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Jay Cooke papers
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Held at: Historical Society of Pennsylvania [Contact Us]1300 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Jay Cooke was born in Sandusky, Ohio, on August 10, 1821. His father Eleutheros was a well-connected attorney and legislator, and was elected to Congress in 1830. Jay Cooke left the Midwest in the mid-1830s to work at the Philadelphia banking house E.W. Clark & Co., where he rose to become a partner. In 1844, Cooke married Dorthea Elizabeth Allen, with whom he had four children who lived to adulthood. During Cooke's employment at E.W. Clark & Co., that firm helped to finance the Mexican War; Cooke's eventual reputation as the "financier of the Civil War" may have been nurtured under the tutelage at Clark's firm.
In January 1861, Cooke and his brother-in-law William G. Moorhead opened Jay Cooke & Co., which would later be Philadelphia's most powerful financial house and a major national company. Cooke & Co. would later open a Washington, D.C., office, under the supervision of Cooke's brother Henry, and a New York office, with Cooke's younger brother Pitt overseeing operations.
Cooke's firm gained favor with Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase, who asked Jay Cooke & Co. to serve as financial agent for government loans and bonds in September 1861. In March 1862, Cooke was appointed subscription agent for the national loan. In this role, Cooke flourished, creating a successful advertising campaign that coupled print announcements with face-to-face entreaties of traveling agents in the Midwest. The print campaign leaned on patriotic language and helped to convince thousands of citizens to pledge their support to the Union war effort. After President Lincoln's assassination, Cooke used his influence to steady the panic that threatened to shake Wall Street. He purchased bonds with his own capital to help build confidence in the bond market when it seemed likely to fall. Cooke's investments and public efforts to promote the national loan helped to raise around $700 million by the end of the Civil War.
Cooke's great success as a subscription agent buoyed his efforts to promote the Northern Pacific Railroad after the Civil War ended. Cooke championed the railroad system, and put a great deal of effort into promoting westward expansion. After the Yellowstone area of Wyoming was discovered by eastern businessmen, Cooke's firm invested advertising dollars into the expansion of the Northern Pacific to Wyoming. They lobbied Congress to develop a national park, which would encourage tourism to this unknown area of the country. Cooke and his brother Henry were instrumental in pressuring legislators to create Yellowstone National Park. They had great hopes when the park was created in 1872. Unfortunately, they continued to incur greater expenses than revenues, and Jay Cooke & Co. found itself facing a rush on its bank on September 18, 1873. The fall of Jay Cooke & Co. created fear in investors and sparked the Panic of 1873.
One of the leading bankers of his day, Cooke involved himself in nearly everything from the endowment of churches and charities to the building of railroads and sale of securities.
Cooke made a practice of tithing, donating 10 percent of his income to charities before taking home a profit. This did not stop him from amassing a great fortune and purchasing two grand homes: one called Ogontz in Northeast Philadelphia, the other an entire island called Gibraltar in Lake Erie. He leased his Ogontz estate in 1883 to the Chestnut Street Female Seminary, which renamed itself the Ogontz School for Girls.
While Cooke lost most of his money in bankruptcy after the fall of Jay Cooke & Co, he regained a significant part of his money in the late nineteenth century, and lived comfortably at the end of his life. He died February 16, 1905, and was interred in Saint Paul's Episcopal Church cemetery in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
This collection contains correspondence, business and financial records, pamphlets, and a small group of personal papers, including ephemera, photographs, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks.
Making up the bulk of the Jay Cooke papers, Series 1 contains incoming and outgoing correspondence of Jay Cooke, his brothers Henry Cooke and Pitt Cooke, and a smaller amount of third-party correspondence from business partners and other family members. Cooke corresponded with some of the most powerful men of his day, making the correspondence the highlight of the collection. Researchers can trace business deals Cooke made with government officials, and observe behind-the-scenes negotiations and speculation. Correspondents describe major historical events, including the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, and the fall of Jay Cooke & Co. The nation's finances and railroads and westward expansion are major themes in the series.
Series 2 contains the business and financial records of Jay Cooke & Co.; J. B. Moorhead and William G. Moorhead (Jay Cooke's brother-in-law and business partner); Northern Pacific Railroad and related affiliates; and assorted records related to the national loans and Treasury bonds.
