Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Miller, Gerrit Smith, 1845-1937.
Title:	Gerrit Smith Miller Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1869-1913
Quantity:	21 linear ft.
Abstract:	New York politician and dairy farmer; grandson of New York reformer, philanthropist and abolitionist Gerrit Smith. Collection contains correspondence, financial material, dairy business and herd records, miscellany.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Gerrit Smith Miller (1845-1937) was a New York politician and dairy farmer. His father was Charles D. Miller (1818-1896); through his mother Elizabeth Smith (1822-1911) he was the grandson of New York reformer, philanthropist and abolitionist Gerrit Smith.

Gerrit Smith Miller was one of the early importers of Holsteins from Holland (following the example of a neighbor, Winthrop W. Chenery) and maintained the oldest purebred Holstein herd in the United States from 1869 to 1937. Many of the 1.8 million animals registered in the Holstein-Freisian book today descend from Miller's Kriemhild herd. He was also one of the first to approach dairy farming scientifically, keep daily year-round records of milk production in his effort to increase yields. Miller was also a member of the New York State legislature, and was involved with the George Junior Republic, a boys' school founded by American philanthropist William Reuben George in 1909.

He and his wife, Susan Hunt Dixwell, had three sons: Gerrit Smith Jr. (1869- ?), Basil Dixwell (1873- ?) and William Fitzhugh (1878-1890).

A genealogy of the Smith family is available in PDF (if online) or at the end of this finding aid (if in hard copy).

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Gerrit Smith Miller Papers contains correspondence, financial material, dairy business and herd records, and miscellany.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged chronologically. Financial material is subdivided by type and within that arranged chronologically. The remaining series are arranged alphabetically by topic or type.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has the papers of several members of the Smith family. See also the following:

Gerrit Smith Papers
Greene Smith Papers
Peter Smith Papers

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Subject Headings

Persons

Subjects

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Gerrit Smith Miller Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Finding Aid Information

Created by: -
Date: Jun 1993
Revision history: 29 Sep 2015 - Memorabilia updated (MRC)

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Inventory

	Biographical material
Box 1		General

	Correspondence
Box 1		General 1869-1878 (Jul) (32 folders)
Box 2		General 1878 (Aug)-1881 (Dec) (37 folders)
Box 3		General 1882-1883 (24 folders)
Box 4		General 1884-1885 (Jun) (13 folders)
Box 5		General 1886 (Jul)-1887 (Mar) (17 folders)
Box 6		General 1887 (Apr)-1888 (Jun)\ (15 folders)
Box 7		General 1888 (Jul)-1889 (Jun) (12 folders)
Box 8		General 1889 (Jul)-1890 (Jun) (13 folders)
Box 9		General 1890 (Jul)-1891 (Jun) (12 folders)
Box 10		General 1892 (Jul)-1893 (Dec) (12 folders)
Box 11		General 1894-1909 (8 folders)
Box 11		General undated (2 folders)

	Family correspondence
Box 11		Alerdice, Winslow
Box 11		Andrews
Box 11		Andrews, Ann
Box 11		Berry
Box 11		Biddle
Box 11		Bowditch
Box 11		Bowditch, Charles P.
Box 11		Bowditch, Edward ("Ned")
Box 11		Brent
Box 11		Burns
Box 11		Cochrane
Box 11		Cochrane, John
Box 11		Cochrane, Walter
Box 11		Dixwell
Box 11		Dixwell, S.
Box 11		Dixwell, John ("John D.")
Box 11		Dixwell, Mary T. B.
Box 11		Fitzhugh
Box 11		Fitzhugh, Bess V.
Box 11		Forbes, Gerrit
Box 12		Haines, W. K. (Basil's teacher, to GSM)
Box 12		Haines, W. K. (Basil's teacher, to Basil)
Box 12		Holmes, Fanny
Box 12		Holmes, Oliver Wendell Jr. 1913
Box 12		Howe, Archibald
Box 12		Howe, Arria S. D.
Box 12		Kemeys
Box 12		Kennedy
Box 12		Locke, C. S. (Basil's teacher)
Box 12		Lovett, James DeWolf
Box 12		Miller
Box 12		Miller, Mrs. (either Elizabeth Smith Miller or Susan Dixwell Miller)
Box 12		Miller, Anne F. ("Nan") 1882-1901, undated (3 folders)
Box 12		Miller, Basil D.
Box 12		Miller, Blandrina D.
Box 12		Miller, Charles Dudley 1876-1894 (3 folders)
Box 12		Miller, Charles Dudley 1875-1895 - papers
Box 12		Miller, Dudley 1875-1890 (6 folders)
Box 12		Miller, Dudley - papers
Box 13		Miller, Elizabeth Smith 1875-1893, undated (8 folders)
Box 13		Miller, Elizabeth Smith 1878-1910, undated - papers (8 folders)
Box 13		Miller, Esther
Box 13		Miller, Gerrit Smith Jr. 1888-1889 (3 folders)
Box 13		Miller, Louise
Box 13		Miller, Mary S.
Box 14		Miller, Susan Dixwell ("Susansy" 1876-1889, undated (4 folders)
Box 14		Miller, Susan Dixwell ("Mother Miller" and "Sister Bee") 1880-1912, undated - papers (4 folders)
Box 14		Miller, Susan Dixwell - letters from her mother-in-law, Elizabeth S. Miller
Box 14		Miller, Susan Dixwell - letters from her brother-in-law, Dudley Miller
Box 14		Miller, William Fitzhugh
Box 14		Miller, William Fitzhugh and others
Box 14		Owen
Box 14		Owen, Arria D.
Box 14		Price
Box 14		Savage
Box 14		Smith, Ann C.
Box 14		Smith, Elizabeth ("Bessie" or "Betsey") 1875-1901, undated - wife of Greene Smith (4 folders)
Box 14		Smith, Gerrit
Box 14		Smith, Gerrit H.
Box 14		Smith, Greene 1875-1876 (4 folders)
Box 15		Smith, Greene 1877-1880 (3 folders)
Box 15		T—, Rebecca F.
Box 15		Walter, Ellen
Box 15		Watson
Box 15		Watson, C. 1881-1896 (7 folders)
Box 15		—, Katy
Box 15		—, Mary (sister)
Box 15		Miscellaneous and unidentified family letters and fragments (2 folders)

	Business correspondence
Box 15		1861-1876 (8 folders)
Box 16		1877-1889, undated (15 folders)
Box 17		1875-1911, undated (6 folders)

	Financial material
Box 18		Unsorted financial records
Box 19		Cancelled checks

	Business records
Box 20		Unsorted business records
Box 21		Unsorted dairy herd materials
Box 22		Unsorted business records

	Memorabilia
Box 23		Business card
Box 23		Photographs

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