinner, an anonymous poet, or McAffee himself, it has lived on in the annals of American Midwestern and Appalachian folk music, usually recorded as “McAffee’s Confession” or “Murdered Wife.” Albert H. Tolman, writing for the Journal of American Folklore in 1916, recorded an almost line-by-line rendition of the ballad first printed here, observing that: “This text was obtained through Mrs. Pearl H. Bartholomew from Mrs. M. M. Soners, both of Warren, Ind. The mother of Mrs. S. sang it to her almost fifty years ago in Ohio. Mrs. S. states that the poem records an actual occurrence, and that her mother knew Hettie Stout well” (1916:186). A much compressed and reworked variation of the ballad is listed as No. 68, “Young McFee,” in Louise Pound’s classic anthology American Ballads and Songs (1922:153-154). In the massive Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society (1940:317), Henry Belden reports that versions of the song had traveled as far afield as North Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Texas, Kentucky, and into the Ozark Mountains. Yet despite such extensive scholarly interest in the song and its social history, not a single early folklorist linked its origins to Skinner’s Dayton broadside--so few copies exist, it was simply unknown. An important Midwestern imprint, introducing one of the most iconic and widespread ballads in 19th-century American vernacular culture.

Relevant sources:

Belden, Henry M. 1940 Ballads and Songs Collected by the Missouri Folk-Lore Society. The University of Missouri Studies Vol. XV, No. 1. Columbia.

Cox, John Harrington, editor 1925 Folk Songs of the South, Collected under the Auspices of the West Virginia Folk-Lore Society. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.

Burba, Howard 1930 The Day They Hung John McAfee. Daily Dayton News for Nov. 23.

Leach, MacEdward and Horace P. Beck 1950 Songs from Rappahannock County, Virginia. The Journal of American Folklore 63(249):257- 284.

McMurtrie, Douglas C. 1935 Early Printing in Dayton, Ohio. Printing House Craftmen’s Club of Dayton and Vicinity

.

Pound, Louise, editor and compiler 1922 American Ballads and Songs. Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York.

Tolman, Albert H. 1916 Some Songs Traditional in the United States. The Journal of American Folklore 29(112):155-197.

Wilcox, Don 1994 Startling and Thrilling Narratives of Dark and Terrible Deeds. The Quarto 1(2):1-3, 8.

WAS $5495.00 - NOW $3846.50

CHIEF BIG HEAD - FORT YATES, N.D.

2). (Native Americans) Big Head - Fort Yates, N.D. [Cabinet card circa 1888-89]; Letter dated December 8,188_. [2]pp. autograph letter, signed, on a 5 x 8 inch telegram form, with envelope postmarked Jan 19, 1895; albumen cabinet card photograph, 5 1/4 x 4 inches, on a slightly larger mount. Letter: old folds, envelope with stamp and multiple postmarks. Very good. Cabinet card: A.e.g. Light foxing. Pencil caption below photo, extended caption in pencil and ink on verso. Very good.

Big Head :

“Chief Big Head, Pahtanka or Nasula-Tanka was born about 1838 and died in 1889.

Big Head, the head chief of the Cut Head band of the Yanktonais, was born in the winter called Wičhapi Okhičamna, the Moving of the Stars and the time of the great smallpox year called Wičahaŋhaŋ. In this year the stars did not fall to the earth as they did in 1834 and ’37, but the movement of the stars went on in the heavens with flashes and great disturbances all during the night. This is said to have happened in 1830, according to the record of Little Dog, a Huŋkpapȟaya.

Big Head, commonly called Pažipa, was influential in his band. He had good judgment, was kind and truthful. He was born in Minnesota. He had 25 families and lodges in his camp. The Yanktonais lived in the Dakota Territory east of the Missouri River, east to the Misapplies and North to the Apple Creek Valley which they considered their homeland.

Big Head (Pahtanka or Nasula-tanka, which means Big Head or Big Brain), son of a Yanktonais Chief with the same name and his wife Turns Back (ca. 1814), was born about 1838. The 1858 treaty with the Yanktons (they had agreed to a massive land cession of 11 million acres, nearly 23 percent of the present state of South Dakota) infuriated the Lakotas and Yanktonais. This land cession directly affected the Yanktonais, whose primary bison hunting grounds were east of the Missouri River. At Fort Pierre, Lakotas demanded that the federal government revoke the 1858 treaty and stop the Yankton treaty payments. Further up the river, Upper Yanktonai chief Big Head (father), who had a reserved attitude toward the whites, refused the treaty and to accept treaty annuities. He, accompanied by eighty warriors, sharply informed Indian Agent Alexander H. Redfield that the Yanktons had no authority to cede these lands, for they belonged to all Sioux.

In 1863, the older Big Head and the Yanktonais were involved in the punishment campaign following the Minnesota Uprising. He survived and was captured at the Massacre of White Stone Hill located near Kulm, North Dakota the following year. Chief Big Head and Chief Two Bears with other survivors were taken to Fort Randall, South Dakota and held prisoner for two years.

On 3 September 1864, they were engaged in the Battle of Whitestone Hill, where General Alfred Sully surrounded a Sioux hunting encampment, containing some 500 lodges, mainly Yanktonais under the leaders Two Bears, Little Soldier, and Big Head and Hunkpapa under their leader Black Moon. Some Santee were also present. Sully attacked the Sioux and massacred mostly women and children because the men were out hunting. Then Sully rounded up the friendly bands of Little Soldier and Big Head, about 30 men and 90 women and children in all, who were taken as prisoners of war to Crow Creek Agency, where many died from starvation. Some Winter Counts report the death of a Dakota called Big Head, who was taken prisoner by soldiers. This must have been the older Big Head.

After the death of his father, the son took the name Big Head. Big Head and his band were captured by General Sully at White Stone Hill. They were brought down to Old Fort Sully and, after the Treaty of 1868, he and part of the Cut Head bands were placed at Standing Rock, Dakota Territory. Remnants of the bands of Cut Heads can be found at Devil’s Lake, North Dakota; Poplar, Montana; and Crow Creek, South Dakota. During the battle of White Stone Hill, Big Head became separated from his wife and was reported killed. She had a small son. Later, she became the wife of Waanataŋ or Charger, a Mnikowožu chief. When a reunion of the nations took place, Mrs. Big Head saw her former husband alive and well at a dance. She told Waanataŋ she wished to return to her former husband. Waanataŋ felt pretty bad but acted the man. He loaded her horses with costly presents and leading a horse for a present to Big Head, he led the horse of his wife and returned her to Big Head. The chiefs shook hands and became loyal friends.

