The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Risdon Family                                    

Title:               Risdon family papers

Dates:             1794-1920

Call No.:         Col. 256         

Acc. No.:        93x28

Quantity:        3 boxes, 1 volume, 3 framed items

Location:        19 L 4; map case 6, drawer 1; and wire wall

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

The Risdons were early settlers of Burlington County, New Jersey, having emigrated from England in the 18th century.  Samuel Risdon (1772-1844) and Anna Elizabeth Nightingale (1777-1846) were the progenitors of the line of the family represented in these papers.  Samuel was a saddler by trade.  Samuel and Elizabeth had at least seven children, including Isaac Nightingale Risdon (1800-1860) and William Mills Risdon (b. 1809).

 

In 1816, Isaac Risdon went to Philadelphia and began an apprenticeship as a tailor.  After working for others, he and Jacob Lukens opened their own shop, also in Philadelphia.  Later he went into business with his brother William.  In 1837, he retired from the business and returned to Mount Holly, where he was involved in real estate speculation.  By 1841, he had established the Mount Holly Cemetery Company.  Having made several substantial investments, it was necessary for Isaac to resume work as a tailor in 1847.  Isaac returned to Philadelphia and entered into partnership with Benjamin Moore.  He remained in Philadelphia for two years, then returned to Mount Holly where he continued to work as a tailor until he retired for a second time in 1857.  Isaac made an unsuccessful bid for Congress as a candidate for the Native American party in 1845.

 

Isaac married Matilda Barras in 1819; they had ten children, including Henry Caron Risdon (1832-1903).   Matilda died in 1874.  In 1863, Henry married Anna Bunting (d. 1921); they had several children.  Henry served with distinction during the Civil War as a lieutenant and then a captain in the New Jersey Volunteers.  After the war, he seems to have taken an active role in the Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association.  When his father died in 1860, Henry and his uncle William M. Risdon served as the executors of Isaac’s estate.  William passed away before the estate was settled, leaving Henry the sole executor. 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

The bulk of the material in this collection relates to the settlement of Isaac N. Risdon's estate, including legal documents, household accounts, bills, deeds, and records of income.  Expenses incurred by Isaac's widow, Matilda, are included with the estate papers.  Additional items document family interests in the Mount Holly Cemetery and the Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association.  Papers pertaining to Henry's activities during the Civil War are also featured.

 

The material relating to the settlement of Isaac N. Risdon's estate from 1860 to 1870 include his will, obituary, legal documents, household accounts, bills, deed, and records of income.  Expenses accrued by Isaac's widow, Matilda, are included with the estate papers.  Also included with Isaac Risdon's papers are his indenture as a tailor (1816) and bills for carpentry work (1838), repairs to a carriage (1843), and surveying lots (1858).  Also included is a detailed plan showing the placement of a house within its yard and garden, plus the location of outbuildings and an orchard.  Isaac's association with the Mount Holly Cemetery is recorded in the original deed for the property.  Also relating to the cemetery are a plat map; a notebook containing a list of tools at the cemetery in 1882 and what appears to be a list of burials in 1900; and letters written in the 1900s about the upkeep of the property and lots.

 

Papers relating to Henry Risdon's Civil War activities feature information about the military affairs of Company G, 23rd regiment of the New Jersey Volunteers, 1862-1863.  These include muster rolls, pay vouchers, clothing inventories and returns, receipts for ordnance, abstracts of expenditures, and other material on Civil War clothing and personal equipment.  Many of the items contain the signatures of Risdon and other commanding officers.  Risdon's military commissions are also included.

 

Bills and receipts for purchases made by and services rendered to the Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association document Henry Risdon's involvement with the association.  It primarily purchased items to maintain buildings.  Costs associated with advertising the sale of real estate in local newspapers are also noted.  Several tax bills for Lumberton township and water bills from the Mount Holly Water Company are included.

 

The collection also contains checks and a receipt for the estate of Seth Batchelder (Henry Risdon was the executor), property deeds, a certificate issued to John Barras by the Masons (Matilda Barras Risdon’s father), the marriage certificate of Samuel Risdon and Elizabeth Nightingale, a pen and charcoal portrait of Henry C. Risdon, and a family Bible with birth, marriage, and death dates for several generations of Risdons.

