Papers of Charles Wood Irish - Special Collections - The University of Iowa Libraries

MsC 362

Manuscript Register

PAPERS OF CHARLES WOOD IRISH

Collection Dates: 1852 -- 1927

This document describes a collection of materials held by the
Special Collections Department
University of Iowa Libraries
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1420
Phone: 319-335-5921
Fax: 319-335-5900
e-mail: lib-spec@uiowa.edu

Posted to Internet: September 2010

Acquisition Note: The C.W. Irish Papers include material bought at auction in Davenport, Iowa, in 1977 from the Charles Irish Preston Estate; and also material donated by the Division of the State Historical Society, Iowa State Historical Department. Materials, including the maps and many of the surveyor notebooks in the collection, were received in 2010 from the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming.

Access and Restrictions: This collection is open for research. AT THIS TIME THE MATERIALS IN OVERSIZE CONTAINER 1 ARE BEING PERIODICALLY WITHDRAWN FOR CONSERVATION PURPOSES. MATERIALS IN THIS CONTAINER MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH. PLEASE CONSULT WITH THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT.

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Biographical Note

Charles Wood Irish was born in New York City on February 11, 1834, the son of Frederick Macy Irish and Elizabeth Ann Robinson. He was raised and educated in Iowa. In 1855, he married Susannah Abigail Yarbrough. They had two daughters, Elizabeth and Ruth (Mrs. Charles H. Preston).

As an engineer and surveyor, Irish served in a number of capacities. He was a city engineer for Iowa City and the first county surveyor in Tama County. In addition, he was a chapter member of both Iowa Society of Civil Engineers and the Agassiz Society of Iowa City.

Irish was involved with the first attempt to build a railroad across Iowa in the 1850s. Later he worked as a surveyor in the West during the construction of such railroad lines as the Chicago and North Western, the Dakota Railway, and the Atchison, Topeka and Sante Fe. He was appointed United States Surveyor General for Nevada by President Cleveland in 1886, and in 1893 was called to Washington to head the Bureau of Irrigation and Inquiry. At the time of his death in 1904, he had returned to Nevada and was serving as Deputy Mining Surveyor.

In addition to being both an engineer and surveyor, Irish was a noted botanist, geologist, and astronomer. His observations of a total solar eclipse in 1869 at Iowa City, and of one in Nevada in 1889, resulted in international recognition.

Charles Wood Irish died September 27, 1904, at Gold Creek, Nevada.

Scope and Contents

The Papers of Charles Wood Irish are arranged alphabetically by folder title and chronologically within each folder. Materials include correspondence, diaries, letterpress books, surveyor notebooks, terrain profiles, and maps. These papers reflect various aspects of Irish's career, including early railroad surveying done in Iowa and the West during the 1850s to the 1880s; Bureau of Irrigation activity, 1893 -- 1896; western mining data, 1889 -- 1900; and correspondence 1852 -- 1904, including letters from Joaquin Miller and John P. Irish.

Related materials

The Division of the State Historical Society, Iowa State Historical Department, has a collection of Irish-Preston Family Papers other than Charles Wood Irish. The Society also holds portraits of C.W. Irish and his wife by Isaac A. Wetherby.

Iowa Central Air Lines. Land Tract Ledger. xMs I6481la

Box List

Series I: General Materials

Box 1

"An Account of the Detonating Meteor of February 12, 1875," by Charles Wood Irish (3 copies)

Biographical Information, Charles Wood Irish, 1834 -- 1904 (5 items)

Books -- Belonging to Charles Wood Irish (6 items)

Folder 1

Burgoyne, Major-General Sir John, Rudimentary Treatise on Blasting and Quarrying Stone. London: John Weale, 1849

Burnell, G.R., The Rudiments of Hydraulic Engineering. London: John Weale, 1858

Cain, William, Symbolic Algebra or the Algebra of Algebraic Numbers. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1884

Corrections for Chaining on Slopes

Cross, C.S., Engineers Field Book. New York: Stephen Hallet, 1855

Flynn, P.J., Hydraulic Tables for the Calculation of the Discharge Through Sewers, Pipes and Conduits. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1883.

