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Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission
Bureau of Archives and History
Pennsylvania State Archives
MG-48
FALL BROOK RAILROAD AND COAL COMPANY PAPERS
Series Descriptions
Conductor's Casualty Reports,
1886, 1887.
(1 box)
{series #48m.1} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically by date of report.
Train conductor's reports, which document the circumstances of specific railroad accidents on the Fall Brook Railway system. These accounts were submitted to the general superintendent, each containing instructions to the conductors to “give full particulars of all accidents to their trains (including engines), or when persons or animals are injured or killed.” Information listed in each report includes: where the accident took place, date and time of the accident, conductor of the train, listing of train men and witnesses, name of the train, name of the engineer, engine number of the train, cause of accident, numbers of cars off the track or damaged, statement of damage to the train, a listing of injuries to persons, any train delays caused by the accident, as well as a full, detailed report of the accident.
Coal Expense Reports and
Financial Documents,
1872-1904.
(1 carton, 1 box)
{series #48m.2} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically by date of report.
Various kinds of reports relative to coal mining and financial transactions for the mines located at Antrim are included in this series. The type of reports present in the files vary from month to month and year to year. Coal expense reports are available for nearly every month of every year, however, and provide detailed information concerning the amount of coal extracted from the Antrim mines. Other types of documents include account statements, coal expense reports, general expense reports, listings of bills, miscellaneous balance sheets, store merchandise statements, vouchers, and year-end reports.
General Files,
1867-1938.
(1 carton)
{series #48m.3} [Holdings]
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Miscellaneous materials concerning the mining operations at Antrim comprise this series. Files relative to the founding and construction of the town, such as an 1867 topographic notebook of the area, and the papers of Patrick Bradley & Son, who were responsible for masonry work completed there in 1873 and 1874, are included. Also present is the correspondence of company officials such as agent William Howell and assistant superintendent James Pollock. These papers chronicle the creation and administration of a true mining “company town,” a community specifically built by the Fall Brook Coal Company to exploit the coal seams discovered along the headwaters of Wilson's Creek in south-central Tioga County.
Vouchers,
1883-1888, 1933.
(1 carton, 1 box)
{series #48m.4} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically.
Vouchers and financial statements from Antrim, with many relating to the purchases of mining equipment and store supplies. Also of note are monthly “Board Sheets,” which list the names of boarders, the amount they paid for housing, and also how much they spent on merchandise for that month. Signatures of the boarders are included on each one of these sheets.
McKean County Interests,
1873-1882.
(2 cartons)
{series #48m.13} [Holdings]
Arranged alphabetically by subject.
Files relative to the coal mining and railroad operations in McKean County,
Pennsylvania, which is situated roughly seventy-five miles west of the borough
of Fall Brook, comprise this series. The main focus of the papers is the
Buffalo Coal Company, which was headquartered in Buffalo, New York, with
its mining operations located around the town of Clermont in McKean County.
George J. Magee served as president of the company, while at the same time
functioning in the same capacity for the Fall Brook Coal Company. Other
companies related to the Buffalo Coal Company, such as the Buffalo, New
York & Philadelphia Railway Company (of which George J. Magee was a
director), and the McKean and Buffalo Railway Company, are also included.
The bulk of the series consists of the general correspondence file of the
three companies listed above, as well as a file relative to an Archer N.
Martin, who bought out Magee and the other owners of the Buffalo in 1881.
Pardee Collieries Vouchers,
1888-1890, 1893, 1895-1901.
(7 cartons)
{series #48m.15} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically.
Cash vouchers and vouchers for the Pardee Collieries, which were located
near Philipsburg, Clearfield County and Patton, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.
They were initially run by George J. Magee and later by the firm of John
Magee and W. C. Lingle. The Pardee family had extensive interests in the
Eastern-Middle anthracite field around the city of Hazleton in eastern Pennsylvania,
and also maintained a stake in the Pardee Collieries, due to the fact that
the Estate of Ario Pardee received royalties from these operations. Included
are payment receipts, monthly coal tonnage listings, rail freight earning
sheets, and payroll lists, which include the names, occupations, and monthly
earnings/deductions of each employee.
Arranged chronologically by date of correspondence.
Principally incoming correspondence, sent to agents of the Fall Brook Coal Company at various locations, providing a look at the daily shipment and movement of coal. Topics include: receipts of payment, bill of lading for canal boats, request and shipment of coal, consignment of coal cars, coal sales, and letters of complaint. Boxes of H. Brewer’s correspondence include various engineer drafts and plans for bridges, coal beds, and railroads lines.
Fall Brook Coal Company General Correspondence,Arranged chronologically by date of correspondence.
