Guide to the Eugene Vanderpool, President of the Newark Gas Light Company, Collection 1817-1929 (bulk 1836-1867) MG 29

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary
Biographical Note
Scope and Content Note
Arrangement
Restrictions
Access Points
Related Material
Administrative Information
Bibliography

Series Descriptions and Container List


Series 1: Correspondence, 1831-1895

Series 2: Legal Documents, 1831-1911

Series 3: Newark Gas Light Company Board Records, 1874-1902

Series 4: Financial Documents, 1873-1903

Series 5: Literary and Artistic Materials

Series 6: Printed Materials


Guide to the Eugene Vanderpool, President of the Newark Gas Light Company, Collection
1817-1929
(bulk 1836-1867)
MG 29
The New Jersey Historical Society
52 Park Place
Newark, New Jersey 07102
Contact: NJHS Library
(973) 596-8500 x249
library@jerseyhistory.org
https://www.jerseyhistory.org
© 2005 All rights reserved.
The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher
Inventory prepared by James Lewis as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis. July 2005. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written in English.

Descriptive Summary
Creator: Vanderpool, Eugene
Title: Eugene Vanderpool, President of the Newark Gas Light Company, Collection
Dates: 1817-1929
Abstract: Consists of business correspondence, minutes, annual reports, and financial records pertaining to the Newark Gas Light Company, which was headed by Eugene Vanderpool and merged in 1895 with the Citizens’ Gas Light Company of Newark. He was the son of Mayor Beach Vanderpool of Newark, and an 1864 Princeton graduate. Although he began his career as a gas engineer, Eugene Vanderpool became President of Howard Savings Institution. Includes correspondence with John J. Clancy, Henry C. Kelsey, Frederick W. Stevens, and Marcus L. Ward, Jr. There are papers of Walter S. Nichols and other members of the Nichols family from 1820-1870.
Quantity: 3 linear ft. (7 boxes)
Collection Number: MG 29

Biographical Note

Eugene Vanderpool, the son of Mary and Oliver J. Hayes Vanderpoel, was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1844. Eugene graduated from Princeton College in 1869 and soon after married Eleanor (Ellen) Banker Tiffany (1846-1900). The couple had three children: Mary Isabella (b. 1870), Loraine Eleanor (b. 1872), and Beach Wynant (1874-1875). The Vanderpools lived at 22 Washington Street in Newark, New Jersey.

Eugene Vanderpool was the President of the Newark Gas Light Company from 1869 until 1895. At the same time he was President of the Orange Mountain Cable Company and an adviser to the Philadelphia gas plant. Vanderpool was also a director in the National Newark Banking Company, Howard Savings Institution and Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company. He died at his home from appendicitis on July 12, 1903.

The Newark Gas Light Company was chartered on March 25, 1845. In 1869, Eugene Vanderpool was president of the company and the directors were: Ira Harrison (1795-1890), Henry C. Kelsey (1837-1920), George A. Halsey (1827-1894), and Marcus L. Ward (1846-1920). Vanderpool’s office was at 9 Bank Street in Newark, New Jersey and the company had property along Market Street, also in Newark. In 1895, upon Vanderpool’s retirement, Henry Kelsey became President of the Newark Gas Light Company.

The company ceased operations sometime between 1895 and 1900.
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Scope and Content Note

The Eugene Vanderpool papers mostly document the affairs of the Newark Gas Light Company, consisting of correspondence, State of New Jersey acts and bills, indentures, receipts, and other financial papers. The papers date from 1817-1929, have bulk dates of 1880-1903, and measure three linear feet. The documents have been organized by record type: correspondence; legal documents; board records; financial documents; literary and artistic materials; and printed materials. The correspondence is organized by recipient, then author, and date. The other documents are arranged in chronological order.

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Arrangement

This collection is organized into six series:

Series 1: Correspondence, 1831-1895

Series 2: Legal Documents, 1831-1911

Series 3: Newark Gas Light Company Board Records, 1874-1902

Series 4: Financial Documents, 1873-1903

Series 5: Literary and Artistic Materials

Series 6: Printed Materials

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Photocopying of materials is limited and no materials may be photocopied without permission from library staff.

Use Restrictions

Researchers wishing to publish, reproduce, or reprint materials from this collection must obtain permission.

The New Jersey Historical Society complies with the copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code), which governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials.

