Collection Scope and Content Note

Ezra Cornell papers include minutes of a citizens' meeting (February 5, 1863), at which Cornell's proposal for building the Cornell Public Library was considered, and letters to Cornell, 1863-1874, from William Hodgins, the library architect, and John Henry Selkreg, Francis Miles Finch, and others concerning the operation of the library; records of the Ithaca & Owego Railroad, 1834-1845, later the Cayuga Division of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, include a letter from William Ross Humphrey to his father, Charles Humphrey, discussing some of the problems that were faced in starting the railroad, correspondence, financial statements, vouchers, bonds, and minutes of Board of Directors' meetings; land records include War of 1812, Black Hawk, and Seminole Wars bounty warrants, 1851-1864 and letters patent for lands in Illinois and Dakota Territory, 1818-1887; records concerning the Edward H. Rulloff murder trial and appeal, 1847-1860, include copies of indictments, briefs, notes on the selection of jurors, testimony, writs of error, New York State Supreme Court opinions, and letters from Rulloff to Douglass Boardman and Francis Miles Finch; the "Nautical Journal from River Plate [La Plata] to Pacific Ocean on Board Brig Laura of Salem" (ca. 150 pp.) contains a narrative of John Holman's voyage along the coast of South America, 1822-1824, and includes a sketch of the LAURA laying to off Cape Horn in a tremendous gale.

Also, cipher book of John Munson, ca. 1807; two letters from Lyman C. Draper to members of the Cantine family concerning their family history, 1878, and other Cantine items, 1822; thirty pencil drawings by Mary Hibbard; and miscellaneous manuscripts,and newspapers and printed items relating to Ithaca and Tompkins County.