Series 3 includes primarily newspapers and newspaper clippings, along with miscellaneous ephemera and notes, photographs, and writings. This small series offers additional perspective on Jay Cooke's philanthropic, religious, and family orientation.
Series 1 and 2 are arranged chronologically. Series 3 is arranged roughly by size and then alphabetically by folder title, with photographs arranged together in one box. In Series 1, incoming, outgoing, and third-party correspondence are intermixed. Series 1 was partially microfilmed in 1997, and microfilm reel numbers can be found in the published microfilm guide, which is available at http://www.adam-matthew-publications.co.uk/digital_guides/civil_war_and_reconstruction_jay_cooke_series_one_parts_1_to_5/Contents.aspx (accessed June 14, 2010).
This collection is divided into three series:
1. Correspondence, 1843-1906, undated, 31.4 linear feet
2. Business & financial records, 1853-1893, undated, 9.0 linear feet
3. Personal, 1831-1906, undated, 3.0 linear feet
This collection was purchased by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Correspondence (Series 1) dating from 1843-1874 was microfilmed, and is available at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for researcher use. (MFilm Z 6616 .C66 J39 1997)
This collection was processed using the More Product, Less Process model, which aims to make materials accessible to researchers in less time than traditional processing. Please see the microfilm guide for more detailed description about the correspondence.
People
- Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873.
- Clark, Edward W., 1828-1904.
- Cooke , Eleutheros, 1787-1864.
- Cooke, Henry David, 1825-1881
- Cooke, Pitt, b. 1819.
- Fahnestock, Harris C. (Harris Charles), 1835-1914.
- Fessenden, William Pitt, 1806-1869.
- Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865.
- McCulloch, Hugh, 1808-1895.
- Moorhead, J. B.
- Moorhead, William G., fl. 1834-1866.
Organization
- E.W. Clarke and Co.
- Jay Cooke & Co.
- Northern Pacific Railway Company.
- United States. Dept. of the Treasury.
- Vermont Central Railroad Company.
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Historical Society of Pennsylvania
- Finding Aid Author
- Finding aid prepared by Cathleen Miller and Dana Dorman
- Finding Aid Date
- 2010
- Sponsor
- This collection was processed during the Digital Center for Americana pilot project, which was funded by the Barra Foundation and several individual donors.
- Use Restrictions
-
This collection is open for research.
Collection Inventory
Making up the bulk of the Jay Cooke papers, this series contains incoming and outgoing correspondence of Jay Cooke, his brothers Henry and Pitt Cooke, and a smaller amount of third-party correspondence from business partners and other family members. Correspondence is arranged chronologically, and incoming, outgoing, and third-party correspondence are intermixed.
The series offers rich information on the political and financial engagements of Jay Cooke & Co., and contains communications with many of the era's most powerful financiers, politicians, and land agents in the U.S. The correspondence contains information on the conduct and financing of the Civil War, nationalization of banks, westward expansion, railway building, the Northern Pacific Railroad, and the financial crisis of 1873. Cooke's connection with the Department of Treasury provides a unique inside view of political decisions, and illustrates Cooke's influence with many leaders in positions of great authority. Family letters contain information on assorted personal matters, and demonstrate Cooke's interest in church and civic affairs.
The collection includes Cooke's as well as his brothers' correspondence. Jay Cooke oversaw the banking house in Philadelphia; Henry oversaw the branch in Washington, D.C.; and Pitt controlled the New York firm. In addition to their financial partner H. C. Fahnestock, other significant correspondents in the collection include William E. Chandler, Treasury official and paid lobbyist for Cooke's interests; Salmon P. Chase, secretary of the Treasury under President Abraham Lincoln and later chief justice of the Supreme Court; Ignatius Donnelly, a lobbyist against the railroads; and Robert Schenck, head of the House Ways and Means Committee and minister to England.
Correspondence from 1843-1874 was microfilmed in 1997 and is available at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania for researcher use (MFilm Z 6616 .C66 J39 1997). A guide to the microfilm is listed in the bibliography, and provides more in-depth information about the content of Cooke's correspondence for those years. Note that the box numbers in that microfilm guide are out of date, but date ranges are clearly marked in both the guide and in the current finding aid.
A single box (Box 1) contains Cooke's correspondence from 1843-1857, which includes letters from Jay and his brothers about family business; letters from Pitt Cooke about investments, railroad stock, payment of debts, and more; letters from Benjamin Russell about church business and Sunday schools; and assorted letters about the business of E.W. Clark and Co., especially after Cooke took over the firm after Clark's death in 1856.
