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Title: Janin Family Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1735-1932
Collection Number: mssJanin family
Creator:
Janin (Family)
Extent:
23,699 pieces in 71 boxes
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract:
This collection contains the papers relating to the lives and activities of various members of the Blair, Croghan, Janin,
and Jesup families,
chiefly extending from New Orleans lawyer and businessman Albert Covington Janin and his wife, Washington, D.C.,
socialite Violet (Blair) Janin,
with the
bulk of the collection dating between 1850-1930. Subject matter in the collection includes: politics and government and society
and customs in Washington, D.C., and Louisiana;
Blair House (Washington, D.C.); land titles in Indiana Territory, Kentucky,
Louisiana, and Missouri; the Ocean Canal and Transportation Company; and the history of
Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, from 1839 until 1932.
Language: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services
Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
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]. Janin Family Papers, The Huntington Library, San
Marino, California.
Acquired from the Washington Cathedral through the agency of Colonel Thomas M.
Spaulding in 1936 and 1937. Additional letters and other papers were acquired in
1946, from Louis Janin of San Francisco; in 1965 from Howard H. Peckham; and in
1968 from Elliot A. P. Evans.
Processing/Project Information
The papers of James L. Blair (165 pieces) that were formerly catalogued separately and the Louis Janin papers that were formerly
catalogued
as the Louis Janin Correspondence (876 pieces) were combined with the
Janin Family Collection.
The families of lawyer and businessman Albert Covington Janin (1843-1928) and socialite Violet (Blair) Janin (1848-1933) included
members of the prominent Blair, Croghan, Janin, and Jesup families, chiefly located in New Orleans, Louisiana; Washington,
D.C.; Kentucky; and San Francisco, California.
Family members included:
- Attorney Louis Alexander Janin (1803-1874), who was born and educated in Vienna. Janin immigrated to the United States in 1828, established residence in New Orleans, was naturalized, admitted to the bar, opened law offices, invested in sugar plantations. He married Juliet Covington. Six sons reached maturity and were educated mainly in Europe. Three of the sons, Louis, Henry, and Alexis, engaged in mining activities in California, Nevada, Japan and elsewhere; Eugene Janin was killed in the Battle of Manassas in 1862; Edward Janin engaged in business in Minnesota, California, etc. Albert Covington Janin (1843-1928) married Violet Blair, practiced law and entered into politics in New Orleans, operated a canal in Louisiana, practiced law in New York and Washington, and later managed the Mammoth Cave Estate in Kentucky.
- James Lawrence Blair (1819-1853), son of Francis Preston Blair. James Blair was a United States naval officer. In San Francisco in 1849, he acquired property and established the first steamship line on the Sacramento River. He resigned from the Navy in 1851, died suddenly in San Francisco, leaving widow, Mary Serena Eliza (Jesup) Blair (1825-1914), daughter of Thomas Sidney Jesup, and three children: Violet (1848-1933), Jesup (1852-1902), and Lucy James (1853-1902). His estate was administered by his brother Montgomery Blair.
- Thomas Sidney Jesup (1788-1860), a Major-General in the United States Army. Jesup married Ann Heron Croghan (1797-1845). They had one son, Charles E. Jesup, and four daughters: Mary Serena Eliza (Jesup) Blair, Jane (Jesup) Nicholson, Lucy (Jesup) Sitgreaves, and Julia Clark Jesup.
- Violet (Blair) Janin (1848-1933), a Washington, D.C., socialite. Janin lived her entire life in the family home on Lafayette Square near the White House in Washington, D.C., although she travelled in Europe and elsewhere, and lived during brief periods in New Orleans soon after her marriage in 1874. Her life was devoted mainly to her mother, Washington society and club work. She was president of the National Society of Colonial Dames, treasurer of the National Society of Children of the American Revolution, etc., and an active member of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. Her friends were prominent in social and diplomatic circles, while she herself was a leader in the most exclusive circles of her time.
- Lucy James (Blair) Wheeler (1853-1902), who married engineer and West Point graduate Major George Montague Wheeler (1842-1905). Lucy Wheeler accompanied her husband to his military posts, in Denver and elsewhere in the U.S. and Europe. Their life together was filled with hardships, which ruined the health of both.
- William Croghan (1752-1822) of Kentucky. Croghan married Lucy Clark (1765-1838), sister of George Rogers Clark. Their three surviving sons were John, George and William. Their daughter Ann Heron Croghan married Thomas Sidney Jesup. John Croghan (1790-1849), who never married, purchased lands in Kentucky in 1839 from Franklin Gorin, containing the Mammoth Cave, which upon his death was willed to the children of his sister and brothers, and their descendents. Although, in the second and third generations, the number of heirs increased, most of the Cave property was owned by Violet (Blair) Janin. The Cave became a National Park in 1932.
