Digital reproductions of this collection are available online.
William M. Darlington (1815-1889), a Pittsburgh lawyer and avid collector of western Pennsylvanian history, took special interest in the Ohio Company. The Ohio Company was responsible for the exploration and settlement of the Ohio Territory, as well as parts of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. In 1876, Darlington purchased material relating to the Ohio Company, which included a manuscript copy of the journal created by Christopher Gist, the surveyor hired by the Ohio Company to explore the Ohio Territory and negotiate treaties with the Indians in the early 1750s. Darlington also obtained (or commissioned) a bound copy to be made of the journal. (Both journal copies can be found in the Ohio Company Papers (dar192502)). Gist recorded his daily activities and interactions with American Indian tribes and provided the British Crown with the first detailed description of the Ohio Territory. Gist also represented the Ohio Company at the Conference at Loggstown in 1752, which allowed for colonial settlement southeast of the Ohio River. Darlington compiled and edited Gist's journals as Christopher Gist's Journals, published posthumously in 1893 by J.R. Weldin & Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is believed that Darlington's widow, Mary Carson O'Hara Darlington, completed the manuscript after her husband's death in 1889.
This collection primarily contains manuscript drafts of William Darlington's book, Christopher Gist's Journals, published posthumously in 1893 by J.R. Weldin & Co. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Included are Darlington's notes on Gist's journals as well as research notes, manuscript drafts, and several printing plates of the maps used in the publication. A small portion of the book's galley proofs (i.e., a typed preliminary version of the final publication) is also present. The materials in this collection are mostly undated, but believed to have been created in the late nineteenth century presumably by Darlington or his wife between 1882 and 1893. The material has been organized to reflect the table of contents in the publication.
The journals of Christopher Gist reflect the surveyor's experiences and observations while exploring the Ohio Territory in the early 1750s. They provide a unique record of early interactions with Native Americans during this period of British expansion that precipitated the French and Indian War. Notes relating to Andrew Montour, an interpreter and negotiator in the Virginia and Pennsylvania frontiers during the 1750s and 1760s, as well as material documenting the Conference at Loggstown, are included. It is important to note that related material can found in the Ohio Company Papers (dar192502), specifically a manuscript copy of Gist's first and second journals believed to have been copied by John Mercer.
A digitized version of the published Christopher Gist's Journals can be found online at the Internet Archive website (http://www.archive.org/details/christophergists00gistuoft).
No restrictions.
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.
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.
Christopher Gist's Journals by William M. Darlington, 1882-1893, DAR.1925.14, Darlington Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Christopher Gist's Journals by William M. Darlington, 1882-1893, DAR.1925.14, Darlington Collection, Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh
This collection was processed by Matt Gorzalski in August 2008.
No copyright restrictions.
Darlington Family Papers, 1753-1921, DAR.1925.01, Darlington Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System
Ohio Company Papers, 1736-1813, DAR.1925.02, Darlington Collection, Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System