Series 1. GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1913-1929.
Series 2. BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION.
These papers relate to Benjamin's biographical information project as a
staff member of Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography. The
contents consist mostly of questionnaires returned by subject, or
correspondence with subjects or relatives and friends of subjects, along with
newspaper articles, printed works, and obituaries. Also included are page
proofs. Persons for whom there is more than the minimum biographical
information are: Alexander Graham Bell, John Shaw Billings, Charles Frederick
Chandler, Edward Drinker Cope, Elliot Coues, Charles H. Davis (includes Henry
Cabot Lodge letters to Benjamin), Clarence Edward Dutton, William Gilson
Farlow, George Gibbs, Asa Gray, Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden, Samuel P. Langley,
John LeConte, Elias Loomis, Edward Sylvester Morse, Simon Newcomb, and John
Wesley Powell. Apparently, these papers resulted from a biographical
project begun by Benjamin in 1887. Some letters included by Benjamin's
correspondents predate 1887. However, a few post-1891 items have been filed
here by others than Benjamin. There is also some correspondence unrelated to
the biographical information project pertaining to publications of articles
and Smithsonian administration. Correspondents include Cleveland Abbe; Henry L.
Abbot; Alexander Agassiz; John H. Alexander (Ref); Joel Asaph Allen; Alexander
Dallas Bache (Ref); Spencer F. Baird; George Frederick Barker; John Gross
Barnard; Alexander Graham Bell; Alexander Melville Bell; Marcus Benjamin; John
Shaw Billings; William H. Brewer; William Keith Brooks; Alexis Caswell; Charles
Frederick Chandler; William Chauvenet; James Henry Coffin (Ref); Cyrus Ballou
Comstock; Josiah Parsons Cooke; Edward Drinker Cope; Elliott Coues; James
Mason Craft; John Call Dalton (Ref); Edward Salisbury Dana; James Dwight Dana;
George Davidson; Charles H. Davis (Ref); Henry Draper (Ref); John W. Draper;
Clarence Edward Dutton; James Buchanan Eads; George Engelmann (Ref); William
Gilson Farlow; William Ferrel; Robert Fletcher; John Fries Frazer (Ref);
William More Gabb (Ref); Albert Gallatin (Ref); Frederick Augustus Genth;
George Gibbs (Ref); Grove Karl Gilbert; Asa Gray; Arnold Henry Guyot; James
Hadley; Samuel Stehman Haldeman (Ref); Asaph Hall; James Hall; Ferdinand
Vandeveer Hayden; Joseph Henry (Ref); Eugene Woldemar Hilgard; Julius Eramus
Hilgard; George William Hill; Henry Barker Hill; Edward Hitchcock; John
Edwards Holbrook; Edward Singleton Holden; Joseph Stillman Hubbard; Andrew
Atkinson Humphreys; Thomas Sterry Hunt; Charles Loring Jackson; Thomas
Jefferson (Ref); Walter Rogers Johnson; Clarence King; Jonathan Homer Lane;
Samuel P. Langley; John Lawrence Leconte; Joseph Leconte; Joseph Leidy; John
Peter Lesley; Charles Leo Lesquereaux; Miers Fisher Longstreth; Elias Loomis;
John Alden Loring; Joseph Lovering; Theodore Lyman; Frederick August Mahan
(Ref); George Perkins Marsh (Ref); Othniel Charles Marsh; Alfred Marshall
Mayer; Fielding Bradford Meek (Ref); Montgomery C. Meigs; Thomas Corwin
Mendenhall; Henry Mitchell; Silas Weir Mitchell; Lewis Henry Morgan; Edward
Sylvester Morse; Henry Morton; John Strong Newberry; Simon Newcomb; Hubert
Anson Newton; John Newton; William Augustus Norton; James Edward Oliver;
Alpheus Spring Packard; Benjamin Peirce (Ref); Charles Sanders Peirce;
Christian Henry Frederick Peters (Ref); Edward Charles Pickering; Louis
Francois De Pourtales; John Wesley Powell; Raphael Pumpelly; Frederick Ward
Putnam; Charles Rau; William DeC. Ravenel; Ira Remsen; Fairman Rogers; Henry
Darwin Rogers; James Blythe Rogers; Robert Empie Rogers; William Augustus
Rogers; William Barton Rogers; Ogden Nicholas Rood; Henry Augustus Rowland;
Lewis Morris Rutherford; Joseph Saxton (Ref); Charles Anthony Schott; Samuel
H. Scudder; William Sellers; Benjamin Silliman; John Lawrence Smith; Sidney
Irving Smith; Charles Wardwell Stiles; William Stimpson; Theodore Strong;
William Starling Sullivant; John Torrey; Joseph Gilbert Totten; William
Trelease; John Trowbridge; William Petit Trowbridge; James Hammond Trumbull;
Edward Tuckerman; Addison Emory Verrill; Francis Amasa Walker; Gouveneur Kemble
Warren; Josiah Dwight Whitney; William Dwight Whitney; Joseph Winlock; Horatio
C. Wood; Amos Henry Worthen; Arthur William Wright; Jeffries Wyman; Charles
Augustus Young. Box 1 of 6
INTRODUCTION
This finding aid was digitized with funds generously provided by the
Smithsonian Institution Women's Committee.