On October 20 and 28, 1865, the U.S. made treaties with Hunkpapa and Yanktonai at Fort Sully. The signers included Two Bears, Big Head, Little Soldier, and Black Catfish. In these treaties, the Indians agreed to cease all hostilities with U.S. citizens and with members of other tribes. They also agreed to withdraw from overland routes through their territory. They accepted annuity payments, and those who took up agriculture would receive implements and seed.

Three years later, in 1868, Big Head was a signatory to the “Fort Laramie Treaty,” which was actually signed at Fort Rice by the Yanktonais. In the following year, the Grand River Agency (moved and renamed Standing Rock in 1874) was established.

Big Head and his Cut Head band still roamed the upper Missouri and even the Milk River region in Montana in the 1870s. His band settled – at least for a time – at the Fort Peck/Poplar River Agency. In 1872, Big Head was one of the Yanktonais leaders who travelled to Washington.

The Yanktonais head chiefs – Medicine Bear, Black Eye, Two Bears, Big Head, and others – wanted to negotiate the acceptance of their wish to stay in Montana at the new Milk River Agency (later Fort Peck). In the end they failed.

In 1876, there were only a few Yanktonais in the battle of the Little Bighorn. It is known that a small group of Yanktonais from Fort Peck – Thunder Bear, Medicine Cloud, Iron Bear, Long Tree, and some women – joined Sitting Bull’s camp to hunt and trade. At that time, the Yanktonais skirmished a lot with tribes like the Gros Ventre, the Assiniboines, and the Crows.

In 1876, Big Head was in the Battle of Little Bighorn (Greasy-Grass). After the Battle; he took refuge in Grandmother’s country (Canada) with other chiefs and bands. According to oral history, Sitting Bull told the chiefs to scatter in their return to the United States so they would not be killed prior to his surrender. In the early 1880s, Big Head, who called himself Felix Big Head, moved to Standing Rock, where he had 17 lodges and 168 people under his care in the northern part of the reservation .

On the Standing Rock Reservation and under the tutelage of Agent McLaughlin, Big Head, who had evolved into one of the main Standing Rock leaders, belonged to the strong supporters of the Edmunds plan. Taking part in reservation politics, Big Head got his hair cut and, in 1888, he went to Washington, dressed in a suit, as part of the Sioux delegation to negotiate the cession of Sioux lands. On this occasion (and with the support of Agent McLaughlin) the Sioux successfully fought against the selling out of reservation land.

That would change in 1889. When the new Crook commission convened its hearings at Standing Rock in July 1889, Gall, John Grass, Mad Bear, and Big Head were prepared to speak out against the second Sioux bill as they had in Washington. But Major McLaughlin had switched positions and, in private conversations, he turned over Grass, Mad Bear, and Big Head.

Grass, “with the facility of a statesman,” argued convincingly on behalf of the new position. Gall, Mad Bear, and Big Head gave shorter but likewise influential speeches on behalf of the 1889 Sioux bill, which enraged Sitting Bull. These leaders compelled many undecided agency Indians to vote for the new bill. Gall and Mad Bear later regretted their decision.

Major James McLaughlin, Indian Agent at Standing Rock for a time, thought very highly of him as a man. During the negotiation of the treaty of 1889, Big Head worked hard among his people to hold on to their land and not dispose of any more of it in treaties until the previous treaties were fulfilled.

The commissioners from Washington, consisting of Governor Foster of Ohio, Captain Pratt, and General Crook, all threatened war if the Indians did not consent. Big Head said:



“It is no use to talk about the old times. The Government has made treaties two or three times and the Commissioners never tell lies. They told us at Ft. Rice (1868) that they would give every family a yoke of oxen, a cow, a wagon and other things and said nothing about land being selected. The interpreter who explained the treaty to us never told us that way. The Commissioners who were here last fall were asked for the same things and for light wagons, too, and they said they would ask the Great Father for them. We would like to hear about this last treaty. The Government sends more annuities and provision to other Indians than it does to us because the others are mean and bad. At Cheyenne they have more goods and supplies. An Indian who came from there told me this. He may have fooled me, but he told me so. The Indians here did not get enough clothes. One blanket to each man and woman is not enough for the winter time. We don’t know yet which we would prefer—blankets or citizen’s clothes. I suppose we are going to get some working cattle but they are too slow. We ought to have mules and wagons. There is no use to ask for horses or ponies as the Government would think we intended to run away with them. One mule and a good cart would be good but we couldn’t haul logs or wood or hay. We ought to have a strong wagon and a pair of mules. They said all this land of the Indians could be taken by conquest if the Indians did not submit. I was there at that time, and had just returned from Hampton, Virginia the year before the treaty, so could understand both sides, the Indians’ and the whites’.” We have been farming down below (from some seven to fifteen miles south of the Agency on the east side of the river) for many years and we intend to farm there again, but we don’t to go to Cheyenne or Ft. Thompson (Crow Creek), though the Agents and Indians there are trying to get us to go. We have heard this for a long time. I like to hear you talk. I think you are going to help us. You don’t allow anyone to buy wood. That’s the way we want it. The whites below us cut our wood and when the Indians say anything they tell us the land there belongs to the Government. Parkins (in charge of Indian Trader’s Store) sells his wood to the Government too cheaply. He ought to charge a big price and then we could get a good price, too. We would like to have a Catholic Priest across the river and a school over there.”

They felt opposed to any more treaties. They trusted their chiefs to hold out and not give in to the threats being used in the arguments. Big Head further stated:

I heard General Crook say, “This country you want to keep so bad is not all good. About half of it is badlands.”

