Collection Title: Campbell Weir Collection
Collection Number: MS Coll 213
Dates of Collection: 1858 – 1982
Extent: Boxes 1 – 17; 16.4 linear feet
Repository: Chester County History Center
Language: The collection is in English.
Project Archivist: Liz Simler
Abstract: The Campbell Weir Collection measures 16.4 linear feet and dates from 1858 to 1982. Found within the collection are Weir family papers; materials relating to Campbell Weir’s interests, including horses, hunting dogs, charity work, his military service, and his vending machine enterprise; photographs of the Weir family and historic sites in Chester County; and extensive materials on the Humphry Marshall House, including renovation plans and biographical information on Humphry Marshall.
Campbell Weir (1901-1982) was born in Wilmington, Delaware, the younger of two sons to Henderson and Mary Campbell Weir. Weir’s family background included military and artistic careers. Campbell graduated from West Point Military Academy, but did not accept the military commission offered. He later served as a major in the U.S. Army during World War II.
One of his life-long hobbies was painting in oils, an interest which is reflected in his personal papers. Campbell was also noted for his interest in sporting, including horse racing and fox hunting, and his ownership of the historic Humphry Marshall House. Campbell bought the property at Marshallton, Chester County, Pennsylvania in 1946 and lived there until his death, at which point the property was bequeathed to the Chester County Historical Society.
Notable Weir family members include Campbell’s first wife, Esther du Pont, daughter of Lammot du Pont II; his great-grandfather, the painter and illustrator Robert Weir; and his grandfather Henry Carey Weir, a Civil War soldier and officer.
The Campbell Weir collection measures 16.4 linear feet and dates from 1858 to 1982.
Series 1, Weir family background, includes much of Campbell Weir’s personal correspondence to friends and family, notably during his time as a cadet at West Point (1919-1924). Other documents include clippings on his marriage to Esther du Pont, letters regarding his second marriage to Elizabeth Hume, notes on his subsequent divorce in Las Vegas, and records from his military service during World War II. Also present are financial and investment papers, business dealings, and correspondence regarding the dissolution of the Harriman and Keech brokerage house, in which Weir was a partner.
There are an additional 11 photo albums (Box 2, Box 4), three of which document Weir’s time at West Point. Others depict family members at home and on vacation, various residences and pets, and the interior of the Humphry Marshall house as it appeared in 1967.
Other materials connect to several families, including Campbell, Henderson, Pennock, Price, and du Pont, but are primarily focused on Weir. Correspondence, notes, printed material, wills, clippings, scrapbooks, and photo albums offer an extensive family background. Among items related to Campbell’s great-grandfather, the artist and educator Robert W. Weir, are correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs of his artworks, and a published biography. Civil War ephemera from Campbell’s grandfather, Henry C. Weir, include scrapbooks, maps, memorabilia, correspondence from military colleagues, and letters regarding his Medal of Honor award. This collection also includes genealogical research on the Weir and Campbell families, as well as related family lines (Box 1-4).
Series 2, Campbell Weir, focuses on Weir’s personal interests, hobbies, and business endeavors. Campbell Weir materials contain examples of his artistic work, charitable pursuits, and animal-related activities such as files on his membership in racehorse, hunting, and other associations, as well as his breeding of Rockland Beagle hunting dogs. Information on the beagles includes pack records, a hunting diary, and correspondence regarding their sale. The collection also contains letters and notes regarding his legal dispute with the Chester County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, including criticisms and proposed improvements as part of a reform campaign (Box 5-6).
Business materials primarily concern Weir’s establishment and presidency of a soft drink vending machine enterprise, Dispensers, Inc., and include the company’s business correspondence, patent information, device blueprints, promotional material, and financial ledgers (Box 7-9).
Series 3, Humphry Marshall House, includes extensive information on the historic house, Weir’s residence from 1946 until his death. This series includes notes on its purchase, restoration plans and blueprints, contractor correspondence, donation arrangements with CCHS, and information on the botanist Humphry Marshall (Box 10). Some personal finance and tax information, along with notebooks regarding the gardens and grounds, general housekeeping, and property maintenance are also available (Box 11-12).
Series 4, Photographs, contains loose photographs that document Campbell Weir’s childhood; excursions to Barbados, Cape Cod, and Nantucket; several sites in and around Chester County; and especially Weir’s prevailing passion for race horses and hunting dogs. Also included are photographs of assorted friends and family members, snapshots of the Humphry Marshall House, and Civil War-era images of General David McMurtrie Gregg’s staff (Box 13).
Series 5, Miscellaneous, includes additional material relating to Weir’s personal finances, including tax records, receipts, canceled checks, and other accounting ephemera. A copy of Arbustrum Americanum; miscellaneous photos and postcards (Western U.S. in the 1880s, West Indies, 1937), recipe files, Humphry Marshall’s copy of Conductor Generalis, and 3-D models of the Marshall house (Box 14-16).
Oversize items include six items relating to Henry C. Weir’s military service, a certificate and diploma for Alan Weir, artwork by Ruth Haviland Tutton and T. MacNeil, and a plan of the 50 acre Weir farm at Marshallton (Box 17).
Acquisition Information: This manuscript collection was acquired in 1982 via the bequest of Campbell Weir. An active member of the Chester County Historical Society, he bequeathed his historic stone house with its contents to the Society along with an endowment to help maintain the property as a historic house museum.
In addition to furniture, paintings, rugs, and other objects, there were genealogy history files (Henderson, Campbell, and Weir families), photos, books, and memorabilia reflecting Weir’s love of fox hunting and painting in oils. Information on the Humphry Marshall property and extensive personal files on business and personal matters were also left to the Society.
Furnishings and decorative objects outside the scope of CCHS’ permanent museum collections were sold at public auction at Ludwigs Corner Fire Hall, Chester County, PA on November 17, 1984. The contemporary fiction and historical non-fiction American and English books from Campbell Weir’s personal library were sold in a book sale at CCHS on December 1, 1984.
The CCHS board decided to rent the property and all objects were removed from the premises until 1989, when the CCHS board decided to sell the property. This decision was contested by cousins and a neighborhood interest group who brought legal action in the Chester County court to block the sale. The case was resolved, and the Humphry Marshall house was sold to a private buyer in 1991.
Funds from the estate were appropriated to the Library to process Weir’s papers and catalog the books for the Library’s permanent collection.
Related Material: The Chester County History Center also holds the Campbell Weir Sporting Collection, Weir’s private library of sporting books with a special focus on fox hunting.
Processing Information: This collection was originally assigned the collection number MG 4.16 and was subsequently processed and described by Liz Simler in 1982. The “Weir Family Background” was written by Carolyn D. McCreesh in 1982 (see end of finding aid). At some point after processing, the collection was reassigned the collection number MS Coll 213. The online finding aid was reformatted and edited for clarity by Jeffrey Cantwell in April 2023.
Preferred Citation: Campbell Weir Collection, 1858 -1982. MS Coll 213. Chester County History Center, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Publication Rights/Terms of Use: The Chester County History Center makes its archival collections available for non-commercial, educational, and personal use unless restricted by copyright/and or donor restrictions, including but not limited to access and publication restrictions. CCHC makes no representations concerning such rights and restrictions and it is the user’s responsibility to determine whether rights or restrictions exist and to obtain any necessary permission to access, use, reproduce, and publish materials from the collections.
The collection is arranged as 5 series:
Series 1: Weir Family Background
Box 1. Clippings, printed material, correspondence, and legal documents
File 1: Weir genealogy, including material on Ferguson and Henderson lines – charts, notes, research data, family coat-of-arms.
File 2: Campbell genealogy – charts, research data, notes, printed material, also, Price, Tatnall, Grant, Communing, Gordon, Sharpe, Hyland, Lea, Fawcett, Hopton, Whitcomb families.
File 3: Pennock, and Price families of Chester County– notes and clippings.
File 4: Campbell family wills – John Campbell, Mary Price Campbell, and Katharine Campbell Clark.
File 5: Weir family wills – Josephine Henderson Weir, settlement of Isaac Henderson’s estate (Alan Weir will is in Box 1, File 16).
File 6: Isaac Henderson, Sr. (great-grandfather) 1813-1884 – notes, printed material, will, clippings, correspondence (Diary is in Box 2).
File 7: Robert W. Weir (great-grandfather) 1803-1889 – printed material, correspondence, newspaper clippings, photographs of his artworks.
File 8: Henry C. Weir, Colonel, U.S. Army (grandfather) 1839-1927 – clippings, biographical notes about him.
File 9: Henry C. Weir – Civil War documents, correspondence, official Army announcement of Lincoln’s death.
File 10: Isaac Henderson, Jr. (great-uncle) 1850-1909 – clippings.
File 11: Julian Alden Weir (great-uncle) 1852-1919 exhibition catalogues, correspondence, printed material, and clippings.