Folder 2

Morrison, R.S. and Emilio De Soto, Mining Rights in the Western States and Territories. Denver: Chain and Hardy, 1897

Proctor, Richard A., Half-Hours with the Telescope. London: Robert Harwicke, 1868

Trowbridge, W.P., Turbine Wheels. New York: D. Van Nostrand, 1879

United States, Office of U.S. Surveyor General, Instructions to United States Deputy Mineral Surveyors for the District of Idaho, 1888

Folder 3

United States, Office of U.S. Surveyor General, Irrigation and Water Storage in the Arid Regions, 1891

Box 2

Business Cards, Charles Wood Irish (11 items)

Clippings, 1904, including Charles Wood Irish obituaries and funeral notice (33 items)

Correspondence

1852 -- 1878. Including John P. Irish, January 30, 1868; March 25, 1868 (57 items)

1879

1880 -- 1882. Including Joaquin Miller, May 31, 1880 (photocopy) (72 items)

1883 -- 1886. Including John P. Irish, August 10, 1885 (47 items)

1887. Including Joaquin Miller, January 10, 1887; February 3, 1887 (photocopies) (29 items)

1888 -- 1889 (12 items)

Box 3

Correspondence, cont.

           1890. Including Joaquin Miller, April 10, 1890 (photocopy) (35 items)

           1891 -- 1892 (36 items)

           1893 (56 items)

           1894 (31 items)

           1895 (34 items)

           1896. Including John P. Irish, November 12, 1896 (47 items)

           1897 -- 1898 (28 items)

           1899 -- 1900 (26 items)

1901 -- 1902. Including John P. Irish, May 6, 1902; September 19, 1902; October 24, 1902; November 22, 1902; December 14, 1902 (46 items)

1903. Including John P. Irish, March 30, 1903; May 1, 1903; May 4, 1903; May 21, 1903 (53 items)

1904. Including John P. Irish, February 18, 1904; March 7, 1904; March 27, 1904; June 26, 1904; October 10, 1904 (66 items)

1923 -- 1926. Concerning the estate of Charles Wood Irish (18 items)

1927. Concerning the estate of Charles Wood Irish (65 items)

Undated (9 items)

Box 4

Correspondence, cont.

           1901 -- 1902. Including John P. Irish, May 6, 1902; September 19, 1902; October 24, 1902; November 22, 1902; December 14, 1902
           (46 items)

           1903. Including John P. Irish, March 30, 1903; May 1, 1903; May 4, 1903; May 21, 1903 (53 items)

           1904. Including John P. Irish, February 18, 1904; March 7, 1904; March 27, 1904; June 26, 1904; October 10, 1904 (66 items)

           1923 -- 1926. Concerning the estate of Charles Wood Irish (18 items)

           1927. Concerning the estate of Charles Wood Irish (65 items)

           Undated (9 items)

           Letters, Index to Correspondence, June 1893 -- March 1896

Box 5

Diaries (30 items)

1854, 1857, 1865, 1868, 1871-1873, 1871-1873 & 1880, 1886-1888, 1890-1891, 1893-1904

Box 6

Division of Irrigation Inquiry

News and Reports, 1879-1894

Photographs - Western Farms' Irrigation Systems, c. 1880-1896

Water Storage - Diagrams of Reservoir Dams in California, 1887

Iowa City Sewer Map, December 28, 1885 (2 items)

Irrigation, 1893 -- 1894 (5 items)

Letterpress Book, August 9, 1893 -- August 23, 1894 (1 item)

Box 7

Letterpress Book , August 9, 1894 -- January 3, 1896 (1 item)

Mining (Nevada), Surveyor General Forms, Reports, and Sketches, 1889 -- 1900 (9 items)

Official Documents, 1883 -- 1898 (10 items)

Photographic Notes, 1889 -- (1890s?) (4 items)

Photographs (68 items)

Postal Cards, Concerning Iowa Survey, 1874 -- 1876 (69 items)

Preston, Charles Irish (grandson of Charles Wood Irish and Susannah Abigail Yarbrough Irish), clippings concerning his estate (2 items)

