NATHANIEL PITT LANGFORD AND FAMILY: Finding Aids : MNHS.ORG


	Creator:	Langford, Nathaniel Pitt, 1832-1911, creator.
	Title:	Nathaniel Pitt Langford and family papers.
	Dates:	1707-1956.
	Language:	Materials in English.
	Abstract:	Correspondence, diaries, genealogical data, clippings, and other papers relating to the family of Langford, a Minnesota and Montana pioneer and banker. Included are data regarding the family's life in New York before migrating to the Lake Pepin area of Minnesota in 1854; on numerous aspects of life in Minnesota Territory (1854-1857); and on Nathaniel's career as Montana collector of internal revenue and on lawlessness and vigilante activity there (1863-1869).
	Quantity:	4.75 cubic feet (5 boxes, including 30 volumes, and 10 oversize items in partial box).
	Location:	See Detailed Description for shelf locations.

Nathaniel Pitt Langford was born in Westmoreland, New York, in 1832; he came to St. Paul in 1854. He was cashier in the banking house of Marshall and Company in 1855, and in 1858 he became cashier of the Bank of the State of Minnesota. On June 16, 1862, Langford left St. Paul with the Northern Overland Expedition led by Captain James L. Fisk to establish a wagon road into Montana Territory. Langford settled in Bannack, Montana Territory, where he established freightage, milling, and other enterprises in partnership with other businessmen. From 1864 to 1868 he was collector of internal revenue in Montana Territory, and was instrumental in the vigilance movement to combat lawlessness in the territory.

In 1870 Langford was one of the organizers of the Washburn-Langford-Doane expedition that explored the region that would become Yellowstone National Park. From 1872 to 1877 he served as the park’s first superintendent. He also served as national bank examiner for the Pacific states and territories, 1872-1884. He returned to Minnesota and began a career as an historian of the West, authoring numerous works, including Vigilante Days and Ways (1890) and Diary of the Washburn Expedition to the Yellowstone and Firehole Rivers in the Year 1870 (1905). He served as president and member of the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Historical Society. He died in Ramsey County, Minnesota, October 18, 1911.

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Also included are Nathaniel P. Langford's son George's letters from Harvard University (1894-1897) describing university life and varsity athletics; and from Joliet, Illinois (1898-1940s), regarding his career with the McKenna Steel Working Company. There are 24 volumes of genealogical notes, charts, correspondence, and other papers on the Langford and related families, compiled by George.

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Nathaniel Pitt Langford and Family Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: 2263; 2274; 3269; 3336; 4876; 5105; 5169; 5176; 5196; 5213; 5282; 5307; 5313; 5478; 8012; 8371; 9487; 11,544; 16,338; 16,436; 17,544

Processing Information:

Processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with a Basic Project grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Catalog ID number: 001719744

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Correspondents include Daniel A. Robertson, William R. Marshall, James Wickes Taylor, and Ignatius Donnelly.

Topics include living accommodations, food, weather, animals, game birds, his work in the Lake Pepin area, a smallpox epidemic, mail service, the steamer War Eagle, immigration into the Territory, holiday celebrations. Indians, his association with the banking firm of Marshall and Company (St. Paul), land values, trips to St. Anthony Falls, Minnehaha Falls, Fort Snelling and other areas near St. Paul, Augustine Langford's land purchases in Minnesota and Kansas, William R. Marshall's political career, politics, and many philosophical observations on life and religion. Also included is a wealth of information on life in Minnesota Territory.

Location

Box

129.D.14.6F

1

Undated, 1790-1869. 6 folders.

The Langford to Doolittle letters were written from Lake Pepin (November 10, 1854-May 2, 1855), from St. Paul (July 1855-June 29, 1857), from Virginia City and Helena, Montana Territory (April 22, 1865-September 14, 1869), and again from St. Paul (1884, 1886, 1899, 1903). The 1854-1857 correspondence includes a description of Langford's trip from Utica, New York, to Minnesota Territory (November 10, 1854).

Nathaniel Pitt Langford to A. J. Simmons letter, January 3, 1869.

Signed by Langford. Describes his opinions of Alexander Ramsey, Republican politics, the Northern Pacific Railroad, and the Benton (Montana) road. Includes envelope.

1874-1942. 11 folders.

Letters of particular interest include a long letter written to Jennie Doolittle (daughter of William) describing Langford's views on the constitutionality of American acquisition of the Philippine Islands, citing historical precedents to support their legality, and discussing Cushman K. Davis's views on the expansion of European commercial concessions in China and their importance to American security (March 29, 1899) and a retrospective description of buffalo herds on the plains as traveled by Langford and Pierre Bottineau in 1862 (August 3, 1903).

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Location

Box

129.D.14.7B

2

Legal and financial papers, undated, 1707-1939.

Include membership certificates, family documents, and records of the Marshall Coal Company (Denver, Colorado).

Articles by and about Nathaniel Pitt Langford, 1863-1911.

Relate to his experiences in Montana (1863-1911) and include typewritten copies of his diaries dated 1863 (Montana) and 1870 (his trip from St. Paul to Fort Garry).

Miscellaneous articles and notes.