File 12: John Ferguson Weir (great-uncle) d. 1926 – clippings.
File 13: Robert Fulton Weir (second cousin) – one clipping, undated.
File 14: Henderson Weir (father) 1869-1917 – Obit., clippings, report cards, diplomas.
File 15: Mary Campbell Weir (mother) 1874-1971 – correspondence, printed material, document appointing her guardian of her sons, will.
File 16: Alan Weir (brother) 1902-1929 – documents, clippings, will, naval commission, diploma, correspondence regarding his estate.
File 17: Miscellaneous family material – Mary C. Weir’s notes on Allen and Alexander Weir (uncles), Weir crest, discharge of Gavin B. Clark, private in U.S. Army, 1863.
Family Correspondence:
File 18: Isaac Henderson to daughter, Josephine Henderson Weir; Isaac Henderson, Jr. to Henry Weir.
File 19: Robert W. Weir to Henry C. Weir and Josephine Henderson Weir.
File 20: Henry C. Weir to Robert W. Weir (during the Civil War).
File 21: Henry C. Weir to Josephine Henderson, 1858-1865.
File 22: Henry C. Weir to “Dear Weir,” 1864.
File 23: Henry C. Weir to John Weir, to Johnsons, to “Mother,” 1862-1865.
File 24: Letters to Henry C. Weir from Julian A. Weir, Carrie Weir, William B. Weir, 1870s.
File 25: Letters to Henry C. Weir concerning the award of the Congressional Medal of Honor, 1898-1899.
File 26: Letters to Henry C. Weir from military colleagues, including General David McMurtrie Gregg, 1865-1902.
File 27: Robert Weir to Governor Kemble, 1863.
File 28: Contract between Henry C. Weir and Alexander Little for excavation work at Sugar Loaf, NY.
File 29: Miscellaneous Henry Weir correspondence.
File 30: Isaac Henderson, Sr. to Henderson Weir.
File 31: General Thomas Seymour to Henderson Weir, 1890s.
File 32: Henderson Weir to Julie Weir (Henderson Weir’s sister, Campbell Weir’s aunt).
File 33: Henderson Weir to Mother.
File 34: Henderson Weir to father, 1870s and 1890s, one letter from Henry C. Weir to Henderson, 1873.
File 35: Henderson Weir to father, 1898-1912.
File 36: Julie Weir to her parents (Henry and Josephine Weir) concerning her engagement to Danilo Marghetic.
File 37: Letter concerning Julie Weir’s engagement.
File 38: Henderson Weir to General Campbell, 1905.
File 39: Alexander Webb Weir (“Eck,” Henderson Weir’s brother) to family while serving in U. S. Cavalry in Arizona and Colorado, 1880s and 1890s.
File 40: Alan Weir to mother (Mary Campbell Weir), 1928- 1929.
File 41: Alan Weir to mother, 1909-1919, copied and typed by Mary Weir.
File 42: Alan Weir to mother, 1920-1924, copied and typed by Mary Weir.
File 43: Alan Weir to mother, 1925-1929, copied and typed by Mary Weir.
Miscellaneous family material:
File 44: Henry C. Weir’s Civil War maps.
File 45: Facsimile Boston Gazette, March 12, 1770, Les Varietes (Pans) June 23, 1889; broadside regarding Kaiser Wilhelm I, March 16, 1888.
File 46: Miscellaneous Civil War newspapers from Virginia.
File 47: John K. Barker file, 1863-1874.
Books:
Weir and Campbell Genealogy
Recollections of John Ferguson Weir
Robert W. Weir
Box 2. Family scrapbooks, photograph albums, and war relics
Josephine Henderson:
Journal, 1858-1859.
Scrapbook, pictures of European sites.
Journal, trip to Europe, 1860.
Passport, 1860.
Henry C. Weir:
Scrapbook, Civil War.
Scrapbook, Civil War.
Letter book, military correspondence, 1863-1864.
Letter book, including some military correspondence, 1864-1883.
Photo Album of General David McMurtrie Gregg’s staff.
Civil War memorabilia.
Miscellaneous family material:
Isaac Henderson – Diary, 1860, including trip to Europe.
Henderson Weir – Scrapbook, clippings, and poem, circa 1890.
Mary Campbell Weir – Photo Album, Mediterranean cruise, 1927.
Unidentified badge – 1888, Erindring, KJOBENHAVN.
Box 3. Campbell Weir, personal correspondence, printed material, clippings, and documents
Correspondence with family:
File 1: Campbell Weir to Mother and Father, 1910-1916.
File 2: Henderson Weir and Mary Weir to Campbell Weir, 1910-1916.
File 3: Campbell Weir letters to other family members, 1910-1916.
File 4: Campbell Weir to Mother and Father while at Camp Washington, Fort Terry, New York, summer 1916.
File 5: Mother and Father to Campbell Weir while at Camp Washington.
File 6: Uncle Douglas Campbell to Campbell Weir, 1916-1917.
File 7: Campbell Weir to Mother from Princeton Summer School, 1918.
File 8: Henry C. Weir to Campbell Weir, 1917-1918.
File 9: Alan Weir to Campbell Weir, 1916-1919.
File 10: Campbell Weir to Alan Weir, 1919.
File 11: Uncle Duncan Campbell to Campbell Weir, 1919.
File 12: Aunt Julie {Julie Weir Marghetic) and Cousin Xenia Marghetic to Campbell Weir, 1919.
File 13: Campbell Weir to Mother from Army-Navy Preparatory School, September 1918 to June 1919.
File 14: Campbell Weir to Mother from West Point, July to December 1919.
File 15: Campbell Weir to Mother from West Point, 1920.
File 16: Campbell Weir to Mother and Grandmother from West Point, January to June 1921.
File 17: Campbell Weir to Mother and Grandmother. from West Point, September to December 1921.
File 18: Campbell Weir to Mother from West Point, 1922.
File 19: Campbell Weir to Mother from West Point, 1923.
File 20: Campbell Weir to Mother from West Point, 1924.
File 21: Clement Merrill (Aunt Julie’s second husband) to Campbell Weir on Campbell Weir’s decision not to accept his army commission following graduation from West Point, 1924.
File 22: Campbell Weir to Mother, 1928 during honeymoon trip.
File 23: Campbell Weir to Mother, 1937, 1939, while on vacations.
File 24: Campbell Weir to Mother, 1942, while in U.S. Army.
File 25: Campbell Weir to Mother, January to August 1943.
File 26: Campbell Weir to Mother, September to December 1943.
File 27: Campbell Weir to Mother, 1944.
File 28: Campbell Weir to Mother, January to July 1945 (on Guam).
File 29: Campbell Weir and Liz (Campbell Weir’s new wife) to Mother, October 1945 – April 1946 from Nantucket.
File 30: Campbell Weir to Mother from Las Vegas, September – October 1946, while obtaining divorce.
Correspondence with friends:
File 31: George McIntire to Campbell Weir, 1918.
File 32: Friends to Campbell Weir at Army Navy Prep School, 1918-1919.
File 33: Friends to Campbell Weir at West Point, 1919-1920.
File 34: Clifton Miller to Campbell Weir on divorce from Esther du Pont, 1930.
File 34a: John Thouron, friend in England to Campbell Weir.
File 35: Mary Robinson to Campbell Weir, 1939.
File 36: Lammot du Pont to Campbell Weir, 1929 – statement of stock he gave Campbell Weir when he married Esther.
File 37: Elizabeth Freese and Annie Adams to Campbell Weir – 1942-1944.
File 38: Geraldine Murray to Campbell Weir, 1943-1945; also, photos and ID card.
File 39: Campbell Weir to Arthur and Hattie Meigs, 1942-1945.
File 40: Typed copes of Campbell Weir’s letters to Arthur and Hattie Meigs.
File 41: Campbell Weir to Susan Bissell, circa 1952.
File 42: Susan Bissell essay, 1952.
File 42a: John McKenney – Author of “Tackroom Tattles.”
File 43: Geraldine Murray Nutt to Campbell Weir, 1956-1978.
File 44: Nat Brown to Campbell Weir and Christmas cards from 1964 (Brown was his kennel manager and huntsmen during the 1930s).
File 45: Nancy Fleck to Campbell Weir, 1974-1980.
File 46: Doris Bishop to Campbell Weir, 1974.
Personal printed material, clippings, documents, and miscellaneous business correspondence to 1939:
File 47: Documents – baptism, confirmation, West Point diploma, passport, St. Andrew’s Society certificate, General Society of Colonial Dames certificate.
File 48: Report cards, Wilmington Friends School, 1913 and 1914.
File 49: Camp Washington, Fort Terry, New York, 1916 – clippings and printed material.
File 50: Correspondence on admission to Princeton Summer School, 1918.
File 51: Notice of admission to West Point, 1919.
File 52: Campbell Weir notebook – expenses while at West Point, 1919-1924.
