Iselin family papers and photographs
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Papers and photographs documenting the Iselin family of New York, particularly the immediate descendants of banker Columbus O'Donnell Iselin (1851–1933) and his wife, Edith Colford (Jones) Iselin (1854–1930), as well as their Jones and O'Donnell forbears.
Biographical note
Coal and iron investor ADRIAN GEORG ISELIN (1818–1905) and his wife, Eleanora O'Donnell (1821–1897) had at least seven children, among them sons ADRIAN GEORGE ISELIN JR. (1846–1935) and banker COLUMBUS O'DONNELL ISELIN (1851–1933). Columbus married EDITH COLFORD JONES (1854–1930), the daughter of Lewis Colford Jones and CATHERINE MARGARETTA BERRYMAN (c. 1829–1910). Among the children of Columbus and Edith Iselin were two sons, LEWIS ISELIN (1879–1928) and O'DONNELL ISELIN (1884–1971), and one daughter, ADRIENNE MARGARETTA ISELIN (1895–1967). Lewis Iselin married MARIE EMILIE DE NEUFVILLE (1883–1979), and together they had three children: COLUMBUS O'DONNELL ISELIN II (1904–1971), MARIE (ISELIN) LA FARGE (1907–1979), and LEWIS ISELIN JR. (1913–1990), who married SARAH CARY CURTIS (1915–1998). O'Donnell Iselin married MARGARET URLING SIBLEY (1893–1951). During World War I he served as railroad specialist on the staff of General John J. Pershing. Adrienne Iselin married Dudley Pierrepont Henry Gilbert (1898–1982), son of prominent "mansion architect" C. P. H. Gilbert (1861–1952). [Names in CAPITAL LETTERS are represented by documents and/or photographs in the collection.]
Arrangement
The Iselin Family Papers and Photographs are organized in three series:
- Series I.
- Iselin family, 1872–1991
- Series II.
- Related families, 1913, 1918, undated
- Series III.
- Photographs, 1880–1948
Scope and Contents
The bulk of the Iselin Family Papers and Photographs focus on the lives of banker Lewis Iselin (1879–1928) and his wife, Marie Emilie (de Neufville) Iselin (1883–1979), and on Lewis's brother, O'Donnell Iselin (1884–1971), whose World War I letters home from Europe chronicle his time as a railroad specialist on the staff of General John J. Pershing. Other scattered and seemingly disparate materials—bank statements, correspondence, school essays and report cards, wills and estate inventories, genealogical tables and memoirs—provide a picture of the wider Iselin family, and of their O'Donnell and Jones connections.
Subjects
Organizations
Families
Genres
People
Conditions Governing Access
Except for one oversize folder, all of this collection is stored offsite. To arrange to consult it, please go to www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Conditions Governing Use
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New York Historical, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org.
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as "Iselin Family Papers and Photographs, MS 3076, New York Historical."
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Frederick William Byron Jr., 2018 (accession MS-2018-047) and 2019 (accession MS-2019-032), and gift of Alexander Byron, 2023 (accession MS-2023-009).
About this Guide
Processing Information
Processed by Joseph Ditta, December 2018, August 2021, and October 2026.