Essays by George Langford and notes and galley of an unattributed article on Western explorations.

Genealogical data.

Information on the Langford and Sweeting families, including a photostatic copy of the Sweeting Narrative.

Newspaper clippings, undated, 1837-1939 (bulk 1920-1930).

Relate to activities of the Langford family, including some describing George Langford's archaeological work.

Printed material, undated, 1843-1956.

Includes, among other items, a religious tract entitled Letters to Sabbath-School Children, by Reverend J. Scudder (published by the American Sunday School Union in 1843), samples of Confederate money, and copies of Congressional bills and excerpts from the Congressional Record relating to Yellowstone National Park. This folder also contains a copy of Yellowstone Nature Notes (March-April 1956) that contains a published version of Langford's 1903 letter described above.

Family photographs.

Includes Nathaniel Pitt Langford.

Elizabeth Robertson Langford photographs, circa 1918-1919.

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Location

Box

129.D.14.7B

2

1. Nathaniel Pitt Langford diary, 1862.

2. Nathaniel Pitt Langford diary, 1870.

3. Mrs. Nathaniel Pitt Langford household account book, 1889-1897.

4. Memorial to Nathaniel Pitt Langford from Ramsey County Board of Control, October 19, 1911.

[0.25 cubic feet empty]

Location

Box

131.H.4.4F-1

5

5. Scrapbook, circa 1890.

Includes clippings on sporting events and copies of theatrical programs.

Location

Box

129.D.14.8F

3

6. Index.

7. Index.

8. Ancestry of George Langford II, volume 1.

9. Ancestry of Daniel Alexander Robertson, part 2.

10. Daniel A. Robertson, volume 3.

11. Scottish ancestors.

12. European ancestors.

13. European ancestors.

14. Genealogy of Augustine G. Langford and Elizabeth Bell Robertson.

15. Genealogy of Daniel A. Robertson, volume 3.

16. Genealogy of the descendants of Augustine G. Langford and Elizabeth Bell Robertson.

17. George Langford II, ancestry, volume 2.

18. Daniel A. Robertson ancestry, volume 1.

Location

Box

129.D.14.9B

4

19. Lineal ancestors of Elizabeth B. Robertson, maternal side.

20. Ancestry of Julia Anna Bell, volume 4, part 2, England.

21. Untitled volume.

Contains mainly Langford family data.

[There is no volume 22].

Volume 22, originally containing family letters from 1836 to 1881, was dismantled and the letters interfiled into the correspondence.

23. Ancestors of Chloe Sweeting, 1794-1888.

24. Miscellaneous family lines.

25. Untitled volume.

Contains Robertson family data and family correspondence.

26. Ancestry of Daniel A. Robertson, volume 3, 1812-1895.

27. Ancestry of Julia Anna Bell, volume 4, 1826-1910.

28. Family letters, undated, [circa 1920s-1930s].

29. Letters, George Langford to Nathaniel "Tan" Langford, 1931-1938.

Not in chronological order.

Location

Box

131.H.4.4F-1

5

30. Scrapbook, undated.

Includes literary material and miscellaneous items.

31. Scrapbook, circa 1870s-1920s.

Includes Langford family data, and one newspaper clipping relating to T. Evart's experiences with the Washburn expedition in Yellowstone National Park.

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Location

105.F.4.2

1. Deed between George Langford and Nathaniel Sweeting, November 9, 1836.

2. Deed between George Langford and John Sweeting, April 1, 1839.

3. Ledger sheet, estate of George Langford, November 12, 1840.

4. Ledger sheet, John Willard in account with the estate of George Langford, 1840-1841.

5. Masonry certificate, issued to Daniel A. Robertson, February 20, 1849.

6. Read and Reflect, Vigilance Committee poster, circa 1863-1865.

7. Land patent, John Cockey to Byron Smith, April 20, 1863.

For land in Dakota City, Nebraska.

8. Certificate, Master, Scottish Rite, issued to William George Robertson, August 7, 1866.

9. Certificate, Noble of Osman Temple, Shrine, Scottish Rite, St. Paul, issued to Nathaniel Pitt Langford, February 22, 1913.

10. Certificate, Knight Commander, Scottish Rite, St. Paul, issued to Nathaniel Pitt Langford, October 20, 1915.

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Papers of George Langford are available in the Minnesota Historical Society library.

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:: Banks and banking -- Minnesota.; Banks and banking -- Montana.; Frontier and pioneer life -- Minnesota.; Frontier and pioneer life -- Montana.; Genealogy.

Persons:: Donnelly, Ignatius, 1831-1901.; Langford, George, 1876-1964.; Marshall, William Rainey, 1825-1896.; Robertson, D. A. (Daniel A.), 1813-1895.; Taylor, James W. (James Wickes), 1819-1893.; Langford family.

Organizations:: Harvard University.

Places:: Yellowstone National Park.

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NATHANIEL PITT LANGFORD AND FAMILY:

OVERVIEW

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

SCOPE AND CONTENTS

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

CORRESPONDENCE

MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS

VOLUMES

OVERSIZE ITEMS

RELATED MATERIAL

CATALOG HEADINGS