Daniel O'Sullivan Collection Finding Aid MS141

Daniel O'Sullivan Collection Finding Aid MS141


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Local History and Special Collections Branch, Alexandria Library

717 Queen Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
Business Number: 703-746-1791
lhsc@alexlibraryva.org
URL: http://alexlibraryva.org/lhsc

Repository
Local History and Special Collections Branch, Alexandria Library
Identification
MS141
Title
Daniel O'Sullivan Collection (MS141) 1850-1912
URL:
https://alexlibraryva.libraryhost.com/repositories/2/resources/77
Quantity
.23 Cubic Feet, 1 Box
Creator
O'Sullivan, Daniel, 1828-1904
Language
English .

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Item identification], Daniel O'Sullivan Collection, MS141, Alexandria Library, Local History and Special Collections, Alexandria, Virginia.


Biographical / Historical

Daniel O'Sullivan and his son Michael R. Sullivan (b.1863-09-01 d.1952-04-06) owned and operated a boarding house, and wholesale grocery on 244 Duke St. and later 414 S. Lee st., and 628 S. Patrick.

Content Description

The Daniel O'Sullivan collection consists of business records and correspondence related to Daniel Sullivan and his son Michael R. Sullivan who owned and operated a rooming house, and wholesale grocery and liquor store in the 1850s-1940s. Items also include a letter from Jeremiah O'Brien who fought for the 26th Regiment of the New York Volunteer Infantry and writes concerning battles fought during 1861-1862.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

  • Business -- Virginia -- Alexandria
  • Business records
  • O'Sullivan, T. J. (Timothy Joseph), 1855-1887
  • United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865
  • United States. Army. New York Infantry Regiment, 26th (1861-1863)

Significant Persons Associated With the Collection

  • O'Sullivan, Daniel, 1828-1904
  • O'Sullivan, M. Secunda, Sr. (Margaret)
  • O'Sullivan, Michael R., 1863-1952
  • O'Sullivan, T. J. (Timothy Joseph), 1855-1887
  • Smoot, George H. (George Hendley), 1801-1870

Significant Places Associated With the Collection

  • United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Container List

Series I: Receipts
1837-1900English.
  • Text box: 1 folder: 1
    Receipts
    1837-1861English.
    Scope and Contents

    Folder consists of receipts from St. Mary's Catholic Church for pew rental, the Adams Express Company for shipments, Georg Wilhelm Gail for cigars, H. and H. W. Catherwood for whiskey, Smoot, Uhler and Co. for lumber, and Blacklock, Marshall and Co. for groceries, among others. There are also several hand-written receipts, all dating from 1837-1861.

  • Text box: 1 folder: 2
    Receipts
    1862-1900English.
    Scope and Contents

    Folder contains receipts from companies such as J. R. Tempest for cigars, P. McBride and Co. for groceries, Hand's Line for shipment of whiskey, H. and H. W. Catherwood for whiskey, B. Wheatley for funeral costs, Downham and Green for alcohol, Thomas Hoy for a stove, C. C. Smoot and Sons for rabbit fur, Tolman Steam Laundry, among others handwritten receipts. A small amount of receipts are undated and left in back of the dated receipts.

  • Text box: 1 folder: 3
    City Tythe Receipts
    1857-1863English.
    Scope and Contents

    Folder contains a small amount of city "tythe" or tax collection receipts, billed directly by agencies such as the Sheriff, city council, etc.

Series II: Business Accounts
O'Sullivan, Daniel, 1828-19041860-1892
  • Text box: 1 folder: 4
    Rental Account with George H. Smoot
    1860-1861English.
    Scope and Contents

    Folder contains a single record of receipts of rent money between George Smoot and Daniel O'Sullivan.

  • Books box: 1 folder: 5
    Account and Note Book
    O'Sullivan, Daniel, 1828-19041863-1892English.
    Scope and Contents

    Contains a single ledger book with business transactions and personal notes of Daniel O'Sullivan. An interesting entry, is a page where he lists his children as the "Alexandria City Council" and lists why they're qualified.

Series III: School
English.
  • Text box: 1 folder: 6
    Certificates and Grade Reports
    English.
    Scope and Contents

    Folder contains a certificate for Michael O'Sullivan, 3 report cards for Maggie O'Sullivan, and various programs for St. Mary's Academy.

  • Text box: 1 folder: 7
    St. Mary's Academy Journal, Vol. 17, No. 6
    March, 1886English.
    Scope and Contents

    Folder contains a single copy of the Academy Journal from St. Mary's Academy, published March, 1886. Inside is a long obituary for T. J. O'Sullivan, written shortely after his death from consumption.

Series IV: Letters
1856-1877
Scope and Contents

Series of letters and correspondences from and to Daniel O'Sullivan.

  • Text box: 1 folder: 8
    Correspondence
    1856-1865English.
    Scope and Contents

    Contains a handful of letters written to Daniel O'Sullivan by Thomas O'Leary, Jeremiah O'Brien, and J. McBroadus.

  • Text box: 1 folder: 9
    Correspondence with T. J. O'Sullivan
    O'Sullivan, T. J. (Timothy Joseph), 1855-1887O'Sullivan, Daniel, 1828-19041867-1877English.
    Scope and Contents

    Folder contains several letters between Daniel O'Sullivan and his son T. J. O'Sullivan, most while Timothy was away at Georgetown College, now University, in Washington, D. C. There are a 2 or 3 notes between T. J. and others, including a friend who relied on him to hold him accountable for keeping his New Years' resolutions.

Series V: Miscellaneous
English.
  • Text box: 1 folder: 10
    Stray Documents
    1865-1914English.
    Scope and Contents

    This folder contains miscellaneous documents that remain outside the scope of the other series in the collection. It includes an 1871 list of the Board of Supervisors of Oneida County, NY; a playbill for a performance of "The Two Bonnycastles" and "Handy Andy" by the Young Men's Catholic Association at Radford Hall in Yonkers (T. J. O'Sullivan is in the cast of both); a Washington-Virginia Railway Company 52-trip monthly ticket book belonging to one of Daniel's grandson's, J. H. Downey (likely a child of Ella O'Sullivan Downey); An opera program entitled "For the Benefit of the Alexandria Light Infantry, Jaunary 13-14, 1884, in which "The Gypsy Countess" and "Trial by Jury" were performed; 2 raffle tickets to win 10 tickets for the Washington Senators-Boston Red Sox game on April 23, 1914; the November 11, 1889 edition of the Lyceum Fair Journal (ad for Michael O'Sullivan's shop inside).