 

 

ORGANIZATION

 

The papers are in three boxes.  In addition, there are 3 oversized items in frames, 1 oversize item in a map case, and a family Bible.

 

In Box 1 are found papers about the Mount Holly Cemetery (including the deed for the property, a list of tools, and a list of burials), and papers about settling the estate of Isaac Risdon and other papers relating to him, including his indenture to a tailor in 1816.   A document from the War Department, signed by Lewis Cass, Secretary of War in 1834 is also with the material.  It concerns a Revolutionary War pension for John Dorvill.  [A Dorvill relative married into the Risdon family.]

 

In Box 2 are found accounts of Matilda Risdon, widow of Isaac, for groceries and other household expenses, and also Henry Risdon’s expense accounts for settling his father’s estate.  All these accounts are on long sheets of paper which have been rolled up.

 

Box 3 contains Civil War papers of Henry C. Risdon, papers relating to the Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association, and other miscellaneous papers relating to Henry and his wife.  As well, there is a map of a mining property in Colorado, but no indication of why this property was of interest to the Risdons.  The Civil War papers feature information relating to the military affairs of Company G, 23rd Regiment of the New Jersey Volunteers, 1862-1863.  Included are muster rolls, pay vouchers, clothing inventories and returns, receipts for ordnance, abstracts of expenditures, and other material on Civil War clothing and personal equipment.  Many of the items contain signatures of Risdon and other commanding officers.  The military commission of Risdon as a lieutenant in Co. C, signed by Governor C.S. Olden of New Jersey in 1862 is included.  (His commission as a captain in Co. G is one of the framed items.)

           

The Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association papers, which are also in Box 3, consist primarily of bills and receipts for purchases made by and services rendered to the Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association from 1855 to 1878, bulk 1877 and 1878.  The association bought wall paper, glaze, putty and other building material from a local merchant, Edward B. Jones.  The group frequently advertised the sale of real estate in local newspapers.  Several tax bills for Lumberton Township and water bills from the Mount Holly Water Company are included.

 

The framed items are oversized.  One is a portrait of Henry C. Risdon; the other two items relate to his Civil War Service.  The family Bible includes a record of births, deaths, and marriages.  A plan of the grounds of the home of Isaac Risdon on Garden Street in Mount Holly is in a map case.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

 

 

PROVENANCE

 

Gift of Anne Hickman.

           

 

ACCESS POINTS   

            People :

                        Risdon, Henry C., 1832-1903.

                        Risdon, Isaac N., 1800-1860.

                        Risdon, Matilda, d. 1874.

                        Batchelder, Seth.

                        Risdon, William M., b. 1809.

                       

Topics:

            Mount Holly Cemetery Company.

                        Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association.

                        United States. Army - Supplies and stores.

                        United States. Army. New Jersey Infantry Regiment, 23d.

                        Advertising.

Building materials - Prices.

                        Dwellings - Maintenance and repair - New Jersey - Burlington County.

                        Cemeteries - New Jersey - Mount Holly.

                        Decedents' estates - New Jersey - Mount Holly.

                        Estates (Law).

                        Executors and administrators.

                        Expense accounts.

                        Finance, Personal - New Jersey - Mount Holly.

                        Freemasons – Pennsylvania.

                        Groceries - Prices.

                        House furnishings.

                        Household supplies.

                        Inheritance and succession.

                        Military paraphernalia.

                        Portrait drawing.

                        Real estate management.

                        Real property - New Jersey - Mount Holly.

                        Real property - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

                        Widows - Finance, Personal.

                        Gardens - Design – New JerseyMount Holly.

                        Architecture, Domestic – Designs and plans – New JerseyMount Holly.

                        United States - History - Civil War, 1861-1865.

                        Accounts.

                        Bills of sale.

                        Checks.

                        Deeds.

                        Estate records.

                        Receipts.

                        Tax records.

                        Wills.

                        Lists.

                        Certificates.

                        Genealogies.

                        Obituaries.

                        Bible records.

                        Mortgages.

                        Bonds (financial records).

                        Indentures.

                        Marriage certificates.

                        Tailors.           