File 53: Campbell Weir at West Point – clippings and report cards.
File 54: Campbell Weir at West Point – printed material, notes, and documents.
File 55: West Point graduation activities and a transcript of a paper on airplanes Campbell Weir delivered at commencement, 1924.
File 56: Campbell Weir marriage Esther du Pont – clippings.
File 57: Blueprint of Campbell and Esther Weir’s property in Kennett Township, 1934.
File 58: File on English clothing and tailors, 1935-1938 – bills, receipts, and orders.
File 59: Campbell Weir notes on a trip to Barbados; also clipping.
File 60: Plans for a sailboat to Campbell Weir designed during his trip to Barbados – letters, printed material, photographs.
File 61: Copies of poems, a play, orders to machinery, interest in pottery – 1930s.
Box 4. Campbell Weir – scrapbooks, photo albums, and ephemera
Note: Photo albums are numbered. See also Box 13 for photographs.
1. Photo album – family, 1905-1910.
2. Photo album – Sugar Loaf and Wilmington, 1914-1915 (#72).
3. Photo album – Weir family at Sugar Loaf and Cape Cod, 1915 (#73).
4. Photo album – Plum Island Camp, 1916 (#75).
5. Photo album – West Point, circa 1920.
6. Photo album – West Point, 1919-1921, including graduation and West Point ephemera (#62).
7. Photo album – West Point, 1922-1924 (#61).
8. Photo album – Humphry Marshall house interior, 1967.
9. Campbell Weir field notebook.
10. Photo album – residences and pets, 1932-1942.
11. Campbell Weir notebook – airplane drawings.
12. Model keel for boat Campbell Weir designed while in Barbados (see also Box 3, File 60).
13. Personal address file.
14. Campbell Weir Boy Scout Diary, 1915.
15. Campbell Weir Diary – Camp Washington, 1916.
Box 5a. Personal interests and finances, investments, participation in World War II, miscellaneous business dealings, and wills
File 1: Dissolution of the Harriman and Keech brokerage house – correspondence file, 1937-1948.
File 2: Correspondence on dissolution of Harriman and Keech, 1941-1942.
File 2a: Correspondence – administration of Mary Weir assets, 1930-1938.
File 2b: Correspondence – administration of Campbell Weir’s assets, 1930-1938.
File 2c: Correspondence – administration of Esther du Pont and Weir’s assets, 1932-1938.
File 2d: Campbell Weir personal correspondence, 1930-1931.
File 2e: Campbell Weir personal correspondence, 1932.
File 2f: Campbell Weir personal correspondence, 1935.
File 3: Loan statement – Guaranty Trust Company of New York, 1941.
File 4: Campbell Weir applies for commission in the U.S. Army, December 1941.
File 5: Local Draft Board inquiry about Campbell Weir, 1942.
File 6: Campbell Weir miliary records.
File 7: Campbell Weir documents and papers.
File 8: Campbell Weir miliary records.
File 9: Campbell Weir army file, 1942-1945.
File 10: Army pay allotment to Mary C. Weir (mother), 1942.
File 11: Discharge papers, 23 July, 1945. (Photostat copy)
File 12: Insurance policies, 1942-1945.
File 13: Wilmington Club and Wilmington Country Club, 1942-1945. Correspondence regarding Campbell Weir’s miliary status.
File 14: Campbell Weir requests John Rudolph to wire Lt. G. Murray $300, 1943.
File 15: Inquiry into business and investment opportunities, 1946.
File 16: Campbell Weir memo and letters on possible employment opportunities.
File 17: Lease and arrangements for Nantucket house, 1945-1946.
File 18: Travel plans for trip to Las Vegas (divorce), October 1946.
File 19: Letters between John Rudolph and Elizabeth Hume Weir on delayed alimony checks.
File 20: Correspondence on Equitable Trust Company loan, 1946, 1948.
File 21: Samuel Sparklin loan, 1948.
File 22: Personal purchases by mail, 1941-1948.
File 23: Cheshire Land Company, 1937-1948.
File 24: Auto repair bills, 1941, 1948.
File 25: Campbell Weir stockholding, Laird, Bissell, Meeds brokers, 1940-1941.
File 26: Laird, Bissell, Meeds account, 1942-1944.
File 27: Laird, Bissell, Meeds account, 1946.
File 28: Laird, Bissell, Meeds account, 1947.
File 29: Laird, Bissell, Meeds account, 1948.
File 30: Financial holdings of Mary C. Weir, 1946.
File 31: Insurance policy, 1952.
File 32: Taylor/MacKlin suit – legal background.
File 33: Letters from Flora Taylor, 1960, 1964.
File 34: Taylor/MacKlin suit correspondence – letters from Campbell Weir, Robert Gawthrop, Charles Maxwell, Lawrence Wood, 1964-1968.
Box 5b.
File 35: Taylor suit – financial records and Campbell Weir memos.
File 36: Campbell Weir file on the legal controversy over the lane he shared with neighbors – photos, letters and the 1966 survey.
File 37: Andrien file – letters from Campbell Weir, Lawrence Wood, James W. O’Neill.
File 38: Campbell Weir urges Congressman Robert Watson to oust Adam Clayton Powell, 1967.
File 39: Campbell Weir urges Abraham Fortas to resign from the Supreme Court, 1969.
File 40: Campbell Weir condemns Edward Kennedy for the Chappaquidick incident, 1969.
File 41: Car repairs at Chester County Motors, 1968-1971.
File 42: File on Campbell Weir’s dispute with the service manager of Chester County Motors, 1971.
File 43: Correspondence file on Campbell Weir’s participation in the citizens’ protest against the expansion of Appleville Trailer Park, 1970-1971.
File 44: File on the Briggs Stratton Company – clippings, letters, printed material, 1970-1974 (Campbell Weir, a stockholder).
File 45: File on small engines – clippings, printed material, 1972-1974.
File 46: Investment plans for 1974.
File 47: Medicare, Blue Cross, Blue Shield records, 1971-1974.
File 48: Health articles and correspondence – heart disease, miscellaneous problems.
File 49: Health articles – knee surgery.
File 50: Campbell Weir’s observation on his own health during his 1973 stay at Bryn Mawr Hospital and hospital records.
File 51: Campbell Weir’s plans for an improved lawn spreader, undated.
File 52: File on the Mary Campbell Weir estate, 1971-1972.
File 53: Financial records of the Mary Campbell Weir estate, 1971-1972.
File 54: Record of investments following Mary Campbell Weir’s death in September 1971.
File 55: Draft of letter to Alice Campbell Johnson concerning Mary Campbell Weir’s will.
File 56: Letters from Campbell Weir, Leonard Golditch (attorney) and the IRS concerning the Mary Campbell Weir estate, 1972-1975.
File 57: Miscellaneous bills and receipts, notations, a bank book, and medical bills, 1979-1982.
File 58: Correspondence file on Campbell Weir’s will, 1944-1980.
File 59: Campbell Weir wills and related correspondence, 1967-1973.
File 60: Power of attorney and addition to Campbell Weir will providing a bequest to Geraldine Murray Nutt, 1981.
File 61: Delaware properties owned by Campbell Weir at Westover Hills. stables-farms, 1931-1933 – notebooks, ledgers, rents, holdings.
Box 6. Weir’s personal interests – hunting, charities, art and the Chester County SPCA
Hunting, horses, dogs, and other pets:
File 1: Correspondence file on dogs – schnauzer, 1929, terriers from England, 1933-34, poodle, 1939.
File 2: Fox hunting – “The Meynellian Science,” pamphlet printed in 1926, and “Morituri Te Salutamus”, an anecdote on hunting (typed copies); catalog of books available on fox hunting from James Cummins, bookseller, undated.
File 3: Hunting Diary, 1931-1932.
File 4: Horses – pamphlets, correspondence, and stable account book.
File 5: Rockland Beagle records, including correspondence with Angier Biddle Duke on selling his Beagle pack (Rockland Beagles) to Duke, 1938.
File 6: Hunting records and calendar, 1935-36, 1939, 1941-1942.
File 7: National Steeplechase and Hunt Association, 1942.
File 8: Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles (English), 1936, 1938, 1940, 1941, 1945.
File 9: Wilmington Horse Show, 1944.
File 10: Inquiry on purchasing horses from Dr. Roberto A. Vieities of Cuba, 1945.
File 11: Delaware Steeplechase and Race Association, 1945.
File 12: Vicmead Hunt Club, 1947.
File 13: Correspondence on purchasing a Labrador retriever pup, 1949.
File 14: Copy of letter Campbell Weir sent to the editor of Field on his Labrador’s natural intelligence and instincts, circa 1951.
File 15: Letters from J. F. Scharnberg on beagles, 1977.
File 16: Campbell Weir’s notes (3″ x 5″) on his pet dogs.