WAS $1995.00 - NOW $1396.50

BUFFALO PITTS - STEAM ENGINE TRACTORS - 1883

3). (Trade Catalog) BUFFALO PITTS STEAM ENGINE TRACTORS. Brayley, James. Illustrations of the celebrated Buffalo Pitts threshing machinery. . . (chromolithograph catalogue). Buffalo, NY: The Pitts Agricultural Works, [1883]. Oblong 8vo. 8 x 5.25 in. which folds out into 16 x 21.5 in. paneled advertisement. 16 pp (unpaginated), color chromolithograph-illustrated title, 7 color chromolith plates, numerous woodcut engraved text illustrations, diagrams. First edition of this exceedingly scarce and wonderfully printed dealer’s brochure for the Pitts Agricultural Works, whose factory on the Erie Canal in Buffalo produced steam traction engines, portable steam engines, and threshers used across the American Midwest. This piece includes well-executed chromolithograph plates for the Buffalo Pitts Straw Burning & Traction Engine, a Coal or Wood Burning Traction Engine; a Buffalo Pitts Apron Thresher Band (patent held by the Pitts Co., and licensed to Case and other manufacturers), the Buffalo Pitts Coal or Wood Burning Plain Engine, and more. Founded originally in Rochester, NY by John A. Pitts (after his twin Hiram Pitts left to found a similar company in Chicago, IL, the company moved to Buffalo, NY before the Civil War, and began producing portable and traction farm machines, the apron thresher, vibrating thresher, and more. After a fire in 1879, the factory was quickly rebuilt, and by 1883 they were producing 300 steam engines, and 700 separators annually. After John Pitts death, his son-in-law eventually assumed ownership of the company, and remained President after incorporation. Minor creasing, couple very minor tears at corners, creases at folds expertly repaired, a VG copy.No copies located in Worldcat; See: Sass, Buffalo Pitts Engines (1987); Szafranski, Buffalo Pitts (2014); Smith, History of the City of Buffalo and Erie County, II, pp. 257-258; Asher & Adams, New Columbian Rail Road Atlas and Pictorial Album of American Industry (1875), p. 97.

WAS $895.00 - NOW $ 626.50

CALIFORNIA GOLD MINING - COOK BORDEN AND COMPANY

4). (California - Gold Mining) Cook Borden and Co. founded by Cook Borden (1810-1880) was a lumber company with its home base in Fall River, Massachusetts. The letter writer was was probably a relative. The Cook Borden and Co. was founded in Fall River, MA in the 1840's and supplied the major mills and transportation companies in the region. Cook Borden was also "president of the Union National Bank and a member of the Board of Investment of the Union Savings Bank and a Director in the Chace, Richard Borden and Tecumseh mills." (Fenner, H.M. History of Fall River) Three pages, very legible, stamped and docketed with a San Francisco postage stamp. There are a couple of very minor fold splits, and a small hole, but all the words are readable. A very informative letter in vg cond. The letter with all of its spelling errors in full reads: San Francisco – February 28th 1850

Cook Borden & Co.

Dear Sir, I received your letter of the 10 of January with a bill of lading enclosed in it, of lumber shipped on the Brigg Triumph and consignment to me wishing me to attend to the ____ of ____ Lumber and remit the proceeds of the said forthwith to you, I will attend to that businefs as soon as the Brigg arrives here, businefs is very dull here at present and has been for the most part of the winter owing to the bad state of the wether, the rainy season commenced Soon after I arrived, and has continued nearly ever since, we are in hopes know that it is nearly over we have had very fine weather for about 2 weeks with a little rain occasionally only, the streets have been allmost impassable which made it very difficult to haull lumber or even get about, the price for hauling lumber has been from 30 to 40 dollars per thousand this winter and sometimes we could not get it hauled at all by teams but we have adopted a new plan in some instances where there has been men placed at convenient distance to pass boards from one to the other, by so doing have been able to continue what little work was going on. When the streets are good the regular price is about 10 dollars per m. We have done but little more than pay our expenses here this winter. The town is full of carpenters and wages is a getting down some what carpenters can be had at this time say from 6 to 12 dollars per day. Money is worth 10 percent per month and scarce at that but it is thought will be plentyer as soon as the miners begin to come down, and they have continued coming with their piles, some are going home in the next steamer, others will leave their gold here and return to the mines from the best information I can get the miners have done very well this winter. I meen those that have actually worked, not those that have been idling their time away prospecting and gambling but those that actually work, the workers have everaged this winter on the dry digings about one ounce per day. There is a great rush at this time for the mines, and we think of going as soon as the Mary Mitchel arrives and we shall have made sail of our lumber. The Chesapeake Capt. Marvell has arrived, her passage from home was 146 days, sailing days 130. She has lost 2 of her passengers George Benet and Benjamin Marble, George Benet died 3 days out, Benjamin Marble died 2 days before the schoner arrived and was brought in and buried on shore and I was present at the funeral , the rest of her company are all well they have not broke up yet but probably will as soon as they have disposed of their Cargo and settled up their acounts. They have made sail of their lumber at 65 dollars per thousand, laded on the shore and have sold their chees one cast at 60 cts the balance at 40 cts. The chees was the hansomest that has been in market and in first rate order, but the packages to large for the miners chees should be put up in boxes weighing from 15 to 20 lbs, that being about the quantity that miners wish to perchase. Lumber is worth from 75 to 125 dollars per thousand and a large quantity in the market and daily arivings, weeks before last that was rising of three Million arrived and more or lefs daily continues to come. The Mary Mitchell will not probably get here in lefs than a month from this time and possibly lumber will be higher before that time.

There is not much news worth relating to you as it would not interest you. California is a great Country and San Francisco is getting to be a great citty. The population is probably about 30 thousand at this time, and one third live in tents owing to the high price that is asked for houses, provisions are plenty and comparatively low, goods of all kinds are plenty and coming daily.

The Reed Boys are here they arrived about a fortnight ago and are well, they have built a Boat and think about going to the mines this week, write as often as Convenient and inform us how you are getting along.

Yours Truely

Melvin Borden

WAS $1665.00 - NOW $1155.00

GARDNER WIRE CO.

5). (Trade Catalog) GARDNER WIRE CO. FOR THE HARDWARE, CYCLE, AUTO AND FURNITURE TRADE. COILED WIRE SPRINGS - ALL KINDS, CALCUTT'S QUICK REPAIR TIRES HAVE MADE US FAMOUS. CATALOG NO. 251. Pict. wraps, March 1925.60 pgs. Index, illus., weights, sizes, cost. Discount slip laid in. Vg cond.