Railroad Notes, Reports on Railroad Needs, 1846 -- 1881 (12 Items)

Receipts, 1886 -- 1904 (14 items)

Sales Receipt Pad, Elko-Tuscarora Mercantile Co. (1 item)

Will of Mary E. Mitchell Ede, 1901 -- 1902. (Charles Wood Irish was heir and devisee)

Series II: Surveying Materials

Box 8

Surveyor Notebooks

Alburquerque [New Mexico], 1878

Bad River [Dakota Territory], 1880 (3 books)

Bad River [Dakota Territory] - Peg Book, 1880-1881

Bridges (1 item)

Dakota Central Railway: Dry Run Line - Transit Notes, 1880

Embankment Tables, n.d.

Expenses, 1868 -- 1871 (1 item)

Field Notes, 1855-1858, 1886-1887, 1889-1895, n.d. (11 books)

Box 9

Surveyor Notebooks, cont.

Forks Cheyenne, 1880 (2 books)

Fort George [Dakota Territory] - Peg Book, 1880

Geometric Notes, 1858?

Grand Junction - Peg Book, 1873

Iowa, 1852-1886, 1860-1863, 1864 (3 books)

Iowa, 1867, 1869 (3 books)

Iowa, 1870-1871, 1873 (3 books)

Iowa, 1876, 1879-1882, 1886 (3 books)

Box 10

Surveyor Notebooks, cont.

Iowa, n.d. (4 books)

Iowa City - Peg Book, 1875

Iowa City, Rochester and Davenport Electric Railway - Books 1-3, 1904

Iowa City, Rochester and Davenport Electric Railway - Books 4-6, 1904

Iowa City, Rochester and Davenport Electric Railway - Peg Books 1 and 3, 1904

Iowa City, Rochester and Davenport Electric Railway - Topography Books 1, 3-4, 1904

Iowa City, Rochester and Davenport Electric Railway - Topography Books 5-7, 1904

Box 11

Surveyor Notebooks, cont.

Iowa City, Rochester and Davenport Electric Railway - Transit Books, 1-2, 1904

James River [Dakota Territory], 1879 (4 books)

James River [Dakota Territory], 1880 (2 books)

James River [Dakota Territory], 1892, n.d. (2 books)

James River [Dakota Territory], n.d. (2 books)

Box 12

Surveyor Notebooks, cont.

Level Notes, 1879-1880, n.d. (4 books)

Mining Claims, n.d. (2 books)

New Mexico and Southern Pacific Railroad, n.d.

Peg Books, 1879-1880 (3 books)

Peg Books, 1880 (2 books)

Pierre City [Dakota Territory] - Level Notes, 1880?

Princeton and Western Railway, 1883 (2 books)

Box 13

Surveyor Notebooks, cont.

Railroads (various), 1868, 1871, 1883, n.d. (5 books)

Redwood Falls, 1881 (2 books)

Reno [Nevada], 1887-1888, 1890-1893 (3 books)

South of Missouri River, 1880

Surveyor Handbook, 1880

Surveyor Notebook, Location Unknown, n.d. [Also includes Index to Irish's books and journals]

Tipton-Iowa City Line/Davenport Junction Line, 1906-1907 (3 books)

Box 14

Surveyor Notebooks, cont.

Tipton-Iowa City Line/Davenport Junction Line, 1907 (3 books)

Tipton-Iowa City Line/Davenport Junction Line, 1907 (2 books)

Transit Books, 1867, 1879, n.d. (4 books)

West of Missouri River, 1880 (3 books)

West of Missouri River, 1880 (2 books)

Surveyor Notebooks (Non-Irish)

Rock Island Railroad from Chicago to Council Bluffs (Fred Lundahl, 1906)

Box 15

Surveyor Notes, 1888-1895

Surveyor Notes: Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad- Missouri River/Iowa River Divide Data, n.d.