File 17: Ordering and caring for a pet otter, 1931- 1941.
File 18: Interest in pigeons; letter from the editor of Field, 1970.
Miscellaneous charitable interests:
File 19: Save the Redwoods, New York Woman’s League for Animals, and East and West Association.
File 20: Friends of Sea Otters, 1969.
File 21: Primate Foundation of Arizona, 1974-1976.
File 22: Campbell Weir letter to members of the Board of the SPCA, January 31, 1963.
Chester County SPCA:
File 23: Watson file – letters from Campbell Weir and Mrs. John Watson, 1963.
File 24: SPCA general file – letters from Campbell Weir minority group, Mrs. John Watson, 1963.
File 25: Letters from Campbell Weir and receipts, 1963.
File 26: SPCA Mathews file – letters from James E. Mathews, Jr. on SPCA cruelty toward animals, 1963.
File 27: SPCA Rigaudiere file – letters and memos from Campbell Weir, 1963.
File 28: Campbell Weir memos and letters from Campbell Weir and Betty Odell.
File 29: Franklin (Buck) Gordon correspondence, 1963. Suit filed by Campbell Weir against SPCA with Gordon hired by Campbell Weir to investigate SPCA affairs.
File 30: Minority group protest, 1963-1964.
File 31: Campbell Weir correspondence with Sally Turner.
File 32: Campbell Weir letters to the editor of the Daily Local News about the SPCA, 1965, 1966, and letter from Anna Taylor, M. W. Rhodewalt, Anna R. Kennedy.
File 33: 1966 circular letter issued by Campbell Weir; related correspondence.
File 34: Copies of letter to Editor of Daily Local News and legal opinion thereon, January 24, 1966.
File 35: Miscellaneous notes and letters, 1966.
File 36: “Lieberman file” – letters from Campbell Weir and Stanley Lieberman, 1967.
File 37: “Folchman Case” – death of cows in East Bradford. Letters from Campbell Weir, Helen Jones, Stanley Lieberman; also, Campbell Weir’s open letter to residents of Chester County on the SPCA, 1967.
File 38: Daily Local News article on the SPCA, 1970.
File 39: SPCA documents for a special board meeting, 1970.
File 40: File on Mrs. Stoughton’s campaign to improve the SPCA.
File 41: Letters from Campbell Weir, Lawrence Wood, Franklin Gordon, John B. Groome, on campaign to improve SPCA.
File 42: Correspondence file sent to Patrice Probert via attorney Marvin Cohen, 1970.
File 43: File on alleged financial mismanagement of the SPCA, 1970.
File 44: Clippings, notes and letters on proposed reform of the SPCA, 1970.
File 45: Campbell Weir letters to the editor of the Daily Local News on SPCA reform, 1970.
File 46: File of Campbell Weir notes and letters, regarding SPCA, 1963-1970.
File 47: File of Campbell Weir notes, letters, clippings and printed material, 1970.
File 48: Copy of the Pennsylvania Dog Law.
File 49: Letters from Lawrence Wood, James Whitcraft (president of the SPCA), 1972.
File 50: Correspondence file on the legal definition of cruelty to animals, 1976.
File 51: Campbell Weir card file on SPCA.
Artistic and Personal interests:
File 52: Miscellaneous notes and printed material.
File 53: Examples of Campbell Weir’s artwork.
File 54: Recipes (food).
File 55: Daily record Campbell Weir kept of his weight, 1974-1978.
File 56: Campbell Weir card file – evaluations of New York restaurants.
File 57: Campbell Weir’s daily appointment books, 1936- 1938.
Box 7. Dispensers Incorporated – correspondence, printed material, notes and memos, patents.
File 1: Stock certificate, Dispensers, Inc. July 19, 1939.
File 2: Monthly records and graphs, 1939-1940.
File 3: Agreement blank.
File 4: Mailing list prepared for Dispensers., Inc., 1940.
File 5: List of potential theater customers, 1940.
File 6: Records and correspondence, 1940.
File 7: Location reports, 1940.
File 8: Location reports, 1940.
File 9: Baltimore location reports, 1941.
File 10: Installed locations, undated.
File 11: Miscellaneous charts and graphs, 1941.
File 12: Consolidated weekly record sheets, 1941- 1942.
File 13: Letters between Campbell Weir and John Rudolph, his business manager, 1942.
File 14: Letters between Campbell Weir and John Rudolph, 1943.
File 15: Letters between Campbell Weir and John Rudolph, 1944.
File 16: Letters between Campbell Weir and John Rudolph, 1945-46.
File 17: “A Brief History of the Cup Vending Machine Manufacturing Business,” 1946.
File 18: Advertising and promotional material, 1946.
File 19: Campbell Weir’s memos and figures, 1945-1946.
File 20: Plans for a vending machine and related correspondence, 1947.
File 21: Correspondence with Toolcraft, Inc. about construction of the vending machine, 1947.
File 22: Toolcraft correspondence, 1947-1948.
File 23: Correspondence with Herbert M. Brune, Jr., attorney, 1947-1948.
File 24: Test data, undated.
File 25: Campbell Weir correspondence file, 1947-1954.
File 26: Dispensers, Inc. Prospectus, 1948.
File 27: General information, 1948.
File 28: Agreement between Dispensers, Inc., and Alexander Rathke, 1948.
File 29: Correspondence with Drinkomat, 1948.
File 30: Miscellaneous drawing and data, 1948.
File 31: Campbell Weir file – National Automatic Merchandising Association, 1948.
File 32: Correspondence file on patents, 1948-1949.
File 33: Correspondence file on patents, 1948-1949.
File 34: Correspondence – Alco Valve Company, 1948-1949.
File 35: Correspondence with the State of Maryland, Department of Employment Security over unpaid taxes, 1948-1950.
File 36: Correspondence with manning, Maxwell and Moore, General Accounting Office, 1948-1951.
File 37: Correspondence with Mrs. Alfred Bissell (a shareholder and investor in Dispensers, Inc.), 1948-1949.
File 38: Plans and patent application for the Little Vending Machine, 1949.
File 39: Supply orders, 1949.
File 40: Campbell Weir correspondence with Liquid Carbonic Corp., 1949.
File 41: Invoices, 1947-1948.
File 42: Promotional literature and correspondence, 1948-1949.
File 43: Dissolution documents, 1950.
File 43a: Christmas Card, Dispensers, Inc., undated.
Box 8. Dispensers, Incorporated, continued – correspondence, patent data, notes, memos, financial records, promotional material
File 44: Patent, 1952.
File 45: Plans for a new vending machine, by G. H. Little, 1952.
File 46: Correspondence file – Campbell Weir and Semmes, Keegin, Robinson and Semmes, attorneys, on purchase of the Little patent.
File 47: Contract of sale – Campbell Weir purchases the Little patent.
File 48: Miscellaneous charts and records, undated.
File 49: Index cards on electrical parts for vending machines, undated.
File 50: Index cards on parts for vending machines, undated.
File 51: Promotional Christmas cards from Lime Cola Sales Co., Baltimore, 4 cards depicting English hunting scenes, circa 1913.
File 52: Blueprints for vending machines (additional prints in Box 10).
File 53-54: Miscellaneous printed material.
File 55-56: Catalogues and service manuals.
File 57: Accountants’ reports, 1941-1948.
File 58: Copies of important patents, 1939-1945, and correspondence on patent infringement, 1948.
File 59: Monthly trading statements, 1941-1948.
File 60: Earnings statements, profit and loss charts, inventory statements, 1945-1946.
File 61: Income statements, 1947-1948.
File 62: Expense records, 1947-1948.
File 63: Delaware tax returns, 1941-1949.
File 64: Correspondence with the IRS, 1942, 1951, 1952.
File 65: Tax hearing correspondence, 1952.
Notebooks:
Dispensers, Inc. – Ledger, 1939-1940.
Dispensers, Inc. – Ledger, 1940-1945.
Promotional Material.
Box 9. Blueprints, Dispensers, Inc.
Box 10. Humphry Marshall house – correspondence, Campbell Weir notes printed material, blueprints, financial records, Humphry Marshall books and memorabilia
(See also Box 12 for notebook on Humphry Marshall house and grounds and Boxes 4 and 13 for photos)
File 1: Campbell Weir file on proposed purchase; letter from Mary C. Weir describing the house in detail; remodeling estimates and bids.
File 2: Correspondence file, 1946-1948 – Campbell Weir’s financial arrangements for purchase and his subsequent interest in reselling.
File 3: Campbell Weir file – personal notes.
File 4: Correspondence file – Campbell Weir and George Lee Haskins, the renter of the Humphry Marshall house, 1947-1948.
File 5: Campbell Weir’s detailed and informative notes on renovation plans for Humphry Marshall house, bills for repairs, 1948-1949.
File 6: Campbell Weir file – house renovation plans, 1947.
