Diven family papers, 1828-1940.
Collection Number: 2231

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
Diven family papers, 1828-1940.
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Collection Number:
2231
Abstract:
Correspondence, notes, account books, and legal papers of an Elmira family of lawyers and businessmen.
Creator:
Diven family.
Quanitities:
223 cubic feet.
Language:
Collection material in English
COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Correspondence, notes, account books, and legal papers of an Elmira family of lawyers and businessmen: Alexander Samuel Diven (1809-1896), vice-president of the Erie Railroad, Brigadier General in the Union Army, and a U.S. Congressman; his sons, George Miles Diven (1835-1909), director of the Erie Railroad and president of the La France Fire Engine Company; and Eugene Diven (1843-1888), an officer of La France; George's son, Alexander Samuel Diven II (1869-1952); and his son Irving Booth Diven (1903-1964). The bulk of the papers concern railroads in central and western New York State, including the Erie, Pennsylvania, Lehigh Valley, and their predecessor, constituent, and affiliated lines (including the Cayuga Lake Railroad Company, the Auburn & Ithaca Railway Company, the Chemung Railroad Company, and the Sodus Bay & Southern Railroad Company). The railroad papers include assessment papers, legal papers, some documents relating to construction, maps, and correspondence. There are also deeds, mortgages, land contracts, surveys, tax lists, legal briefs, and correspondence relating to sale of real estate in Allegany County which A.S. Diven, Sylvester G. Andrus, Thomas Noyes, Jervis Langdon, and Thomas R. Brayton purchased from John Barker Church and William J. Forbes in 1852, handled by W.W. Ballard & Company, with M.W. Pike as land agent.
Other land papers relate to some ten thousand acres in Rowan County, Kentucky, bought by A.S. Diven from Benjamin Loder in 1872, and managed by Samuel McKee of Louisville; there are many letters from McKee and others relating to the title, activities of timber thieves, squatters, and feuding mountaineers, and timber and ore resources on the tract. There is also various other real estate and business records of the Diven family.
Civil War items include a letter from General Henry Warner Slocum describing the Battle of Chancellorville, an account of the Battle of Louisiana by F.A. Roe, and later letters from General James S. Rains describing his experiences during the war.
INFORMATION FOR USERS
Cite As:

Diven family papers, #2231 and #598. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
SUBJECTS

