ROBERT ORMSBY SWEENY:
An Inventory of His Papers at the Minnesota Historical Society
Manuscripts Collection
Part or all of this collection is restricted.
For
details, please see restrictions.
OVERVIEW
| Creator: | Sweeny, Robert Ormsby, 1831-1902, creator. | |
| Title: | Robert Ormsby Sweeny papers. | |
| Dates: | 1856-1887, 2001. | |
| Language: | Materials in English. | |
| Abstract: | Manuscripts on historical topics, letters, newspaper clippings, and other papers of a Saint Paul pharmacist, naturalist, and artist noted for his pencil drawings of early Saint Paul, of Native Americans, and of scenes throughout Minnesota. | |
| Quantity: | 0.1 cubic feet (2 folders in a partial box and 1 item in reserve). | |
| Location: | See Detailed Description for shelf locations. |
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Sweeny was born in Philadelphia in 1831. He came to Minnesota in 1852, settling in Saint Paul where he worked as a pharmacist in partnership with W. S. Potts. By 1866 he had opened his own apothecary shop in St. Paul, continuing in that business until the end of the 1880s. In 1870 Sweeny was part of a group of citizens who founded the St. Paul Academy of Natural Sciences, a forerunner of the Science Museum of Minnesota. He served as president of the Minnesota Historical Society in 1875-1876. He served as secretary of the Minnesota State Board of Pharmacy, and became president of the Game and Fish Commission of Minnesota in 1891. By 1889 Sweeny had moved to Duluth, where he supervised the fish hatchery there until he died on September 6, 1902. Sweeny married Helen Benezet, also from Philadelphia, in August 1864.
ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Access Restrictions:
Access to and use of reserve materials requires the curator's permission.
Preferred Citation:
[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Robert Ormsby Sweeny Papers. Minnesota Historical Society.
See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.
Accession Information:
Accession numbers: 4947; 5102; 6079; 6149; 6660; 7894; 9482; 9684
Processing Information:
Processed by: David B. Peterson, August 2013
Catalog ID number: 990077159950104294
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
| Folder | |||||||||||
| P2847 | 1 | Historical manuscripts written by Sweeny. 5 items in 1 folder: | |||||||||
| The Puk Wudjies: the copper dwarfs, or, the little people of Lake Superior, undated. 39 leaves. | |||||||||||
| Red Wolf's widow, undated. 29 leaves. | |||||||||||
| Red Wolf's widow, undated. 30 leaves. | |||||||||||
| Precious metals in Minnesota and its northern boundaries in western Ontario, undated. 18 leaves. | |||||||||||
| Birch canoe voyage to Ka-Ka-Beeka or The Dalles of the St. Croix, June 1, 1867. 17 leaves. | |||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| P2847 | 2 | Letters and miscellaneous papers. 8 items in 1 folder: | |||||||||
| An account describing counting of the rings on the largest stump at the Upper Landing in 1853, undated. | |||||||||||
| Ticket to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1856. | |||||||||||
| Land patent, June 1, 1859. | |||||||||||
| For land purchased at the U.S. General Land Office at Superior, Wisconsin. | |||||||||||
| Saint Paul Library Association share certificate, June 1, 1869. | |||||||||||
| St. Paul Kindergarten and Home School: Report card for Ormsby Sweeney, November 14, 1875. | |||||||||||
| The Mankato hanging: evidence which proves conclusively that Godfrey was not executed--some interesting history, March 27, 1886. Photocopy. | |||||||||||
| A published letter from Sweeny to the editor of the St. Paul Dispatch concerning the hanging of the Dakota at Mankato | |||||||||||
| Sweeny to J. Fletcher Williams, October 23, 1887. AL. | |||||||||||
| Describes the designing of the Minnesota state seal; includes a printed depiction of the Minnesota state seal. | |||||||||||
Digital version
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| Helen M. White, "Robert O. Sweeney's 1867 Canoe Trip to the Dalles," The Dalles visitor, Summer 2001. | |||||||||||
| Reserve 153 | Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, Washington, D.C., to Henry M. Rice, House of Representatives, April 18, 1856. ALS. | ||||||||||
| Regarding the building of a bridge across the Mississippi River near Fort Snelling. | |||||||||||
Digital version
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CATALOG HEADINGS
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:
- Indians of North America -- Folklore.
- Indians of North America -- Government relations.
- Mineral industries -- Minnesota.
- Mines and mineral resources -- Minnesota.
- Silver mines and mining -- Ontario.
- Persons:
- Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889, author.
- Rice, Henry M. (Henry Mower), 1816-1894.
- Organizations:
- Saint Paul Library Association.
- St. Paul Kindergarten and Home School (Saint Paul, Minn.), author.
- Places:
- Minnesota -- Seal.
- Saint Croix River (Wis. and Minn.) -- Description and travel.
- Superior (Wis.)
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