WAS $65.00 - NOW $45.50

THE LIGHTNING SAW HORSE

6). (Trade Catalog) Giles, W.W. advertisement letter for the “Lightning Saw Horse” which Giles advertised in the “American Agriculturist”. During the second half of the 19th century there were numerous attempts to mechanize the sawing of logs through a faster cutting machine. Many such inventions were based on changing the rotary motion of a hand crank or belt pulley into the reciprocating action of a cross-cut saw. This plan led to the gas engine powered drag saws of the 20th century. However, a more interesting group of inventions were those that depended on a moving lever or a combination of levers and foot pedals or even a treadle to power the saw. Many of these machines were lighter than the rotary power machines and were made to fold up to carry through the woods. They could be converted on the spot to saw horizontally to fell a tree or to saw vertically to cut the stem into lumber length logs or short rounds for firewood. Such saws were marketed primarily to farmers who had to cut a firewood supply each year in addition to filling their need for fence posts and lumber. Among these inventions was that of William Giles, of Cincinnati who in 1879 advertised his patented saw in the “American Agriculturist” His “Lightning Saw Horse” was claimed to saw off a 2 foot log in 2 minutes. The farmer in the below advertisement riding the “Lightning Saw Machine” is expounding to the potential customer “I can actually saw more logs with this SAW MACHINE, then four men can with the latest improved cross-cut saws; and it does not almost break my back either, nor make me get on my knees in the snow and mud. I’ve been there. You lumber men all understand me. $100 would not buy this Machine, if I could not get another. It is pleasant to work with this SAW MACHINE. NO SUCH THING AS HAVING TO STOP TO REST.” (American Artifacts – issue 52, Sept/Oct 2000) Vg cond.

WAS $275.00 - NOW $192.50

THE FUR TRADE

7). (Trading with Indians) Irvine, William. A two page letter dated December 6th, 1801 sent by William Irvine, the agent for India Factories Office to Joseph Clay, a trader with various Indian tribes. The letter is concerned with Clay’s shipping of “all the skins you have received.”

(Letter in full as written.)

Agent for Indn Factorie Office

Philadelphia 6th Dec. 1801

Sir,

I have received your letter of the 15th October & 18’th ultimo, the former advising that you would draw on me soon for five hundred twenty five dollars, 80/100 being amount of duties due the Collector at Savanna, which, if accompanied with the necefsary voucher, Shall be duly paid.

I approve of your having placed the papers respecting the damages sustain’d on goods forwarded by you to Fort Wilkinson, account of the United States, in the hands of the Attorney General; He will require a little attention on your part to bring the businefs to an early ifsue.

All the skins you have received as well as all that come to hand you will be pleased to ship for this port by the first opportunity,- I think insurance at this time needlefs. What should be guarded against most particularly is keeping them So long on hand as to render their being Shipt to this place before the next Spring impracticable on account of the ice, in which case they will be subject to a heavy expence for heating & Storing them, or remain liable to the destination of the monny.

You will be pleased to transmit me a Price – current of Furs & Peltes at Savanna.

I am ___

Your Obed’t Serv’t

Wm Irvine

Peltries which cannot be kept shipt from Savanna in all this month had better be kept & Shipt in February or March by which time navigations will cease to be impared by the cold weather.

Wm Joseph Clay

Seeking to facilitate trade with the Indians, Congress authorized in 1796 the establishment of “permanent trading houses, at which all transactions with the Indians were to be carried on by the government agents. In 1800 two such houses were established, one at Coleraine on the frontier of Georgia and the other at Tellico Blockhouse on the border between Tennessee and the Cherokee Nation. Bright seemed the prospects for these factories and Secretary of War Dearborn confidently reported to the president that ‘The intercourse

which grows from such establishments has a powerful tendency towards strengthening and confirming the friendship of the Indians to the people and the government of the United States, and towards detaching them from the influence of neighboring governments.’” -Mississippi Valley Historical Review 222, September, 1919.

Neatly repaired on the left side, very legible and in vg cond.

WAS $1875.00 - NOW $1312.50

YOU NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY MEN

8). (Afro-American Sheet Music) Kennick, T. YOU NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY MEN. Composed for, and sung by Miss Millie Cavendish in the "BLACK CROOK," at Niblo's Garden. Poetry by T. Kennick. Music by G. Bickwell. Pub. by Dodworth and Son. 1866. 4 pgs. Dbd. Minor toning, overall in vg cond. "THE BLACK COOK is a work of musical theatre first produced at the Niblo Garden in New York, Many writers have felt that this is the first popular piece that conforms to the modern notion of a musical. Many of the song in the "Black Crook" were adaptations, but YOU NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY MEN was composed especially for the theatre. The story is a Faustian melodramatic romantic comedy, bu the production became famous for its spectacular special effects and skimpy costumes. It opened at Niblo's Garden on Broadway on September 12, 1868 and ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. (Wikipedia)

WAS $165.00 - NOW 115.50

NORTH CHEYENNE AND BEAR CREEK CANONS

9). (Colorado) Lavley, J.E. SCENES ON THE HIGH DRIVE; NORTH CHEYENNE AND BEAR CREEK CANONS. H.H. Tammen Curio Co. 1st. 1907. Beautiful pict. Wraps. 29 scenic photographs of the major natural sites and formations such as Sentinel Rock, Devils’ Slide, The Head of Sorrowful Satan, Bridal Veil Falls, Silver Cascades, Sand Stone Cliff, etc. The title page states “The book will be a treasured souvenir and will many times in the future recall the pleasures of the drive as well as be a welcomed gift book to convey to the folks at home an idea of these wonderful scenes. The photographs are inadequate and language incomplete to do full justice to the grandeur of these scenes, as they fail to produce the feelings of delight and awe invariably experienced by the beholder of this panorama of nature’s gift to man.” Vg cond. 

WAS $395.00 - NOW $276.50

AGATE BEACH - OREGON - 1910

10). (Oregon) Mackey, Samuel P. and Frank A. Knapp. AGATE BEACH. Agate Beach Land Co. Promotional souvenir brochure. Portland, OR: Agate Beach Land Co., 212 & 213 Board of Trade, Made by Glass & Prudhomme Co., c. 1910. 16mo. 3.25 x 5.5 in., 32 pp (unpaginated). Accordion-style, which opens up into 16 panels 27.25 in. long, by 5.5 in., w/ photo illust. on front cover, w/ 6 photo illustrations. VG copy designed to be mailed as postcard mailer. First edition of this very scarce land promotion prospectus for the Agate Beach Land Co. which was building a 630 acre real estate development and resort on the Oregon Coast with daily bus service and automobile trips from nearby Newport, OR. The two developers built a 42-room hotel, erected stores, and boarding houses, and were selling lots of 50 x 100 feet, and erecting summer vacation cottages. The images in this prospectus show the newly graded boulevard, a completed farm house, the sweeping views, bathing grounds, and the light house. There are two different versions of this real estate piece, this being the earlier version with photos of the surroundings, and the potential. Worldcat locates 2 copies of this edition.

