The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, Winterthur, DE 19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Creator: Young, Ada Stevens

Title: Pewter research papers

Dates: ca.1923-ca.1990, bulk 1970-1990

Call No.: Col. 864

Acc. No.: 10x1

Quantity: 54 boxes, 2 volumes (ca.14 cu.ft.)

Location: 8 I 1-6 and H 6

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

M. Ada Stevens Young (called Stevie) and her husband Paul M. Young lived in Pleasant Valley, New York. Stevie Young worked for IBM, first as a Systems Service Woman during World War II, then as a writer of operational manuals, and lastly working in the sales engineering department. The purchase of a New England-made secretary led her to investigate who made it, and she wrote an article based on her research which was published by The Magazine Antiques (“Five Secretaries and the Cogswells,” October 1965, with additional notes in the October 1966 issue, p. 522).

Paul Young was a project engineer at IBM. Some of his work included research of tin and its alloys, one of which is pewter. His initial interest in American coins grew into an interest in pewter, and Stevie Young quickly caught her husband’s enthusiasm for the subject. Both Paul and Stevie Young became members of the Pewter Collectors’ Club of America (PCCA), for which they served as regional presidents and on the national board of governors.

Stevie Young began researching American pewter makers, and later expanded her research into British makers. She contributed a number of articles to the PCCA’s Bulletin. The Youngs loaned pewter from their collection to museum exhibits, particularly the Currier Gallery of Art’s 1968 exhibit. Stevie Young wrote the introduction to that exhibit’s catalog Pewter in America, 1650-1900. She contributed to Christopher A. Peal’s More Pewter Marks [of British pewterers]. She then compiled “British Pewterers: A Compendium & Reference Directory,” which was never published. She also compiled a list of English pewter hallmarks, which remains unpublished as well.

While Stevie Young’s interest in pewter led her into research on makers and their marks, Paul Young’s interest grew into learning how to conserve pewter. He became a restorer of pewter for museums, churches, and historical societies, and led seminars in the conservation of pewter.

The couple were members of the Pewter Collectors’ Club of America, The Pewter Society, the Dutchess County Historical Society, Dutchess County Genealogical Society, and numerous other historical organizations. They had two sons.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Collection documents the collecting and research interests of Ada Young, and to a lesser extent those of Paul Young. Includes research notes and note cards about pewterers, both American and English, and pewter marks, concentrating on British marks. A copy of Ada Young’s unpublished compilation “British Pewterers: A Compendium & Reference Directory” is part of the collection, as is also a copy of her unpublished work “British Hallmarks: Index to P and P+” [works of Christopher A. Peal]. As well there is correspondence with fellow pewter collectors, including Charles (Bud) Swain and Ledlie I. Laughlin (papers of both these men are also in this repository), museums, and historical societies, and other personal correspondence. Some of the files pertain to the Pewter Collectors’ Club of America, in which organization both Youngs were very active. This group includes a PCCA scrapbook covering the years 1934-1964. Photos of pewter, articles about pewter, some catalogs of pewter dealers, lists of pewter in private and museum collections, an index to the Youngs’ personal library, and a pewter spoon round out the collection.

ORGANIZATION

The collection is arranged into the following series:

I. General files;

II. Pewterers and pewter marks, and pewter spoon;

III. Correspondence:

A. General

B. Museums, historical societies, etc.;

IV. Collections;

V. Pewter Collectors’ Club of America;

VI. Photographs;

VII. British pewterers compendium;

VIII. Note cards.

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

The materials are in English.

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

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

PROVENANCE

Gift of Scott Young, a son.

ACCESS POINTS

People:

Laughlin, Ledlie Irwin.

Saunders, Florence Crozier.

Swain, Charles V.

Young, Paul M.

Topics:

Pewter Collectors’ Club of America.

Pewter Society.

Antique dealers – Catalogs.

Pewter.

Pewter – United States - Collectors and collecting.

Pewter – Marks.

Pewter - Private collections.

Pewterers – Great Britain.

Pewterers – United States.

Scrapbooks.

