Guide to the Darlington Family Papers, 1753-1921 DAR.1925.01

Arrangement

Repository
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Title
Darlington Family Papers
Creator
Darlington family
Collection Number
DAR.1925.01
Extent
18 Linear Feet (28 boxes, 61 volumes)
Date
1753-1921
Abstract
The Darlington family lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from the late eighteenth through the early nineteenth centuries. William M. Darlington and his wife, Mary Carson O'Hara Darlington, collected thousands of books and manuscripts documenting the frontier history of western Pennsylvania. The collection includes financial, personal and legal papers, and documentation of collecting activities and ephemera related to William M. Darlington and his family. Formats of materials include ledger books, research notes, manuscripts, personal diaries, photographic prints and negatives, letters, and artwork. Digital reproductions of this collection are available online.
Language
English .
Author
Kate Colligan, Angela Manella, Allison Houser, Kristien Boyle, and Nicole Mader.
Publisher
ULS Archives & Special Collections
Address
University of Pittsburgh Library System
Archives & Special Collections
Website: library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections
Business Number: 412-648-3232 (Thomas) | 412-648-8190 (Hillman)
Contact Us: www.library.pitt.edu/ask-archivist
URL: http://library.pitt.edu/archives-special-collections

Biography

The Darlingtons of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania trace their roots in America to Abraham Darlington of Cheshire County, England, who joined his aunt and uncle in Chester County, Pennsylvania, at the turn of the eighteenth century. Abraham's great-grandson, Benjamin Darlington (1790-1856), left Chester County and settled in Pittsburgh with his wife, Agnes McCullough. The Darlingtons of Pittsburgh are related to the Schenley and O'Hara families through the marriage of Benjamin and Agnes's son, William McCullough Darlington (1815-1889), to Mary Carson O'Hara.

William M. Darlington was a successful lawyer and one of the foremost experts in the colonial history of western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley. Mary shared her husband's passion for history, and was very proud of her family's ancestry, which she traced back to Irish nobility through her grandfather, James O'Hara. Through her father, Mary inherited Guyasuta: James O'Hara's estate near present-day Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania.

William and Mary raised three children at Guyasuta, O'Hara, Mary, and Edith. A fourth child, Hillborn, died in childhood. For more detailed biographies of each family member, see the scope and content note provided for each individual's papers. William was the primary collector of his family's extensive library of books and manuscripts. After William's death in 1889, his widow and children maintained and added to his collection. In 1918 and 1925, William's daughters Edith and Mary donated the family library and manuscript collection to the University of Pittsburgh. These materials include original letters by George Washington, Colonel Henry Bouquet, General Anthony Wayne, Hugh Henry Brackenridge, General Cornwallis, General James Wilkinson, Alexander Hamilton, Andrew Jackson and Daniel Webster. William M. Darlington also obtained and preserved John James Audubon's complete set of Birds of America .

Scope and Content Notes

This collection contains the nineteenth and early twentieth century personal, legal and financial papers of William M. Darlington and his family, including: his wife, Mary Carson O'Hara Darlington; his children, O'Hara Darlington, Mary Carson Darlington and Edith Dennison Darlington Ammon; his father, Benjamin Darlington; and his wife's grandparents, James and Mary Carson O'Hara. Documents include personal letters, business correspondence, financial and travel documents, art on paper, photographs, scrapbooks of news clippings and personal ephemera. The collection highlights William's book collecting, including correspondence with book dealers and individuals interested in his library, book catalogs and orders, receipts for purchases, notes and essays written by William, and topical inventories of the family library when it resided at Guyasuta.

Arrangement

  • Series I. James O'Hara Papers, 1777-1880
  • Series II. Benjamin Darlington Papers, 1815-1852
  • Series III. William M. Darlington Papers, 1837-1889
  • Series IV. Mary Carson O'Hara Darlington Papers, 1753-1908
  • Series V. O'Hara Darlington Papers, 1874-1916
  • Series VI. Mary Carson Darlington Papers, 1833-1913
  • Series VII. Edith Dennison Darlington Ammon Papers, 1881-1882, 1908-1919
  • Series VIII. Family Papers, 1826-1914
  • Series IX. Bound News Clipping Books, 1898-1917
  • Series X. Scrapbooks, ca. 1850-1915
  • Series XI. Photographs, 1885-1888
  • Series XII. Mary Carson Darlington Artwork, 1867-1925
  • Series XIII. Oversize Materials, 1785-1899

Access Restrictions

No restrictions.

Acquisition Information

Part of the original donation of William M. Darlington's family library to the University of Pittsburgh in 1918 and 1925 by his daughters, Edith Darlington Ammon and Mary Carson Darlington.

Existence and Location of Copies

Digital reproductions of this collection are available online. Digitized images of the Darlington Family photographs are available at http://historicpittsburgh.org/collection/darlington-family-papers.

Custodial History

The Darlington Family Papers consist of three separate accessions. The first group of materials was donated to the University of Pittsburgh by Mary Carson Darlington and Edith Darlington Ammon in 1918. In 1925, Mary Carson Darlington bequeathed the remainder of the family library and a number of ephemeral items to the University. The third accession consisted of a collection of correspondence between Edith Darlington and Mittie Hemphill that was presented to the University of Pittsburgh in November of 1977 by Richard Johnson of the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The Darlington-Hemphill letters had been gifted to the New England Historic Genealogical Society earlier in 1977 by Mrs. Henry Mayo, a granddaughter of Mittie Hemphill.