U.S. Surveyor General [State of Nevada]

Applications and Forms, 1880s

Citizens' Petition to Confirm Irish's Appointment as Surveyor, c. 1886

Surveying Notes and Activities, c. 1886

Terrain Profiles [8 items, rolled]

Iowa: De Witt, Huron, Iowa City (3), Johnson County, Rapid Creek, Tipton

Box 16

Terrain Profiles [8 items, rolled]

Dakota Territory
Bad River to Forks of Big Cheyenne, 1880

Dakota Central Railway: Big Sioux to Tracy, n.d.

Dakota Central Railway: James River to Sioux, n.d.

Head of Willis Creek to Forks of Big Cheyenne, c. 1880

Summit Below James River to Medicine Creek, c. 1880

Iowa
Clinton to Station #2460, c. 1872

Clinton to Tipton, n.d.

Iowa City to Oskaloosa and Sigourney, n.d.

Series III: Oversize Materials

Surveys and Maps [flat]

Box 17:

Irrigation/Water Resources, Nevada:

Humboldt River Drainage Basin and Canal Survey, 1891

Truckee River, 1891

Truckee River Dam (5 sheets), 1891

Mining Claims, Nevada:

Adelphi, General Washington, Gore, Kit Carson and Maria Mines (plat of survey), n.d.

Alpha Consolidated Mining Company's Claim on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1869

Antelope, Apex, Bangor, Defiance, Glory, Homestate, Last Chance Sapphire, Western Soldier Mines (plat of surveys Nos. 43 & 59), 1888

Bacon Mill and Mining Company's Claims on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plats of 2 claims), 1869

Burke and Hamilton Mining Company's Claim on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1868

Cariocer & Peerless-Cortez Mines, New York Canon (plat), n.d.

Challenge Mining Company's Claim on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1868

Claim of Daniel Bonelli (plat of claim), 1887

Claim of Daniel Bonelli, North Division Mormon Lode, St. Thomas Mining District, Lincoln County (3 sheets: field notes, plat of claim and plat
of survey), 1887

Claims of Daniel Bonelli, Virgin Queen Lode, St. Thomas Mining District, Lincoln County (plats of 2 claims), 1887

Claim of Jacob J. Rauer, Leo Lode, Columbus Mining District, Esmeralda County (plat of claim), 1887

Claim of Jacob J. Rauer, Secretary Lode, Columbus Mining District, Esmeralda County (plat of claim), 1887

Claim of O.F. Matthiessen & L.B. Ward, Copper Knob Lode, Hot Creek Mining District, Nye County (plat and blueprint of claim) 1889

Claim of O.F. Matthiessen & L.B. Ward, Ophir Lode, Hot Creek Mining District, Nye County (plat of claim), 1889

Claim of O.F. Matthiessen & L.B. Ward, Phenix Lode, Hot Creek Mining District, Nye County (plat of claim), 1889

Claim of P.E. Shannon, Galena Bill Lode, Galena Mining District, Washoe County (plat of claim), 1890

Claim of South Western Mining Company, Colorado Lode, St. Thomas Mining District, Lincoln County (2 sheets: plat of claim and plat
of survey), 1886

Claims of South Western Mining Company, South Division Mormon Lode, St. Thomas Mining District, Lincoln County (plats of 3 claims),
1877

Claim of South Western Mining Company, South Division Mormon Lode, St. Thomas Mining District, Lincoln County (plat of claim), 1887

Claim of Starr Grove S.M. Company, Henry Logan Lode, Lewis Mining District, Lander County (plat of claim), 1881

Comstock Lode, Longitudinal Section (2 sheets), 1874

Confidence Silver Mining Company's Claim on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1869

Eclipse Mill and Mining Company's Claim upon the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1868

Empire North Mill and Mining Company's Claim on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1869

Empire South Mill and Mining Company's Claim on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1869

Juniata Mine and Milling Company, Juniata Lode, Esmeralda Mining District, Esmeralda County (plat), 1872

Lot 40, Oceola Mining District, White Pine County (plat of lot and letter from T.C. Bailey), 1889

Lot 75, Overland Lode (plat of lot), n.d.

Lot 76, Herschell Lode (plat of lot) with two letters to Irish from Tho. J. Read, Napa, 1889

Newburg Claim, Cortez Mining District, Eureka County (map of conflict survey), n.d.