Major topics in the correspondence from 1858-1859 include bonds, land development, railroads (including Vermont Central, Southern Pacific, Great Western, Cumberland Valley, Franklin, and Sunbury and Erie railroads), banking, westward expansion, canal companies, and legal matters. Correspondents of interest include Pitt and Henry Cooke, Eleutheros Cooke, Salmon P. Chase, W. J. Barney, E. T. H. Gibson, Henry S. Getz, Edward Dodge, Edward W. Clark, H. C. Fahnestock, E. R. Biddle, L. C. Clark, William G. Cooke, Samuel Marks, and various banking firms.
Cooke and his brother-in-law William G. Moorhead opened Jay Cooke & Co. in January 1861, and correspondence from 1860-1861 concerns the outbreak of the Civil War, the unsettled financial situation, support for Lincoln, banking business, family information, legal issues, the raising of Treasury notes and bonds for the war effort, promotion of 7-30 loans, payroll for troops, requests for philanthropic work, and more. Major correspondents include Pitt and Henry Cooke, Edward W. Clark, Salmon P. Chase, L. C. Clark, Edward Dodge, H. D. Moore, G. W. Harringon, Jay's wife Lizzie, and Eleutheros Cooke.
In 1862, many letters passed to and from Henry Cooke regarding the new Jay Cooke & Co. financial house in Washington, D.C., established to deal in national loans. The Civil War continued to be a major topic in correspondence, and Henry wrote about the war's impact in Washington. In 1863, correspondents discuss speculation in the gold market, land deals, the 5-20 loan, publicity for the loan program, accusations of corruption, nationalization of banks, Civil War battles, church matters, trade and taxes, and assorted family affairs. Principal correspondents in 1862-1863 include Salmon P. Chase, H. C. Fahnestock, W. J. Barney, Henry and Pitt Cooke, J. G. Camp, H. D. Moore, G. W. Moorhead, H. S. Getz, R. Clarkson, Eleutheros Cooke, and numerous traveling agents.
In 1864, key topics include Henry Cooke's illness and subsequent trip to Europe, Pitt Cooke's prolonged illness, the end of the 5-20 loans, the 10-40 loans, the gold market, the national banking system, Salmon P. Chase's desire to run against Lincoln in the presidential elections, Chase's resignation as Treasury secretary and later appointment as chief justice of the Supreme Court, Lincoln's reelection, the promotion of bond sales in England, land, trading, taxes, railroads, mining, church matters, and the death of Cooke's father, Eleutheros. Correspondents also continue to discuss the Civil War, the fighting that has reached Washington, and Confederate troops' burning of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. President Lincoln asks on August 12, 1864 to meet with Jay Cooke, and a series of letters from H. C. Fahnestock in July and August 1864 concern the debate over the North's war aims, slavery, and Lincoln's clashes with Gen. George McClellan. Key correspondents in 1864 include Henry and Pitt Cooke, Salmon P. Chase, H. C. Fahnestock, R. Clarkson, W. J. Barney, H. Fisk, G. R. Messersmith, George S. Coe, G. Moorhead, Mary Cooke, W. P. Fessenden, W. S. Huntington, W. Evans, Morris Ketchum, and John A. Stewart.
National loans, banking, and other financial matters are major topics in correspondence from 1865, with key correspondence between Secretary of the Treasury W. P. Fessenden, Henry Cooke, and Jay Cooke. Among the topics discussed are the success of the 7-30 loans, the terms at which they should be offered, commissions to loan agents, bond sales through the Treasury, Fessenden's resignation, and his successor, Hugh McCulloch. Other key topics in 1865 include the downfall of the Ketchum banking house, Jay Cooke & Co.'s plans to open a branch in New York, taxes, Reconstruction, the reorganization of Jay Cooke & Co., Cooke's purchase of the island called Gibraltar in Lake Erie, church, charity, land matters, and an investigation into Pittsburgh 7-30 agents. Family letters discuss Pitt Cooke's ill health, and in the early part of the year, many letters offer condolences for the death of Cooke's father. Of course, the Civil War remains a major focus of correspondence in 1865, with interesting letters regarding Lincoln's death and the aftermath, the fall of Richmond, and the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Major correspondents include Henry and Pitt Cooke, Salmon P. Chase, H. C. Fahnestock, Mary Cooke, W. P. Fessenden, Morris Ketchum, H. D. Moore, F. H. Evans, various New York newspaper men wanting to promote national loans, Fisk & Hatch, G. A. Bassett, J. A. Stewart, various travelling agents, H. Dyer, G. W. and J. Moorhead, H. McCulloch, P. C. Calhoun, W. J. Barney, and a copy of a third-party letter from Mary Lincoln (dated May 26, 1865).
