MATTHEW VASSAR, JR. COLLECTION
FINDING AID

Archives and Special Collections
James Cannavino Library
Marist College
3399 North Road
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
Phone: 845-575-5217
Fax: 845-575-3150
Email: john.ansley@marist.edu
URL: http://library.marist.edu/archives/Vassar_Aid.html

Processed by:

Erin Roohan

Date Completed:

Summer 2005

Descriptive Summary

Title:

Matthew Vassar, Jr. Collection

Creator:

Matthew Vassar, Jr.

Extent:

.5 linear feet

Date Span:

1841-1880

Repository:

Marist College Archives and Special Collections

Related Collections:

None

Abstract:

The collection contains diary excerpts of Matthew Vassar, Jr. printed in the Poughkeepsie Eagle, covering the tumultuous years before the Civil War, during the war, and afterwards. Matthew Vassar details Poughkeepsie history and the countrywide events that influenced Poughkeepsie, during the almost 40 year period of 1841 through 1880. There are also small pamphlets from the 1930s, of Public Officers and Boards in Poughkeepsie and the rules of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Home Club and the Poughkeepsie Police Manual.

Administrative Information

Access:

No restrictions.

Usage Restrictions:

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Provenance:

The Collection was donated to Marist College by the Moore Brothers.

Online Catalog Terms:

Civil War -- Poughkeepsie
Police Manual -- Poughkeepsie
Poughkeepsie -- 1841- 1880
Poughkeepsie -- History
Public Officers and Boards -- Poughkeepsie
Railroad Building -- Poughkeepsie
Roosevelt, Franklin D. -- Home Club
Vassar College
Vassar, Matthew Jr.

Historical Note:

Matthew Vassar, Jr., who was born in 1809, was the nephew of Matthew Vassar, who founded Vassar College. Matthew Vassar helped to care for Matthew Vassar, Jr. and his brother John Guy Vassar after their father’s death. Matthew Vassar, Jr. and his brother John were involved in their uncle’s brewing business, becoming partners in the business with their uncle. Both also served as trustees of Vassar College. They were all influential members and philanthropists of the Poughkeepsie community. The brothers both gave funds to finance the construction of the Vassar Brothers Hospital, Laboratory, and The Home for Aged Men. Matthew Vassar, Jr. also donated money to the Baptist Church, of which he was a member, and served as President of Poughkeepsie branch of the center for the prevention of cruelty to animals. He kept a diary detailing the events transpiring in the country and Poughkeepsie between 1841 and 1880, which the Poughkeepsie Eagle reprinted. Matthew Vassar, Jr. died in August of 1881 at the age of 73.

Samuel A. Moore, who donated the collection, lived in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and served as Police Commissioner in the 1930s.

Collection Overview

The collection consists of 14 printings of excerpted sections of Matthew Vassar’s diary entries which start in 1841 and end in 1880, printed by the Poughkeepsie Eagle. There are also two pamphlets of Samuel Moore’s from the 1920s and 1930s and the Poughkeepsie Police Manual.

List of Series:

1. Diary Excerpts
2. Miscellaneous

Series Descriptions

1. Diary Excerpts
There are 14 newspaper printings of the diary excerpts. The diary excerpts span the years from 1841 through 1880. The entries touch on the Gold rush, the building of the railroads, riots, the Fugitive Slave Act, the Civil War years, the death of President Lincoln, and more.
Size: .3 linear feet
Arrangement: Original Order
Containers: Box 1
Folders: 1

2. Miscellaneous
The pamphlet Franklin D. Roosevelt Home Club outlines the club’s Preamble and By- Laws. It was revised in 1931. The other pamphlet lists the City of Poughkeepsie’s Public Officers and Boards of 1938. There is also the Poughkeepsie Police Manual from 1929.
Size: .2 linear feet
Arrangement: Original Order
Containers: Box 1

ITEM LEVEL INVENTORY

Item 1	Life in Poughkeepsie From 1841 to 1849
Item 2	Life in Poughkeepsie From 1849 to 1851
Item 3	Life in Poughkeepsie in 1860.
Item 4	The Stirring Events of the First Year of the War. 1861.
Item 5	Events in the Second Year of the War. 1862.
Item 6	Life in Poughkeepsie From 1851 to 1854
Item 7	Life in Poughkeepsie From 1854 to 1856
Item 8	Events in Poughkeepsie From 1858 to 1860
Item 9	Events in Poughkeepsie During the Last Year of the War.
Item 10	Poughkeepsie Events in 1865 and 1866
Item 11	Events in Poughkeepsie During the Busy Years 1867, 1868, 1869
Item 12	Poughkeepsie Events in the Boom Years of 1870 and 1871
Item 13	Life in Poughkeepsie From 1872 to 1875
Item 14	Events in Poughkeepsie From 1875 to June 1880

Back to top

Item 15	Public Officers and Boards. 1938. Poughkeepsie, New York
Item 16	Franklin D. Roosevelt Home Club. Preamble and By-Laws. 1931.
Item 17	Police Manual. Rules and Regulations for the Government of the Department of Police of the City of Poughkeepsie. Poughkeepsie, N.Y. 1929.

Back to top

Home | Marist College | Library Home Page

Last updated on October 26, 2005