Call Number:

0250B

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

130.4 linear feet (; 326 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate cited item of series here], Simon Gratz autograph collection (Collection 250B), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1517-1925 (inclusive)

Creator:

Gratz, Simon, 1840-1925.

Form:

Autographs collections., Correspondence, Deeds., and Manuscripts

Abstract:

This autograph collection was created by Simon Gratz, starting in his late teens. A myriad of documents are included and represent Gratz’s philosophy of collecting and the many relationships he formed with other collectors in the United States and abroad. Contained here are autographed letters, legal documents, and artifacts from many prominent and well known figures and personalities in the arts, religion, government, education, and military. While there are some non-substantive letters written to Gratz much of the collection includes correspondence between prominent women and men across classes, professions, and nationalities. The collection dates from the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century. Besides date range, this collection differs slightly from the Simon Gratz collection (#250A) in its alphabetical arrangement, compared to the arrangement by categories/subjects (Case) in #250A. One other distinction in this collection are the personal letters and papers of Simon Gratz and family members, where the other has very few.

Simon Gratz (1840-1925) was among the most recognized and respected Jewish Americans in the city of Philadelphia. He was born into one of the oldest families and, perhaps, most notable. He inherited a legacy of high ambition and accomplishment going back to the family’s early settlers in the United States—Barnard and Michael Gratz. The Gratz Brothers were most enterprising in shipping, land acquisition, and trading, which allowed for the cementing of the strong and influential relationship between the family and the city. Simon’s father, Edward Gratz, was known for his activities with the construction of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and his most famous aunt, Rebecca Gratz, for her “charm” and philanthropy.

Gratz completed his primary education before the age of 13 and then entered the University of Pennsylvania. Graduating at 16, he then entered the university’s law school. While still a law student, he joined the law office of Garrick Mallery and Furman Sheppard. After graduating in 1855 and being admitted to bar, he began practicing in the city. For three years he served as assistant city solicitor, which enabled him to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States. He was elected to the Pennsylvania legislature before the age of 21 and served one term.

In 1869 Gratz was appointed to the Philadelphia Board of Public Education and became chairman of the Committee for the Girl’s Normal School. Additionally, he served for two terms as the board’s president pro-tem. He was most known however for helping to improve many schools that were seen as “primitive.” He also served as president of the Board of Revision of Taxes, president of the Board of Trustees of the Free Library of Philadelphia, member of the Board of Trustees of the Jefferson Medical College, and vice-president of The Historical Society of Pennsylvania and president of its council.

To distract himself from his professional commitments, Simon Gratz sought “intellectual amusement” through autograph collecting, becoming one of several popular autograph collectors during his time. He started collecting at the age of 17. Gratz in his A Book About Autograph Collecting stated that collecting “is good for the body, as well as the mind,” and to achieve fulfillment through such practices one must “seek occasional relief from the tedium and cares of active professional or business life, by turning to one chosen hobby for relaxation and quiet pleasure.” He used his collection to connect with some of the revered personalities in the United States and abroad, which ultimately supplied him with a great deal of entry points in the study of history. It is through the famed individual, according to Gratz, that we have the greatest opportunity to study:

"the collecting of autographs appeals most strongly to those who seek a delightful relaxation in an eminently intellectual amusement. An autograph letter from the hand of a noted man is the closest personal memorial of him that can be had. Here we have the identical paper that his hands touched and on which he wrote the words we read—words expressing thoughts as they emanated from his brain. We almost feel as if we were in direct contact with the writer. If he was good as well as great, a feeling of reverence for the paper we treasure steals over us. We are moved by the desire to learn the leading events of his life; and, if he was a prominent character in history, we wish to know the historical events in which he was a participant. In this way our treasured personal memorial leads us into the field of intellectual activitiey and history research" (p. 14-15).

His collecting activities led to his lengthy association with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, to which he would deed all of his collection in 1917. This collection reflects much of his philosophy of leisure and collecting. There are many types of documents contained with the collection with a range of people and organizations represented. Gratz had a reputation for collecting internationally. H etraded items with many individuals from around the world, and many of the documents in the collection are written in French, Italian, Russian, or Chinese.