Collectors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location: 8 I 1-6 and H 6

Series I: General files

Box 1:

Folder 1: Address book: antique dealers

Folder 2: American Antiquarian Society: fellowship application

Folder 3: Art conservation

Folder 4: Auction prices

Folder 5: Bibliography

Folder 6: Books purchased, and contents of Youngs’ library

[see also note cards in Series VIII]

Folder 7: British pewterers: research notes

Folder 8: Chase, Samuel and James (cabinetmakers)

Folder 9: Church pewter

Folder 10: Church pewter: Pennsylvania

Folder 11: Cogswell article: notes

Folder 12: Coverlets

Folder 13: Dealer catalogs: Bartram, Albert, ca.1979-1988

Box 2:

Folder 1: Dealer catalogs: Bellamy, Robin, 1977-1988 [also some correspondence]

Folder 2: Dealer catalogs: Govan, D. M., 1983-1988

Folder 3: Dealer catalogs: Jacobs, Carl and Celia, 1960, 1962, 1969

Folder 4: Dealer catalogs: other dealers

Folder 5: Dealer catalogs: Pass, Garland and Frances, 1982-1990

Folder 6: Dealer catalogs: Williams, Thomas D. and Constance, 1960-1961, 1972

Folder 7: Dealers’ advertisements, 1920s (pewter and silver)

Folder 8: Dutchess County Historical Society and Dutchess County Genealogical Society

Folder 9: English “hallmarks” by category, compiled by Ada Young

Folder 10: ETP and LTP list

Folder 11: Furniture drawings

Folder 12: Genealogical seminar, 1972

Folder 13: Genealogy notes and sources

Folder 14: Laughlin, Ledlie I.: indexes to notebooks

[note: The Downs Collection holds the papers of Ledlie I. Laughlin, Col. 58, but these indexes do not seem to match the notebooks in that collection.]

Box 3:

Folder 1: Laughlin, Ledlie I.: notes

Folder 2: Lists: (1) British pewter flat-lidded tankards;

(2) principle exporters to colonies;

(3) John Townsend forms

Folder 3: Notes: miscellaneous

Folder 4: Painting and paintings: notes

Folders 5-6: Pewter: articles and auctions

Folder 7: Pewter: bicentennial commemoratives, etc.

Folder 8: Pewter: file by dimensions

Folder 9: Pewter forms

Folder 10: Pewter molds (for ice cream)

Folder 11: Publishers

Folder 12: Research (from notebook) (folder 1 of 2, continues in next box)

Box 4:

Folder 1: Research (from notebook) (folder 2 of 2, continued from previous box)

Folder 2: Research accounting, 1965-1969

Folder 3: Research expenses

Folder 4: Research notes: lists of pewterers [several lists]

Folder 5: Research notes: marks

Folder 6: Research notes: names

Folder 7: Rhinebeck, N.Y.

Folder 8: “Saltzman’s Official Historic Map of the Picturesque Hudson,” 1923

Folder 9: Saunders, Florence Crozier

Folder 10: Sheffield plate

Box 5:

Folder 1: Sheffield plate and pewter: marks, articles

Folder 2: Shelley, Roland J. A., “Kendal Pewterers”

Folder 3: Tankards: notes

Folder 4: Tankards and crenate lip patterns: correspondence and notes

Folder 5: “Under the Wye”: expenses and purchases, 1977-1985

Folder 6: “Under the Wye”: receipts, etc.; purchases

Folder 7: Veitch, Henry Newton. “Sheffield Plate”: list of names

Folder 8: Welch, Charles. “History of the Pewterers’ Company”: list of names

Folder 9: Winterthur Museum and Library: research notes

Folder 10: Young, Ada: articles for PCCA Bulletin

Folder 11: Young, Ada: genealogy charts

Folder 12: Young, Paul: conservation work

Box 6: legal size files (from all series)

Folder 1: Collections: Davis, C. K. (Charles Krum)

Folder 2: Correspondence: 1958, 1963-1986

Folders 3-4: Correspondence: Peel, Chris

Folder 5: Heade, Martin Johnson

Folder 6: Museums, historical societies, etc.: City Art Museum of St. Louis, including Haeberle catalog

Folder 7: Museums, historical societies, etc.: Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village

[see also Series III.B.]

Folder 8: Nott Mercantile books (at UNC-CH) (William Nott mercantile books, 1812-1845, with names of North Carolina pewterers)

Folder 9: Youngs: list of purchases

Series II: Pewterers and Pewter Marks

Note: these notes came in several different groups, and no attempt has been made to interfile them. Therefore, information on a particular pewterer may be in more than one folder.

