Historical Archives Finding Aid

The collection consists of letters, documents, books, speeches, account books, poems, pamphlets, photographs, memorabilia, and other papers of five generations of the Macculloch, Miller, and Post families, residents of Macculloch Hall from 1810 to 1947 when the house became a museum.

The archives contain material belonging to many family members, but include sub-collections worthy of note:

George Perrot Macculloch (1775-1858), merchant, scholar, and businessman, who built Macculloch Hall, envisioned and helped to finance the Morris Canal, and founded a Latin School for Boys and Burlington College; his wife, Louisa Edwina Sanderson Macculloch (1785-1863) who, in addition to family responsibilities, was involved in religious and charitable activities including the Female Charitable Society, the Fragment Society, and the building of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church; his daughter, Mary Louisa Macculloch Miller (1804-1888) a senator’s wife who was dedicated to community service. These charitable societies were part of the nationwide movement of women organizing that led to the temperance and suffrage movements; his son, Francis Law Macculloch (1801-1859), a lawyer who helped defend Antoine Le Blanc in the famous 1833 murder trial.

Senator Jacob Welch Miller (1800-1862) including his political speeches and correspondence about the split in the Whig Party which led to the formation of the Republican Party, the Mexican War, Texas statehood, the Wilmot Proviso, and national politics between 1848 and 1860.

Lindley Miller

Lindley Hoffman Miller (1834-1864), a young lawyer who saw the draft riots of 1863 in New York City and subsequently volunteered to lead African-American troops during the Civil War.

Elizabeth Miller Keasbey’s(1828-1852) correspondence to her future husband Anthony Q. Keasbey (1824-1895) which details much of a young woman’s life and concerns in the early nineteenth century.

Commodore Jacob William Miller's (1847-1918) canal survey papers and books, letters concerning the formation of the Naval Reserve, and other activities of the U.S. Navy.

Alice Duer Miller (1874-1942) was a novelist, poet, screenwriter, whose writings in the Sunday New York Tribune championed the Women’s Suffrage movement. Her 1940 poem, The White Cliffs, influenced America’s support towards the British in the early stages of World War II.

Dorothea Miller Post (1878-1947) who continued the family tradition of community service with her patriotic efforts in World War I and II with the Woman’s Land Army as well as artistic accomplishments as a violinist and founder of the Morristown Orchestral and Choral Societies. After her death in 1947, Macculloch Hall was sold to W. Parsons Todd who founded Macculloch Hall as a museum.

In addition to family items, the collection includes material relating to W. Parsons Todd (1876-1976), twice elected mayor of Morristown, a wealthy industrialist and avid collector of 18th and 19th century decorative arts whose acquisitions form the bulk of the museum’s collection. His interest in American history prompted him to purchase historic documents signed by George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Lafayette, Dolley Madison, and John and Abigail Adams.

Each collection is arranged in folders by inventory number and cataloged on “Indecks” cards, but a project is underway to index individual items and make them searchable in the museum’s database.