Gratz’s contemporaries in the collecting and dealing of autographs and other artifacts included Walter R. Benjamin, George Briley, Georg M. Cannaroe, Louis J. Cist, Ferdinand J. Dreer, Thomas Addis Emmet, Frank M. Etting, Adrian H. Joline, James T. Mitchell, and Charles Roberts, A. S. W. Rosenbach. With these men and other collectors, Gratz entered a long debate about what constituted genuine collecting practices and what determined the value of autographs. This conversation commenced as autograph collecting increased in popularity and historical documents rose in market value. According to Gratz, many people became “collectors” who “beg[ed] signature,” increasing their stocks by requesting autographs. Objecting to such methods for enriching his store.” He lamented the transition of autograph collecting from a recreational practice to a full-fledged business. He asserted, “from the beginning of the taste for gathering autographs, most of the notable collections have been formed by men of education, refinement, and prominence; and, as a natural consequence, the ways they have followed in pursuing their hobby have been such as were in complete accord with the highest standards of propriety. Their acquisitions, prior to the time when the commerce in autographs commenced, were almost exclusively by the gift of masses of letters and manuscripts which has accumulated, for many generations, in the archives of families of ancient or noble lineage. When, in the early part of the 18th century, a large and steady increase in the number of collectors began to manifest itself, a legitimate business in the purchase, gift, or exchange, of the names they wanted. At a later day, a number of men from whom better things might have been expected, resorted to methods which, in varying degrees, were discreditable.” Much of his displeasure may have been inspired by an increase in the sale of fraudulent documents at suchtions. During one auction he was publicly corrected by Walter R. Benjamin regarding an item that Gratz thought to be authentic, but that was actually a fake.

By the time of his resignation from the board of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, he had amassed an expansive collection, all of which was donated to the organization. He resigned on May 10, 1921, having served more than 51 years consecutively. After his death in 1925, the school board decided to honor him with the naming of a school—the Simon Gratz High School.

The collection is alphabetically arranged.

This collection is particularly rich in papers of Protestant American clergymen. It includes letters, 1795-1820, of American Presbyterian clergy addressed to William Wallace Woodward, a Philadelphia bookseller and manuscript sermons (some of which are included in the Gratz Sermon Collection) of such clergymen as Abiel Abbot, Lyman Beecher, Nathaniel Chauncey, Timothy Edwards, Ashbel Green, Levi Hart, Alexander Murray, James Muir, William B. Sprague, Solomon Stoddard, Samuel Willard, and others.

The collection includes letters and portraits of many other prominent Americans and Europeans: Theodosia Burr Alston; Governor Edmund Andros, 1677; Susanna Anthony, 1770; General John Armstrong, 1769; John Jacob Astor, 1842; Governor Jonathan Belcher; John Bradford, 1720; George Bryan; Dewitt Clinton, 1822; George Clinton; George Clymer; William Dearborn, 1808; John Dickinson; William Duer, 1786; Benjamin Eastburn, 1734; William Eaton, 1805; Edward Everett, 1827; Albert Gallatin, 1801-1811; Joseph Galloway, 1769; Adolphus W. Greely; Jonathan Greenleaf, 1843; Alexander Hamilton; William Harrison, 1786; Patrick Henry; Samuel Hopkins, 1770; Jared Ingersoll; Washington Irving; John Jay, 1822; Dyre Kearney, 1787; James Kent; Francis Scott Key; John Laurens, 1778; Thomas Mifflin, 1791; John P. Montgomery, 1776; Gouverneur Morris, 1806; Isaac Morris; John Nicholson, 1795; Samuel Otis, 1789; James Parker, 1793; Edmund Pendleton; Richard and Thomas Penn, 1755; Peyton Randolph; Joseph Reed, 1812; Colonel James Rodney, 1764; Henry De Saussure, 1787; Theodore Sedgwick, 1799; Jonathan D. Sergeant, 1784; J. Bayard Smith, 1778; William Tweed, 1871; John Tyler, Jr., 1842; James Wadsworth, 1780; John F. Zubley, 1767; and others.

Other miscellaneous items are: manuscripts of James Monroe, 1794-1828, on the French Revolution; instructions to James Monroe by Edmund Randolph, 1794-1796; Aaron Burr letters, 1775-1811; Erick Bollmann, 1810; William Eaton, 1802; Joseph Bonaparte correspondence, 1815-1827; parchment deeds, 1691-1786, of Pennsylvania and New Jersey; Judge John Cleves Symmes to Captain Dayton on settlements west of Ohio and on the Miami, 1789; papers relating to Indian affairs, 1789-1806; Irish Revolution papers, 1806-1813; Mexico and South America, 1785-1843; United States Bank, 1805; Bank of North America, 1813-1814; Canadian Rebellion, 1837-1838; political relations between France and America, 1783-1793; letters of writers, artists, scholars, scientists, physicians, apothecaries, penologists, reformers, ca. 1711-1910, including Joseph Lancaster’s correspondence on education, James Rumsey’s manuscripts and printed material, 1788, concerning his invention of the first steam vessel, and other papers bearing on intellectual trends.