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Title |
Lobdell Car Wheel Company collection |
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Reference Code (ID/Accession #) |
RG 1719 |
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Name and Location of Repository |
Broadus R.Littlejohn, Jr. Collection, Special Collections, Sandor Teszler Library, Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C. |
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Dates of creation |
July 10, 1836-Feb. 11, 1876 |
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Extent |
<0.5 linear feet, <1 archival box, 39 items in 37 folders. |
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Creator(s) |
Lobdell Car Wheel Company |
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Administrative/Biographical History |
Established in 1830, Bonney and Bush was a small factory which produced metal castings of all types. Placing agents in major cities and a traveling representative in the South helped the firm beat out local competition and expand its customer base. Bonney died in 1838 and his twenty-one-year-old nephew George Lobdell purchased his uncle’s share of the business. He became the dominant partner as Bush, trained as a machinist, was unable to help with many aspects of the business. The firm was re-named Bush and Lobdell. Supplying its customers with wheels that were of better quality than the competition at equal or cheaper prices, the firm prospered and even weathered economic downturns such as the Panic of 1837. After Bush’s death in 1855, the firm continued under the same name although it was legally a different organization. When incorporated in 1867 as the Lobdell Car Wheel Company, the firm was the world’s largest railroad wheel manufacturer and had 300 full-time employees. |
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Scope and Content |
Routine business correspondence, orders, requests for estimates, authorizations to draw on funds, instructions concerning orders, etc. |
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System of Arrangement |
Chronological. Inventory: 1836 July 10 Charles C. Dell, Columbia, to Charles Bush, Wilmington, Del. 1838 Mar. 6 Dr. Thomas P. Jones, Washington, DC, to Charles Bush 1839 Feb. 11 Bush & Lobdell, Wilmington, DE, to Samuel B. Wheeler & Co., Eastport, Maine 1841 Jan. 15 Thomas C. Loud, Philadelphia, to Bush and Lobdell 1841 Feb. 9 Thomas C. Loud, Philadelphia, to Mr. Bush 1841 July 9 George B. Fiske, Long Island Railroad office, New York< to Bush and Lobdell 1841 July 14 Selden T. Scranton, Oxford Furnace, NJ, to Bush & Lobdell 1841 Aug. 17 Selden T. Scranton, Oxford Furnace, NJ, to Bush & Lobdell 1841 Sept. 22 Thomas West, Havhall?, to Charles Bush, United States Hotel, Boston 1843 Nov. 13—George Town Edward L. Wells, George Town, to Bonney & Bush 1846 Oct. 20 J.? Johnson, Frankford[, Pa.], for R. Garsed & Brothers 1846 Nov. 9 Mathew Newkirk, Philadelphia, to Bush & Lobdell Order of rail road chains 1849 8 mo., 21 Daniel Corbit, Cantwell Bridge, DE, to Bush & Lobdell Order 1849 Aug. 26 Jacob Reece, “Millerstown Lebanon Co.” to Bush & Lodell 1850 May 2 Allen Vane, Chicago, to Bush & Lobdell 1850 May 15 Allen Vane, Chicago, to Bush & Lobdell 1850 Oct. 3 William P. Gookin, Portsmouth[, NH] to Bush & Lobdell 1851 Jan. 3—Philadelphia Budd & Comby, Philadelphia, to “Mssrs. Bush & Lobdell” 1853 Sept. 9 Charles Hunt, President H. R. R. [Housatonic Railroad Co.], Bridgeport, CN, to Bush & Lobdell 1854 May 17— On the stationary of Office of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Rail Road Co. George Dwight Phelps (Apr. 6, 1804-Aug. 31, 1872) 1858 May 4—On the stationary of The Michigan Central Railroad Company / President’s Office. John W. Brooks, Boston, to Bush & Lobdell 1859 Dec. 2—On stationery of the Office of the Delaware, Luckawanna and Western Rail Road Co.) Christopher R Robert, President (from Jan. 1858 to June 1863) D. L. & W. R. R.), New York, to Bush & Lobdell 1861 Aug. 3 Notice from Felix Grima, Notary Public, Bank of Louisiana, New Orleans, LA of a draft dated 1 Feb. 1860 for $6,126.35 drawn by W. Goodman Presdt [uncertain as to correctness of this name] and accepted by Wm. G. Maron. 