The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

[This note covers the entire Elliott Incoming Correspondence.]

These documents cover the period 1883-1905, with most of the material dating from the 1890s. In addition to the correspondence, there are occasional receipts, bills, draft agreements, survey maps, copies of deeds, auction notices, clippings, and notes. The letters relate primarily to the property rights sought, acquired, or relinquished by the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works (NJPCW). Most of the correspondence is written by property owners or their intermediaries. Other authors include officers and employees of NJPCW: Edison, president; Walter S. Mallory, vice president; Thomas Butler, secretary; Harry M. Livor, general manager; William S. Perry, treasurer; P. F. Gildea, superintendent of the Ogden mine; R. D. Casterline, Theodore Lehmann, I. P. Pardee, and Charles J. Reed, property agents and mine surveyors; and Alfred O. Tate, Edison's private secretary. Some letters by Edison are in the hand of Mallory. There are also letters by attorney Sherburne B. Eaton; Abram S. Hewitt of Cooper, Hewitt & Co.; U.S. Senator John M. McPherson; and W. S. Pilling of Crane Iron Co. Although most of the letters are addressed to Elliott, there are also letters addressed to Edison, Tate, and others.

Included is correspondence relating to property descriptions, mortgage assignments, leases, royalties, options, and releases. Other letters concern insurance and tax matters, accidents, company financial obligations, board matters, the transmittal of documents, the arrangement of appointments, and Edison's schedule. There are also letters pertaining to the Crane Iron Co., Edison Iron Concentrating Co., New Jersey Iron Co., Ogden Iron Co., and Sussex County Iron Co. Some letters deal with postal service at the Ogden works (1892); Edison's development of crushing rolls (1892); a vacation planned by Lehmann and William K. L. Dickson (1893); activities at the Ogden works; and squatters on NJPCW property (1901).

Less than 5 percent of the documents have been selected. The following categories of documents have been selected: letters by Edison or bearing Edison marginalia; letters showing Edison's involvement, opinion, or instructions; material relating to Dickson; and items pertaining to squatters. In addition to routine property documents, categories of documents not selected include: references to Edison's schedule, routine correspondence concerning payment of bills, and authorizations of capital stock increases.