HISTORICAL NOTE
Marcus Benjamin (1857-1932) was a chemist, sanitary engineer, and editor of
several scientific publications. He was a contributor and staff member of
Appleton's Cyclopedia of American Biography from 1883 to 1902, and
served as editor of the United States National Museum from 1896 to 1931.
DESCRIPTIVE ENTRY
SERIES DESCRIPTIONS
SERIES 1.
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE, 1913-1929.
| Folder | 1 | Correspondence, 1913-1929 |
Box 1 of 6
| Folder | 2 | Abbot, Henry L. | |
| Folder | 3 | Agassiz, Alexander | |
| Folder | 4 | Alexander, John H. | |
| Folder | 5 | Allen, Joel Asaph | |
| Folder | 6 | Bache, Alexander Dallas | |
| Folder | 7 | Baird, Spencer F. | |
| Folder | 8 | Barker, George Frederick | |
| Folder | 9 | Barnard, John Gross | |
| Folder | 10 | Bell, Alexander Graham | |
| Folder | 11 | Billings, John Shaw | |
| Folder | 12 | Brewer, William H. | |
| Folder | 13 | Brooks, William Keith | |
| Folder | 14 | Caswell, Alexis | |
| Folder | 15 | Chandler, Charles Frederick | |
| Folder | 16 | Chauvenet, William | |
| Folder | 17 | Coffin, James Henry | |
| Folder | 18 | Comstock, Cyrus Ballou | |
| Folder | 19 | Cooke, Josiah Parsons | |
| Folder | 20 | Cope, Edward Drinker | |
| Folder | 21 | Coues, Elliott | |
| Folder | 22 | Craft, James Mason | |
| Folder | 23 | Dalton, John Call | |
| Folder | 24 | Dana, Edward Salisbury | |
| Folder | 25 | Dana, James Dwight | |
| Folder | 26 | Davidson, George | |
| Folder | 27 | Davis, Charles H. | |
| Folder | 28 | Draper, Henry | |
| Folder | 29 | Draper, John W. |
Box 2 of 6
| Folder | 1 | Dutton, Clarence Edward | |
| Folder | 2 | Eads, James Buchanan | |
| Folder | 3 | Engelmann, George | |
| Folder | 4 | Farlow, William Gilson | |
| Folder | 5 | Ferrel, William | |
| Folder | 6 | Fletcher, Robert | |
| Folder | 7 | Frazer, John Fries | |
| Folder | 8 | Gabb, William More | |
| Folder | 9 | Genth, Frederick Augustus | |
| Folder | 10 | Gibbs, George | |
| Folder | 11 | Gilbert, Grove Karl | |
| Folder | 12 | Gray, Asa | |
| Folder | 13 | Guyot, Arnold Henry | |
| Folder | 14 | Hadley, James | |
| Folder | 15 | Haldeman, Samuel Stehman | |
| Folder | 16 | Hall, Asaph | |
| Folder | 17 | Hall, James | |
| Folder | 18 | Hayden, Ferdinand Vandeveer |
Box 3 of 6
| Folder | 1 | Henry, Joseph | |
| Folder | 2 | Hilgard, Eugene Woldemar | |
| Folder | 3 | Hilgard, Julius Erasmus | |
| Folder | 4 | Hill, George William | |
| Folder | 5 | Hill, Henry Barker | |
| Folder | 6 | Hitchcock, Edward | |
| Folder | 7 | Holbrook, John Edwards | |
| Folder | 8 | Holden, Edward Singleton | |
| Folder | 9 | Hubbard, Joseph Stulman | |
| Folder | 10 | Humphreys, Andrew Atkinson | |
| Folder | 11 | Hunt, Thomas Sterry | |
| Folder | 12 | Jackson, Charles Loring | |
| Folder | 13 | Johnson, Walter Rogers | |
| Folder | 14 | King, Clarence | |
| Folder | 15 | Lane, Jonathan Homer | |
| Folder | 16 | Langley, Samuel P. | |
| Folder | 17 | LeConte, John Lawrence, and LeConte, Joseph | |