           

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 19 L 4; map case 6, drawer 1; and wire wall

 

 

Box 1:

 

Folder 1: Mount Holly Cemetery (6 items)

 

Includes the original deed for the property, dated March 27, 1841, together with rules for the cemetery;

a plat of the cemetery property, surveyed Nov. 30, 1840, by E. Hammill;

a notebook containing both a list of tools at the cemetery in 1882 and what appears to be a list of burials in 1900;

letters written in 1904 and 1910 about the upkeep of the property and lots (one a printed form letter), both addressed to Mrs. Henry C. Risdon;

a canceled deed from the cemetery to Ann Pew of Springfield township for a lot, July 16, 1903;

also a few sheets of blank paper, decorated with a crest, which seem to have nothing to do with the cemetery.

 

 

Folder 2: Isaac Risdon: Indenture

 

Indenture, Isaac Risdon, with the consent of his father Samuel Risdon, has put himself as an apprentice to James Queen of Philadelphia, as a tailor, July 29, 1816.  Signed by all the parties, plus Abm. Shoemaker.  Printed form.

 

 

Folder 3: Isaac Risdon: Bills, letter

 

Bills:    for carpentry work, from John Bender, July 12, 1838; [bill is for over $3000 and is probably for building house];

            for repairs to carriages, from Asa Gaskill, covering 1843-1860;

            for days of work, job not specified, from B.C. Gaskill, 1856; paper is blind embossed: B.C. Gaskill, Carpenter & Builder, Steam Sash & Blind Mill, Mount Holly;

            for surveying lots sold to A. Baily and C. Aaronson, from Amos Bullock, 1858-1860; payment received by William S. Bullock.

 

Letter from Morton McMichael, Philadelphia, Dec. 27, 1842, requesting Isaac Risdon to post some advertising notices for him.  The ads are for publications in which McMichael is interested.

            [Morton McMichael (1807-1879) was a prominent newspaper publisher and a mayor of Philadelphia.]

 

 

Folder 4: Isaac Risdon: Will

 

            Will (copy) of Isaac Risdon, 1860, attached to certificate (printed) stating that it is a true copy of his will.   The will is dated March 29, 1860, and the certificate is dated June 5, 1860.   Endorsed on back with initials HCR, so probably this was a copy supplied to Henry C. Risdon.

 

 

Folder 5: Isaac Risdon: Obituary

 

            Obituary of Isaac Risdon, no date, but after May 21, 1860.  Newspaper unknown, but may have been New Jersey Mirror.

 

 

Folder 6: Isaac Risdon: “Expense account vouchers, #9 to 89,” 1860-1865

 

Bills paid out of the estate of Isaac Risdon, many for maintenance of Mount Holly Cemetery and other buildings and grounds.

 

Expenditures were for clothing, recording will and inventory, stationery and blank books, wheat and oats, panes of glass, taxes, fence, lumber, bell fixtures, stove and pipe, wallpaper, roof repairs, plowing, tools, nails, seeds, gravel, a coffin [for Isaac Risdon], medical attendance, gas pipe and light fixtures, etc.

 

 

Folder 7: Matilda Risdon: Accounts, 1860-1869

 

Bills paid out of the estate of Isaac Risdon for the maintenance of his widow and children.

 

Expenditures were for dental work, mourning clothing, gas, food and milk, textiles, household supplies, washing, coal, shoes, rent, etc.

 

See additional accounts in Box 2.

 

 

Folder 8: “Statement no. 4, and vouchers,” 1870-1874

 

Bills paid out of the estate of Isaac Risdon, mostly for the maintenance of his widow Matilda.  Also included are bills for the funeral of Matilda Risdon, 1874.

 

Expenditures were for rent and board, coal, taxes, carpet, clothing, picture frames, gas pipes, food, wallpaper, medical attendance, etc.

 

 

Folder 9: “Statement no. 5, and vouchers,” 1870-1875

 

Bills paid out of the estate of Isaac Risdon, mostly for the maintenance of buildings and property, including cemetery.

 

Includes fencing, paint and painting, spouts, trees, lumber, tools, taxes, nails, wallpaper, dirt and gravel, plowing, lawn mower, bricks, funeral notice, etc.

 

 

Folder 10: Isaac Risdon estate: Rossell’s bonds and mortgages, ca.1840-ca.1868

 

Bonds and mortgages owed to William Rossell by the estate of Isaac Risdon. 

