The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Hall, Charles Athon, 1859-1933.
Title: Real estate business records,
Dates: circa 1880-1930, bulk
1890-1900.
Call No.: Col. 928
Acc. No.: 14x9
Quantity: 23 items
Location: 34 J 6
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Charles Athon Hall was a real estate broker and
appraiser, living in Dorchester, Massachusetts, but with an office in
Boston. He was born in Indianapolis in
1859, the son of Sarah Grace Thompson and William Hall. By 1880, Charles, his younger brother Sam
(born in Wisconsin), and their mother were living in Medford, Mass. In 1883, Charles married Mary Frances
Vandervoort, and they had four children: sons Roswell (1885-1967) and Charles,
Jr. (1890-1972), who worked with their father, and daughters Mary V.
(1884-1940) and Rachel W. (1887-1940).
The senior Hall died in 1933 in Massachusetts.
Mary Frances Vandervoort was the daughter of Mary
Frances Gleason and William Vandervoort.
William Vandervoort was one of the founders of Tonawanda, New York; the
Gleason family was from Dorchester, Mass.
Mrs. Hall evidently inherited property from both sides of her
family.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Ledger book and other papers, mostly relating to
real estate owned or managed by Charles A. Hall. The ledger book contains a mix of records,
some of which pertain to property owned by Hall or inherited by his wife, and
some of which pertain to shares in companies.
Of particular interest are the records of rental houses on Washington
St., Dorchester, including some of the construction expenses, as well as costs
of repairs and insurance.
Some of the loose papers include information about
property in Tonawanda, New York, which Mrs. Hall inherited from her
parents. One of these includes a rough
sketch of the outline of the Vandervoort house, showing its location on its lot,
with two wings and a shed. Two letters
relate to the Melville School Corporation, which did not have enough money to
pay its debts. Several letters are
between Hall and Thomas W. Shackleford, a lawyer in West Superior,
Wisconsin. Also found are receipts for
taxes paid in Douglas County, Wis., and a request to buy some of Hall’s
property there. A list of property in
the name of Mary F. V. Hall was compiled in Nov. 1926; most was in Dorchester
(although the list says “in Boston”), but one piece was in North Tonawanda, N.Y.
In 1930, Rachel Hall sent her father a postcard of
Washington Square, New York City.
Undated items in the collection include envelopes which held documents;
a sketch of a lot owned by E. A. Gleason [probably Edwardina Augusta Gleason, a
cousin of Mrs. Hall] in Dorchester; a sketch of lots on Bloomfield Street in
Dorchester, with the home of Thomas R. Hughes indicated; and a sketch of lots
belonging to the estate of William Vandervoort.
Lastly, there is a summary of the charter of the Commercial Trust Co. of
New York City.
ORGANIZATION
The items are mostly in chronological order.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Purchased from Dan Casavant Rare Books.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Vandervoort family.
Topics:
Commercial Trust Co. (New
York, N.Y.)
Melville School Corporation (Dorchester, Mass.)
Dwellings - Maintenance and repair - Massachusetts - Dorchester.
House construction - Massachusetts - Dorchester.
Real estate management.
Rental housing - Massachusetts - Dorchester.
Real property - Massachusetts - Dorchester.
Real property - New York (State) - Tonawanda.
Real property tax - Wisconsin.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 34 J 6
Folder 1:
.1 Ledger
Inside front cover is a label for
Thomas Groom & Co., Stationers, Boston; notes are written on the front
paste-down, Many of the pages in the
volume are blank; pages 9-12, 25-28, 31-40, 45-46, 49-60, 69-72, 79-80. 83-108,
113-114, and pages 149 and after are missing.
Several pages are loose/
The ledger opens with an index to
its contents, under the headings Banks; Bonds; Insurance; Leaverett, G.V.;
Mortgages; Real Estate; and Stocks.
p. 1-4, 20: expenses for houses at
424 and 420 Washington St., Dorchester, including taxes, repairs, and
redecorating;
p. 16: Wood lot, Quincy, Mass.:
taxes;
p. 18: two properties, with a sketch
labeled “plan of estate 424 Washington St., Dorchester, dist. hereafter to be
known as the “Homestead”;
p. 19: expenses for “Homestead”
House, bought in 1892;
p. 20: expenses for 424 Nashua St.