WAS $225.00 - NOW $157.50

JOHN O. MEUSEBACH - TEXAS

11). (Texas) Meusebach, John O. CERTIFICATE. THE STATE OF TEXAS, COUNTY OF COMAL. BE IT KNOWN BY THESE PRESENTS THAT I, JOHN O. MEUSEBACH, COMMISSIONER, DULY APPOINTED AND QUALIFIED UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF AN ACT OF THE LEGISLATURE.... New Braunfels. Feb. 28, 1855. 1 page, accomplished in manuscript, very light toning and in vg cond. 

WAS $1195.00 - NOW $836.50

MOUNTAIN STATES OIL

12). (Oil) MOUNTAIN STATES OIL INDEX. STATISTICAL DESCRIPTIVE ILLUSTRATED COMPENDIUM. COMPLETE AND AUTHENTIC SURVEY OF THE OIL, GAS AND ALLIED TRADES RELATING TO ALL OPERATIONS IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION, COMPRISING THE STATE OF WYOMING, MONTANA, COLORADO, NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA, UTAH, NEVADA, IDAHO, NORTH DAKOTA, SOUTH DAKOTA, WESTERN NEBRASKA, WESTERN KANSAS AND THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. A.J. Hazlett, Publisher. Vol. 1 of what was intended to be an annual directory, but evidently the only edition published. 1st. 1926. Printed wraps.106 pgs. As the publisher proclaims on the first page, “This book is a gusher of information.” It provides an alphabetical listing of more that 750 oil and gas producing companies, refineries, natural gas plants, marketing companies, supply houses, carbon black works, brokerage firms, etc, in the states across the Rockies, Southwest, and Plains. Each listing includes the company name and address(es), amount of capital authorized and issued, par value, state of incorporation, , officers, and locations of principal properties. There is also a statistical table with information on pipelines, refineries and production in Wyoming, Montana and the Rockies. Advertisements. Vg cond. Rare, OCLC list only two copies.

WAS $1175.00 - NOW $822.50

HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY IN MONTANA

13). (Catholic Faith) Palladino, L.B. INDIAN AND WHITE IN THE NORTHWEST, OR, A HISTORY OF CATHOLICITY IN MONTANA. John Murphy and Co. 1894. 1st. 411 pgs. Illus., folding map. Graff #3166; Decker "This ranks as one of the best early works for the history of Montana and the northwest country. The author lived among the natives for years, conversed with the first white priests who preceded the gold-seekers by 22 years, witnessed the founding of settlements, etc...." Howes "History of all missions in the region - among the Blackfeet, Piegans, Cheyenne's and Crows, and in the white settlements of Montana." Smith #7852; Streeter III 2884. Vg cond.

WAS $525.00 - NOW $367.50

STUDY OF THE NEW ORLEANS JEWISH COMMUNITY

14). (New Orleans - Jewish Community) Reissman, Leonard. PROFILE OF A COMMUNITY. A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE NEW ORLEANS JEWISH COMMUNITY. Prepared for THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF NEW ORLEANS. 1st. 1958. Printed wraps. 144 pgs. Contents include information of Residential Stability and Mobility; Participation in the Jewish Community; Community Needs and Community Services and Jewish Identifications. Tables, distribution charts, etc. Vg cond.

WAS $165.00 - NOW $115.50

THE COEUR d'ALENE MINING DISTRICT

15). (Idaho - Mining) Scamahorn, Eugene D. THE COEUR d'ALENE MINING DISTRICT AS SEEN THROUGH THE AERIAL CAMERA OF . . Spokane, WA: Scamahorn Air Photo Co. Spokane. 1948. 95 pgs. 48 photo plates, 1 map. Original limp pebbled black cloth comb-binder, gilt lettering stamped on front cover. w/ presentation label on verso of title from R.E. Nelson & Co., member of the Spokane Stock Exchange. First edition of this aerial photographic survey documenting the mines, mills, and mining towns in northern Idaho as a promotional piece to boost investment in the mines following World War II. The Coeur d’Alene mining district featured at the time the richest silver mine in the world, the deepest lead mines, the nation’s largest underground hoist, in an area which had produced over 1 billion dollars worth of metals. These well-labeled and sharp photos include the Highland Surprise, the Sidney Mine, Nabob Mine, Lookout Mountain Mine, Smelterville, Bunker Hill Smelter, Kellogg, City of Kellogg, the Sunshine Mine, the Polaris Mines, the Polaris Mill, Vulcan Silver Led Corp., Silverton, the Hecla Mine, Wallace, ID, the Golconda Mill and Mine, and more. Scamahorn (1916-2005) immigrated in the 1920s with his family from Illinois to Spokane, and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1943, graduated Flying School in 1943, became a captain by 1945, served in the National Guard as a Major from 1947 through the Korean War, and operated a small photography studio in Spokane from 1947 through 1956 according to city directories. Vg cond.

WAS $435.00 - NOW $304.50

INDIAN TRIBES OF THE NORTHWEST

16). (Washington Territory) Swan, James G. THE NORTHWEST COAST, OR THREE YEARS' RESIDENCE IN WASHINGTON TERRITORY. Harper and Brothers. 1857. 1st. 435 pgs. Frontis (tissue), ads, illus, lg. foldout map of the western portion of Washington Territory compiled by J.G. Swan. Smith #10044; Howe S1164; Eberstadt 107:367 "One of the few records of the period following Ross and Cox. An authority on Indian tribes of the Northwest, he has contributed a wealth of material relative to their language, superstitions and social customs, and traced their relations with the government in treaty agreements, etc." Professionally restored, vg cond.

WAS $545.00 - NOW $381.50

THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RAILWAY

17). (Texas) TAKE THE OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RAILWAY. The Shortest, Best and Quickest Route From CINCINNATI TO ST. LOUIS, TEXAS, AND THE GREAT WEST. Sept. 4th, 1878. 8 pg. double foldout. Schedules for the Cincinnati and St. Louis Short Line. Obverse Map titled MAP OF THE GREAT AIR LINE ROUTE, OHIO AND MISSISSIPPI RAILWAY AND CONNECTIONS. Very fine cond.