Names:
Diven, Alexander Samuel, 1809-1896.
Diven, George Miles, 1835-1909.
Diven, Eugene, 1843-1888.
Diven, Alexander Samuel, II, 1869-1952.
Diven, Irving Booth, 1903-1964.
Andrus, Sylvester G.
Noyes, Thomas.
Langdon, Jervis.
Brayton, Thomas R.
Church, John Barker, 1746-1818.
Forbes, William J.
McKee, Samuel.
Slocum, Henry Warner, 1827-1894.
Rains, James S.
Cameron, Simon, 1799-1889.
Cornell, Ezra, 1807-1874.
Eaton, Dorman B.
Douglas, Stephen A. (Stephen Arnold), 1813-1861.
Seward, Frederick William, 1830-1915.
Seward, William H. (William Henry), 1801-1872.
Erie Railroad Company
Pennsylvania Railroad
Lehigh Valley Railroad
Cayuga Lake Railroad
Auburn & Ithaca Railway
Chemung Railroad
Sodus Bay & Southern Railroad
La France Fire Engine Company
Places:
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives.
Subjects:
Chancellorsville, Battle of, Chancellorsville, Va., 1863.
Real estate investment.
Timber -- Kentucky -- Rowan County.
Real property -- Kentucky -- Rowan County.
Real property -- New York (State) -- Allegany County.
Railroads -- New York (State)
CONTAINER LIST
Container
Description
Date
Link to a partial finding aid.
Scope and Contents
Not all the material in the collection is covered by this guide.
Volume 1
Ledger
 1861-1876
Volume 17
Register:v.A
 1861-1876
Volume 120
Demands not in suit
 1870-1875
Volume 18
Register:v.B
 1872-1879
Volume 107
Demands not in suit
 1873-1886
Volume 56
Letters:v.M
 1874-1875
Volume 2
Ledger
 1877-1896
Volume 15
Journal:v.6
 1879-1893
Volume 19
Register:v.A
 1879-1908
Volume 4
Ledger
 1882-1883
Volume 21
Register:v.A
 1882-1901
Volume 97
Letters
 1883-1884
Volume 5
Ledger
 1894-1897
Volume 22
Records
 1895-1900
Volume 7
Ledger
 1898-1910
Volume 8
Ledger
 1898-1901
Volume 20
Register:v.B
 1908-1951
Volume 45
Receipts/Disbursements
 1932-1939
Volume 9
Ledger
 1933-1937
Volume 11
Journal
 1861-08-1876-12
Volume 121
1861-08-1870-05
Volume 67
Letters:v.A
 1863-10-27-1865-04-06
Volume 93
Letters
 1865-04-08-1866-08-24
Volume 65
Letters:v.C
 1866-08-1967-09
Volume 64
Letters:v.D
 1867-09-09-1868-04-20
Volume 63
Letters:v.G
 1869-09-09-1870-10-03
Volume 104
Cash
 1870-06-1876-12
Volume 53
Letters:v.P
 1870-09-04-1877-05-24
Volume 61
Letters:v.H
 1870-10-1871-06-21
Volume 60
Letters:v.I
 1871-06-24-1872-10-29
Volume 59
Letters:v.J
 1872-10-29-1873-07-02
Volume 58
Letters:v.K
 1873-07-03-1874-01-14
Volume 57
Letters:v.L
 1874-01-14-1874-06-10
Volume 54
Letters:v.O
 1875-12-07-1876-12-17
Volume 12
Journal
 1877-01-1897-12
Volume 115
Cash
 1877-01-1897-12
Volume 89
Letters
 1878-02-18-1878-09-25
Volume 106
Cash
 1879-10-1893-11
Volume 3
Ledger
 1880-01-09-1893-12-30
Volume 55
Letters:v.N
 1883-01-15-1885-12-15
Volume 79
Letters
 1883-05-12-1889-05-23
Volume 52
Letters:v.X
 1885-12-15-1889-07-26
Volume 87
Letters
 1887-11-19-1891-07-22
Volume 90
Letters
 1888-06-28-1890-12-02
Volume 95
Letters
 1889-04-18-1890-09-23
Volume 88
Letters
 1890-09-28-1891-11-04
Volume 62
Letters:v.G
 1890-12-03-1895-07-26
Volume 77
Letters
 1891-07-07-1896-03-19
Volume 85
Letters
 1891-11-05-1893-03-17
Volume 84
Letters
 1893-03-20-1894-10-23
Volume 13
Journal
 1894-01-1910-12
Volume 105
Cash
 1894-01-01-1902-09-23
Volume 74
Letters:v.5
 1894-10-24-1896-10-02
Volume 100
Letters
 1895-07-26-1898-08-04
Volume 76
Letters
 1896-03-26-1898-07-05
Volume 78
Letters
 1896-10-05-1898-10-21
Volume 6
Ledger
 1898-01-01-1907-10-01
Volume 103
Cash
 1898-01-03-1909-01-11
Volume 14
Journal
 1898-04-1908-12
Volume 94
Letters
 1898-07-09-1900-07-09
Volume 99
Letters
 1898-08-08-1901-07-25
Volume 72
Letters:v.7
 1898-10-22-1900-01-19
Volume 69
Letters:v.8
 1900-01-19-1901-11-11
Volume 73
Letters:v.6
 1900-07-18-1902-08-01
Volume 66
Letters:v.B
 1901-07-26-1906-09-15
Volume 81
Letters
 1901-11-12-1904-03-14
Volume 71
Letters:v.7
 1902-08-02-1905-11-10
Volume 102
Cash
 1902-10-01-1910-12-30
Volume 75
Letters:v.10
 1904-03-16-1905-10-13
Volume 70
Letters:v.8
 1905-11-11-1907-03-23
Volume 92
Letters
 1906-02-22-1909-01-16
Volume 86
Letters
 1906-09-15-1913-07-08
Volume 98
Letters
 1906-10-16-1910-10-20
Volume 68
Letters:v.9
 1907-03-23-1908-12-24
Volume 96
Letters
 1908-12-30-1912-02-20
Volume 101
Letters
 1909-03-31-1910-10-08
Volume 80
Letters
 1910-11-01-1918-05-17
Volume 91
Letters
 1912-02-20-1915-07-29
Volume 82
Letters
 1913-07-10-1916-07-31
Volume 83
Letters
 1915-07-30-1918-04-27
Volume 25
Record 4-L
 1926-01-20-1926-05-04
Volume 31
Record 200:Bills and notes
 1926-09-29-1927-01-21
Volume 108
Equity
 1926-09-30-1927-01-20
Volume 39
Record 2
 1927-01-12-1928-01-25
Volume 41
Record 150
 1927-02-07-1927-04-27
Volume 37
Record 200
 1927-02-08-1927-05-24
Volume 44
Record
 1927-02-08-1927-05-24
Volume 42
Record 150
 1927-02-15-1927-05-19
Volume 43
Record 150
 1927-02-16-1927-05-05
Volume 38
Record 2
 1927-07-08-1927-07-21
Volume 40
Record 2
 1928-01-16-1928-06-01
Volume 36
Record 200
 1928-02-15-1928-04-25
Volume 47
Public Service
 1928-02-16-1928-04-27
Volume 35
Record 200
 1928-04-27-1928-06-26
Volume 34
Record 200
 1928-04-28-1928-06-01
Volume 33
Record 200
 1928-06-29-1928-07-25
Volume 32
Volume 32
Volume 10
Ledger
 Date unknown
Volume 16
Journal: Love Estate
 Date unknown
Volume 23
Record: Minutes and By-Laws
 Date unknown
Volume 24
Record 4-L
 Date unknown
Volume 26
Record 4-L
 Date unknown
Volume 27
Record 4 L
 Date unknown
Volume 28
Record 3L
 Date unknown
Volume 29
Record 3
 Date unknown
Volume 30
Record 3
 Date unknown
Volume 46
Real Property
 Date unknown
Volume 48
Property 2
 Date unknown
Volume 49
Property
 Date unknown
Volume 50
Property
 Date unknown
Volume 51
Procedure
 Date unknown
Volume 109
Corporations 1
 Date unknown
Volume 110
Corporations 2
 Date unknown
Volume 111
Conflicts of Laws
 Date unknown
Volume 112
Composition book 2
 Date unknown
Volume 113
Catalog of books:v.2
 Date unknown
Volume 114
Catalog of books in Diven's Law Library
 Date unknown
Volume 116
Composition book 1
 Date unknown
Volume 117
Evidence
 Date unknown
Volume 118
Criminal Law
 Date unknown
Volume 119
Contracts
 Date unknown
Volume 122
Sales
 Date unknown
Volume 123
Future Interests
 Date unknown
Volume 124
Insurance Survey of Property: 212 East Water Street
 Date unknown
Volume 125
Insurance Survey of Property: 113-117 East 1st Street
 Date unknown
Volume 126
Insurance Survey of Property: 107 East Church Street
 Date unknown
Volume 127
Insurance Survey of Property: 316-318 Baldwin
 Date unknown
Volume 128
Insurance Survey of Property: 305-307 State Street
 Date unknown