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Access Points
The entries below represent persons, organizations, topics, and forms documented in this collection.
Subject Names:
Beetle, William.
Burr, Jonathan K.
Chambers, John S.
Congar, H.N.
Duryee, Henry.
Emery, John R.
Kelsey, Henry C.
Newell, John W.
Nichols, Walter S.
Nichols family.
Shippen, W.R.
Vanderpool, Eugene, 1844-1903.
Ward, Lydia Lavernia.
Subject Organizations:
First Presbyterian Church (Newark, N.J.)
Newark Consolidated Gas Company (Newark, N.J.)
Newark Gas Light Company (Newark, N.J.)
Subject Topics:
Executives–New Jersey–Newark.
Gas companies–Mergers.
Gas companies–New Jersey–Newark.
Lighting.
Subject Places:
Newark (N.J.)
Document Types:
Catalogs.
Contracts.
Indentures.
Laws.
Legal documents.
Letters (Correspondence)
Minutes.
Obituaries.
Receipts.

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Related Material

Manuscript Group 111, Samuel Hayes (1776-1839) Daybooks

Manuscript Group 686, Franklin Murphy (1846-1920) Papers

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 29, Eugene Vanderpool, President of the Newark Gas Light Company, Collection, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

The source of this collection is unknown.

Processing Information

These papers were originally housed with Manuscript Group 384. At the time of processing, they were removed and formed into a separate collection. The letters and most of the receipts are in good condition, however, many of the receipts are beginning to show wear. The ink and pencil on some of the letters and receipts is fading.

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Bibliography

Newark Directory.1895 and 1900.

Vanderpoel Genealogy: Items Personal and Social. Charles Francis: New York, 1912.

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Series Descriptions and Container List

Series 1: Correspondence,

Scope and Content:

The majority of the correspondence belongs to Eugene Vanderpool and discusses the affairs of the Newark Gas Light Company. A great deal of attention is paid to the merger of the Newark Gas Light Company and the Orange Gas Light Company in 1895 and to state bills and acts regarding incorporation. This series also contains a number of letters addressed to members of the Nichols family, particularly Walter S. Nichols. These letters discuss his life as a student at Princeton College as well as family news.
Box Folder Title Date
1 1 Letters to and from William Beetle 1884-1892
1 2 Letters to and from John S. Chambers 1880-1894
1 3 Letters from J. J. Clancy 1885-1890
1 4 Letters to and from John R. Emery 1893-1894
1 5 Letters to and from Henry C. Kelsey 1879-1890
1 6 Letters to and from Henry C. Kelsey 1891-1892
1 7 Letters to and from Henry C. Kelsey 1893 Jan.-Mar.
1 8 Letters to and from Henry C. Kelsey 1893 Apr.-Dec.
1 9 Letters to and from Henry C. Kelsey 1894-1898
1 10 Letters to and from Emerson McMillon 1893-1894
1 11 Letters from John W. Newell 1884-1885
Box Folder Title Date
2 1 Letters to and from W. W. Shippen 1876-1885
2 2 Letters to and from A. A. Smalley 1882-1885
2 3 Letters to and from Frederic W. Stevens 1893-1895
2 4 Letters to and from Reuben Trier 1891
2 5 Letters to and from United Gas Improvement Company 1888-1894
2 6 Letters to and from E. F. Young 1880-1891
2 7 Letters to and from A-F 1879-1895
2 8 Letters to and from G-O 1879-1895
2 9 Letters to and from P-Y 1871-1903
2 10 Letters to Walter S. Nichols 1860-1875
2 11 Nichols Family Correspondence 1831-1868
2 12 Letter from H. N. Congar to Cornelia Ward 1838
2 13 Letter from (?) Stratton to William H. Ireland 1831
2 14 Correspondence and Documents re: Henry Duryee 1875

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Series 2: Legal Documents,

Scope and Content:

Most of the legal documents are indentures related to the Newark Gas Light Company although there are a number of indentures pertaining to the Nichols family purchases in Upper Freehold, New Jersey. There is also a number of New Jersey bills and acts regarding incorporation.
Box Folder Title Date
3 1 Newark Gas Light Company Indentures 1892-1898
3 2 Newark Gas Light Company and The Orange Gas Light Company Mortgage 1895
3 3 Newark Gas Light Company and The Orange Gas Light Company Mortgage 1895
3 4 Legal Documents Pertaining to the Orange Mountain Cable Company 1895
3 5 Subpoena of Eugene Vanderpool 1898
3 6 New Jersey State Bills and Acts 1881-1903
3 7 Philadelphia Gas Improvement Co. Incorporation and Assignment of Interest of Oxy-Hydrogen Company of the U.S. 1875, 1898
3 8 Oxy-Hydrogen Co. of U.S.A. Stockholders’ Agreements 1894-1898
3 9 Agreement of Lease of United Gas Improvement Co. to Essex-Hudson Gas Co. 1898-1899
3 10 Newark Consolidated Gas Company Indentures 1884,1898
3 11 Styron National Fuel Gas Company Certification 1890
3 12 1st Presbyterian Church of Newark Contracts n. d.
Box Folder Title Date
4 1 Indentures and Land Deeds in Upper Freehold and Newark 1827-1864
4 2 Indentures and Land Deeds in Upper Freehold and Newark 1865-1899
4 3 Nichols Family Indentures 1817-1911
4 4 Nichols Family Indentures 1831-1898