WAS $495.00 - NOW $346.50

THE COLORADO TRAIN WRECK OF 1899

18). A three page ALS dated August 29, (1899) retaining its transmittal envelope addressed to Mrs. R. Gibbon of Boulder, Colorado.

(Letter in full)

Denver Colo.

August 29th

My Dear Luella (?)

I understand by the very lines of your last letter that you were not only “wondering” what I was traveling in the Southern front of the State but also worrying about it. Well my letter of last week to you explained it all and you have of course received it before this time. I have got well rested and am now feeling well but no more Leadville for me, thank you and yet, do you know I want to go again sometime after I am feeling better. The road over the High Line is magnificent and I am going again sometime with Tom – if he will take me. The dear boy sent me two letters today – Sunday you know. He had some interests in mining property there in Silverton and has to stay over until the 30th to see who answers as he is trying to make a sale, as he will reach here on Wednesday morning at 7:20, happy thought! I didn’t suppose it would be such hard work to put in the evenings even if he were away but I find my self lonely ___ sometimes. When I first got home I put in a good deal of my time sleeping and combing the superfluous cinders out of my brain so found plenty to do. I am going up to see Sister Rosetta this afternoon as I suppose on the first, school will begin.

I hear Rose Frankle is to be married this next month – To some Dutchman, of course and I heard his name was Zong. May be of course Lizzie and Annies brother. Well even so Rose will have all the beer she can drink and ought to be satisfied.

The night I came down from Leadville, the train coming up from Denver was wrecked. It happened as they were coming after Boreas Pass and they had two engines on the engineer on the first engine started on ahead to get more coal. He was running fast and as he came to one of the sharp turns the engine jumped the tack and turned right upside down leaving the wheels fairly spinning in the air. The Engineers name was Jack Hoodhue and when he went over he reversed the engine just as he was going and the steam poured out so that nothing could be seen until Mr. Lillig, broke in the cab and stopped it. They found Jack Goodhue thrown about one hundred and fifty feet against a pile of rocks with his collar bone broken in two places and his body scalded dreadfully by the steam. They sent a special on to Como got a doctor and then sent him on downtown the U.P. Hospital, where of course he will have good care and yesterday Mr. Lally told me the Doctor said he would get well.

His head was also cut in several places but it seems his skull was not broken. That was probably done as he was coming out of engine for they said he was thrown through the cab. The engineer on the train just behind reversed his engine so quick and stopped that it nearly threw the people out of their chairs – this of course caused a delay and we passed them going up as we were coming down at about 10 A.M. They should have been there at 6:15 so were about 4 hours late. That is all I know about the wreck, so now I will go. Write often. Love to all. Your loving little sister. Mollie

Points of interest mentioned in the letter:

The town of Como in 1871 was a booming coal town. The the railroad arriving in 1879 Como became the largest town in Park County with about 500 residents. With up to 26 trains passing through town each day, Como was a major hub of the railway for the Denver, South Park and Pacific Railway.

Boreas Pass is an elevation of 11,493 feet in central Colorado within the Rocky Mountains. Originally just a wagon road to the gold mines, in 1882 a railroad track was laid connecting the village of Como to Breckenridge, Colorado.

In its day Leadville was home to about 30,000 residents due to the gold and silver mines which allowed for the construction of Victorian mansions, saloons, dance halls and brothels. Perhaps the most famous business being the Tabor Opera House

The train was on the Colorado and Southern Tracks which previously had been the Denver, Leadville and Gunnison tracks.

Very legible and in very fine condition.

WAS $345.00 - NOW $241.50

THE UNION SOCIETY FOR THE DETECTION OF HORSE THIEVES

19). THE UNION SOCIETY FOR THE DETECTION OF HORSE THIEVES - CONSTITUTION AND MINUETE BOOK 1817-1859

JOHN GALLAGHER, ALIAS GUYSEND (?) - A NOTORIOUS FELON AND HORSE THIEF.

THE UNION SOCIETY FOR THE DETECTION OF HORSE THIEVES. CONSTITUTION AND MINUTE BOOK 1817-1859

ACCOUNT BOOKS OF JOSEPH HAWLEY WHO WAS A QUAKER SHOEMAKER AND MANUFACTURER OF LEATHER GOODS plus the MANUSCRIPT CONSTITUTION AND MINUTE BOOK OF THE UNION SOCIETY FOR THE DETECTION OF HORSE THIEVES CONSTITUTION AND MINUTE BOOK 1817-1859

Hawley Family Archive.

Manuscript Account Books of a Quaker Shoemaker and Manufacturer of of Leather. Chester County, Pennsylvania: 1788-1859. Four volumes. Folio. 13 x 8 inches. Bound in contemporary boards with leather spines. Very legible and in vg cond.

Two account books of the Pennsylvania Quaker Joseph Hawley, a shoemaker and manufacturer of leather goods. Folio. 13 x 8 inches. 438 pp. Both account books are written very legibly in ink. Leather backed marbled paper boards, leather tips; spines and edges a bit worn, paper stock with some discoloration and minor spotting; Joseph Hawley’s name and dates written on the endpapers numerous times in both volumes. With faults very good copies.

Account books recording the business activity of what appears to be a very successful and profitable shoe maker and leather goods manufacture. Extremely well organized, indexed, and legible, these accounts are arranged by date and customer name and offer an insight into the leather needs of customers over a given year. For instance Moses Jefferies had eleven transactions in the year 1793 for new shoes, mended shoes, and new soles for himself, his wife and children. Under the account for William Hawley, a relative no doubt, twenty-six transactions are recorded. Opposite each page listing a customer account is a “Contra” page which lists cash received and expenditures for materials.

The first volume begins in 1793 and ends in 1796. The second volume begins in 1799 and continues through 1805. Many of the transactions include the names of family members who the shoes are for and provides a genealogical record of many families in the Chester County area. For a transaction for Samuel Lightfoot in 1801 the entry reads, “To make a pair of shoes for Black Isaac, cost 0/5/0.

Included are the names of customers Hannah Bennet, Susanna Hawley, Hannah Hawley, Rachel McCam, Rachel Naylor, Ann Townsend, Mary Thomas, Sarah Woodward, Rebecca Hawley, Mary Baker, and Susanna Bottom to name some of the women who had shoes made and mended at the Hawley Shop. 

