Scope and arrangement
The collection, dating 1866-1891 and 1930, comprises letters written to George Jones, publisher and editor of the New York Times, 1871-1888, chiefly by prominent persons regarding U.S. politics, as well as some family letters, invitations, and unsorted items, 1866-1891 and 1930. Letters refer to New York Times editorial positions, Ulysses S. Grant's presidency and his bid for a third term in 1880, efforts to establish a retirement fund for Grant, and other matters reflecting Jones's influence in national and Republican Party affairs. Notable correspondents include James G. Blaine, Andrew Carnegie, George W. Childs, Jay Gould, Ulysses S. Grant, General Nelson A. Miles, Edwin B. Morgan, Daniel E. Sickles, Oscar S. Straus, Elihu B. Washburne, and Fernando Wood. The collection also includes letters from New York Times staff and the paper's foreign correspondents, and requests for employment with the Times.
Ulysses S. Grant's letter of May 26, 1880 thanks Jones for his support in light of the upcoming Republican National Convention in Chicago. Letters from George W. Childs, publisher of the Philadelphia Public Ledger, refer to celebrations for President Grant in Philadelphia in 1879, Jones's monetary donation supporting a local Republican candidate, and a subscription for a monument to newspaper publisher Joseph Gales, handled by Jones and Robert C. Winthrop. Letters dated 1880 from Joseph Medill of the Chicago Tribune, U.S. Representative Fernando Wood, and others, concern the cost of newsprint paper and efforts to have Congress reduce tariffs on wood pulp and paper.
The collection also includes letters from New York Times staff and the paper's foreign correspondents apprising Jones of their work, and requests for employment with the Times. There are numerous letters from New York Times majority shareholder Edwin B. Morgan of Aurora, New York regarding personal, political, and business matters. European contacts include John Walter and John C. MacDonald of The Times of London, Joseph Hatton, and Americans Augusta de Grasse Stevens and Carroll Tevis. Also present are requests from persons seeking the paper's endorsements of their craft or product, such as artist Constant Mayer, and letters of introduction and recommendation. A few items in the collection are addressed to Augustine Smith, Jones's son Gilbert E. Jones, and son-in-law Henry L. Dyer, all working at the New York Times.
In addition there are family letters, 1870-1891 and 1930; invitations and invitation replies, mostly for Jones, 1870-1882; and unsorted letters, 1866-1887. Family letters consist of letters to Jones concerning his grandson G. W. Ireland; letters from his nephews C. A. Seley and Francis A. Crook; letters to his son-in-law Henry Dyer from Dyer's father, grandfather Lyman Tiffany, and George Jones; and a 1930 letter to George J. Dyer seeking funds for a cemetery in Granville, Ohio. Unsorted letters consist of letters from unidentified correspondents, third-party correspondence, loose attachments and other miscellaneous items.