On printed forms.

 

 

Folder 11: Isaac Risdon estate: Real estate records and accounts, 1860-1897

 

Includes records of interest received and real estate sold for the estate of Isaac Risdon.  Also includes lists of debts paid, bonds held against the estate, rents received on behalf of the estate, and other financial documents, including an appraisal of the Mount Holly Cemetery (1875, valued at $1.00).

 

Also: calling card of Major General Bunting, late chief of artillery, Guatemala.

 

 

Folder 12: Samuel Risdon and Elizabeth Nightingale: marriage certificate

 

            Marriage certificate of Samuel Risdon and Elizabeth Nightingale, Dec. 14, 1794.  Married in Burlington County, New Jersey, by Justice of the Peace [signature illegible]. 

            Witnessed by Mary Stevenson, Sally Nightingale, and James Stevenson.

            [in two pieces, badly stained]

 

 

Folder 13: John Barras: Masonic membership certificate

 

Masonic membership certificate issued to John Barras by Lodge #19, Ancient York Masons, Philadelphia, April 18, 5799 [i.e. 1799], naming him as a Master Mason.  Signed by [illegible,] Alex R. Cox, R. [illegible[ Dunkin, and Samuel Hampton.

 

Taped together, stained by tape, brittle.

 

 

Folder 14: John Dorvill: Revolutionary claim.

 

Pension claim of John Dorvill, for Revolutionary War service as a private and a sergeant, 1834. 

Printed form, signed by Secretary of War Lewis Cass and J.L. Edwards, commissioner of pensions.

(The relation of John Dorvill to the Ridsons is not known.  He was born around 1749 and lived in Pennsylvania.)

 

 

 

Box 2:  Matilda Risdon: accounts

 

Seven rolls of paper containing accounts of Matilda Risdon for groceries, rent, the gas bill and other household expenses, along with Henry C. Risdon's expense account for costs associated with settling Isaac's estate, 1860-1869.  Pages have been glued together at the top and bottom and stored like scrolls.

 

            Also, a key labeled “Mail Box, Henry C. Risdon.”

 

            See additional accounts in Box 1.

 

 

 

Box 3:

 

Folder 1:  Civil War Papers: Commission: Henry C. Risdon

 

Commission, State of New Jersey to Henry C. Risdon, to be First Lieutenant of Co. C, 23d Regiment of New Jersey Volunteers, dated August 26, 1862.

 

[Printed form, signed by Governor Charles S. Olden and New Jersey Secretary of State W. S. Johnson (Whitfield S. Johnson).]

 

 

Folder 2:  Civil War Papers: reports, 1862

 

            Clothing issued to men of Co. G, 1862.  (2 copies)  [printed forms]

            Report of men and officers of Co. G on duty or absent, Nov. 1862.  [printed form]

            Muster-out roll of Co. G, 1862.  [printed form]

Acknowledgment of receipt of clothing list, June 1, 1864, and a note that Henry C. Risdon has no unsettled clothing or ordnance returns, June 1, 1864.  [2 pages, printed forms]

            Muster roll of Co. G, October-December 1862.  [printed form]

Quarterly return of clothing, camp, and garrison equipage, received and issued during the quarter ending Dec. 31, 1862.

 

 

 Folder 3:  Civil War Papers, 1862-1863

 

            Return of ordnance and ordnance stores, for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 1862.  [printed form];

            Return of ordnance and ordnance stores, for the quarter ending March 31, 1863.  [printed form];

            Certificate of enlisted men that they have lost certain articles of clothing, n.d.;

            Invoice of camp and garrison equipage for Co. G, Sept. 25, 1862.  (2 copies)  [printed forms];

            Receipt showing that William H. Garwood of Co. G has received clothing, May 12, 1863.  [printed form];

            Volunteer descriptive list and account of pay and clothing of Corp. George P. Gillis of Co. G, Feb. 28, 1863.  [printed form];

            Quartermaster’s receipt for return of equipment, Dec. 31, 1862;

            Descriptive list and account of pay and clothing of Edward C. Parker of Co. G, Jan. 16, 1862.  [printed form];

            Letter from Edward C. Parker, Carver Hospital, Washington,  to “Dear Sir,” March 3 [1863], asking the Captain to send him a certificate that he had lost his clothing in battle so he can received new clothes while in hospital;