Box 1:

Folder 1: Pewterers: A

Folder 2: Pewterers: B

Folder 3: Pewterers: Bassetts and other pewter makers: notes

Folder 4: Pewterers: Bassett family

Folder 5: Pewterers: Boardmans

Folder 6: Pewterers: C-H

Folder 7: Pewterers: C

Folder 8: Pewterers: Coldwell

Folder 9: Pewterers: D

Folder 10: Pewterers: Danforths

Folder 11: Pewterers: E-F

Box 2:

Folder 1: Pewterers: G

Folder 2: Pewterers: H

Folder 3: Pewterers: I, J, K

Folder 4: Pewterers: K-R

Folder 5: Pewterers: L

Folder 6: Pewterers: M-N

Folder 7: Pewterers: O-P

Folder 8: Pewterers: Q-R

Folder 9: Pewterers: S-W

Box 3:

Folder 1: Pewterers: S

Folder 2: Pewterers: Smith, Ebenezer: research on

Folder 3: Pewterers: T, U, V

Folder 4: Pewterers: W

Folder 5: Pewterers: X, Y, Z

Folder 6: Pewterers: A-J: research notes

Folder 7: Pewterers: K-Z: research notes

Folder 8: Pewterers and pewter: assorted notes

Box 4:

Folder 1: Pewterers: English, including index to first names

Folder 2: Pewterers: lamp makers, lamp patents

Folder 3: Pewterers: Lee handle designs

Folder 4: Pewterers: miscellaneous notes

Folder 5: Pewterers: more notes

Folder 6: Pewterers: notes and genealogies

Folder 7: Pewterers of eastern Massachusetts

Folder 8: Pewterers of New York state

Box 5:

Folder 1: Pewter marks

Folder 2: Pewter marks: by city, state

Folder 3: Pewter marks: general information

Folder 4: Pewter marks: A-B

Box 6:

Folder 1: Pewter marks: Bassett

Folder 2: Pewter marks: C-G

Folder 3: Pewter marks: H-R

Folder 4: Pewter marks: S-Z

Box 7:

Folder 1: Pewter marks: A-F

Folder 2: Pewter marks: G-P

Folder 3: Pewter marks: R-Z

Folders 4-5: Pewter marks: British: A-H

Folder 6: Pewter marks: British: I-Z

Folder 7: Pewter marks: assorted notes

Box 8:

Small pewter spoon with the mark Beck & Thomas

Series III: Correspondence

Subseries A: General correspondence

Box 1:

Folder 1: Correspondence: surname unknown

Folder 2: Correspondence: A

Folder 3: Correspondence: B (includes William Blaney)

Folder 4: Correspondence: Beebe

Folder 5: Correspondence: Bowen, Dick (with articles about Rhode Island pewterers)

Folder 6: Correspondence: Brooks, Mae and Abe

Folder 7: Correspondence: C

Folder 8: Correspondence: D-F

Folder 9: Correspondence: Deisenroth, Jan and Jim; also Margaret and Stan Wright

Box 2:

Folder 1: Correspondence: Forland

Folder 2: Correspondence: G

Folder 3: Correspondence: H

Folder 4: Correspondence: Hornsby, Peter

Folder 5: Correspondence: I-L

Folder 6: Correspondence: Jacobs, Carl and Celia [she was later Celia Stevenson]

Folder 7: Correspondence: Kayhoe, William F.

Folder 8: Correspondence: Laughlin, Ledlie I.

Folder 9: Correspondence: M-O

Folder 10: Correspondence: P

Box 3:

Folder 1: Correspondence: Parsons, Charles

Folder 2: Correspondence: The Pewter Society (U.K.)