In 1866, Reconstruction, banking business, and financial matters are key topics. Jay Cooke & Co. opened its branch in New York, and correspondents discuss railroads and mining investments, the Mexican loan, reform of the national banks, the failure of Merchants National Bank, a new loan bill in Congress, and detailed bank business matters, among other topics. There are also a fair number of letters regarding church, family, and philanthropic matters. Principal correspondents include Henry and Pitt Cooke, Salmon P. Chase, H. C. Fahnestock, J. Gregory Smith, F. H. and W. Evans, Jay Cooke Jr., H. D. Moore, John Hume, and W. S. Huntington.
Reconstruction remains a major topic in 1867 correspondence, along with the possible impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and the costs of an "Indian War." Jay Cooke & Co. business, railroads, land speculation, bills in Congress, fears of financial crisis, elections, and political relationships are also key topics. Jay Cooke defends Salmon P. Chase, and Marcus Root writes to ask for financial assistance publishing his photography manual. Other correspondence discusses family, philanthropy, and church, as well as theological topics. Henry and Pitt Cooke, Salmon P. Chase, and H. C. Fahnestock continue to be major correspondents, and other key figures include "Star" (a Washington informant), W. S. Huntington, John Hume, Isaac H. Sturgeon, H. D. Moore, W. J. Barney, John A. Stewart, and Hugh McCulloch.
In 1868, correspondents discuss government oversight of Jay Cooke & Co.'s sale of bonds, investments, an overdraft at the Washington, D.C., office, the impeachment proceedings against President Johnson, the national insurance bill, the Randall resolution (against the national banking system), a strike at Preston Coal Co., railroad bonds, funding for the presidential election, and the election of President Ulysses S. Grant. Family letters concern the illness and death of the Cookes' sister Sarah. Principal correspondents include Henry and Pitt Cooke, Salmon P. Chase, H. C. Fahnestock, "Star" (apparently L. L. Crounse), W. S. Huntington, John Hume, Isaac H. Sturgeon, H. D. Moore, W. J. Barney, W. E. Chandler, Hugh McCulloch, and Jay Cooke Jr.
From 1869-1871, Jay Cooke & Co. business affairs and railroads are the major topics. Correspondents discuss business, banking, tax issues, the new banking office in London (Jay Cooke & McCulloch & Co.), whether to close the D.C. office, whether Jay Cooke would become secretary of the Treasury, various bills in Congress, new government bond sales, potential investments, job opportunities, church matters, and miscellaneous philanthropic topics. Railroads are another major topic, especially the Northern Pacific Railroad. Other railroads discussed include Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad Co., Union Pacific Railroad, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan Railroad Co., North Missouri Railroad, and more. Principal correspondents include Henry and Pitt Cooke, H. C. Fahnestock, H. C. McCulloch, Uriah H. Painter, Frank H. Evans, Samuel Wilkeson, W. L. Banning, Rice Harper, W. G. Moorhead, A. H. Barney, and G. B. Sargent.
The company's business fortunes turned in 1872-1873. Correspondents discussed whether the company would collapse over a large overdraft, the Crédit Mobilier scandal, and eventually the failures of Jay Cooke and Co., Clarke & Co., and Fisk and Hatch, the collapse of railroad stock prices, and the company's bankruptcy. Other topics found in the correspondence from this period include the Northern Pacific Railroad and other railroads, the presidential campaign between Ulysses S. Grant and Horace Greeley, potential investments, church matters, and charity. Principal correspondents include Henry and Pitt Cooke, H. C. Fahnestock, H. C. McCulloch, Col. Puleston, General Cass, G. C. Thomas, J. G. Smith, Samuel Wilkeson, W. L. Banning, Rice Harper, W. G. Moorhead, A. H. Barney, and G. B. Sargent.
