{"id":47582,"date":"2026-01-28T14:04:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T19:04:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/?p=47582"},"modified":"2026-02-12T09:47:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:47:15","slug":"more-than-just-bread-tins","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/2026\/01\/more-than-just-bread-tins\/","title":{"rendered":"More than just bread tins: John Day Caldwell papers shed light on Ohio Valley history"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Archives and Rare Books library is excited to announce that the John Day\u00a0Caldwell papers\u00a0(UA-81-22)\u00a0have been\u00a0processed,\u00a0and a finding aid has been completed.\u00a0The collection\u00a0contains\u00a0a wealth of documents dating from 1782 to 1902 that provide a detailed look into the settlement and early history of Cincinnati, as well as\u00a0Ohio state history.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Photograph
John D. Caldwell in his regalia, undated. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

John Day Caldwell (1816-1902) worked in\u00a0numerous\u00a0roles in Cincinnati, including as a transportation agent, newspaper editor, librarian, city\u00a0commissioner\u00a0and Cincinnati Board of Education clerk. During the Civil War, Caldwell\u00a0assisted\u00a0in\u00a0establishing\u00a0the Cincinnati Home Guards, a civilian group of men who protected and patrolled the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His papers, originally stored in metal bread tins by Caldwell,\u00a0were received as part of\u00a0the Ohio Mechanics Institute records back in the 1970s. A\u00a0card catalog was created for the\u00a0collection,\u00a0and the papers were rehoused\u00a0into archival boxes\u00a0following their receipt.\u00a0However,\u00a0archivists at ARB\u00a0have\u00a0reprocessed the collection\u00a0for better organization\u00a0and\u00a0have created\u00a0a corresponding finding aid that can be accessed\u00a0online<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Caldwell was a collector of historical documents and he\u00a0collected and kept records on topics such as freemasonry, African American freemasonry, notable Americans, United States politicians,\u00a0various\u00a0organizations in\u00a0Cincinnati, railroads, philosophy\u00a0and religion, general American history, history of local education, libraries, slavery\u00a0and abolition, military history, book publishing, public safety services, land surveys, history of newspapers, charities, business ventures, science, local entertainment, non-American history, gas companies, and water works.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many\u00a0of Caldwell’s papers consist of his notes and research,\u00a0letters,\u00a0and printed materials. Within his collection are letters from Thomas Jefferson, General George B. McClellan, Horace Mann, Charles Francis Hall, David Barrow, and governors of Ohio and Kentucky.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glimpse into the collection\u00a0<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Caldwell\u2019s papers make up 34\u00a0archival\u00a0boxes and 2 oversize boxes (17.85 linear feet) and\u00a0are\u00a0arranged into series by topic. This treasure trove of material\u00a0includes\u00a0items such as\u00a0Caldwell\u2019s handwritten notes,\u00a0lists of early businesses, Cincinnati theater histories,\u00a0early\u00a0Cincinnati newspapers, original land warrants,\u00a0Cincinnati settlement histories,\u00a0Civil War correspondence\u00a0and early\u00a0church service programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"More
Letter announcing performance of Hamlet to benefit Civil War soldiers and their families, February 1, 1865<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Ticket
Ticket to the United States Senate impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, April 27, 1868<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Flyer
Anti-Slavery Convention flyer, Cincinnati, Ohio, April 19-21, 1853<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\""Squirrel
Certificate given to Caldwell for his service with the Cincinnati Squirrel Hunters, a volunteer militia, 1862 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"Land
Land survey notes by John Dunlap on the Miami Purchase territory, 1789-1790<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n
\"Poster
Railroad advertisement poster, undated<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Overall, the Caldwell papers provide a wealth of primary sources, supplemented by Caldwell\u2019s own notes, on Cincinnati and Ohio\u00a0Valley\u00a0history.\u00a0It will be a wonderful resource for historians, students, and educators.\u00a0ARB is proud to provide increased access to the collection through its reorganization and new finding aid\u00a0with the goal of enhancing access to the collection through a future digital collection highlighting many materials in the collection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Archives and Rare Books library is excited to announce that the John Day\u00a0Caldwell papers\u00a0(UA-81-22)\u00a0have been\u00a0processed,\u00a0and a finding aid has been completed.\u00a0The collection\u00a0contains\u00a0a wealth of documents dating from 1782 to 1902 that provide a detailed look into the settlement and … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":469,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,600,31,13],"tags":[2726,2525,2358,53,2723,2722,2724,2725,2727,36,66],"class_list":["post-47582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arb","category-special-collections-2","category-uc","category-uclibraries","tag-19th-century-politics","tag-american-civil-war","tag-archives-and-rare-books","tag-cincinnati-history","tag-early-americana","tag-freemasonry","tag-ohio-history","tag-ohio-mechanics-institute","tag-reconstruction","tag-uc-libraries","tag-university-archives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/469"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47582"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47673,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47582\/revisions\/47673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/libapps.libraries.uc.edu\/liblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}