Folders 3-4: Correspondence: Phiebig, Albert and Marianne

Folder 5: Correspondence: Post, Agnes

Folder 6: Correspondence: R

Folder 7: Correspondence: Reed, Lois (“Skip”)

Folder 8: Correspondence: Remensnyder, John (Jack); and Doris Remensnyder Ballantyne

Folder 9: Correspondence: Roberts, Bernice and Bill

Box 4:

Folder 1: Correspondence: Sa-Sk

Folder 2: Correspondence: Sm-Sz

Folder 3: Correspondence: T-V

Folder 4: Correspondence: Viewegh, Evelyn

Folder 5: Correspondence: W-Z

Folder 6: Correspondence: Weir, Bernice

Folder 7: Correspondence: Williams, Alun, and daughter Anna (Mrs. Quraish Al-Salim)

Folder 8: Correspondence: Worshipful Company of Pewterers

Folder 9: Correspondence: Young, Christine Mulhall

Series III: Correspondence

Subseries B: Museums, Historical Societies, Etc.

Note: Institutions with which there was not much correspondence are grouped by state, and are found in box 5

Box 1:

Folder 1: Albany Institute of History and Art (New York)

Folder 2: American Museum in Britain

Folder 3: Art Institute of Chicago

Folder 4: Bayou Bend (Museum of Fine Arts, Houston)

Folder 5: Beverly Historical Society (Massachusetts)

Folder 6: Bowne House Historical Society (Flushing, N.Y.)

Folder 7: Brooklyn Museum

Folder 8: Chester County Historical Society (Pennsylvania)

Folder 9: Cliveden and Naomi Trust at Woodford (Philadelphia)

Folder 10: Colonial Williamsburg

Folder 11: Concord Antiquarian Museum (Massachusetts)

Folder 12: Connecticut Historical Society

Folder 13: Connecticut Valley Historical Museum

Folders 14-16: Currier Gallery of Art

Box 2:

Folder 1: Currier Gallery of Art: exhibit catalog

Folder 2: DAR Museum

Folder 3: Detroit Institute of Art

Folder 4: Essex Institute (Salem, Mass.)

Folder 5: Henry Ford Museum (includes Parke pewter collection)

[see also Series I, box 6, for additional correspondence]

Folder 6: Historic Deerfield

Folder 7: Historic Hudson Valley (formerly Sleepy Hollow Restorations)

Folder 8: Huguenot Historical Society (New York)

Folder 9: Independence National Historic Park (Philadelphia)

Folder 10: Litchfield Historical Society and Goshen Historical Society (Connecticut)

Folder 11: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Folder 12: Moravian Historical Society and Moravian Museum (Pennsylvania)

Folder 13: Morristown National Historic Park (New Jersey)

Folder 14: Mount Vernon

Box 3:

Folders 1-2: Museum of Fine Arts (Boston)

Folder 3: Museum of Fine Arts (Boston): makers, F-Z

Folder 4: Old Sturbridge Village

Folder 5: Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

Folder 6: Philadelphia Museum of Art

Folder 7: Pilgrim Society (Massachusetts)

Folder 8: Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association (PVMA, Massachusetts)

Folder 9: Presbyterian Historical Society [Philadelphia; see also under state of North Carolina]

Folder 10: Rhode Island Historical Society

Folder 11: Shelburne Museum

Box 4:

Folder 1: Smithsonian

Folder 2: SPNEA

Folder 3: Springfield Art and Historical Society (Vermont)

Folder 4: State Historical Society of Wisconsin

Folder 5: Stratford Historical Society (Connecticut)

Folder 6: Wadsworth Atheneum

Folders 7-9: Winterthur Museum

Folder 10: Yale University

Box 5: institutions grouped by state

Folder 1: miscellaneous

Folder 2: Alabama; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado

Folder 3: Connecticut

Folder 4: Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana

Folder 5: Maine

Folder 6: Maryland

Folder 7: Massachusetts

Folder 8: Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; Nebraska; Nevada; New Hampshire; New Mexico; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon

Folder 9: New Jersey

Folder 10: New York

Folder 11: Pennsylvania

Folder 12: Rhode Island; South Carolina; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Vermont; Virginia; Washington; West Virginia; Wisconsin; Wyoming

Series IV: Collections

Box 1:

Folder 1: public and private

Folder 2: Brooklyn Museum

Folder 3: Colonial Williamsburg

Folder 4: Cordts, Mrs. R. O.

Folder 5: France, Joseph

Folder 6: Franklin, R. J. [England]

Folder 7: Gault, John

Folder 8: International Silver Company: research notes

Folder 9: Jaques, Helen W.