Reese River Mining District, Lander County (2 sheets), undated Table Mountain Mining District, n.d.

Trench Mining Claim upon the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1868

Umatilla Mining Claim, n.d.

Union Mining District, n.d.

U.S. Survey No. 37a, South Division Mormon Lode, St. Thomas Mining District, Lincoln County (2 sheets: field notes and plat), 1887

U.S. Survey No. 83, Mt. Diablo Meridian, Diablo Lode, Secret Canon Mining District, Eureka County (plat of survey), n.d.

U.S. Survey No. 291, Killington Lode, Secret Canon Mining District, Eureka County (2 sheets: plat and blueprint), 1889

Winnemucca Mine in Winnemucca Peak, Humboldt County, 1888

Winnemucca Mining Company, Tunnels in Winnemucca Peak, Humboldt County, 1888

W. Sharon's Mining Claim on the Comstock Lode, Gold Hill Mining District, Storey County (plat), 1870

Other:

California:

Land Near Squaw Valley (plat), n.d.

(Sierra) Nevada Mountains, includes 'Three Brothers' Formation in Yosemite (survey), n.d.

Dakota Territory:

Dakota Mountains, n.d.

Note: Extremely fragile, in two Mylar sleeves, top half and bottom half

Dakota Survey General Maps along Lake Thompson (15 sheets), 1879

Nevada:

Reno Electric Light & Power Company Building, Alhambra Mine, Silver City (floor plans), 1889

Stampede Ranche, Humboldt Land and Cattle Company, Elko County (map), 1891

Town of Lovelock, n.d.

Town of Verdi, Washoe County (plan - 2 copies), n.d.

Railroad/Railway:

Dakota Territory:

Proposed Change near Lonetree (survey), n.d.

Topographical Map of the Region About the Mouth of the Bad River, Chicago & North-Western Railway Company, 1880

Iowa:

Burlington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway (B.C.R. & N. Rwy) Crossings at Iowa City, West Branch, Tipton and Sunbury (situation
plans), 1905

Nevada:

Route Changes shown on a map of the Union Canal Company's Canal Survey along the Humboldt River (drawing), 1891

Route of the Central Pacific Railroad from the Big Bend of the Truckee River to the Humboldt Wells (map), n.d.

South Carolina:

               Map Showing Newington Tract, Colleton County; the Public and Plantation Roads Leading to the Town of Summerville; the So.C.A.R.R.
               and Station and the Configuration of the Country Between the R.R. Station and the Old Settlement (map and accompanying letter from the
               city engineer), 1881

[Surveys and Maps, rolled]

Box 18

Irrigation/Water Resources, California:
                Canal System and Lands of the Colorado River Irrigation Company, n.d.

                Canal Systems, Glenn and Colusa Counties, n.d.

Box 19

Irrigation/Water Resources, California:
               Colorado River Basin, San Diego County (2 sheets), 1889

               Gage Canal System, Riverside, n.d.

A Portion of San Diego County Showing Sources of Water Supply, n.d.

Box 20

Irrigation/Water Resources, Dakota Territory and Nebraska:
Artesian Wells and Waters, The Dakotas with Parts of Nebraska, Wyoming, Kansas and Colorado (2 sheets), 1890

Farmers' and Merchants' Irrigation System, Dawson County, Nebraska, n.d.

Box 21

Irrigation/Water Resources, Nevada:
Humboldt Canal and Mill Sites, 1867

Water District No. 1, near Reno, n.d.

Box 22

Mining Claims, Nevada:
Alpha and Silver Bell Mines, Echo Canon Mining District, Humboldt County, 1893 \

Box 23

Mining Claims, Nevada:
Pyramid Lake, n.d.

Box 24

Mining Claims, Other:
Illinois: Beardstown with Illinois River, n.d.

Box 25

Other:
Iowa City, Iowa: Irish Property, 1872 St. Mary's Catholic Church Cemetery Plan, 1869

Box 26

Other:
Nevada: Theo Winters' Ranch and Water Rights, undated

Box 27

Other:
Post Route Maps: California and Nevada, 1893

Box 28

Other:
Post Route Maps: Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico & Arizona, 1893

Box 29