File 7: Campbell Weir notes, repair bills and orders from Ball and Ball.
File 8: Correspondence file – Campbell Weir to Harold Hannum on restoration specifics.
File 9: Correspondence file – Charles T. Okie, architect, to Campbell Weir, 1949, problem with Frank March the contractor discussed.
File 10-11: Okie blueprints and plans for the House, 1949.
File 12: Correspondence file – Theodore O. Rogers, attorney, and Campbell Weir discussing his financial problems with Okie and contractor Frank March, 1949.
File 13: Campbell Weir file – partial list on contract items Frank March failed to complete, 1949.
File 14: House repair file – bills, 1949.
File 15: Campbell Weir file – contract dispute with Frank March, including release, 1950.
File 16: Campbell Weir file – estimates and bills, 1949-1950.
File 17: Color samples and paint charts.
File 18: 1950 survey of property with Campbell Weir’s notations.
File 19: Campbell Weir notes on Humphry Marshall and the house, also correspondence with the National Trust on administering the house, 1957; National Trust response, January, 1958.
File 20: Letters between Campbell Weir and the Chester County Historical Society regarding his interest in donating the house to the Society. File contains extensive notes on the property (1960-1971) and arrangements with the Society.
File 21: Correspondence file – possible donation of the house to other organizations. Letters from Campbell Weir, Thomas Butler, Lawrence Wood, Bart Anderson, Henry Mirick, Arthur James, 1962-1967.
File 22: Letters from Kurt Brandenburg of the Chester County Historical Society, 1978-1979.
File 23: Campbell Weir notes, plans, and bills for landscaping house, 1967.
File 24: Receipts for work done on the house, 1967.
File 25: Soil and water conservation plan, prepared 1967.
File 26: Paint samples, 1967.
File 27: Campbell Weir file – memos and correspondence on his attempt to win a tax reduction on his property, 1972-1974.
File 28: Plans for wiring and plumbing under library floor, 1973.
File 29: Letter from Conrad Wilson to the Hon. John H. Ware, III, on the proposed use of the Marshall property by the Chester County Historical Society, July 1976.
File 30: Inventory of household possessions and insurance values, 1977.
File 31: Memos on replacing rush chair seats and old rugs.
File 32: Memos, bills, articles on garden care.
File 33: Brandywine River Museum receipt for return of Campbell Weir’s Andrew Wyeth watercolor of Marshallton, 1978.
File 34: Plan for gardens at Humphry Marshall house.
File 35: Material on growing alfalfa, 1948.
File 36: Letter from H. Gleason Mattoon about holly trees at Humphry Marshall house and Campbell Weir’s reply, 1947.
File 37: Japanese Gardens – plans, sketches, and letters, 1964.
File 38: Nursery orders and receipts, 1969-1981 (J. Franklin Styer).
File 39: Campbell Weir memos on Marshall House, paint and furnishings, 1940s-1970s.
File 40: Well testing results and correspondence, 1960-1976.
File 41: Security system – letters between Campbell Weir and Security Instruments Corporation and attorneys on problems with the initial installation and the payment schedule, 1968-1969.
File 42: Security system – Campbell Weir complains about malfunctions, 1968-1974.
File 43: Security system – daily record of alarms and malfunctions, 1968-1977.
File 44: Security system – bills, invoices, collection letters, 1970-1974.
File 45: Security system – installation and service Rollins Protective System, 1976-1982.
File 46: Termite problems, 1973-1974.
File 47: Insurance on house, Aetna, 1981.
File 48: Miscellaneous notes and clippings.
File 49: Contents of a notebook – “Notes-House and Grounds.”
File 50: Campbell Weir plans for furniture arrangement, 1948-1949.
File 51: Chester County Day data, 1947-1955.
File 52: Tour of Humphry Marshall house by Chester County Historical Society, 1968; miscellaneous information on Humphry Marshall, winter aconite flowers in bloom.
File 53: Structural repairs at hours, 1958.
File 54: Florula Cestrica: an essay towards a catalogue of the phaenogamous plants, native and naturalized, growing in the vicinity of the Borough of West-Chester, in Chester County, Pennsylvania, … by William Darlington. West-Chester, Penn. Printed for the author by Simeon Siegfried, 1826. Inscribed to: Maxs Marshall with the respects of the author on inside front cover.
File 55: Humphry Marshall papers … placed for safekeeping in the Chester County Historical Society, Sept 7, 1966; list of items in front of folder.
Box 11.
Personal financial records and tax information
File 1: Personal financial records, 1920s and 1930s.
File 2: Personal expense records, 1932-1939.
File 3: Graphs and charts on companies in which he owned stock.
File 4a-b: Tax records, 1938, 1939.
File 5: IRS correspondence, 1939-1941 concerning tax deficiencies, 1935-1939.
File 6: Income tax records, 1940.
File 7: Delaware and New York state tax returns, 1941.
File 8: Tax liability protest for 1939, recorded 1941.
File 9: IRS forms and tax data, 1941.
File 10: Statement of personal items sold for Mrs. Henderson Weir by Stuart Kingston Galleries, 1946.
File 11: Info. on Mrs. Henderson Weir’s estate taxes, 1950s.
File 12: Tax assessment data – bills, letter, clippings, notices, 1970-1972.
File 13: Chester County tax reassessment, 1970 – documents, memos, correspondence.
File 14: Campbell Weir’s concern for changes in local tax laws, 1973.
File 15: Medicare forms, 1977.
Tax Records:
File 16: Tax correspondence with Campbell Weir’s lawyer, A. Thomas Parke, III, 1981.
File 17: Tax returns, cancelled checks, receipts, bills, 1950-1955.
File 18: Tax information – receipted bills, cancelled checks, investment reports, 1951.
File 19: Tax information – receipted bills, cancelled checks, investment reports, 1957.
File 20: Tax information – receipted bills, cancelled checks, investment reports, 1958.
File 21: Tax information – receipted bills, cancelled checks, investment reports, 1959.
File 22: Tax information – receipted bills, cancelled checks, investment reports, 1960.
File 23: Tax information – receipted bills, cancelled checks, investment reports, 1961.
File 24: Tax information – receipted bills, cancelled checks, investment reports, 1962.
Box 12.
Campbell Weir notebooks.
1. Housekeeping Accounts, 1949-1956.
2. General financial records, 1951-1968.
3. Income tax and farm records, 1950-1954.
4. Income tax records, personal and farm, 1956-1975.
5. Personal and maintenance, 1956-1977.
6. Maintenance, 1963-1982.
7. Personal, 1977-1982.
8. Garden and Grounds, 1956-1970.
Box 13.
Campbell Weir Photograph Collection Inventory
1. Portion of General David McMurtrie Gregg’s staff (Civil War).
2. General David McMurtrie Gregg’s staff.
3. Col. Henry Carey Weir.
4. Sgt. William B. Weir, USA, circa 1864.
5. Henderson Weir as a child.
6. Military camp – Camp Washington, 1916?
7. Beagle Hunting with the Rockland pack – January 1936.
8. Beagle Hunting with the Rockland pack – January 1936.
9. Beagle Hunting with the Rockland pack – January 1936.
10. Beagle Hunting with the Rockland pack – January 1936.
11. Beagle Hunting with the Rockland pack – January 1936.
12. Foxcatcher National Steeplechase at Fair Hill, Maryland, 1937.
12a. Pencil sketch portrait of John Ferguson, father of Louisa F. Weir who was wife of Robert Walters Weir, 1775-1832.
13. Robert Walter Weir – great grandfather of Campbell Weir
13a. Copy of a portrait of Louisa Ferguson, wife of Robert Walter Weir from a portrait by R. W. Weir.
14. Isaac Henderson – great grandfather of Campbell Weir.
15. Gen. David McMurtrie Gregg’s staff – Union army 1863, includes Col. Henry Carey Weir.
16. Group of unidentified Civil War soldiers and two women.
17. Col. Henry C. Weir.
17a. Two portraits – Henry Carey Weir and Josephine W. Henderson Weir before Weir marriage at West Point, NY. Parents of Julie Weir, Marghetic Merrill and grandparents of Alan (deceased) and Campbell Weir.
18. ‘Caro’ – drawing of Alden Weir’s daughter.
19. Col. Henry C. Weir and son-in-law, Clement Merrill.
20. Henderson Weir as a child.
21. Henderson Weir.
22. Mary Campbell Weir, 1911.
22a. Two Mary Campbell Weir portraits – one signed Elias Goldensky, 1914.
23. Mary Campbell Weir and Henderson Weir in a wagon at Sugar Loaf Station.
24. Mary Campbell Weir, 1911.
25. Campbell Weir and Henderson Weir at Plum Island, 1916.
26. Campbell Weir in 1902.
26a. Alan Weir in 1902 (fragment of platinum print).
