| Repository: | Western Reserve Historical Society |
| Creator: | Kaiser, Peter Henry |
| Title: | Peter Henry Kaiser Family Papers |
| Dates: | 1798-1966 |
| Extent: | 0.81 linear feet (3 containers and 1 oversize folder) |
| Abstract: | Peter Henry Kaiser (1840-1929) was a Cleveland, Ohio, lawyer who grew up in the Dutch Valley area of Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He was an amateur historian and wrote numerous short stories about his childhood home in Tuscarawas County. His second wife, Beza (Boynton) Kaiser, also wrote stories about the early history of Tuscarawas County. Their children were Ella Kaiser Carruth and John Boynton Kaiser. The collection consists of diaries of Peter Henry Kaiser, writings by various Kaiser family members, correspondence, a class roll book, an account book, genealogical notes on the Kaiser, Boynton and Culver families, newspaper clippings, a scrapbook, land records, and miscellaneous materials. The collection deals primarily with the personal lives of Peter Henry Kaiser and his family. Included are some historical materials on Tuscarawas County and three letters Peter Henry Kaiser wrote during the Civil War. |
| MS Number | MS 4308 |
| Language: | The records are in English |
The Peter Henry Kaiser Family began when Martin Keiser (or Kaiser, 1777-1865) and his wife Ursula (Tschudy) Keiser (1778-1836) migrated from Switzerland to Tuscarawas County, Ohio, in 1816. One of their sons, Martin Kaiser (1807-1897) married Mary Colver (1808-1881) and had nine children, one of whom was Peter Henry Kaiser (1840-1929). Peter Henry Kaiser grew up in the area known as Dutch Valley in Tuscarawas County and taught school there in the late 1850s before enrolling at Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, in 1860. He briefly interrupted his education to serve in the Ohio National Guard during the Civil War. After the war, he completed his education and became a lawyer in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1869. In 1873, he became one of the founding members of the Cleveland Bar Association. Kaiser was also an amateur historian, and he wrote numerous short articles about his childhood home. His second wife Beza (Boynton) Kaiser (1845-1942) also wrote about the early history of Tuscarawas County even though she was a native of Elyria, Ohio. Their children, Ella (Kaiser) Carruth and John Boynton Kaiser preserved their work.
The Peter Henry Kaiser Family Papers, 1798-1966 and undated, consist of Peter Henry Kaiser's diaries, writings by various Kaiser family members, correspondence, a class role book, an account book, genealogical notes, newspaper clippings, a scrapbook, copies of land records, and miscellaneous material.
This collection deals primarily with the personal lives of Peter Henry Kaiser and his family. There is little information on Kaiser's legal career. The collection also contains genealogical information on the Kaiser, Boynton, and Colver families as well as some general historical information on Tuscarawas County. Included in the correspondence are three letters Kaiser wrote while stationed just outside of Washington, D.C., during the Civil War.
None.
Related MaterialThe researcher should also consult MS 1387 Peter Henry Kaiser Papers; and PG 428 Peter Henry Kaiser Photographs.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] MS 4308 Peter Henry Kaiser Family Papers, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gladys Kaiser, 1975.
Processed by Richard Hite in 1988.
Series I: Diaries of Peter Henry Kaiser ca. 1863-1929 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | Diary ca. 1863-1872 | |||||||||
| 1 | 2 | Diary 1867-1878 | |||||||||
| 1 | 3 | Diary 1878-1905 | |||||||||
| 1 | 4 | Diary 1905-1929 | |||||||||
Series II: Writings by Kaiser Family Members 1909-1943 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 5 | Ella Kaiser Carruth, "Our Stimulating Mother, Her Mind to Her a Kingdom Was" ca. 1942 | |||||||||
| 1 | 6 | Ella Kaiser Carruth and John Boynton Kaiser, untitled biography of Beza Boynton Kaiser undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 7 | Beza Boynton Kaiser (pen name Anna Boynton), "Autobiographical Notes"; "Little Polly Heckewelder: A True Story of a Real Little Girl"; "Tents of Grace: Tales of Early Days on the Tuscarawas"; and list of writings (compiled 1940) 1910 ca. 1913 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 8 | John Boynton Kaiser, "Introduction: Biographical and Bibliographical" (a biographical sketch of Beza Boynton Kaiser); and "The Power of Print" 1940 1943 | |||||||||
| 1 | 9 | Peter Henry Kaiser, "Blind John of the Dutch Valley"; "Criticism of the Courts"; "Cuyahoga County Bench"; "The Dutch Valley"; "Farewell to Kaiser Homestead"; "The First Private Owners of Land" (incomplete); "General Characteristics and Progress"; "A Half Century in Cleveland"; "Judge Wright and the Dutch Valley" (incomplete); "Memorial Day Address"; and "The Moravians in Ohio" 1909-1924 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 10 | Peter Henry Kaiser, "My Mother's Complete History. My Father's History. History of Peter Henry Kaiser. My Mother's Relatives-Culvers and Everetts. Cemetery Lot and Where on Lot Mother, Father, Louisa, William, and James are Buried" "The Oberlin of Sixty Years Ago"; "Old Time Belling" "Peter Henry Kaiser"; "Preserve Local History"; "Reminiscent-School"; "Reminiscent-School: 'Barring Out' the Teacher"; "Two Early Tracts of Land"; "The Waning Regiment Roll"; Untitled writings 1914-1919 undated | |||||||||
| 1 | 11 | Peter Henry Kaiser, "The Dutch Valley," as it appeared in The Evening Chronicle, Uhrichsville and Dennison, Ohio 1913 | |||||||||
Series III: Correspondence 1864-1966 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 1 | 12 | Correspondence 1864-1966 | |||||||||
Series IV: Notes 1862-1867 undated |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 13 | Peter Henry Kaiser, class role book 1862-1867 | |||||||||
| 2 | 14 | Peter Henry Kaiser, account book 1867 | |||||||||
| 2 | 15 | Genealogical notes, Boynton family; Colver/Culver family; Kaiser/Kiser family; and "Inter-Family Relations in the Dutch Valley" (Tuscarawas County, Ohio) undated | |||||||||
Series V: Miscellaneous Material 1798-1959 |
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| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 2 | 16 | Newspaper clippings 1864-1959 | |||||||||
| 2 | 17 | Miscellaneous material including copies of deeds, Tuscarawas County, Ohio 1798-1830 | |||||||||
| 2 | 17 | Miscellaneous material including copy of letter from James Gill, a California prospector 1854 | |||||||||
| 2 | 17 | Miscellaneous material including receipts 1875 1878 | |||||||||
| 2 | 17 | Miscellaneous material including notes on Elyria High School constitution 1880 | |||||||||
| Box | Folder | ||||||||||
| 3 | 18 | Peter Henry Kaiser, scrapbook ca. 1900-1929 | |||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 19 | Oversize Folder 1: Mortgage deed, Beza Boynton Kaiser and Peter Henry Kaiser to the Savings Deposit Bank Company 1909 | ||||||||||
| Folder | |||||||||||
| 19 | Oversize Folder 1: Plat of Charles Colver tract, Tuscarawas County, Ohio undated | ||||||||||