Folder 10: Jenckes, Mr. and Mrs. George A., with research notes, which perhaps are not limited to the Jenckes collection

Folder 11: Kler, Joseph H.

Folder 12: Laughlin, Ledlie I.

Folder 13: McMurray, John H.

Folder 14: Mercer Museum (Pennsylvania)

Folder 15: Platt, P. G.

Folder 16: Post, Agnes Hayes

Folder 17: Rice, Dr. and Mrs. William B.

Folder 18: Sleepy Hollow Restorations [later, Historic Hudson Valley]

Folder 19: Swain, Charles

Folder 20: Tubbs, Roger C.

Folder 21: Tyler, Mr. and Mrs. George F.

Series V: Pewter Collectors’ Club of America

Box 1:

Folder 1: Pewter Collectors’ Club of America

Folder 2: Pewter Collectors’ Club of America: North East Region Group

Folder 3: correspondence, August 1970-Sept. 13, 1980

Folder 4: miscellaneous correspondence and notes

Folder 5: library and other business

Folder 6: membership forms and information

Folder 7: Blaney, William O. [additional correspondence in Series III]

Folder 8: Goodwin, Web

Folder 9: Swain, Charles (“Bud”)

Box 2:

Folder 1: financial reports; Board of Governors meetings; agendas and reports, 1974-1983

Folders 2-4: scrapbook, 1934-1964

Series VI: Photographs

Box 1: photos by owner, A-K

Box 2: photos by owner, L-P

Box 3: photos by owner, Q-Z, and unidentified

Box 4: photos and slides from album

Box 5:

Folder 1: photos of meetings and pewter, etc.

Folder 2: photos of pewter

Folder 3: negatives

Series VII: Compendium of British pewterers

Box 1:

Folder 1: publishing information and correspondence

Folder 2: rubbings of marks

Folder 3: complete sample of compendium

Folder 4: additional mock-up and sample pages [not actually in a folder]

Volumes on shelf, both compiled by Ada Young:

“British ‘Hallmarks’: Index to P & P+” [that is, Christopher A. Peal, More Pewter Marks and Addenda to More Pewter Marks]

“British Pewterers: A Compendium & Reference Directory”

Series VIII: Note cards

Box 1: Index to master lists, A-R

Box 2: Index to master lists, S-Z.

British marks, A-G (continues in next box).

Box 3: British marks, G-I/J (continues in next box).

Box 4: British marks, I/J-T (continues in next box).

Box 5: British marks, T-Z.

British marks, additional (continues in next box).

Box 6: British marks, additional (continued from previous box).

British marks: Devices only.

London, Birmingham, Sheffield goldsmiths and silversmiths, A-D

Box 7: London, Birmingham, Sheffield goldsmiths and silversmiths, E-S

Box 8: London, Birmingham, Sheffield goldsmiths and silversmiths, T-Z

Unlabeled set of note cards.

A second unlabeled set of note cards.

The beginning of a third unlabeled set of note cards (continues in next box).

Box 9: The end of the third unlabeled set of note cards (continued from previous box).

An unlabeled set of note cards, with PCCA Bulletin references.

Slogans, addresses, etc., in marks (continues in next box).

Box 10: Slogans, addresses, etc., in marks (continued from previous box).

Devices, A-K (continues in next box).

Box 11: Devices, L-W (continued from previous box).

American pewterers.

Box 12: American pewterers, A-Z.

Pewter product file, A to Bowls (continues in next box).

Box 13: Pewter product file, Bowls to Communion Sets (continues in next box).

Box 14: Pewter product file, Communion Sets to Lamps (continues in next box).

Box 15: Pewter product file, Lamps to Plates and platters (continues in next box).

Box 16: Pewter product file, Plates and platters to Porringers (continues in next box).

Box 17: Pewter product file, Porringers to Tea and coffee pots (continues in next box).

Box 18: Pewter product file, Tea and coffee pots to Trumpets.

Molds.

Miscellaneous pewter data (continues in next box).

Box 19: Miscellaneous pewter data (continued from previous and continues in next box).

Box 20: Miscellaneous pewter data (continued from previous box).

Pieces with owners’ names.

Bibliography.

Youngs’ library (continues in next box).

Box 21: Youngs’ library (continued from previous box).

Box 22: Libraries, museums, dealers.

Miscellaneous notes and addresses.