| Folder | 17A | LeConte, John Lawrence - Photograph (Accession 06-174) | |
| Folder | 18 | Leidy, Joseph | |
| Folder | 19 | Lesley, John Peter | |
| Folder | 20 | Lesquereaux, Charles Leo | |
| Folder | 21 | Longstreth, Miers Fisher | |
| Folder | 22 | Loomis, Elias | |
| Folder | 23 | Loring, John Alden | |
| Folder | 24 | Lovering, Joseph | |
| Folder | 25 | Lyman, Theodore | |
| Folder | 26 | Mahan, Frederick Augustus | |
| Folder | 27 | Marsh, George Perkins | |
| Folder | 28 | Marsh, Othniel Charles | |
| Folder | 29 | Mayer, Alfred Marshall | |
| Folder | 30 | Meek, Fielding Bradford |
Box 4 of 6
| Folder | 1 | Meigs, Montgomery C. | |
| Folder | 2 | Mendenhall, Thomas Corwin | |
| Folder | 3 | Mitchell, Henry | |
| Folder | 4 | Mitchell, Silas Weir | |
| Folder | 5 | Morgan, Lewis Henry | |
| Folder | 6 | Morse, Edward Sylvester | |
| Folder | 7 | Morton, Henry | |
| Folder | 8 | Newberry, John Strong | |
| Folder | 9 | Newcomb, Simon | |
| Folder | 10 | Newton, Hubert Anson | |
| Folder | 11 | Newton, John | |
| Folder | 12 | Norton, William Augustus | |
| Folder | 13 | Oliver, James Edward | |
| Folder | 14 | Packard, Alpheus Spring | |
| Folder | 15 | Peirce, Benjamin | |
| Folder | 16 | Peirce, Charles Sanders | |
| Folder | 17 | Peters, Christian Henry Frederick | |
| Folder | 18 | Pickering, Edward Charles | |
| Folder | 19 | Pourtales, Louis Francois de | |
| Folder | 20 | Powell, John Wesley | |
| Folder | 21 | Pumpelly, Raphael | |
| Folder | 22 | Putnam, Frederick Ward | |
| Folder | 23 | Rau, Charles | |
| Folder | 24 | Remsen, Ira |
Box 5 of 6
| Folder | 1 | The Rogers Brothers | |
| Folder | 2 | Rogers, Fairman | |
| Folder | 3 | Rogers, William Augustus | |
| Folder | 4 | Rood, Ogden Nicholas | |
| Folder | 5 | Rowland, Henry Augustus | |
| Folder | 6 | Rutherford, Lewis Morris | |
| Folder | 7 | Schott, Charles Anthony | |
| Folder | 8 | Scudder, Samuel H. | |
| Folder | 9 | Sellers, William | |
| Folder | 10 | Silliman, Benjamin | |
| Folder | 11 | Smith, John Lawrence | |
| Folder | 12 | Smith, Sidney Irving | |
| Folder | 13 | Stimpson, William | |
| Folder | 14 | Strong, Theodore | |
| Folder | 15 | Sullivant, William Starling | |
| Folder | 16 | Torrey, John | |
| Folder | 17 | Totten, Joseph Gilbert | |
| Folder | 18 | Trowbridge, John | |
| Folder | 19 | Trowbridge, William Petit | |
| Folder | 20 | Trumbull, James Hammond | |
| Folder | 21 | Tuckerman, Edward | |
| Folder | 22 | Verrill, Addison Emory | |
| Folder | 23 | Walker, Francis Amasa | |
| Folder | 24 | Warren, Gouveneur Kemble | |
| Folder | 25 | Whitney, Josiah Dwight | |
| Folder | 26 | Whitney, William Dwight | |
| Folder | 27 | Winlock, Joseph | |
| Folder | 28 | Wood, Horatio C. | |
| Folder | 29 | Worthen, Amos Henry | |
| Folder | 30 | Wright, Arthur William | |
| Folder | 31 | Wyman, Jeffries | |
| Folder | 32 | Young, Charles Augustus |
Box 6 of 6
Contact us at osiaref@si.edu
Revised: November 1, 2006