            Invoice of clothing turned over by New Jersey State Arsenal to Co. G, Sept. 25, 1862.  (2 copies)  [printed forms];

            Inventory of arms in the possession of Co. G, Nov. 15, 1862;

            Statement of property lost in action on May 3, 1863, near Salem Heights, Va., May 22, 1863.  (2 copies);

            Statement of property lost by Company G in action on May 3 and 4 near Salem Heights, Va., dated May 25, 1863;

            Letter from Peck, Gardner & Zulick,Washington, attorneys for William Estworthy, asking for a certificate that he became ill while on duty, for pension purposes, March 7, 1863.  [printed form];

            Quarterly return of ordnance, for the quarter ending Sept. 30, 1862;

            Invoice of ordnance and ordnance stores turned over by New Jersey State Arsenal to Co. G, Sept. 23, 1862.  [printed form];

            Invoice of ordnance and ordnance stores turned over by New Jersey State Arsenal to Co. G, Sept. 25, 1862.  [printed form];

            Abstract of materials expended or consumed in Co. G, no. 9, during the 2d quarter of 1863.  (3 copies);

            Quartermaster’s invoice for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 1862;

            List of items transferred to Co. G in Feb. and March 1863;

            Inventory and inspection report of clothing, camp, and garrison equipage, April 6, 1863.

 

 

Folder 4:  Civil War Papers: reports and receipts, 1863

 

            Receipt for return of equipment by Henry C. Risdon, Jan. 8, 1862 [i.e. 1863].

            Receipt for return of equipment by Henry C. Risdon, Jan. 16, 1863.

            Receipt for return of equipment by Henry C. Risdon, Feb. 3, 1863.

            Receipt for return of equipment by Henry C. Risdon, March 7, 1863.

            Receipt for return of equipment by Henry C. Risdon, March 10, 1863.

            Inventory of arms in the possession of Co. G, 23d Regt., N.J. Vol., Nov. 15, 1862.

            Quarterly return of ordnance and ordnance stores for Co. G, 2d quarter 1863.

            Inventory of public property in possession of Co. G, March 31, 1863.

            Envelope that held the above documents.

            Envelope addressed to Capt. Joseph R. Ridgway, Washington, D.C.

 

 

Folder 5:  Civil War Papers: reports, chiefly 2d quarter 1863

 

            Receipt for return of accoutrements by J.C. Bowers, Seminary Hospital, Hagerstown, Maryland, Dec. 18, 1862, signed by Charles McGloughlin, assistant surgeon, and Samuel Downs, adjutant.

            Statement of losses of ordnance and ordnance stores, charged on muster and pay rolls, 2d quarter 1863, signed by Henry C. Risdon.  (4 copies, in 2 formats)

            Return of Ordnance and ordnance stores, 2d quarter, 1863.

            Quartermaster’s receipt of ordnance, Dec. 31, 1862, signed by Lt. A. H. Nichols, and mentioning Capt. J. R. Ridgway.

            Statement of losses of camp and garrison equipage, 2d quarter 1863, signed by Henry C. Risdon.  (2 copies)

            Envelope which held the above statements of clothing, camp and garrison equipage, 2d quarter 1863.

 

 

Folder 6:  Civil War Papers: reports, chiefly 1863

 

            List of lost belts, plates, and cartridge boxes, n.d.  (Includes names of soldiers.)

            Receipt for return of equipment by Corp. George P. Gillis, Dec. 12, 1862.

            Abstract of materials expended or consumed, 1st quarter 1863.  [Printed form]

            List of ordnance stores received in the field, during the quarter ending March 31, 1863.  [Printed form]

            Inventory of public property in possession of Co. G, Camp near White Oak Church, Jan. 7, 1863.

            Statement of camp and garrison property lost during the quarter ending March 31, 1863, Camp near White Oak Church, Va; report dated April 14, 1863.

List of Co. C and G. equipage transferred in the field during the quarter ending March 31, 1863.

Clothing, camp, and garrison equipage received and issued during the quarter ending March 31, 1863.

            Envelope that held the above documents.

