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Henry O'Reilly papers

Call Number

MS 464

Date

1819-1880 (Bulk 1844-1860), inclusive

Creator

O'Reilly, Henry, 1806-1886
O'Rielly, Henry

Extent

28 Linear feet

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The Papers of Henry O'Reilly, dating from 1832 to 1873, consist of 28 linear feet of material. The bulk of these papers date from 1844 to 1860. The O'Reilly Papers contain the following types of material: business and personal correspondence (letters, telegraph messages), minutes, proceedings, organizational documents (charters, by-laws, articles of incorporation and association), financial documents (bills, receipts, invoices, expenditure sheets, accounts, bank drafts, promissory notes, inventories, stock certificates), legal documents (contracts, conveyances, indentures, deeds, leases, affidavits, depositions, insurance policies, mortgages, memoranda), notes, reports, scrapbooks, and printed material (pamphlets, proofs, circulars, flyers, clippings).

Biographical Note

Missing Title

1806 Born in Carrickmacross, Province of Ulster, Ireland
1816 Came to New York, New York, Learned printer's trade
1823 Assistant Editor of the New York Patriot
1826 Moved to Rochester, New York
1826-1830 Editor of the Rochester Daily Advertiser
1832 Appointed Deputy Collector and Inspector for the District of Genesee, New York
1833 Began advocating rebuilding and enlargement of the Erie Canal
1838 Appointed Post Master of Rochester, Published Sketches of Rochester
[1839] President of Rochester Athenaeum and Young Men's Association
[1844] Recording Secretary, New York State Agricultural Society
1845 Entered into contract with Samuel F.B. Morse and Amos Kendall for erecting telegraph lines in the United States
1851 Established Irish and American Steamship Company
1854 Organized Demoine Navigation and Railroad Company
1859 Chairman of Clinton League
1886 Died in Rochester, New York

Henry O'Reilly was born in Carrickmacross, Province of Ulster, Ireland on Feb. 6, 1806 to a merchant and the daughter of a physician. In 1816, the family emigrated to New York. After working as an apprentice in the printing trade including several years as an assistant editor of the New York Patriot, in 1826 O'Reilly was appointed editor of the Rochester, NY, Daily Advertiser. Within a year, O'Reilly gained notice in the anti-Masonic uproar that followed the kidnapping and murder of William Morgan. In 1832, he was appointed Deputy Collector and Inspector for the District of Genesee, NY. He published numerous circulars and pamphlets on current events and issues, and in 1838 Sketches of Rochester, with Incidental Notices of Western New York. In that same year, O'Reilly was appointed Post Master of Rochester. From the 1830s through the 1850s, he was heavily involved in civic and political organizations, serving as the President of the Rochester Athenaeum and Young Men's Association, Recording Secretary of the New York State Agricultural Society, and Chairman of the Clinton League.

O'Reilly's commercial activities were similarly energetic and varied. In 1833, he threw his support behind improvements to the Erie Canal. In 1845, he contracted with Samuel F.B. Morse and Amos Kendall in the planned construction of telegraph wires from eastern Pennsylvania to the Great Lakes. Legal difficulties ended his involvement with the enterprise, despite his erection of over 8,000 miles of wire. In 1851, O'Reilly established the Irish and American Steamship Company; in 1854, he organized the Demoine Navigation and Railroad Company.

O'Reilly was married to Marcia Brooks, daughter of General Micah Brooks; they had one son, Henry Brooks O'Reilly, who was killed in the Battle of Williamsburg, 1862. Late in his life, O'Reilly changed the spelling of his surname to O'Rielly; additional papers of O'Reilly may be found under this variant.

Arrangement

Correspondence within series are usually arranged alphabetically for letters received, chronologically for letters sent. Unidentified letters received and correspondence between others arranged chronologically.

The documents have been arranged in twenty-four series, the last of which includes materials inventoried and added to the finding aid in April 2022. Many of the series have been arranged in subseries.

Series I: General Correspondence, 1837-1872

Series II: Telegraph Enterprise, 1844-1861

Series III: Demoine Navigation and Railroad Company, 1849-1858

Series IV: Erie Canal Enlargement, 1836-1841

Series V: Clinton League, 1859

Series VI: New York State Agricultural Society, 1841-1856

Series VII: Politics, 1836-1857

Series VII: Post Office, Rochester, 1838-1844

Series IX: Common Schools, Rochester, 1838-1840

Series X: Rochester Athenaeum and Young Men's Association, 1838-1840

Series XI: Western Virgina Lands, 1838-1856

Series XII: Albany Irish Repeal Association, 1843

Series XIII: American Indians, 1838-1860

Series XIV: Deputy Collector and Inspector of District of Genesee, 1832-1842

Series XV: Irish and American Steamship Company, 1851

Series XVI: New York Typographical Society, 1849

Series XVII: Rochester Daily Advertiser, Undated

Series XVIII: Sketches of Rochester, Undated

Series XIX: Legal Documents, 1832, 1840-1851, 1857

Series XX: Financial Documents, 1834-1859

Series XXI: Notes and Fragments, 1840-1859

Series XXII: Personal and Family Papers, 1832-1862

Series XXIII: Printed Material, 1830-1869

Series XXIV: Items Added in 2022, 1819-1880

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Henry O'Reilly, dating from 1819-1880, consist of 28 linear feet of material. The bulk of the papers date from 1844 to 1860 and include the following forms: business and personal correspondence, minutes, proceedings, organizational records, financial records, legal records, notes, reports, scrapbooks and printed matter.

The O'Reilly Papers document the diverse activities of Henry O'Reilly in Rochester, NY; the Genesee District; and New York State. Specific topics addressed include: the establishment of telegraph lines; the development, improvement and operations of the transportation industry, particularly canals, steamships and railroads; local and state politics; civic and cultural organizations; journalism; typography; American Indians; agriculture; government reform; the postal service; public schools; land purchases in Western Virginia; and the military career of O'Reilly's son.

Access Restrictions

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Conditions Governing Use

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as the Henry O'Reilly Papers, MS 464, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Related Material at The New-York Historical Society

Manuscript Department; call phrase: BV O'Reilly. Correspondence, scrapbooks and bound volumes of assorted historical documents, memoranda and abstracts compiled by Henry O'Reilly; the material dates from 1784 to 1862. The bulk of the correspondence and scrapbooks span the 1840s, while the historical compilations cover the period 1784 through 1820. O'Reilly's scrapbooks address such topics as the development and building of the telegraph, railroad reform, inland navigation, American journalism, agriculture in New York State, and the Civil War. O'Reilly's Western Momentos documents the downfall of the Iroquois, Robert Morris' treaty with the Senecas, and pioneer settlements in New York State. Additional printed materials related to O'Reilly are held in the collections of the New-York Historical Society Library.

Collection processed by

Rohinie J. Munzel

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:49:24 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derived from oreilly02MH.xml

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024