1862 Feb. 13—On stationery of the Philadelphia & Reading Rail Road Co. Charles E. Smith, President, Philadelphia, to “Mssrs. Bush & Lobdell” 1862 Mar. 27—On stationery of the Central Ohio Rail Road Co. / General Office. D. W. Caldwell, Zanesville, OH, to George G. Lobdell 1862 Dec. 18—On stationery of the Cleveland & Mahoning Rail Road Co. John Young Seiger to George G. Lobdell 1862 Dec. 24—On the stationery of the C. P. & I. R. R. [Columbus Piqua & Indiana Rail Road Company]. William Bowman, or William Roman, Cleveland, O, to George G. Lobdell 1863 Feb. 11 James A. Van Brunt, of the Coney Island & Brooklyn Rail Road, to George G. Lobdell 1866 May 24—On the stationery of the Western Maryland Rail Road Company. Patrick Henry Irwin Westminster[, MD], to George G. Lobdell 1873 Feb. 25—On the stationery Hamilton Rubber Works, Trenton, NJ. Robert S. Manning, Trenton, NJ, to Lobdell 1873 Mar. 21—On the stationery of Hamilton Rubber Works, Trenton, NJ. Robert S. Manning by R. L. Hutchinson, Sect., Trenton, NJ, to Lobdell 1873 Oct. 9—On the stationery of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston R. R. / Master Mechanics Office. Samuel M. Philbrick, Ottawa, KS, to Lobdell Wheel Car Co. 1873 Nov. 4— On the stationery of the Leavenworth, Lawrence & Galveston R. R. / Master Mechanics Office. Samuel M. Philbrick, Ottawa, KS, to Lobdell Wheel Car Co. 1874 Jan. 28—On the stationery of Chas. A. Whitney / A. C. Hutchinson / Morgan Lines U.S.M. Steamers, and / Morgan’s Louisiana and Texas Railroad / Chas. A. Whitney & Co. Agts. / New Orleans__________187___. Chas. A. Whitney to Lobdell Wheel Car Co. 1875 Apr. 28—On the stationery of the International Exhibition, Philadelphia / 1876 / Office of the United States Centennial Commission / No. 904 Walnut Street / Bureau of Administration / Machinery John S. Albert, Philadelphia, to Lobdell Wheel Car Co. 1875 June 5— On the stationery of the International Exhibition, Philadelphia / 1876 / Office of the United States Centennial Commission / No. 904 Walnut Street / Bureau of Administration / Machinery John S. Albert, Philadelphia, to Lobdell Wheel Car Co. 1876 before Feb. 11 On the stationery of the International Exhibition 1876. / War Department Exhibit—Ordinance Section. / Office, No. 3517 Hamilton Street, Philadelphia, Pa., ________1876. Col. S. Lyford, U. S. A. and Lt. Henry Metcalfe, U. S. A. 1st Lt. Henry Metcalfe, Philadelphia, to Lobdell Car Co. |
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Conditions Governing Access |
See Archives and Special Collections Use and Handling Guidelines. |
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Physical Access |
Accessible by appointment at Archives and Special Collections reading room. Contact the Special Collections Librarian. No restrictions. |
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Technical Access |
Content is not available in digital format. |
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Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use |
Content in public domain. Photography and copies allowed. |
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Language(s) and Scripts of the Material |
English |
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Custodial History |
Unknown |
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Immediate Source of Acquisition |
Broadus R. Littlejohn, Jr., collector |