This collection was located in the Darlington Memorial Library in the University's Cathedral of Learning until 2007 when it was moved to the ULS Archives Service Center for processing, storage, preservation and service. However, it remains in the custodianship of the ULS Special Collections Department.

Preferred Citation

Darlington Family Papers, 1753-1921, DAR.1925.01, Darlington Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System

Previous Citation

Darlington Family Papers, 1753-1921, DAR.1925.01, Darlington Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Kate Colligan, Allison Houser and Kristien Boyle in October 2006, and by Angela Manella in November 2007.

Copyright

No copyright restrictions.

Separated Material

Large artwork, framed photographs, bound volumes and the majority of photographs are stored separately from manuscript materials. Throughout the finding aid, separated materials are indicated as "oversize" if they are stored separately due to size, and "volume" if they are bound items.

Bibliography

  • Davison, Elizabeth M. and Ellen B. McKee, eds. Annals of Old Wilkinsburg and Vicinity: The Village, 1788-1888, Wilkinsburg, Pa: Group for Historical Research, 1940.
  • Bomberger, C. M. Brush Creek Tales. Jeannette, Pa: Jeannette Publishing, 1950.
  • Boucher, John Newton. A Century and a Half of Pittsburg and Her People New York: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1908.
  • Chalfant, Ella. A Goodly Heritage : Earliest Wills on an American Frontier. Pittsburgh, Pa: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1955.
  • Cope, Gilbert. The Genealogy of the Darlington Family. West Chester,Pa: Printed by the committee for the family, 1900.
  • Course of Study in Geographic, Biographic and Historic Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, Pa: The Board of Public Education, 1921.
  • Fleming, George. History of Pittsburgh and Environs, from Prehistoric Days to the Beginning of the American RevolutionNew York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1922.
  • Pittsburgh Freemasons, Lodge no. 45. History of Lodge no. 45, 1785-1910. Pittsburgh, Pa.,: Press of Republic Bank Note Company, 1912.
  • Harper, Frank C. Pittsburgh of Today, Its Resources and People. New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1931-1932.
  • Herbert, Anne Hemphill. Personal Memories of the Darlington Family at Guyasuta. Pittsburgh, Pa: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1949.
  • Kussart, Sarepta Cooper. The Allegheny River. Pittsburgh, Pa: Burgum Printing Company, 1938.
  • Starrett, Agnes Lynch. Through One Hundred and Fifty Years: The University of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh, Pa: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1937.
  • Wilson, Erasmus, and Weston Arthur GoodspeedStandard History of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.. Chicago: H.R. Cornell & Co., 1898.
  • Shine, Bernice. "Oakland: Mary Croghan Schenley: Schenley Park Donated by a Girl Whose Romance Shocked a Queen." Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, 15 September 1941.
  • Schock, Hiram. The History of the Masonic Fund Society for the County of Allegheny. Pittsburgh, Pa: 1923.
  • Rubin, Julius. Canal or Railroad? Imitation and Innovation in the Response to the Erie Canal in Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Boston.Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1961.
  • Patch, Margery Hulburt. "The Darlington Family Collection." The Pittsburgh Record v1.

Subjects

    Corporate Names

    • Allegheny Engine and Hose Company
    • Allegheny Valley Railroad Company
    • Daughters of the American Revolution
    • Historical Society of Pennsylvania
    • Pittsburgh Amateur Photographers' Society
    • Pittsburgh Gas Works
    • Pittsburgh Glass Works
    • Sharpsburg Bridge Company
    • Bank of the United States (1816-1836). Pittsburgh Branch
    • Washington & Jefferson College (Washington, Pa.)
    • Pennsylvania Railroad

    Personal Names

    • Ammon, Edith Dennison Darlington
    • O'Hara, James, 1752-1819
    • McCullough, Jane
    • Hemphill, Mittie
    • Darlington, Mary Carson
    • Darlington, O'Hara
    • Darlington, Mary C. (Mary Carson)
    • Darlington, William M. (William McCullough)
    • Darlington, Benjamin
    • Brackenridge, H. M. (Henry Marie)
    • Bouquet, Henry
    • O'Hara, Mary Carson

    Family Names

    • O'Hara family
    • Darlington family

    Geographic Names

    • Europe -- Description and travel
    • Egypt -- Description and travel
    • Allegheny County (Pa.) -- History
    • Fort Pitt (Pa.) -- History
    • Ireland -- History
    • O'Hara (Pa. : Township) -- History
    • Pittsburgh (Pa.) -- History
    • Pittsburgh Region (Pa.) -- History
    • Sharpsburg (Pa.) -- History
    • United States -- History -- French and Indian War, 1755-1763

    Occupations

    • Military personnel
    • Public officers
    • Entrepreneurs
    • Lawyers

    Genres

    • Watercolors (Paintings)
    • Souvenirs
    • Sketches
    • Receipts (Financial records)
    • Photographs
    • Obituaries
    • Clippings (Information artifacts)
    • Maps
    • Manuscripts (Documents)
    • Correspondence
    • Ledgers (Account books)
    • Land surveys
    • Color prints (Prints)
    • Diaries
    • Diplomas
    • Envelopes
    • Essays

    Other Subjects

    • Business and Industry
    • Personal papers
    • Women
    • Wills -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh.
    • Watercolor painting, American -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Shipping -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Photography -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Prints, American -- 19th century -- Collectors and collecting
    • Glass manufacture -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Indians of North America -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Frontier and pioneer life -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Collectors and collecting -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh
    • Book collecting -- Pennsylvania -- Pittsburgh

Container List