A single box contains the correspondence from April 1874-1906 (Box 76), and one box contains telegrams from Jay Cooke's personal telegraph machine (Box 77).
The series also includes six bound volumes of Jay Cooke's outgoing correspondence preserved in letterpress books, dating from January 19, 1870-July 5, 1873.
Physical Description31.4 Linear feet ; 77 boxes, 6 volumes
This series includes the business and financial records of Jay Cooke & Co.; J. B. Moorhead and William G. Moorhead (Jay Cooke's brother-in-law and business partner); Northern Pacific Railroad and related affiliates; and assorted records related to the national loans and Treasury bonds.
The records of Jay Cooke & Co. include receipts from Henry D. Cooke and Pitt Cooke, as well as Jay Cooke's personal expenses. The company's financial records span from 1858 to 1874 (Box 78, folders 6-8), with a folder of materials relating to the Jay Cooke & Co. bankruptcy (Box 78, Folder 5). There are also a small number of receipts and notes from J. B. Moorhead and William G. Moorhead, Jay Cooke's brother-in-law and eventual business partner (Box 78, folders 1-4). Many of the letters in Series 1 also discuss Jay Cooke's business affairs.
A significant amount of the financial records relate to Jay Cooke & Co.'s service as financial agent for national government loans and Treasury bonds (boxes 82-87). However, subscription records for these loans offer little in the way of personal detail, recording only the date and amount of purchase, not names or other details of who subscribed.
The collection includes two boxes of materials (boxes 88-89) concerning the Northern Pacific Railroad (NPRR) and its affiliates, and includes account records, agreements, clippings, correspondence, financial statements, land papers, legal documents, legislation, and reports. Among the NPRR affiliates included in the collection are the National Telegraph Co., Great Central Pacific Railroad, Fisk & Hatch, Vermont Central Railroad, Chartires Valley Railroad Co., Sunbury and Erie Railroad, Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, Illinois Central Railroad, and Pennsylvania Central Railroad. There are also materials related to the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad, the Western Land Association, the board of the NPRR, and a statement of Jay Cooke & Co's financial responsibility for the NPRR. Boxes 93-94 contain an 1879 report on the Horn Silver Mine in Utah.
This series also includes two boxes of printed pamphlets (boxes 95-96) on a wide variety of topics, including reports from Jay Cooke & Co.'s bankruptcy, materials on assorted railroad companies, legislation, and commentary on national financial matters.
This series contains fourteen bound volumes, including a record of land purchased by Cooke in Iowa (Vol. 17); a report on the Vermont Central Railroad (Vol. 18); bound pamphlets from the Northern Pacific Railroad (Vol. 19); a ledger from 1851 (Vol. 20); and ten volumes of notes recorded in shorthand (vols. 21-30).
Finally, this series includes eleven flat files, primarily maps of railroad lines as well as printed matter related to the Northern Pacific Railroad and affiliates (Flat File 1), the national loan (Flat File 3), and Whelpley & Storer's water furnace plans (Flat File 7).
Box 95. Pamphlets
- Folder 1. A Brief Description of Fort Dodge, Iowa, 1858
- Folder 2. Eighteenth Annual Report of the Monongahela Navigation Co., January 14, 1858
- Folder 3. The Sunbury & Erie Railroad Co. vs. Lewis Cooper, 1858
- Folder 4. Charter and By-Laws of the Wyoming Canal Company, March 1859
- Folder 5. Bills to Incorporate the Holliday's Cove Rail Road Company and the Wheeling Rail Road Bridge Co., March 1860
- Folder 6. An Act Incorporating the Raritan and Delaware Bay Railroad Company, 1860
- Folder 7. The Penokee Iron Range of Lake Superior ... and Charter and Organization of the Lake Superior Mining and Smelting Company 1860; Map of the Penokee Iron Range, undated
- Folder 8. Report of the Board of Managers of the Ironton Railroad Company, February 11, 1861
- Folder 9. Report of the...Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Co., 1861
- Folder 10. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Plaintiff in Error, vs. Jay Cooke and William G. Moorehead...Defendants in Error, August 1862
- Folder 11. The Wyoming Valley Canal Company Act of Incorporation, April 1863
- Folders 12-13. General Laws and Resolves Passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts during the Session of 1863, 1863