27. Campbell Weir at 19 months.
28. Campbell Weir as a small child.
29. Campbell Weir and Alan Weir with their class at Miss Mathews’ School, 1908.
30. Campbell Weir at Chatham, Mass, 1912.
31. Campbell Weir and Alan Weir, ca 1916.
32. Campbell Weir and Alan Weir at Sugar Loaf, 1913.
33. Campbell Weir, Alan and Mary Campbell Weir, 1914.
33a. 5 portraits of Alan Weir, 1918 – 1920, some by E. Goldensky.
34. Campbell Weir in uniform, ca 1916.
35. Camp Terry at Fort Washington on Plum Island.
35a. Unidentified Army officer.
36. Three cadets who graduated from West Point in 1924, CW of Wilmington, Reed Graves from Philadelphia, and Harry Taylor from New Castle.
36a. Unidentified polo team, perhaps Camp Terry or West Point, with CW third from left, second row?
37. Unidentified steeplechase.
37a. Unidentified swimming team, perhaps from West Point, with Campbell Weir third from the left, top row?
38. ‘Soldier’s Fate’ – the horse Campbell Weir owned which won the Foxcatcher National Cup Steeplechase in 1931 and 1938.
39. After the victory, Mr. and Mrs. Gardner Cassatt, Jockey and Campbell Weir
40. Campbell Weir and his jockey with the trophy – Fair Hill, MD.
41. Campbell Weir, Mrs. W. Plunkett Stewart, Mrs. J. Arthur du Pont with trophies.
42. Campbell Weir, Esther du Pont Weir, and Mrs. Sidney Scott with trophies.
43. The Trophies.
44. Steeplechase at Fair Hill, 1937.
45. Two photos of Campbell Weir hunting with ‘Wise View’ 1934.
46. Horse, Wise View, 1934.
47. Horse, Berkeley, 1937.
48. Horse, Pytchley, 1937.
49. Horse, Foxford, 1937.
50. Beagle hunting: Donald Ross, J. Simpson Dean, Campbell Weir, Burley Coxe.
51. Horse, Berkeley, 1937.
52. Hunting with beagle pack – Campbell Weir’s Rockland Beagles, 1936.
53. Hunting with Campbell Weir’s Rockland Pack, 1937.
54. Alfred Bissell, Campbell Weir John McCombe, William du Pont on horseback.
55. Katherine Reeve, J. Stanley Reeve and Campbell Weir.
56. Mrs. C. Whitney Elliot and Campbell Weir on horseback.
57. Alex Cassatt, Arthur Meigs, Campbell Weir, Stanley Reeve.
58. Katharine Reeve.
58a. Three photos: Campbell Weir on “Lady Darlene” at a meet of the Cheshire Hounds; The British Ambassador (tweed coat), Lord Halifax at a meet of the Cheshire Hounds at the Kennels; fragment – Campbell Weir astride.
59. Campbell Weir and Mrs. Alfred Bissell attending a dog show, 1930s.
60. Bryn Mawr Hound Show, circa 1936.
61. Stanley Reeve and Elsie Cassatt Reeve.
62. Julie and Sandra Casement.
63. “Landhope Farm” (Arthur Meig’s home) aerial 1940.
64. “Spirit of Landhope in August.”
65. Lafayette’s Headquarters at Chadds Ford.
66. Campbell Weir in 1946.
67. Photo of Campbell Weir drawing, 1946.
68. Henderson Weir, while working on a ranch in Wyoming, 1887.
69. Campbell Weir as a baby.
70. Campbell Weir’s beagle pack.
71. Barbados, 1939.
72. Campbell Weir and his otter, circa 1940.
73. Campbell Weir’s horse, Graft.
74. World War II, Columbia, Missouri.
75. Nantucket, 1945-1946.
76. Mitchell Ray, old man on Nantucket.
77. Negatives of Nantucket.
78. Unionville – CW’s cabin, the art studio.
79. Unidentified house, 1940s.
80. Unidentified entryway, 1940s.
81. Unidentified horseman.
82. Col. Henry C. Weir.
83. Col. Henry C. Weir.
84. Col. Henry C. Weir.
85. Margaret Johnson Henderson (Isaac Henderson’s wife)
86. Josephine Henderson Weir.
87. Family gravestones.
88. Mary Campbell 1893, age 19.
89. Mary C. Weir.
90. Mary C. Weir.
91. Campbell Weir and Alan Weir with nurse, 1905.
92. Weir boys and nurse.
93. Campbell Weir and nurse at Cape Cod.
94. Campbell Weir, Alan and Mary C. Weir, circa 1905.
95. Pet dachshunds.
96. Family pets.
97. Campbell Weir’s childhood home, 810 Broome St., Wilmington, DE.
98. Sugar Loaf, 1911.
99. Lizzie and Katie, Cold Spring.
100. Camp Washington, Fort Terry on Plum Island.
101. Nine snapshots, Princeton ROTC camp.
102. Alan Weir, sailing.
103. Cape Cod.
104. West Point.
105. Campbell Weir riding Peter Bickford, 1925.
106. Campbell Weir’s horse, Peter Bickford.
107. Unidentified polo players, 1920s.
108. Hunting, 1930s.
109. Rockford Beagle Pack pups.
110. Campbell Weir and Robert Strawbridge.
111. Campbell Weir, 1930s.
112. Glencoe, Campbell Weir’s estate in Unionville.
113. Glencoe, Campbell Weir’s estate in Unionville.
114. Glencoe, Campbell Weir’s estate in Unionville.
115. Georgian doorway “Glencoe.”
116. Unidentified man – possibly Nat Brown, with donkey and dog, Peter.
117. Unidentified man, horse and colt.
118. Doe Run.
119. Mrs. Alfred Bissell and Campbell Weir’s dog, Black Jack.
120. Campbell Weir’s Labrador retrievers.
121. Campbell Weir and dog, Peter at his mother’s home in Westover Hills, Delaware – 1930s.
122. Pincher, dog.
123. Peter, dog.
124. Mrs. Alfred Bissell with her hound pack.
125. Campbell Weir’s horse, Wise View.
126. View of naval vessel.
127. Campbell Weir’s poodle, Chris.
128. 12 snapshots – Barbados?
129. Barbados, 1939.
130. Barbados, 1939.
131. Sugar Loaf, 1939.
132. Labrador retrievers.
133. World War II – Columbia, Missouri.
134. Randolph Field Texas, World War II.
135. Campbell Weir at desk.
136. Lafayette’s Headquarters at Chadds Ford.
137. Unidentified stone house – possibly Lafayette’s Headquarters.
138. Unidentified photos – Chester County 1940s (10 snapshots).
139. Unidentified photos – Chester County 1940s (9 snapshots).
140. Unidentified photos – Chester County 1940s (6 snapshots).
141. Unidentified photos – Chester County 1940s (6 snapshots).
142. Humphry Marshall house, 9 snapshots, color, black and white.
143. Paintings in Humphry Marshall house, 4 polaroids.
144. Glencoe rooms – color.
145. Glencoe rooms – black and white.
146. Glencoe rooms – black and white.
147. Winter Aconite – flowers in Humphry Marshall house gardens.
148. Marshallton Inn bar, 1955.
149. Geraldine Murray Nutt and son, undated.
150. Goose hunting – Mrs. Alfred Bissell.
151. Susan Bissell Parker, undated.
152. Geraldine Nutt family photos.
153. Friends, Doe and Alex Toland, undated.
154. Jack Campbell (second cousin) and unidentified elderly women.
155. Geraldine Murray Nutt – 5 photos color and black and white
156. Unidentified family, Washington, D.C.
157. Unidentified women.
158. Unidentified man, postcard.
159. Photo of wall decoration.
160. William C. Bryant, Major General Couch, G. V. Weir – 4 CDV.
161. ‘The Fox Hunt” by Winslow Homer.
162. Humphry Marshall house – color photo.
163. Unidentified woman in riding habit.
164. Unidentified mansion – 2 platinum prints.
165. Campbell Weir astride.
166. Horse, Soldier’s Fate.
167. Horse, Byword.
168. Horse falling at steeplechase.
169. Rockland Beagles.
170. Rockland Beagles with Campbell Weir and Nat Brown, huntsman.
171. Three photos of foxhunting with the Cheshire Hounds: includes Elsie Cassatt Stewart, Mrs. Cliff Cheston, Mrs. John McKenny, Mr. and Mrs. Plunkett Stewart, and Charlie Smith.
172. Hound, Treweryn Milkmaid.
Album with snapshots of Humphry Marshall house.
Box 13a. Oversize
173. Robert Walker Weir.
174. Horse, Soldier’s Fate.
Box 14. Cancelled Checks and Bank Statements.
Tax Records, 1963 – 1978
File 1: Duplicate copies income tax returns 1955-1965.
File 2: Personal finances, 1963. Cancelled checks, account book pages.
File 3: Personal finances, 1964. Cancelled checks, account book pages.