On folio 52 of the second volume Back Ben’s purchase of shoes for his children is recorded. On folio 21 is a full page of transactions by Mary Lightfoot which included both shoe repair and the purchase of food stuffs and meat. 

Vol. III. Joel Hawley (1804-1883).  Manuscript Account Books of a Quaker Shoemaker and Manufacturer of Leather Goods for Horses and Arithmetic Work Book.  Chester County (Pennsylvania), 1829-1846. Folio. 12 ½ x 7 ¾ inches. 125 pp. Accounts written in ink in legible hand. Original marbled paper wrappers; showing wear at spine and edges, paper stock brown in places; with faults a very good copy.

Joel Hawley was the oldest son of Joseph, who continued in the shoe manufacture business but as the ledger shows, expanded into saddle making and the production of bridles, straps, harnesses, halters, and leather collars for horses. Organized in a similar way to his father’s account book, Joel’s contains less information and lists only the customer name, a few words of description and the price. He also records his expenses for coffee, candles, spices, sugar, butter, etc.  It is interesting to compare prices from the first years of Joseph Hawley’s business with prices thirty years later as recorded in Joel Hawley’s account book.

This account book records transactions with Lida Minster, Mary Lewis, Rachel Reed, Hannah Smedley, Anna Stiller, and Sarah Downing to name a few of the women who had shoes made and mended and saddles fixed by Joel Hawley.

The second half the ledger, about 20 pages is an arithmetic workbook which focuses on simple principles of geometry, multiplication, calculating compound interest, figuring discounts, and annuities. It also contains some doddles, scribbles, the names of his brothers, Simon and Benjamin and samples of calligraphic script.

Vol. IV.  Benjamin and Simon Hawley.  UNION SOCIETY FOR THE DETECTION OF HORSE THIEVES. CONSTITUTION AND MINUTE BOOK. 1817-1859.

Unpublished folio manuscript. 13 x 8 inches. 175 pp. Written in a variety of hands in ink, very legible. Bound in leather backed marble paper boards; paper and spine a bit rubbed but sound and attractive; first two leaves are sprung from sewing, some inserted notes laid in; some light foxing, otherwise very good.

Manuscript constitution and minute book of the UNION SOCIETY FOR THE DETECTION OF HORSE THIEVES AND OTEHR STOLEN PROPERTY which spanned 42 years. The Union Society, like scores of other similar groups in the Northeast, created a service for the protection and recovery of private property stolen from farms and warehouses. It was organized by the leading horse traders and merchants of various counties in the greater Philadelphia/Wilmington area, and its constitution and by-laws outlined its goals and the responsibility of its membership. Members of the Union Society were from Philadelphia, Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Peach Bottom, Elkton, Wilmington and New Castle and it covered all the major travel routes in these areas. There were no women members.

Benjamin Hawley, a founder of the society, and his brother Simon, both owners of a horse-trading company, were instrumental in the establishment and management of the Society. Simon was recording secretary for many years and it is the reason that the journal of the Society was part of the Hawley Family Archive.

Some of the articles of the constitution included the responsibilities of membership, the payment of dues, mandatory attendance at meeting or the levy of a fine, what do to if a member witnesses or is informed of a theft of a horse or property over the value of $ 30.00 and a list of rewards for the finding stolen property and the levy of 6 percent of the value of returned property from the owner. All members needed to brand their horses with the letter “U” on the neck of the animal to help in its identification if stolen.

The minute book records the details of each meeting, attendance, list of absent members, fines for absenteeism, appeals, new members, treasure reports and the election of officers.  One of the more interesting narratives that is contained in the minutes of annual meetings was the discussion of the various routes that were to be covered if an alert was made from one of its members about a stolen horse or property. The Union Society established 11 routes from Philadelphia and surrounding counties and to Wilmington local members were assigned to cover the route if a theft was discovered.

The following are the three situations of horse thievery referenced within the journal.

“August 10th, 1835

The company was again notified that another horse had been stolen the previous night from E. Evans and traced as before, when every member of by himself or a Substitute made immediate pursuit and at their return it appeared that the thief had taken the road for Baltimore via Lancaster and Columbia which rout had been taken by Jonathan Couch and John King in the Railroad Car and by Richard Evans and John Stiteler on horses. It having been determined by the majority of the Company to offer a reward of Fifty dollars for the apprehension of the thief, and the owner offering Twenty five dollars for the recovery of his horse. Advertisements to that effect were circulated by the members on their routs, and intelligence being received by the Columbia party, that the horse had crofs the bridge before noon that day. Evans & Stiteler continued the pursuit – but Mr. Collins of Columbia with a fresh horse and better acquainted with the roads of York County Succeded in tracing the thief near thirty miles from Columbia and Captured him in bed at an inn in Meadstowne at about 3 o’clock in the morning and lodged him the following night in Lancaster City Jail and on the following night in West Chester jail. When the horse was restored to his owner and the prisoner recognized as being John Gallagher, alias Guysend (?), a Notorious felon and horse thief.

The promptitude which every member exhibited in each of the above cases in repairing to his post and pursuing the thief, gave ample evidence that the apathy which appeared for some years to threaten the existence of the Afsociation wanted only some exciting cause to dispel it or Stimulant to exertion to rouse their dormant energies into action and convince themselfes and the public that the utility of the institution Should not Suffer by inactivity of its members.”

“Febry 12th 1845

Notice was given that a Bay Mare belonging to Paxson ____ had been taken from his Stable the night of the 11th the members of the Company were generally notified as Soon as practiable to meet at the Red Lion in order to obtain Such information, and to determine on Such Course of action as would be most likely to eventuate in the recovery of the Horse, and the apprehension of the thief. A large number attended promptly at the place mentioned, the opinion prevailed that the thief had taken an Easterly, the route toward Morristown, Phil. & were Strengthend by Several of the “------” members riding thereon. All the routes that it was thought at all probable the thief might have taken being maned, and the weather being particularly bad Several of the older members of the Co. Some that there ___ did not ride, Although all manifested an entire willingness to do all that the particular Circumstance Seemed to require.

