Collection Guide
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Russell, Majors and Waddell records
mssRW
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Russell, Majors and Waddell records
Creator:
Russell, Majors and
Waddell
Identifier/Call Number: mssRW
Physical Description:
7.2 Linear Feet
(6 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1838-1903
Date (bulk): 1838-1868
Abstract: A collection of business correspondence
and legal documents for the freight and mail company Russell, Majors and Waddell of
Lexington, Missouri.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
[Identification of item]. Russell, Majors and Waddell records, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from Mrs. W. B. Waddell, June 1946.
The firm of Russell, Majors and Waddell was established in 1854 in Lexington, Missouri; the
principals of the firm were William Hepburn Russell (1828-1872), William Bradford Waddell
(1807-1872), and Alexander Majors (1814-1900). The firm were freighters, stagecoach
operators, and the originators of the Pony Express in 1860. The firm collapsed in 1861 and
was purchased by Ben Holladay in 1862.
A collection of 508 items from 1838 to 1903, it consists of the business and legal records
of Russell, Majors and Waddell. It includes material about freighting operations, the
mercantile business, land transactions in Kansas and Missouri, and the Pony Express. The
company also hauled supplies for the U.S. Army during the 1857 to 1858 Utah Expedition (Utah
War). The material consists of business papers, documents, correspondence (both business and
personal), bills, receipts and ephemera. Persons represented in the collection include:
Robert B. Bradford, Charles Byers, Alexander Majors, William Hepburn Russell, John W.
Waddell, Robert Fielding Waddell, and William Bradford Waddell.
Processed by Huntington Library Staff, circa 1950; also, a finding aid was created by
Brooke Black in 2011. In 2020, Gayle Richardson created the electronic finding aid derived
from the earlier finding aid.
Arranged chronologically.
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssRW 1-347.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Businessmen -- West (U.S.)
Coaching (Transportation) -- West (U.S.) -- History
Express service -- West (U.S.) -- History
Freight and freightage -- West (U.S.) -- History
Land titles -- Kansas
Land titles -- Missouri
Mormons -- History -- 19th century
Pony Express -- History
Postal service -- West (U.S.) -- History
West (U.S.) -- History -- 19th century
Business records -- West (U. S.) -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- West (U.S.) -- 19th century
Bradford, Robert B.
Byers, Charles, active 1858-1860
Majors, Alexander,
1814-1900
Waddell, John W., active 1858-1860
Waddell, Robert Fielding
Waddell, W. B. (William
Bradford), 1807-1872
Utah Expedition
(1857-1858)