The Thomas A. Edison Papers Digital Edition

These records cover the period 1890-1899. They consist primarily of administrative and financial documents relating to insurance and tax matters, capital stock increases, directors' meetings, and state reporting requirements. Some of the material pertains to building contracts, claims for damages, and minor litigation involving the company. Most of the documents deal with reporting requirements for certified increases in the company's capital stock. The records relating to taxes and fees mainly concern the State of New Jersey, but there are also documents pertaining to the payments made to New York State and to Sparta Township in Sussex County, N.J. In addition, there are items concerning a salary dispute with Owen J. Conley, general superintendent of the Ogden works during the period 1892-1897, including an incomplete document containing Edison's testimony.

Most of the material is perfunctory. Less than one percent of the documents have been selected. The selected material includes an assessment of properties (1890); reports to New York and New Jersey regarding the company's place of business and capital investments (1892); a list relating to insurance on buildings and machinery at the Ogden works (ca. 1895); and documents pertaining to Conley's salary dispute (1897-1899).

Records not selected

Building Collapse

These records cover the period 1892-1896. They consist primarily of correspondence relating to litigation arising from the 1892 collapse of the stock house at the Ogden works, an accident which killed three employees and injured several others. Also included are notes, memoranda, and lists; newspaper clippings; duplicates of detectives' reports also found in the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works Records (Company Records Series); legal briefs, motions, notices, and opinions; and printed court records. The cases were directed by Elliott, although other attorneys carried out the litigation in court. Some of the documents pertain to the company's lawsuit against Guarantee & Accident Lloyds, the insurance underwriters who refused to pay liability claims arising from the accident.

Property Records

These records cover the period 1891-1901. They consist of documents relating to Elliott's work on the real estate interests of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania Concentrating Works. The material includes correspondence, notes, and lists; property descriptions, indentures, synopses of leases and legal actions, title searches, options, and releases. More than one hundred tracts of land in New Jersey and Pennsylvania are represented. Most of the material is organized alphabetically by state, county, township, and property owner. A more detailed description of the arrangement and listing of the property folders can be found in the finding aid. In addition, there are several standard-size notebooks by Elliott containing notes regarding mining leases, real estate and tax records, and negotiations with land owners.