[see also p. 1-4]
p. 22: House at Harwich, Mass.,
1881;
p. 24: sketch of lots, in names of
R.V. Miller, M.F.V. Hall, and E.A. Gleason;
p. 29: Gleason estate, stable lot 8,
to M.F.V. Hall;
p. 30: Day farm, Tonawanda, N.Y.,
with added sketch of property, and other information [piece of paper glued in];
p. 42-44: Beach lot, wharf, and wood
lot, West Harwich, 1891-1896;
p. 75: Geo. V. Leaverett, trustee
for Mary V. Hall, accounts;
p. 110-140, passim: accounts of
investments in stock of various companies;
p. 145, 147: account of Henry Cowles
Wadsworth, of Buffalo;
p,. 148: accounts headed Samuel George
Hall
Folder 2:
.2 letter, Jas. Sweeny, Buffalo, July 12,
1891, to cousin Charley: hopes Charles has a successful trip to New York; about
renting a brick house in the Vandervoort estate, and a charge for cleaning its
privy vaults; it’s an old-fashioned house in need of repairs;
.3 letter, James Sweeny, Jr., Buffalo,
Nov. 18, 1891, to cousin Charles: asking what Charles wants to do about the
brick house in Tonawanda, which is in need of repairs;
On printed letterhead of
Law Offices of Sprague, Morey, Sprague & Brownell
.4 accounts: the Vandervoort Estate in a/c
with S.W. McKnight, Aug. 1891-July 1892: listing taxes, but with income from
rents
.5 typed letter, Julius Pratt, for
committee, Boston, July 12, 1893: stockholders of the Melville School
Corporation placed its affairs in hands of Pratt and two others for
liquidation; payment due on interest on mortgage in order to avoid foreclosure;
.6 expenses for 1891, 1892, 1893,
including taxes and insurance, probably for the piece of property, a sketch of
which is also found, with a building labeled Vanderwoort House
[page is torn]
.7 typed letter, Julius Pratt, for
committee, Dorcehster, Nov. 25, 1893: notice of meeting of stockholders of the
Melville School Corporation; with report of committee about disposal of
property
.8 typed letter, Thos. W. Shackleford,
West Superior, Wis., Feb. 7, 1896, to Chas A. Hall, Boston: his charges for the
cost of a foreclosure; also can he assist in getting a mortgage on a flour
mill;
On printed letterhead of
Shackleford, attorney-at-law
.9 letter, C.A. Hall, Boston, Feb. 10,
1896, to Thos. Shackleford, Superior, Wis.: was drawn into trap by Mr. Van Derzee[?];
hopes to get even one day; commence foreclosure of Smith mortgage;
On printed letterhead of
Charles Athon Hall, broker, real estate, insurance, mortgages
.10 notes about Frank Van Derzee[?] and Smith
mortgage, 1890-1892; probably notes referred to in .9 above
.11 letter, C.A. Hall, Boston, Feb. 10, 1896,
to Thos. Shackleford, Superior, Wis.: another copy of the letter .9 above
On printed letterhead of
Charles Athon Hall, broker, real estate, insurance, mortgages
.12 letter, C.A. Hall, Boston, Feb. 10, 1896,
to Thos. Shackleford, Superior, Wis.: may have some other mortgages which need
to be foreclosed; please make sure taxes on paid on foreclosed properties;
On printed letterhead of
Charles Athon Hall, broker, real estate, insurance, mortgages
.13a-d tax receipts, from Superior, Douglas County,
Wisconsin, to Charles A. Hall, Feb. 24, 1900: for property taxes;
Printed forms, fastened
together
.14 business card of Manwaring & Cooke,
West Superior, Wis., “examination of titles and real estate law a specialty”
[for E. B. Manwaring and B. C. Cooke];
Printed card
.15 typed letter, from James H. Agen Co.,
West Superior, Wis., Jan. 13, 1902, to Chas. A. Hall, Dorchester: asks price of
a piece of property;
Printed letterhead: real
estate, loans, fire insurance
.16 typed list: “Real Estate standing in the
name of Mary F. V. Hall as of this date… (all in Boston),” Nov. 17, 1926;
includes addresses, price, mortgage, and assessed equity; lists twelve
properties;
although the
list says “all in Boston,” one property was in North Tonawanda, N.Y., and many,
if not all, of the other properties were in Dorchester
.17 postcard, from Rachel, postmark New York,
N.Y., Dec. 31, 1930, to Dad, Charles A. Hall, Dorchester: having a good time
seeing the sights;
With color illustration
of Washington Square, showing Arch, Fifth Avenue Hotel, and No. 1 Fifth Avenue Building
.18 envelope labeled: enclosed (8) Eight
Documents to be delivered on payment attached dft., assignment in blank, from
Frau Van Derzee[?],” with additional notes on back
.19 referencing Smith – Superior; on envelope
printed with return address of George Howe Eddy, Boston, Mass.
.20 sketch with notes: “measurement of lot
owned by E. A. Gleason next to Crown path on Claybourne Street in Dorchester…,”
with estimated value;
[E. A. Gleason may be
Edwardina Augusta Gleason, a cousin of Mrs. Hall]
.21 sketch of a lot, bordered by Tonowanda,
Greenbrier, and Bloomfield Streets; showing sizes of three parcels of lands,
locations of three dwellings (one labeled Hughes), and a tennis court; with
some figures;
On letterhead stationery
of Thomas R. Hughes, architect, Boston
.22 sketches of lots on Washington and Park
Streets [in Dorchester] and a proposed street, with one lot labeled as property
of William Vandervoort
.23 Charter, Commercial Trust Co., New York
City, which was to provide a variety of services pertaining to estates, real
estate, and insurance; the date Feb. 9, 1884 is mentioned, but might not refer
to this company