Brasee-Scofield family papers, 1819-1950 (majority within 1819-1874)

Summary

Creator:

Scofield, Elnathan, 1773-1841 and Brasee family

Abstract:

The Brasee-Scofield family papers are made up of correspondence, documents, and ephemera related to Elnathan Scofield, John Trafford Brasee, and John Scofield Brasee, who lived in Lancaster, Ohio, in the early 1800s. The collection concerns their business affairs, Lancaster's early history, the Lancaster Lateral Canal, and the Lancaster Canal Mill Company.

Extent:

2.5 linear feet

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Clements Staff and Meg Hixon, November 2011

Background

Scope and Content:

The Brasee-Scofield family papers are made up of correspondence, legal and financial documents, and ephemera related to Elnathan Scofield, John Trafford Brasee, and John Scofield Brasee, who lived in Lancaster, Ohio, in the early 1800s. The collection concerns their business affairs, Lancaster's early history, the Lancaster Lateral Canal, and the Lancaster Canal Mill Company.

Personal and business letters, indentures, military documents, and other items concern many aspects of the men's business careers and personal lives, including Scofield's surveying work in central Ohio, John T. Brasee's studies at Ohio University, John T. Brasee's courtship with Mary Jane Scofield, and John Scofield Brasee's Civil War service. Local legal cases are also represented. Of particular interest are letters by William Tecumseh Sherman (December 3, 1883) and Edwin L. Stanton (August 7, 1863, and December 4, 1864) to Morton Brasee. Among other topics, Stanton discussed West Point admissions and the 1864 presidential election.

The collection holds legal documents and ephemera pertaining to the early history of central Ohio, particularly the area around Lancaster. Materials relating to the Lancaster Lateral Canal (1825-1838), the Lancaster Canal Mill Company (1840-1846), and railroad companies are also included.

The collection also contains ephemera and other items, such as family photographs, funeral notices, printed programs, newspaper clippings, a political cartoon, and lists of toasts used on different occasions.

Biographical / Historical:

Elnathan Scofield, a native of Connecticut, was born in 1773. He settled in Lancaster, Ohio, in 1802, after receiving contracts to survey nearby land. He participated in the first survey of Columbus, Ohio, and served as a judge and postmaster for Lancaster. Later, he became Fairfield County's first state senator, a position he held for seven terms. In addition to his surveying work, he worked as a dry goods merchant and banker. He died in 1841.

John Trafford Brasee was born in Hillsdale, New York, on December 24, 1800. After working in a blacksmith's shop and in a hotel, he moved to Wilmington, Ohio, in 1818. From 1819 to 1826, he attended Ohio University, and in 1826 he was admitted to the Ohio bar. In November 1829, he married Mary Jane Scofield, daughter of Elnathan Scofield, and they moved to Lancaster in 1833, where he continued his legal career. He later worked as a farmer and owned around 1,000 acres of land. He and Mary had seven children: Ellen, Mary, Clara, Alice, John Scofield, George, and Morton. John Trafford Brasee died on October 27, 1880.

John Scofield Brasee, a Kenyon College graduate, studied law with his father, and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1854. He became an expert in railroad and corporate law and served as the first president of the Ohio and West Virginia Railroad. He served in the Ohio Volunteer Militia during the Civil War. He died in 1905.

Acquisition Information:

1990. M-2558 .

Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:

The collection is in a temporary arrangement.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Alternate Locations

The following items are located in the Clements Library's Book Division:

• Act of Incorporation of the Zanesville and Maysville Turnpike Company: With the Amendatory and Explanatory Acts, and the Organization and Proceedings of the Company. Lancaster, Ohio: J. & C.H. Brough, printers, 1838.
• An Act to Incorporate the Bank of Ohio and Other Banks.: Passed April 11, 1856; to be Submitted to the Electors of Ohio on the Second Tuesday of October next for Their Approval. Columbus: Statesman Steam Press, 1856.
• An Act to Incorporate the Town of Lancaster, in Fairfield County. [Cleveland, Ohio: 1831].
• A Bill for the Protection of Birds and other Game. [Columbus, Ohio: 1861].
• A Bill for the Protection of Certain Birds and Game. [Columbus, Ohio]: 1858.
• A Bill to Provide for the Prosecution of the Work on the New State House, Prescribing the Order in which it Shall be Done, and Making Appropriations Therefor. [Columbus, Ohio: 1852].
• Brief Objections to the Admission of Pension Claims: of which Those Answered in the Negative, In Red Ink, Will Apply to the Claim of Joseph Horton of Jackson Co. Ohio, which Require Further Proof or Explanation. [Washington, D. C. 1832].
• Catalogue of the Officers and Students of the Ohio Wesleyan University,: for the Academical Year 1844-5... Columbus: S. Medary, printer, 1845.
• Catalogues of the Students of the Greenfield Academy, for the Years 1844-'45. Lancaster, Ohio: Gazette and Express Office, 1845.
• Coombs, J. J. Speech of J.J. Coombs, Esq., Delivered at the Union League Reading Room, Washington, D.C., Tuesday Evening, September 1, 1863. [Washington, D.C.]: H. Polkinhorn, printer, 1863.
• Cox, Samuel Sullivan. Tariff Bounties, Wages, etc.: Speech of Hon. S.S. Cox, of New York City, on the Reciprocal Brigandage of the Tariff, and Its Postponement and Exactions, in the House of Representatives, On the 3d of May, 1882. [Washington, D. C.]: 1882.
• Escheated Lands in Gallia County. Monday, March 7, 1831 ... The Select Committee to Whom were Referred the Petitions of Sundry Inhabitants of the Township of Gallipolis ... Respectfully Report ... [Columbus, Ohio: 1831].
• Ewing, Thomas. Opinion of Thomas Ewing,: On the Validity of the Claims of the American Bell Telephone Co., Under the Patent, to A.G. Bell, of March 7, 1876. New York: Francis & Loutrel, 1883.
• Ewing, Thomas, and Benjamin Stanton. Letter of the Hon. Thomas Ewing to His Excellency Benj. Stanton, Lieut. Governor of Ohio: In Answer to His Letter of Nov. 4, Relative to Charges Against Our Generals who Fought the Battle of Shiloh, on the 6th of April, 1862. Columbus, Ohio.: R. Nevins, printer, 1862.
• Franklin, Nelson. Report of the Standing Committee On Benevolent Institutions ..: "Resolved, That the Committee ... Be Instructed to Inquire into the Expediency of Selling the Deaf and Dumb Asylum, and Purchasing a Location for a New Asylum, in the Vicinity of Columbus ..." [Columbus, Ohio 1850].
• Fulton, John G. John G. Fulton, &c. Vs. the Lancaster Ohio Insurance Company: Argument for Defendants, on the Motion for a New Trial. Columbus, Ohio: Scott & Wright, 1850.
• Goodman, Alfred Thomas. Judges of the Supreme Court of Ohio under the First Constitution, 1803-1852. [Cleveland, Ohio: 1870].
• Gregg, George W. Catalogue of Thorough Bred Cattle. [Circleville, Ohio]: Circleville Watchman Job Office, 1856.
• Hampson, James, and Catharine Sumner. James Hampson, and the Heirs of John Williamson Ads. Catharine Sumner: Dower in Partnership Lands. (Reserved from Fairfield.) Argument for Def'ts. Lancaster, Ohio: Wright & Moeller, 1840.
• Ijams, Joseph H. A Circular to All Whom it May Concern. Lancaster, Ohio: 1844.
• Kendall, Amos. Mr. Kendall's Address to the People of the United States. 1840.
• Organization and Proceedings of the Alumni Association of the Philomathesian Society: of Kenyon College: Together with the Act of Incorporation, Constitution and By-laws of the Association, and Names of Members. Gambier, Ohio: 1854.
• Perry, Aaron F. An Oration, Delivered Before the Literary Societies of the Western Reserve College: on Commencement Day, June 16, 1867. [Cleveland, Ohio]: Caleb Clark, 1867.
• Prospectus of the Commissioners of Fairfield County, Ohio, for Issuing Bonds: to Pay Its Bonds to the Cincinnati, Wilmington and Zanesville Rail Road Company, which Mature January 1, 1862. Lancaster, Ohio: Connell & Roland, printers, 1861.
• R., W. J. Sketch of the Life of Judge Charles R. Sherman. [Lancaster, Ohio: 1872].
• Report of Select Committee ... [Columbus, Ohio: 1861].
• Report of the Committee on Woodworth's Patent. [Cleveland, Ohio: 1856].
• Shaw, Salmon. The Funding System: the Natural Tendency of which Is, to Accumulate Wealth in the Hands of the Few, at the Expense of the Many, and Make the Toiling Millions "hewers of Wood And Drawers of Water," to Associated Wealth... Lancaster, Ohio: 1848.
• Sherwood, J. M. A Catalogue of about Thirty Purebred Short-horned Cattle. Auburn: Knapp & Peck, 1853.
• Sherwood, J. M. A Catalogue of about Twenty Five Imported Short-horned Cattle,: Fifty to Seventy-five South Down Sheep ... And a Few Suffolk Pigs ... Bred and Owned by Col. J.M. Sherwood, which will Be Sold by Auction, On Wednesday June 20th, 1855 ... In Auburn, N.Y. Auburn: Knapp and Peck, 1855.
• The Charter and Ordinances of the Town of Lancaster, in Fairfield County, Ohio. Lancaster, Ohio: J.H. Wright, printer, 1849.
• The Great Usurpation: The United States Under the Confederate Senate and House of Representatives an Oligarchy. Washington, D.C.: Rufus H. Darby, 1879.
• The Following Regulations Have Been Adopted by the Secretary of War for Carrying into Effect the Act of Congress: Passed June 7, 1832, Entitled "An Act Supplementary to an "Act for the Relief of the Surviving Officers And Soldiers of the Revolution." [Washington, D. C.: 1832].
• The Minutes of the Proceedings of the Pittsburgh Convention,: Called by the Signers of the "Act And Testimony." May 14, 1835. Pittsburgh: White & Grant, 1835.
• Tyler, John. Message from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress at the Commencement of the First Session of the Twenty-seventh Congress ... Washington, D. C.: Gales and Seaton, 1841.
• Van Trump, Philadelph. "Strike but Hear!" [Lancaster, Ohio: 1873].
• Whittlesey, Elisha. Papers Relating to the War of 1812. [Cleveland, Ohio: 1870].

Bibliography

Wiseman, C. M. L. Centennial History of Lancaster Ohio and Lancaster People. Lancaster, Ohio: C. M. L. Wiseman, 1898.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Education--United States--History--19th century.
Courtship--United States.
Lawyers--United States.
Real property--Ohio.

Formats:

Indentures.
Financial records.
Letters (correspondence)
Orders (military records)
Photographs.
Poems.
Receipts (financial records)

Names:

Brasee, John S.
Brasee, John T., 1800-1880.
Brasee, Mary Jane Scofield.
Scofield, Elnathan, 1773-1841.
Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
Stanton, Edwin L. (Edwin Lamson), 1842-1877.

Places:

Gallipolis (Ohio)
Lancaster Lateral Canal (Ohio)
Lancaster (Ohio)
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.