Israel D. Condit papers

The papers of Israel Dodd Condit, a 19th century New Jersey resident and industrialist, consist of approximately 0.5 cubic feet of documents and two oversize ledgers.

Spanning the years 1803-1892, the documents are distributed across the entire length of Condit's life and career, with the heaviest concentration on the latter part, between 1855 and 1885.

The collection consists of correspondence received, financial documents in the form of indentures, promissory notes, receipts, stock certificates, and accounting ledgers, and also, legal documents including agreements, summonses, judgments and assumpsits, mortgages, deeds, indentures, and title searches. Noteworthy are Condit's last will and testament dated 1874, and two patents to which Condit obtained the rights, one for improvement in machinery to separate flour from bran (1849), and the other for improvement in machine1y for felting hat bodies (1857).

The documentation is very fragmented and eclectic, with papers originating from Condit, family members, and business associates. The papers give little insight to Condit's personal life and documentation in this area is minimal.

Although, the chronology of the papers encompasses Condit's early years, they are peripheral, consisting of real estate documents tracing the provenance for nine tracts of land in Springfield, N.J., later acquired by Condit. The balance of documents for this period deal with various business enterprises. There are significant gaps, and apart from the patent [file 19], there is no documentation relating to the manufacture of hat bodies, which was integral in establishing Condit's fame and financial success. Also lacking is significant documentation pertaining to paper manufacture which was an integral and continuous part of his business career. There is a partnership agreement between Condit and his son regarding the Shawangunk Paper Mill, along with partnership and financial agreements and correspondence relating to other business enterprises. There is a substantial body of papers relating to Condit's involvement with and eventual administration of the Dundee Manufacturing Company, in the form of correspondence from Edward J. Atterbury, president, and Charles Pearson, secretary of that company spanning the years 1858-1861, along with stock certificates, and a lease and agreement between them.

The largest concentration of papers relates to Condit's interest in the production of iron, documenting his involvement with the Lehigh Valley Iron Company and the establishment of the Musconetcong Iron Company and the Rockaway Direct Process Iron and Steel Company. Here also are large gaps, as documentation relating to the administrative and organizational functions of these enterprises are lacking.

In general, the papers relate primarily to Condit's financial and business interaction, with a focus toward and unified by the financial difficulty he suffered during the financial panic of 1873, compounded by the loss of several business properties to disaster. The documents in this collection appear to have been gathered for the purpose of assessing and verifying his assets and financial obligations. Supporting these are promissory notes (some contested) to, from, and peripheral to Condit, summonses, judgments, assumpsits, receipts, and handwritten statements and calculations. A newspaper clipping detailing a sheriff’s sale of Condit's properties, correlates to the earlier real estate papers in the collection.

An attempt at financial recovery was made through the establishment of the Rockaway Direct Process Iron and Steel Company, and a body of papers including stocks, receipts, an indenture, and correspondence sparsely document this period.

Related to this, some papers from an unprocessed collection were added. These span the years 1888-92 and consist of correspondence between Joel Wilson, a business partner of Condit's [see agreement file no. 15] and William Crenshaw, President of the Sulphur Mines of Virginia, regarding Mr. Wilson patent for desulphurizing ores and its practical applications. This is contained in the Correspondence series [file no. 4].

There is some reference to Condit's involvement with St. Stephen’s Church through receipts, a newspaper clipping, and an insurance policy.

The collection has been arranged into four series: Correspondence, Financial Documents, Legal Documents, and Miscellaneous to accommodate the diverse and fragmented nature of the collection.