 

 

 

Folder 7:  Civil War Papers: reports, 1862-May 1863

 

            A List of Men of Company G accountable for muskets and accoutrements, April 20, 1863, with a report of lost articles of clothing, Dec. 13, 1862.

            Camp and garrison equipage and ordnance lost by members of Co. G., May 3d [no year, but 1863].

            Return of ordnance and ordnance stores, for 2d quarter 1863.  (2 copies)

            List of property lost May and December [no year, probably Dec. 1862 and May1863].

            Envelope that held the above documents.

 

 

Folder 8:  Civil War Papers: reports: 2d quarter 1863

 

List of equipage transferred from quartermaster to Capt. Risdon, April, May, and June 1863.  (3 reports) [Printed forms]

List of equipage returned to quartermaster, April, May, June 1863.  (3 reports) [Printed forms]

List of equipage lost during battle, report dated May 25, 1863, camp near White Oak Church, Va.  The equipment was lost in battle May 3, 1863.

Quarterly return of clothing, camp, and garrison equipage, for the quarter ending June 30, 1863.

Statement of clothing issued to Co. G, for the 2d quarter of 1863.  (3 pages)

Statement of losses of camp and garrison equipage for 2d quarter 1863.

Statement of mistake in inventory taken January 5, 1863.  Noted dated Beverly, New Jersey, June 12, 1863, signed by Henry C. Risdon.

            Clothing issued to members of Co. G at 4th Division Convalescent Camp, May 1863.

            Envelope that held the above documents.

 

 

Folder 9:  Civil War Papers: reports, 1863

 

Document certifying that David Doolittle of Co. G has returned his accoutrements, Feb. 20, 1863.

Document certifying that Charles Smith of Co. G has returned his accoutrements, Feb. 20, 1863.

Document certifying that William H. Garwood of Co. G has returned his accoutrements, Feb. 21, 1863.

            Inventory of ordnance and ordnance stores, camp near White Oak Church, Va., Jan. 7, 1863.

            Affidavit of Edwin S. Parezo about desertions of John H. Adams and Asa Borden, camp near White Oak Church, Va., Mar. 31, 1863.

            List of stores lost in action at Salem Church, Va., on May 3, 1863.  Dated camp near White Oak Church, Va., May 25, 1863.

            Receipt for return of ordnance and ordnance stores, Trenton, N.J., June 24, 1863.  [printed form]

            Receipt for return of cartridge rounds, Beverly, N.J., June 27, 1863.  [printed form]

            Abstract of materials expended or consumed during the 2d quarter 1863 [includes action at Fredericksburg, Va.]

            Receipt for return of muskets and accoutrements, by Henry C. Risdon, camp near White Oak Church, Va., June 5, 1863.

            Statement of losses of ordnance and ordnance stores, 2d quarter 1863.

            A note that was probably attached to the above about the desertions of John H. Adams and Asa Borden, signed Henry C. Risdon, Beverly, N.J., June 25, 1863.

            Quarterly return of ordnance and ordnance stores, during the quarter ending June 30, 1863.  [printed form]

            Envelope that held the above documents.

 

 

 

Folder 10: Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association Papers

 

            Miscellaneous receipts and bills, including tax bills and water rent bills, 1855-1877. 

                        (22 items)

 

 

Folder 11: Risdon Mutual Building and Loan Association Papers

 

            Miscellaneous receipts and bills, including tax bills and water rent bills, 1878-1879

                        (31 items)

 

 

Folder 12: Anna B. Risdon [widow of Henry C Risdon]

 

Consists of three documents that pertain to investments with the Union National Bank, Mount Holly, N.J. (1920-1921), and a postcard from the Bureau of Pensions, Department of the Interior, that indicates receipt of items necessary for Anna to receive Henry's accrued pension (1903).

 

 

Folder 13: William M. Risdon

 

Personal expense book of William M. Risdon, 1862-1864, primarily recording purchase of groceries.  (Volume is labeled Pass Book.)

 

First page is headed: Henry C. Rison in a/c with Wm. M. Risdon

 

 

Folder 14: Estate of Seth Batchelder

 

Contains checks and a receipt book for items purchased and money paid out for the settlement of Batchelder's estate from 1880 to 1883.  Henry C. Risdon was an executor.  (30 items)

 

[During the Civil War, Seth Batchelder had served in Company C of the 23d Regiment of New Jersey infantry.]