However the result justified the prevailing opinion, as to the course the thief had taken, in as much as the Stolen Mare was retaken in Morristown (by members of the Co. who had taken that route), on the afternoon of the 12th. She having been Sold that morning in Philadelphia by a Black Man, to the person in which possession She was found. Immediate pursuit was made to Phil, and diligent Search, aided by Police Official instituted throughout the City, but up to the 14th without Success. When the members generally returned home. Having offered a Reward of Fifteen dollars, in pursuance of the Constitution and left Such a description of the thief with the Police, as would Serve to identify him, hopes are yet entertained of his arrest and punishment.”

“Saturday the 6th day of September, 1845

“...The case of the Horse Stolen from Jonathan Couch a member of the Company now came up for Consideration, the facts of which, So far as ascertained, are as follows, on the night of the 11th of July the Horse was taken from the field of Mr. Crouch, of which notice was given the Company who thereupon generally Started in pursuit and after riding as Required by the Constitution Returned without any sidings of Horse or Thief, the Horse was then advertised as provided for in the Constitution. But before the advertisement was circulated, ___ on Monday the 14th of July, the Horse was Returned to the owner having been found on the premises of Mr. M. Root near Pottsgrove, turned thereon as it Supposed by the Thief. Jonathan Couch paid to Mr. Root Ten dollars for the Keep and return of Said Horse which was ordered by the Company to be paid out of the Treasury thereof back to Mr Couch.

On Motion of Joseph Gordon, duly Seconded (made after the excuse for not riding of Several of the Members had been given and they exonerated) it was resolved that those members of the Company who did not ride in pursuit of Jonathan Couch Horse, be all exonerated from the payment of fine for any Supposed delinquency of duty, but that hereafter the _____ and indeed the very existence of the Society required a Rigid enforcement of the provisions of the Constitution relative thereto, and that they will be enforced without exception.”

On September 5th, 1859, the minutes record a motion to dissolve the Society. It was seconded and passed by a vote of 23 to 11. The assets of the Union Society were distributed, and each member received $ 1.45.

A small collection of papers from Hawley family are in the Chester County Historical Society. They pertain mostly to Joel Hawley, who in addition to running his mercantile business in Lionville, Uwchlan Township, was elected Associate Judge of the Chester County Courts and was Director of the Bank of Chester County. His sons Joseph Williamson Hawley and Samuel Hawley both fought in the Civil War and the archive at the Historical Society focuses mostly on the years 1861-1864. 

An extremely unusual archive with the inclusion of the Union Society For The Detection of Horse Thieves volume included. The examples of thievery are of utmost importance to the understanding of these horse thieve societies and how they were systematically thought through and executed in the pursuance of the horse thief. A very important volume. All volumes are very legible.

WAS $5500.00 - NOW $3850.00

MAINE CENTRAL RAILROAD - 1883

20). (Railroads) TIME TABLE NO. 68 - JUNE 17, 1883, MAINE CENTRAL RAILROAD. 3 pg. double foldout, schedules, map titled Map of the Maine Central R.R. With Connections West and East. Vg cond.

WAS $135.00 - NOW $94.50

TRAIN OF LOGS NO. 3 CAMP ELK LBR. CO.

21). (British Columbia - Canada) TRAIN OF LOGS. Identified on the photo as "Train of Logs No. 3 Camp Elk Lbr. Co. Hosmer B.C. F.G. Waters, Supt; E.S. Worth, Foreman and C. Bomford Book R The photo is 10 x 8 inches and mounted on a 14 1/2 x 12 card which retains the logo of J. Spalding on the lower right corner of the mounting card. According to the Fernie, British Columbia web page, "His photographs meticulously portray the pride, prosperity, and poverty that defined Fernie in its early years. On the railway, in the forests, on the river, and in the mines, he photographed men working, building, and forging the future. Spalding’s pictures tell the story of the birth of a community and how society—elephants and all—developed in this far-flung corner of the Canadian promised land. In 1905 he bought an established studio from A.W. Prest. He worked hard to offer every photographic service possible including portraiture with ‘fancy lighting’ and postcard images of the local landscape that he was proud to call “...the finest scenery there is in the whole of the North American continent". Joseph Spalding was a well-respected member of the business community. He was the Tourism Commissioner for the Tourist Association of Southern Alberta and Southeastern British Columbia, publishing the official Automobile Road Guide to British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan, covering ‘twenty thousand miles of roads.’ Spalding left the Elk Valley to re-establish himself in Vancouver in 1925, operating several successful businesses there. He died in Vancouver after a long and illustrious career on February 11, 1958, aged 80." An abrasion at top center of card. Contrast is quite good with snowy mountains in the background. 

WAS $345.00 - NOW $241.50

NINETY-THIRD REGIMENT. ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

22). (Civil War) Trimble, Harvey M. HISTORY OF THE NINETY-THIRD REGIMENT. ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY FROM ORGANIZATION TO MUSTER OUT. STATISTICS COMPILED BY ARRON DUNBAR, SERGEANT COMPANY "B". The Blakely Printing Co. 1898. 1st. 441 pgs. Frontis, picts., ports., folding map, map, unit rosters. Dornbusch Vol.1:#305. Rear hinge split, overall in vg cond.

WAS $695.00 - NOW $486.50

CATTLE TRAILS TO KANSAS

23). (Texas) Weinert, Willie Mae. CATTLE TRAILS TO KANSAS RAN THROUGH SEQUIN. Nd. c. 1930’s (?). Detailing the connections between Seguin, (Texas?) and the cattle trails to Kansas, in connection with a historical marker the city was to erect. Weinert is the author of Historic Sketches, Central Seguin 1838-1938, published in 1938, as well as Authentic History of Guadalupe County, which was published in Seguin in 1951. An ephemeral item of a type that has rarely survived. 

WAS $595.00 - NOW $416.50

ALASKA AND THE YUKON TERRITORY

24). (Alaska) White Pass and Yukon Route. ALASKA AND THE YUKON TERRITORY THROUGH LINE TO THE INTERIOR 1910. The Franklin Co. 28 pgs. Picts, several maps, schedules, distance tables, information. Vg cond.

WAS $275.00 - NOW $192.50

HARVESTING MACHINES TRADE CATALOG

25). (Trade Catalog) Wood, Walter. 1878 WALTER A. WOOD WORLD RENOWNED HARVESTING MACHINES MANUFACTURED EXCLUSIVELY BY WALTER A. WOOD MOWING AND REAPING MACHINE COMPANY. 1878. 16 pgs. Pict .wraps, illus., info, 25th annual circular, vg cond.

WAS $155.00 - NOW $108.50