File 4: Personal finances, 1965. Cancelled checks, account book pages.
File 5: Personal finances, 1966. Cancelled checks, account book pages.
File 6: Personal finances, 1967. Cancelled checks, account book pages.
File 7: Personal finances, 1968. Cancelled checks, receipted bills, etc.
File 8: Personal finances, 1969. Income tax data, receipts, checks, etc.
File 9: Personal finances, 1970. Income tax record, receipts, checks, etc.
File 10: Personal finances, 1971. Tax records, cancelled checks, etc.
File 11: Personal finances, 1972. Income tax data, cancelled checks, etc.
File 12: Personal finances, 1973. Income tax data, cancelled checks, etc.
File 13: Personal finances, 1974. Income tax data, receipts, cancelled checks, stock transactions.
File 14: Personal finances, 1975. Personal records. Income tax data and person records.
File 15: Personal finances, 1976. Income tax data, cancelled checks, etc.
File 16: Personal finances, 1977. Income tax data, cancelled checks, etc.
File 17: Personal finances, 1978. Income tax data, cancelled checks, etc.
Box 15. Arbustrum Americanum; miscellaneous photos, etc. to be sorted; postcards – Western U.S. in the 1880s, miscellaneous books and guides, post cards – West Indies, 1937; Social Register – Philadelphia, 1964; Recipe Files; Conductor Generalis, 1749 (Humphry Marshall’s copy) X-CC Law Library.
Box 16. 3-D stereoscopic views of Marshall House, with viewer.
Box 17. Oversize items.
Military documents:
1. Henry C. Weir’s commission and appointment to rank of second lieutenant Company G First Regiment of Cavalry Pennsylvania Reserve Volunteer Corps. Signed November 4, 1861, by Pennsylvania Gov. Andrew G. Curtain.
2. Henry C. Weir’s commission and appointment to assistant quartermaster of volunteers with the rank of captain in the U. S. Army. Signed July 19, 1862, by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (M.1982.15.195).
3. Henry C. Weir’s commission and appointment to assistant adjutant general of volunteers with the rank of major in the U. S. Army. Signed March 1, 1865, by President Abraham Lincoln and Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton (M.1982.15.196).
4. Henry C. Weir’s commission and appointment to assistant adjutant general of volunteers with the rank of captain in the U. S. Army. Signed April 20, 1865, by President Andrew Johnson and Sec. of War Edwin M. Stanton.
5. Henry C. Weir’s commission and appointment to major in the U. S. Army. Signed April 20, 1865, by President Andrew Johnson and Sec. of War Edwin M. Stanton (M.1982.15.274).
6. Henry C. Weir’s commission and appointment to lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army. Signed March 20, 1866, by President Andrew Johnson and Sec. of War Edwin M. Stanton (M.1982.15.275).
Artwork:
7. Photo of portrait of Mitchell Ray, Nantucket, Massachusetts by Ruth Haviland Tutton.
8. Pencil sketch of Nantucket Garden, Main St., Nantucket by Ruth Haviland Tutton.
9. Pen and ink drawing of Humphry Marshall house, by T. MacNeill, 1952.
Certificate and Diploma:
10. Diploma of Alan Weir from U. S. Naval Academy. June 4, 1924.
11. Certificate (honorary) issued to Alan Weir for crossing the equator. July 6, 1925.
12. Plan of 50-acre Weir farm at Marshallton, PA., 1949.
Weir Family Background
By Carolyn D. McCreesh, 1982
Robert Weir emigrated from Paisley, Scotland, arriving in America in 1790. He settled in New Rochelle, New York and married May Catherine Brinkley of Philadelphia in 1802. According to family recollections, he made a fortune and promptly lost it.
Robert and Catherine’s son Robert Walter Weir was born in 1803 in New York City. At the age of 16 he joined a New York business house but was dismissed not long afterwards because of a personality clash with his employer. He became an art student, eventually studying in Rome with the sculptor, Greenough. He returned to the United States, began to practice art professionally and, in 1834, won an appointment to teach drawing at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY. He served in this post until his retirement in 1876. One of his paintings, “The Embarkation of the Pilgrims,” hangs in the Capitol rotunda in Washington, DC. He also designed and decorated the Church of the Holy Innocents near West Point, NY. He became a member of the National Academy in 1829 and completed a number of handsome paintings of historical subjects and won renown as an illustrator as well.
Robert W. Weir married Louisa Ferguson of New York City. Her father, John Ferguson, also migrated from Scotland. He graduated from the College of New York, earning degrees in both medicine and law. As a member of the New York Bar he became a judge of the maritime court and Naval Officer of the Port of New York. In 1815 he was elected mayor of New York City. Before Louisa’s untimely death in 1845, the couple had several children, including Robert who became a naval officer, Verplanck who was brevetted for gallantry in the Civil War, and John Ferguson who became a professor of art at Yale University. Henry Carey Weir was another son of Robert and Louisa, whereas the noted American artist John,Alden Weir was the son of Robert’s second wife, Susan Bayard Weir.
Henry Carey Weir was born at West Point, NY, in 1839 but grew up in New York City. He enlisted as a private in the Union Army at the start of the Civil War and served in the 28th Infantry of the New York Volunteers. In 1862 he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the First Pennsylvania Cavalry. Later, he became a captain and assistant adjutant in the 2nd Cavalry Division under General David McMurtrie Gregg, a noted and highly respected officer. Eventually, he reached the rank of colonel and served Gregg as adjutant general. He saw action in 56 engagements and was wounded several times. An act of outstanding heroism at St. Mary’s Church, Virginia won him the Congressional Medal of Honor. After the war he moved to a farm at Warwick in Orange County, New York.
Henry C. Weir married Josephine Henderson, daughter of a prominent newspaper publisher Isaac Henderson of New York. During the war Henry C. Weir wrote to Josephine, his brothers, and his father relating his war-time experiences. These letters, along with his official letter books, provide a fascinating glimpse into the life of a Union soldier in the Army of the Potomac. Henry C. Weir, who lived to be nearly ninety, was widely recognized as a gentleman of the old school. He maintained contact with his Civil War colleagues and continued into his old age to reminisce about his war time adventures.
Josephine Henderson had traveled in Europe before her marriage and, during their years together, she and Henry lived abroad for extended periods. Henry’s sister, Louisa, had married General Thomas Seymour who served in U.S. legations in several European capitals, including Rome. In fact, when Josephine Henderson Weir and her daughter, Julie, were visiting the Seymours in Rome during the 1890s, Julie became engaged to and eventually married an Italian nobleman, Danielo Marghetic. Henry C. Weir, who remained in the United States during that visit, heartily disapproved of the match, and did what he could via the mails to discourage the romance.
Henderson Weir, born in 1866, was one of Henry and Josephine Weir’s two sons. He grew up in Brooklyn with his grandfather Henderson. He attended Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, graduating at the age of 17. Not long after this he went to Wyoming with his uncle, Charlie Weir, and worked on a livestock ranch for three years. After the tragic loss of a train load of hogs during a blizzard, Henderson moved to Wilmington, Delaware where he stayed for a short time with family friends, the Sperrys. Henderson took a job at a bank and lived in a rooming house. At this time his parents, brother Alexander “Eck,” and sister Julie were residing in Europe. Eck had served in the U.S. cavalry in Arizona and Colorado, but sickness forced him to ask for a discharge. Eck returned from Europe to live alone but soon died of Bright’s disease.
Henderson married Mary Campbell who grew up in Wilmington, Delaware while her father, John Campbell, served in the U.S. Army as a surgeon. Campbell owned a country home in Cold Spring, New York, directly across the Hudson River from West Point and very near Sugar Loaf Mountain. Campbell, who reached the rank of general, retired to the family homestead in Cold Spring when he left the service. Henderson and Mary’s two sons, Campbell and Alan, were born in 1901 and 1902 respectively. Henderson had joined the Harlan and Hollingsworth Company after he left the bank. He won several promotions in this firm and had reached the position of Secretary-Treasurer when he died suddenly in 1917.
Campbell Weir drew together two seemingly divergent strains of his Weir/Campbell family background – military service and a deep appreciation and talent for art. Campbell attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and served as an Air Corps officer in World War II earning the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Throughout his life he maintained an enthusiasm for the fine arts. His earliest letters to relatives are filled with drawings and during the 1920s and 1930s he actively pursued this interest. Even his World War II letters include picturesque sketches of his surroundings on Guam. After purchasing the Humphry Marshall house, he spent long hours designing gardens and drawing up plans as well as working with oils, watercolors and pastels in his second-floor work room. In addition to these interests, Campbell Weir maintained a strong and abiding love for animals. Many of his hobbies, civic concerns and charitable interests centered around animals. Campbell Weir’s life, then, reflects both family tradition and a special individuality.