- Folder 14. Acts of Congress Relating to Loans and the Currency, From 1842 to 1863 Inclusive, 1863
- Folder 15. Some Strictures on an Act to Provide a National Currency..., 1863
- Folder 16. The New Internal Revenue Law, June 30, 1864
- Folder 17. Charter and Amendments of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, July 2, 1864
- Folder 18. Our Burden and Our Strength ... Debts and Resources of Our Country, 1864
Box 96. Pamphlets
- Folder 1. The Wealth, Resources, and Public Debt of the United States, June 1865
- Folder 2. The Batopilas Silver Mining Company, 1865
- Folder 3. How Our National Debt May be a National Blessing, 1865
- Folder 4. Prospects of the National Telegraph Co., undated; Subscription List of the National Telegraph Co., 1866; Payment Slip, undated; S.Bill 357, undated; Directors Nat. Tel. Co., undated
- Folder 5. Memorial of the Grand Rapids and Indiana Railroad Company, January 11, 1867
- Folder 6. The National Finances and the Public Faith, January 30, 1868
- Folder 7. Letter of Mr. Jay Cooke on the Payment in Gold of the U.S. Five-Twenty bonds, 1868
- Folder 8. Guide to the Illinois Central Railroad Lands, 1868
- Folder 9. Letter to the Berlin Bourse, July 16, 1870
- Folder 10. Agreement of Lease between the Stillwater & St. Paul R.R. Co. and the Lake Superior & Mississippi R.R. Co., 1870
- Folder 11. By-Laws of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, 1873
- Folder 12. Report of the Committee to Board holders of Central Railroad Co. of Iowa, 1874
- Folder 13. Central Railroad Company of Iowa, March 10, 1874
- Folder 14. Report of the Trustee in Bankruptcy, 1874
- Folder 15. Copy of Cash Account of Edwin M. Lewis, Trustee, 1874
- Folder 16. In the Matter Jay Cooke & Co. in Bankruptcy, 1874
- Folder 17. Statement of Claims, 1874
- Folder 18. Report of the ... Northern Pacific Railroad Co..., September 1876
- Folder 19. The Great Water Power of the Northwest at the Head of St. Louis Bay, 1883
- Folder 20. Catalogue of ... the Remaining Assets of the Estate of Jay Cooke & Co. in Bankruptcy to be Sold at Public Sale, June 1890
- Folder 21. Silver Again Demonetized by the House of Representatives, 1890
- Folder 22. Interview with Francis G. Newlands of the National Silver Committee, 1890
- Folder 23. Business and Financial Records to the Stockholders of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, February 28, 1893
- Folder 24. Report of the Special Committee of the Stockholders of the Northern Pacific Railroad Co., 1893
- Folder 25. Third Annual Report of the Transactions of the Western Land Association of Minnesota, undated
- Folder 26. Catalogue of Western Lands for Sale by Drexel and Co., undated
Physical Description9.0 Linear feet ; 21 boxes, 14 volumes, 11 flat files
This small series includes primarily newspapers and newspaper clippings, along with miscellaneous ephemera and notes, photographs, and writings.
The newspapers and newspaper clippings concern a variety of topics, from the national loans and national debt, to Jay Cooke himself, to his steamer boat the Jay Cooke Steamer, to other topics of personal interest. The ephemera and notes in this series are highly diverse, including announcements and solicitations from Philadelphia organizations, notices related to church affairs, a printed copy of the will of E. W. Clark (Cooke's former employer), and various printed ephemera. The collection also includes a single folder of Cooke's writings (Box 91, Folder 10), which includes a typed reminiscence of Cooke's limited interactions with President Lincoln.
A small number of photographs capture images of Jay Cooke, his family, and especially his grandchildren, Ogontz Lodge, and other miscellaneous buildings and sites.
This series also includes ten bound volumes, primarily scrapbooks of newspaper clippings that focus on the national loans, financial topics, the Northern Pacific Railroad, westward expansion, and miscellaneous topics.
Flat file 2 includes a map of Lake Erie and the routes of the Jay Cooke Steamer and the Alaska Steamer.
For other insights into Cooke's personal life, Series 1 (correspondence) includes a large number of family letters that mention personal affairs, as well as Cooke's interest in church and civic affairs. Series 2 (business and financial papers) includes two boxes of Cooke's personal expenses (boxes 80-81).
Physical Description3.0 Linear feet ; 4 boxes, 10 volumes, 1 flat file