 

 

Folder 15: Mount Holly deeds, 1872-1878 and 1901.

 

Deed between Amos Gibbs and Ewan Merritt, both of Mount Holly, for property in same place, Jan. 19, 1872. [printed form]

 

Deed between Josephus and Louisa Sooy, and Ewan Merritt, all of Mount Holly, for property in same place, May 13, 1872. [printed form]

 

Deed between William Budd and Virginia [Risdon] Deacon, and Anna B. Risdon, all of Mount Holly, for property in same place, March 23, 1875. [printed form]

 

Deed between Jackson L. and Edith A. Keeley, and Anna B. Risdon, all of Mount Holly, for property in same place, Aug. 23, 1878. [printed form]

 

Deed between James and Adeline Clothier, and Henry C. Risdon, all of Mount Holly, for property in same place, Sept. 30, 1879. [printed form]

 

Lease, Elizabeth B. Deacon leases property to Ewan Merritt, all in Mount Holly, March 22, 1873.

 

Draft of a deed between F. and Hope Ann Dill, and [blank], Mount Holly, March 1901.  Written on stationery of Mount Holly Water Co.

 

 

Folder 16: Philadelphia deeds, 1872-1889

 

            Deed, between John and Margaret Birnbaum, and William Mulligan, all of Philadelphia, for property on 15th Street in Philadelphia, May 22, 1872.  [on form printed on vellum on John C. Clark & Sons]

 

            Deed, between James R. and Mary Eliza Booth, and Barzillai Ridgway (a stone mason), all of Philadelphia, for property on Walnut Street, Philadelphia, February 25, 1885.  [on form printed by Samuel Yeo]

 

            Deed, between Barzillai and Mary E. Ridgway, and John Stewart (a painter), all of Philadelphia, for property on Walnut Street, Philadelphia, June 26, 1889.  [on form printed by John C. Clark & Sons]

           

            Mortgage, between James R. Booth (attorney), and John Corr (liquor dealer), both of Philadelphia, June 4, 1881.  [on form printed by Samuel Yeo]

 

 

Folder 17:  Map of mining property, Colorado

 

Map of Santa Lou Sarier [?] Mining Property, Grand Island District, Boulder County, Colorado.  No date.  [Possibly means Santa La Saria mine]

 

 

 

Volume on shelf: Bible:

 

The Holy Bible, containing the Old and New Testaments… (Baltimore: Joseph N. Lewis; John D. Toy, printer, no date).  Supposed to be in two volumes, but is bound in one.

           

            Risdon family Bible with coat of arms, birth, marriage, and death dates for several generations inserted between the Old and New Testaments.  The records begin with a list of the children of John and Sarah Turner Risdon, born 1751-1772; the youngest child was Samuel, the father of Isaac Risdon.  (A copy of the family tree is also with the case file.)  The Bible is stamped I.N. & M. Risdon on the front cover.  Inside front cover is bookseller’s label: Clark & Lippincott, Philadelphia.

 

 

Map case:

 

Map of grounds of a house, ca.1837

 

A hand drawn and colored diagram by the surveyor, Israel Wells, showing the grounds of a house along Garden Street.  The diagram shows the placement of the house on the lot; the layout of the ground floor rooms; the diagram of the ornamental gardens around the house; the placement of the barnyard, which included a chicken house, carriage house, corn crib, and stable; the layout of the orchard; and the placement of the wood house.  This is a plan for the property Isaac bought on Garden Street in the fall of 1837.  His obituary says this is a tract of 8 acres.

[nothing is known about the surveyor Israel Wells; the house is located at 314 Garden Street and was still standing  in 2012]

 

 

Framed items (on wire wall):

 

New Jersey Militia certificate issued to Henry C. Risdon for his commission as captain in the New Jersey Militia, 23d Regiment, Co. G, in 1862.  In period gold lined walnut frame.

 

New Jersey Civil War military testimonial issued to Henry C. Risdon in 1866, with pictorial vignettes.  Engraved by the American Banknote Company.  In period gold lined walnut frame.

 

Pen and charcoal portrait of Henry C. Risdon, ca. 1880.  In original plaster gilt (chipped) and golden oak frame.