Campbell Weir, born in 1901 in Wilmington, Delaware, spent his boyhood at the family home on Broome Avenue. He and his younger brother, Alan, attended Miss Mathews’ School and the Wilmington Friends School. The family of four spent summer vacations at Cape Cod, at the Campbell homestead in Cold Spring, New York, and the Henderson home at Sugar Loaf, New York. During the summer of 1916 Campbell attended military camp run by the state of New York at Fort Terry on Plum Island. There on the eastern tip of Long Island, Campbell joined with 1200 other young men to learn military skills. The high point of the campers’ summer was the visit and military review by Col. Theodore Roosevelt. The following summer he attended Princeton Summer School where he took academic courses in the morning and spent the afternoon in rigorous military drills. In the fall of 1918, he entered the Army-Navy Preparatory School in Washington, DC, and in early 1919, following a battery of tests, he received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
Campbell Weir entered West Point in June 1919. His letters to his mother, who meticulously numbered and filed them, provide a fascinating look at the life of a West Point cadet in the years immediately following World War I. He also kept a careful photographic record of the academy years as well as a collection of clippings which offer third person descriptions of academy activities. Apparently, Weir did not feel comfortable with the regimentation of military life and after weighing the alternatives, he decided against accepting the commission which he was offered upon graduation in June 1924.
After graduation, Weir tried his hand at a number of jobs. He joined the engineering department of Krebs Pigment and Chemical Company of Newport, Delaware. Later he worked at Bellanca Aircraft in plant and field maintenance. Always interested in stocks and investments, he joined the firm of Ardis-Warwick in 1929. In 1930, he moved to Harriman and Company which later combined with the firm, Keech and Company. He became a general partner in this brokerage firm which dissolved in 1939.
In September 1928, he married Esther du Pont, the daughter of Lammot du Pont. Following an extended honeymoon trip to Europe, the couple moved to a newly renovated 18th century house on the Hagley estate near Rockland, Delaware. At the time of the wedding, Lammot du Pont gave Weir 400 shares of Dupont stock and 300 shares of Ballanca Aircraft stock. Campbell Weir lived the life of a country gentleman. Hunting with beagles and horse racing became his chief interests. He built both a stable for his hunting horses and a kennel for his beagle pack. Weir hired Nat Browne, an Englishman, to serve as kennel manager and master of the hunt because he aimed to assure conformity to English standards. In addition, he bought virtually all his clothing and sporting equipment from England. His scientific dog breeding program produced a fine beagle pack, the Rockland Beagles. The livery consisted of a short green coat with blue velvet collar, edging of gold braid, brass buttons engraved with RB (Rockland Beagle), and a running hare above the initials, a horn below. The hunting season lasted from September 1 to March 15 and they hunted every Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. In September and October they chased the native cottontail and in November they shifted to the Kansas jack rabbit. They also hunted the grey and red fox when they could be located.
Campbell Weir owned race horses and enjoyed attending steeplechases in which his horses competed. In 1937 and 1938 his horse, “Soldier’s Fate,” won the Foxcatcher National Cup Steeplechase at Fair Hill, Maryland.
Campbell and Esther Weir were noted for hosting elegantly lavish parties, first at the Rockland home and then at their spacious estate, “Glencoe,” in Unionville, Pennsylvania. The Chester County estate, which they purchased in the mid-1930s, included a large stable, kennels, and a stone cabin which Weir converted to an art studio. Then in 1938, he and Esther decided to separate, Esther kept the Unionville property, although Weir continued to keep his horses in the Glencoe stables and use the cabin for art projects. He moved to his mother’s home in Westover Hills, Delaware. He arranged for Angier Biddle Duke of Tuxedo Park, New York, to purchase his Beagle pack.
In 1939, when the stock brokerage house of Harriman and Keech went out of business, Campbell Weir started his own company. He provided the capital and assumed the presidency of Dispensers, Incorporated, a company which manufactured and distributed soft drink vending machines. John Rudolph was his partner and general business manager.
When the United States entered World War II in December 1941, Weir volunteered for a post in the cavalry, or remount, branch of the armed services. Instead of joining remount, he was named commandant of cadets at Randolph Field in Texas. In November 1942 he was promoted to Major, attended an advanced flying school and was eventually reassigned to the 493rd Bombardment Group. During the war he was stationed in Waco, Texas; Columbia, Missouri; Frederick, Oklahoma; Tucson, Arizona; and Salina, Kansas. Eventually, he received a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. Then in early 1945 he and his company were shipped to Guam where he served as commanding officer of the 26th Bombardment Maintenance Squadron. By June 1945 he had become fed up with army life in general and conditions in Guam in particular. He requested a release and received his discharge notice in July 1945. He served three years and three months. During his first assignment he met a young WAC lieutenant, Geraldine Murray. He developed a close personal relationship with her which he maintained by letters and visits during the war years. This friendship continued by mail and telephone into the 1970s.
When Weir received his discharge, he returned to Wilmington for a brief period and then, almost immediately, left for Massachusetts where he married Elizabeth Hume, a long-time friend who had two young children from a previous marriage. The couple moved to Nantucket where they rented a house from a friend of Weir’s mother. Their lease extended from October 1945 to April 1946. Here, he spent many hours sketching and painting. A Nantucket native, Ray Mitchell, captured his interest and he completed a variety of sketches and paintings of this elderly man.
During the war years and his six-month stay on Nantucket, Weir kept in close touch with his business partner, John Rudolph. Rudolph continued to run Dispensers, Inc. and informed Weir about all facets of their business. Rudolph also handled many personal transactions for his partner, including ordering sports equipment, dealing with Weir’s mother, and many other details of his personal life. The Weir/Rudolph correspondence provides a close look at Campbell Weir’s activities and interests in the years between 1942 and 1946.
While Weir lived with his new family on Nantucket, he began exploring the possibility of moving back to the Delaware Valley. He wanted to purchase a small farm with some income potential. He also investigated opportunities for investment and employment even though Dispensers, Inc. was still operating. Unhappily his marriage to Liz failed and, in the spring of 1946, he returned to Wilmington without his new family. In September 1946 he left for Las Vegas where he obtained a divorce from his second wife after promising to pay $100 a month alimony.
Following up on his interest in buying a farm in Chester County, he narrowed his choice to two: Lafayette’s Headquarters in Chadds Ford and the Humphry Marshall house in Marshallton. With advice from his mother, he decided on the 18th century Marshall house. Humphry Marshall, the noted 18th century Chester County botanist, had built the house himself and planted an arboretum. When he died, his nephew moved in. However, by the early 20th century the house passed out of the Marshall family. The Hathaways owned the house in the 1940s but rented it to George Lee Haskins. Weir discovered a family link between his family and Marshall’s through Marshall’s wife. After Weir decided to purchase the home, he agreed to allow Haskins to continue the renting arrangement. Surprisingly, Weir contemplated reselling the house in 1947 and 1948. Apparently, late in 1948, Weir decided to renovate the house and move in himself. He hired the prominent architect, Charles T. Okie, to draw up the plans. He arranged for the contractor, Frank March, to undertake these alterations. Renovations began in 1949 and, unfortunately, Weir felt that March failed to complete the agreed-on specifications adequately and a legal dispute ensued. At the same time, Weir began to rejuvenate the gardens. He hoped to recreate the splendid arboretum which Humphry Marshall had fashioned. He even explored the possibility of installing a Japanese garden. In addition, he launched a purchasing program designed to fill his new home with 18th century antiques. Mrs. Alfred Bissell, a longtime friend, fellow hunting enthusiast, and investor in Dispensers, Inc., helped him with many of the purchases. Until he moved into the Marshall house, Weir used the Unionville cabin for his art studio. Once he had moved, he utilized an upstairs room in his new residence for his art projects.
In the late 1950s, Weir began to investigate entering the house on the National Register of Historic Places and eventually donating the house to a charitable organization. He negotiated with both the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Chester County Historical Society. By the mid-1960s, Weir had settled on the Chester County Historical Society as the recipient. In 1967 he altered his will to provide for this donation. That same year he undertook additional repairs, renovations, and landscaping projects, including installation of a security alarm system.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Campbell Weir retained his keen interest in hunting and his love for animals. He became involved in a long term controversy with the Chester County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. He charged the SPCA with inhumane treatment of animals, failure to deal adequately with other cruelty cases, and financial mismanagement. On at least one occasion he campaigned to unseat officers and members of the advisory board. Over the years he wrote numerous letters to the Editor of the Daily Local News (West Chester, PA.) in an effort to awaken others to the problems that he believed warranted a public outcry. During his final years, illness curtailed many of his sporting and social activities while interest in drawing and painting remained keen. Campbell Weir died in 1982 at the age of 81. He was the last member of his immediate family. In accordance with his wishes, his body was cremated and the ashes placed between the graves of his two favorite dogs in a small marked plot on the grounds behind his home.
225 N. High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 | 610-692-4800
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