This collection contains the papers of members of the Blair, Croghan, Janin, and Jesup families,
chiefly extending from New Orleans lawyer and businessman Albert Covington Janin and his wife, Washington, D.C., socialite
Violet (Blair) Janin,
with the
bulk of the collection dating between 1850-1930. Materials include letters,
manuscripts (including 50 diaries), documents (including 55 account books, 12 cash books, and 5 miscellaneous volumes), and
photographs.
The earlier pieces are mainly land papers from Louisiana and Kentucky.
The extended Blair-Janin-Jesup-Croghan family came to include numerous relatives in
all parts of the United States, and the papers reflect that many of them were in frequent contact with each other. But the
primary individuals represented in the collection are:
- James Lawrence Blair (165 pieces)
- Mary Jesup Blair (Boxes 3-5 and 60-61) Violet Blair Janin: 9 boxes of personal papers, in addition to the massive correspondence addressed to her by many famous and important persons of her time, give an effective background to Washington society from the point of view of a wealthy upper class woman from c. 1860-c. 1930
- John Croghan
- William Croghan
- Albert Covington Janin (Boxes 15-19, 63, exclusive of correspondence received by him from other persons)
- Louis Janin
- Julia Clark Jesup: 460 items, mainly letters to her sister Mary and her niece Violet.
- Thomas Sidney Jesup: 48 items
- George M. Wheeler: 340 pieces of correspondence and miscellaneous papers
- Lucy James Blair Wheeler: 434 letters from Lucy to her mother in the collection, and 36 pieces of other correspondence and papers.
Organizations represented in the collection (with which Violet Blair Janin was affiliated) include: Daughters of the American
Revolution, National Association Opposed to
Woman's Suffrage, National Cathedral Association, National Society of Children of the American Revolution, and the National
Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
Subject matter reflected in the collection include politics and government in Washington, D.C., and Louisiana, and society
and customs in Washington, D.C., and New Orleans; Blair House (Washington, D.C.);
land titles and real estate in Indiana Territory, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, and San Francisco, California; the Ocean
Canal and Transportation Company (Louisiana to St. Louis); the history of Mammoth Cave (Kentucky) from
the time of purchase by John Corghan in 1839 until 1932, when it became a national park (at which time Violet [Blair] Janin
was the primary owner); Denver, Colorado;
and mining in Australia.
Related Materials in the Huntington Library
- Charles Henry Janin Papers, 1858-1937 (Call number: mssJanin, Charles)
- Louis Janin papers, 1859-1914 (Call number: mssJanin, Louis papers)
- Louis Janin papers (Addenda), 1863-1895. (Call number: mssHM 64294-64311 )
The collection is arranged alphabetically by author in Boxes 1-59, followed by
miscellaneous papers, photographs, ephemera, and record books
in Boxes 60-71.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Blair, James L. (James
Lawrence), 1819-1853.
Blair, Mary Jesup,
1826-1914.
Blair, Violet,
1848-1933.
Croghan, John,
1790-1849.
Croghan, William,
1752-1823.
Janin,
Albert.
Janin,
Louis.
Jesup, Julia Clark,
1840-
Jesup, Thomas Sidney,
1788-1860.
Wheeler, George M.
(George Montague), 1842-1905.
Wheeler, Lucy James
Blair, 1853-1902.
Blair House
(Washington, D.C.)
Daughters of the
American Revolution.
National Association
Opposed to Woman Suffrage.
National Cathedral
Association.
National Society of the
Children of the American Revolution.
National Society of the
Colonial Dames of America.
Ocean Canal and
Transportation Company.
United States. Army --
Officers -- Archives.
United States. Navy --
Officers -- Archives.
Canals -- Louisiana.
Land titles -- Indiana.
Land titles -- Kentucky.
Land titles -- Louisiana.
Land titles -- Missouri.
Mines and mineral resources --
Australia.
National parks and reserves --
Kentucky.
Real property -- California -- San
Francisco.
Real property -- Washington
(D.C.)
Women -- Washington (D.C.) -- History --
19th century -- Sources.
Women -- Washington (D.C.) -- Social
conditions.
Denver (Colo.) --
Description and travel.
Denver (Colo.) --
Social life and customs -- 19th century.
Louisiana -- Politics
and government.
Mammoth Cave (Ky.) --
History -- Sources.
New Orleans (La.) --
Politics and government.
New Orleans (La.) --
Social life and customs -- 19th century.
Washington (D.C.) --
Social life and customs -- 19th century.
Account books -- United
States.
Diaries -- United States.
Family papers -- United
States.
Letters (correspondence) -- United
States.
Manuscripts -- United
States.
Photographs -- United
States.
Blair, James L. (James Lawrence),
1819-1853.
Blair, Mary Jesup,
1826-1914.
Blair, Violet, 1848-1933.
Croghan, John, 1790-1849.
Croghan, William,
1752-1823.
Janin, Albert.
Janin, Louis.
Jesup, Julia Clark, 1840-
Jesup, Thomas Sidney,
1788-1860.
Wheeler, George M. (George Montague),
1842-1905.
Wheeler, Lucy James Blair,
1853-1902.
Blair (Family)
Croghan (Family)
Jesup (Family)