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Series 3: Newark Gas Light Company Board Records,

Scope and Content:

The Newark Gas Light Company Board Records series mostly consists of board meeting minutes and notes regarding the merger between the Newark Gas Light Company and the Citizens Gas Light Company of Newark.
Box Folder Title Date
4 5 Board Meeting Minutes 1874-1892
4 6 Board Meeting Minutes 1893
4 7 Board Meeting Minutes 1893-1894
4 8 1893-1894
4 9 Board Meeting Minutes 1895-1898
Box Folder Title Date
5 1 Merger Agreement: Newark Gas Light Company and The Citizens Gas Light Company 1895
5 2 Account of Trouble With East Newark Gas Supply 1902

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Series 4: Financial Documents,

Scope and Content:

The financial documents series mostly consists of gas expenditures and earnings of the Newark Gas Light Company and other New Jersey gas companies, and calculations for predictions for gas expenditures and earnings. There is also a collection of day cards from the Orange Mountain Cable Company indicating how many tickets were sold for passengers, bicycles, and horses, and receipts for salary and wages for the employees of the Orange Mountain Cable Company.
Box Folder Title Date
5 3 Financial Notes and Calculations 1873-1883
5 4 Financial Notes and Calculations 1885-1887
5 5 Financial Notes and Calculations 1888-1891
5 6 Financial Notes and Calculations 1892
5 7 Financial Notes and Calculations 1893
5 8 Financial Notes and Calculations 1894
5 9 Financial Notes and Calculations 1895-1897
5 10 Financial Notes and Calculations 1898-1899
5 11 Financial Notes and Calculations 1900-1903
5 12 Financial Notes and Calculations n.d.
5 13 Newark Gas Light Co. Merger: Stockholders’ Receipts, A-K 1894-1896
5 14 Newark Gas Light Co. Merger: Stockholders’ Receipts, L-W 1894-1896
Box Folder Title Date
6 1 Receipts 1869-1899
6 2 Orange Mountain Cable Company Day Cards 18951895
6 3 Orange Mountain Cable Co. – Receipts for Wages, Salaries, etc., #s 78-202
1894-1895		 Orange Mountain Cable Co. – Receipts for Wages, Salaries, etc., #s 78-202
1894-1895
6 4 Orange Mountain Cable Company – Wages, Salary Receipts, etc., #s 204-399 1895 Jan.-May
6 5 Orange Mountain Cable Company – Wages, Salary Receipts, etc., #s 403-482 1895 May-July
6 6 Orange Mountain Cable Company – Wages, Salary Receipts, etc., #s 501-621 1895 Aug.-Oct.
6 7 Orange Mountain Cable Company – Wages, Salary Receipts, etc., #s 622-685 1895 Nov. ;1896 Jan.

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Series 5: Literary and Artistic Materials

Scope and Content:

This series contains a variety of documents that include Lydia Lavernia Ward’s obituary, Rev. Dr. John Burr’s obituary, funeral sermons, and a sketchbook.
Box Folder Title Date
6 8 Vanderpool: Funeral Sermons and Obituaries (funerals of Lydia Lavernia Ward and Rev. Dr. Jonathan K. Burr) 1858-1882

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Series 6: Printed Materials

Scope and Content:

The printed materials series includes university press catalogues, newspaper articles, and a sketchbook.
Box Folder Title Date
6 9 Booklets: Proposed Purchase of American Gas Undertakings; University of Minnesota Press Catalogue; First Annual List of Publications by the Ohio State University Press; Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics: Park Recreation Areas in the United States; Europe and the United States in the West Indies by Talcott Williams [ca. 1840]
6 10 Newspaper Articles 1894-1914
6 11 Invitations to the Ward Family n. d.
6 12 Miscellaneous: Inventory list, ticket, business card n.d.

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