Collection ID: 4079178 MS#0948

Collection context

Summary

Creator:
Olcott, Thomas W (Thomas Worth), 1795-1880
Extent:
18 boxes and 18 boxes
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Thomas W. Olcott papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Background

Scope and Content:

Letters and papers of Olcott. Among the subjects covered are the history of the Bank; banks and politics in New York during the Jacksonian era; the operations of the safety Fund Banking System; land acquisition in the West, particularly Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, and western New York; the Boston and Albany Railroad; the Corning Land Company; and the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. The papers are divided into the following groups: letters received, including correspondence with Martin Van Buren, Samuel P. Chase, William Henry Seward, William B. Astor, Silas Wright, William Kent, J. Pierpont Morgan, and Horatio Seymour; documents including land deeds, wills, leases, bonds, sureties, orders to pay, checks, bank ledgers, partnership agreements, earnings reports, tax assessments, and land sales; household bills and receipts; bank notes including excellent examples of early American currency; miscellaneous account books, photographs, and printed material; patents for Michigan and Ohio lands to William Thompson, Thomas W. Olcott, and Garrit Denniston signed by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren (proxy signatures).

Two onsite card catalog drawers (Catalog Card File Drawers 65A and 65B) contain catalog cards, filed chronologically, for materials in the collection.

Biographical / Historical:

President of the Mechanics and Farmers' Bank of Albany, N.Y. Olcott was a prominent figure in New York State politics and finance.

Acquisition information:
Source of acquisition--Olcott, Douglas W., Mrs. Louise Olcott McClure, Mrs. Emily Olcott Garrison, Mrs. Grace Rathbone Adkins, Mrs. Anna Rathbone Johnson, and the Directors of the Mechanics and Farmers' Bank of Albany. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--06/14/60. Accession number--M-60-06-14.
Processing information:

Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 08/--/89.

Arrangement:

Cataloged.

Accruals:

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access

RESTRICTIONS:

This collection is located on-site.

This collection has no restrictions.

TERMS OF ACCESS:

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

PREFERRED CITATION:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Thomas W. Olcott papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

LOCATION OF THIS COLLECTION:
6th Floor East Butler Library
535 West 114th St.
New York, NY 10027, United States
CONTACT:
(212) 854-5590
rbml@library.columbia.edu