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The McViccar-Antes collection contains correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and other items related to the McViccar and Antes families of northern New York.

This collection contains correspondence, financial records, legal documents, and other items related to the McViccar and Antes families of northern New York.

The Correspondence series (168 items) contains 1 letterbook and 167 personal letters that members of the McViccar and Antes families received from 1802-1901; most letters are dated 1817-1845 and 1865-1894. The earliest items pertain to Elizabeth Todd McViccar of Cambridge, New York, and her sons, John and Peter. John McViccar received personal letters from acquaintances and family members, including his brothers-in-law, Palmer, Halsey, and Nathaniel Townsend. John McViccar also received a series of letters from his brother Peter, who described his journey from New York to Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia in 1821. Peter McViccar continued to write about life at the college until the mid-19th century. One of Peter's letters contains ink drawings of Mount Vernon, the United States Capitol, and government buildings in Washington, D.C. (December 22, 1821).

On September 4, 1832, John McViccar wrote to his brother Archibald about the death of his young daughter, Louisa. John T. McViccar wrote several letters to his parents, John and Rhoda McViccar, relating his experiences at school in the 1840s. Other correspondents mentioned subjects such as travel to the South and discussed political issues. Most items dated after 1850 are related to the Antes family of Cicero, New York. Harriet (or "Harriette") Fiske McViccar wrote to her cousin, Mary McViccar Antes, wife of Evert Antes, with news from Fayetteville, New York (September 16, 1856). M. M. Duncan, an acquaintance of Mary Antes, discussed her employment and aspects of domestic life.

John McViccar's letter book (approximately 66 pages) contains copies of his personal and professional letters, dated September 8, 1818-October 3, 1840. He commented on aspects of his daily life, his finances, and his business affairs. Some of the letters from 1823 concern Elizabeth McViccar's estate.

The Legal and Financial Documents and Invitations series (64 items) concerns members of the McViccar (earlier items) and Antes (later items) families. Financial records include wills, receipts, and indentures, many of which relate to land in Onondaga County, New York. Evert Antes received several preaching licenses in the late 1800s; the series also contains 2 marriage certificates. Later items include a military discharge for Paul J. Antes, who served with the 3rd New York Volunteers during the Spanish-American War.

The Genealogy, Poetry, Obituary, and Visiting Card series (12 items) includes a newspaper obituary for John McViccar, genealogical notes about the McViccar family, essays by Evert Antes, and a calling card.

Three Photographs are portraits of Nancy Barkly Antes Benedict: one is a carte-de-visite, one is a large card photograph, and one is a tintype.

This collection contains correspondence, letter books, and additional material related to the career of George Clinton Gardner, a surveyor and railroad engineer who worked in the United States, Mexico, and Peru throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Correspondence includes several letters related to Gardner's attempt to join the Army Corps of Topographical Engineers during the Civil War. The letter books provide details of Gardner's work with nitroglycerin in Pennsylvania, his experiences and travels while supervising railroad construction throughout Mexico, and his work with the Pacific Company in Peru.

This collection contains correspondence, letter books, and additional material related to the career of George Clinton Gardner, a surveyor and railroad engineer who worked in the United States, Mexico, and Peru throughout the latter half of the 19th century. Included are 17 letters, 4 letter books, 2 financial documents, 10 photographs, 1 printed copy of a painting, and several calling cards.

The Correspondence series has 17 items, including 15 directly related to George Clinton Gardner. These include 3 letters of recommendation that William H. Emory wrote in 1854 and 1856 regarding Gardner's work as a surveyor in the Pacific Northwest, with one addressed to President James Buchanan (August 13, 1856), as well as 5 letters related to Gardner's efforts to serve in the Union Cavalry and in the Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers during the Civil War (1861-1862). Postwar correspondence consists of 3 letters related to financial matters, 1 letter related to Gardner's surveying career, 2 personal letters addressed to Mary Gardner in 1889 and 1890, and a photographic Christmas card addressed to George Clinton Gardner from an acquaintance in Pacasmayo, Peru (1900).

The Letter Books series contains 4 letter books of Gardner's retained copies of his correspondence. The first letter book includes 27 pages of private letters to Messrs. Paul & Mooney and to James Mooney in Buffalo, New York, regarding property Gardner and his parents owned in Buffalo, as well as 2 related enclosed letters (3 pages). These are dated between September 27, 1862, and February 5, 1867, and primarily concern the finances associated with owning the land. Gardner frequently reported sending checks to pay for property taxes. One enclosed letter is dated January 11, 1868, and a second enclosed item is undated.

The second letter book is comprised of 42 loose pages from a single volume, dated between February 9, 1869, to February 14, 1874, with one letter dated October 28, 1879. The pages are numbered, though many are missing. Between 1869 and 1874, Gardner wrote to George M. Mowbray, a chemist involved in the development of nitroglycerin, and to other correspondents concerning Gardner's work overseeing submarine drilling for the Philadelphia & Erie Railroad Company. Many of the letters reflect Gardner's experiences with Mowbray's improved form of nitroglycerin, including a 5 1/2-page report Gardner wrote to General John G. Parke on August 2, 1869. Many letters from 1874 reflect the financial aspects of Gardner's property holdings in Buffalo, New York, and the single letter from 1879 relates to taxes he owed on property in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The third letter book (approximately 212 pages) consists of copies of letters Gardner wrote while working as the general manager of the Mexican National Construction Company, for which he supervised railroad construction on lines running west from Mexico City. The letters, written between September 9, 1881, and July 3, 1882, are addressed to both business and personal acquaintances, and cover Gardner's life, work, and travels throughout Mexico. He described recent developments in local railroad construction and often told his wife Fanny of his travels. The letter dated September 13, 1881, includes a diagram of a stateroom onboard the steamship Knickerbocker. He also discussed the local culture and economy, and provided details on contemporary Mexican life, particularly about the area west of Mexico City. Between January and July 1882, Gardner lived in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, and Laredo, Texas. The letter book has been disbound, but the letters are in their original order.

The final letter book (approximately 84 pages) covers George C. Gardner's life in Peru between July 5, 1885, and November 9, 1895. The volume holds copies of personal and professional letters, including several lengthy ones to his wife Fanny, describing his travels around the country searching for and assessing coal deposits. He wrote a continuous letter "from the trail" during August and September 1895. Other topics he discussed are financial affairs and his work for the Pacific Company. Gardner returned to Washington by early October 1895, where he composed the volume's final letters.

The two Documents are financial accounts related to the settlement of the estate of General John McLean, Gardner's maternal grandfather (approximately 20 pages, May 8, 1821-December 27, 1828) and a list of "Charges against [an unidentified] Personal Estate" (1 page, undated).

The 8 card photographs in the Photographs series include one portraying a boy named Clinton Gardner Reed (May 22, 1884) and one taken at the Exhibition of Philadelphia in November 1876, as well as a carte-de-visite and a photographic portrait of Charles Kitchell Gardner. The final item is a black-and-white reproduction of a painting depicting a scene from Charles Le Brun's opera "La Famiglia di Dario ai Piedi di Alessandro," mounted on a thick card.

The Ephemera series contains several calling cards for Mrs. George H. Brodhea. Among several envelopes is one from the White House to Fanny Gardner .