This series of incoming correspondence, sent to company officials such as Duncan S. Magee, George Magee, John Lang, and John Magee, provides an insightful look at the day to day and broader activities of the Fall Brook rail and coal operations. A number of different correspondents, such as coal agent G. R. Wilson of Buffalo and the Watertown Paper Company, touch on a wide variety of issues. Topics include: the setting of coal and rail rates through a “committee,” coal sales, coal shipments, requests for employment, general business comings and goings, canal deliveries and canal boat issues, the opening of new mines, surveying and acquiring land for new railroad lines, requests for coal shipments, complaints about not receiving coal fast enough, labor issues, requests for cash by stranded canal boat captains, and railroad deliveries.
Honorable John Magee Correspondence,Arranged chronologically by year of correspondence.
Incoming correspondence, sent to John Magee, as well as a few outgoing drafts, provides a look at the growth of the Fall Brook Railroad and Coal Company. The series of correspondence, sent by Fall Brook agents, family members, businessman, and local citizens, ranges from the surveying and opening of mines in the early 1860’s to the building and leasing of miles of tracks from central Pennsylvania to New York. Topics include: buying and selling of stocks and bonds, surveying land, letters anticipating coal strikes, requests for employment and loans, completion and lease of railroads, setting rates, discussion of the Civil War, incorporation of the town of Fall Brook, related town business such as the opening of a hotel and the rental of houses, information about the Erie Railroad War (with correspondence sent and received from the Erie Railroad), and the death and funeral of John Magee.
Colonel John Magee Correspondence,Arranged alphabetically by correspondent and then chronologically by year of correspondence.
Chiefly incoming correspondence, sent to Colonel John Magee, which provides a look at the day-to-day activities of the Fall Brook Rail Road and Coal Company’s operations. Correspondence between companies, legislators, businessmen, and railroad agents touch on a wide variety of issues, such as: mine strikes, the establishment of standardized coal and rail rates, bidding for coal contracts, shipment of coal, stock and bond buying and selling, the expansion of railways, and drafted commerce laws.
{series #48m.31} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically by date of report.
Accounting reports for Corning Station and the railroad shops of the Fall Brook Coal Company's railroads and the Fall Brook Railway Company. Most of the files deal with expenditures relative to railroad equipment, repairs, supplies, or personnel. Many different types of reports are included, such as: Motive Power Department reports, expenses and mileage of locomotives, bills for collection, Tioga Coke Works tonnage sheets, distribution of shops labor and materials, statements of engine service, distribution of shops payrolls, distribution of shops materials, and bills invoiced at shops.
Foreign Car Mileage Reports,
1884-1899.
(2 cartons)
{series #48m.34} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically by date of report.
Postcards and letters sent from other railroad companies to Fall Brook, reporting
the amount of miles that Fall Brook cars traveled on their respective tracks.
Information on the reports generally includes the month being reported on, the
number of miles traveled, the rate charged per mile, and a total of the amount
owed.
Foreign Car Mileage Statements,
1891-1899.
(2 boxes)
{series #48m.35} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically by date of report.
Reports, generated by Fall Brook's accounting department, chronicling the amount
of miles and the fee charged for Fall Brook cars who traveled on “foreign
roads.” Each statement is usually four pages, and contains information
similar to that found in the foreign car mileage reports.
Payrolls,
1897.
(1 box)
{series #48m.59} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically.
Payroll sheets for the Fall Brook Railway Company's various railroad departments,
such as the shops, “Corning Yard,” and trains. Employee names DO appear
on these lists, along with employee or check numbers, date of payment, witness
of payment, time worked, rate of pay, amount paid, deductions, and balance due.
Railroad Distribution Payrolls,
1889-1899.
(2 boxes)
{series #48m.42} [Holdings]
Arranged chronologically by date of report.
Accounting reports, detailing the distribution of the Fall Brook system's pay
rolls, are included in this series. Separate summaries for the Corning, Cowanesque
and Antrim Railway, Syracuse, Geneva and Corning Railway, Fall Brook Railway,
and the Pine Creek Railway are included, as well as reports for “trains
pay roll” and “check pay rolls.” While no employee names are
present, the sheets list a plethora of information, chronicling what these firms
paid their workforce during a given month. The reports are broken down by railroad
section and then by task or job, with activities such as “picking up scrap
iron,” “scrubbing tower at Mallory's,” “labor on new switch
at Westfield,” and “transporting painters” listed on the rolls.
Adam D. Stewart Estate Papers
1847-1889, undated.
(1 carton)
{series #48m.58} [Holdings]
Arranged alphabetically.
Files relative to the Estate of Adam Duncan Stewart, a former U.S. Army
Paymaster, who died on October 17, 1867. George J. Magee and Duncan
S. Carter, both nephews of Stewart, served as co-executors of his estate.
It took well over a decade to settle its affairs, which included various
investments such as land-holdings in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Kentucky.
The series contains files related to these investments, as well as legal
and personal dealings between George Magee and attorneys, family members,
and investors relative to Stewart's holdings. It seems the business
of the estate became an increasingly cumbersome burden to Magee, who
had numerous other personal and professional obligations to look after.
Accounts, correspondence, legal papers, miscellaneous military files,
personal papers, and other documents are included, with the bulk of
the materials dating from the 1867-1883 time period.
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