MDCECIL-L Archives

From: "Michael L. Dixon" <>
Subject: Gilpin Collection Now Available
Date: Sat, 16 Jul 2005 23:26:53 -0400

Press Release from the Historical Society of Cecil County
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Valuable Gilpin Collection Available

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Letters, deeds, plats, diaries, correspondence, business and
organizational records, will soon be ready for full access by researchers at
the Historical Society of Cecil County. Donated by the Estate of Anna
Gilpin Denney in 1982, the Gilpin Collection contains a wide variety of
materials related to local history dating from the colonial period through
the early 1900s. The cataloging of the collection was made possible through
a contribution by long-time Society member and volunteer, Anne Copley.
"The Gilpin Collection came to us in no real order," says Mike Dixon,
President of the Historical Society. "It has only been accessible on a
limited basis because we needed to keep the materials intact until they
could be professionally cataloged." The reorganization was a complicated
process, requiring a variety of preservation techniques to organize and
rehouse the collection in archival enclosures. The completed inventory
lists items individually so that researchers can pinpoint the items they
need to see, and so that library staff can easily retrieve and refile the
materials. Mike Dixon is enthusiastic: "The wealth of information in this
collection can now be fully revealed, and the full index will be available
on the internet."

The collection's donor, Anna Gilpin Denney, was the descendant of two
prominent Cecil County families, the Hollingsworths and the Gilpins. Among
her ancestors is Col. Henry Hollingsworth, who played a key role
coordinating supplies at the American and French troops from his home at Elk
Landing during the American Revolution. Hollingsworth's daughter Mary
married John Gilpin, son of another prominent Cecil County family. Among
the Hollingsworth family documents are Henry Hollingsworth's deed of land to
the Elkton Academy, a letter from Revolutionary War leader Nathaniel Greene
and Mary Hollingsworth's letters and recipes. Other documents pertain to
Partridge Hill, the Elkton home built by Henry Hollingsworth and shed light
on the family's genealogy. Business, family and social life are revealed in
the Gilpin family documents. John Gilpin kept a diary during his service
with the Confederate Army during the Civil War, which is preserved along
with a wartime letter and his Oath of Allegiance to the United States
Government following the war. The papers of William R. Gilpin include
records from his businesses in Philadelphia and Elkton, along with
accounting records from his time as Elkton Town Treasurer in the early
1900s. Dozens of letters and social invitation written to Frederick S.
Gilpin provide a window onto social life at the turn of the twentieth
century.

Even the most mundane scraps of paper, such as receipts and bills, provide
insight into daily life. Minute books from the Elkton Missionary Society and
the Elkton Debating Society may provide the only detailed records of these
organizations. As the inventory is finalized, even more pieces of Cecil
County's past will be uncovered. Upon completion, the inventory will be
available to assist researchers at the library and can be reviewed online at
www.cchistory.org.

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Michael L. Dixon, M.S., M.A.
Historian
The Historical Society of Cecil County
135 E. Main Street
Elkton, MD. 21921
www.cchistory.org; www.elklanding.org
410.398.1790
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• Gilpin Collection Now Available by "Michael L. Dixon" <>