The Joseph Paxton letter book contains over 350 letters that Paxton received between around January 26, 1853, and June 10, 1856. The individual items were once bound, and the collection includes Paxton's alphabetical index of correspondents. Most of the correspondence pertains to real property, finances, business matters, and railroads in Pennsylvania; some items concern personal matters, such as his brother-in-law's visit to Europe in 1853. A few items reflect Paxton's interest in books and music, and some mention the Seventy-Six Society, a group that published pamphlets and manuscripts related to the American Revolution. Paxton's correspondents included his father, also named Joseph Paxton, and his brothers Charles R., Lloyd, and Frank, who wrote from "Iron Dale" near present-day Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The letter book includes a printed advertisement for a Philadelphia paper called The Fireside Visitor (p. 328).
Joseph Rupert Paxton was born in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, in 1826 or 1827, the son of Joseph Paxton and Catherine Rupert. His siblings included Charles R. Paxton, Lloyd Paxton, and Frank Paxton, who worked for their father's iron company and railroad in or near what is now Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1845, the younger Joseph Paxton practiced law in Philadelphia before becoming a captain in the 15th United States Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. He married Sarah Cavendish Whipple (1829-1897). Joseph R. Paxton died in Houston, Texas, on August 20, 1867.
