The Marion DeVries Papers consist of business papers, correspondence and memorabilia of Judge Marion DeVries. Although dates of documents in the collection range from 1760 to 1930, most of the business papers and correspondence date between 1899 and 1928 and relate to DeVries career as a Judge. The DeVries memorabilia consists almost entirely of invitations sent to Congressman or Judge Devries (1898-1902). The DeVries papers also contains correspondence and business papers pertaining to William H. Burroughs' Lindenhurst Estates Co. on Long Island (1912-1923).

Marion DeVries (b.1865), attorney, member of the U.S. House of Representatives and subsequently Justice of the U.S. Court of Customs Appeals, was born and raised in San Joaquin County, where his father, William H., farmed 700 acres in the Lodi area. DeVries received a B.A. (1885) from local San Joaquin Valley College, the first institution of higher learning in the San Joaquin Valley, and studied law at the University of Michigan (1886-1887), where he was class valedictorian. Returning to Stockton, DeVries entered into law partnerships, first with attorney John B. Hall (1887-1889), then with W.B. Nutter (1889- ). In 1896 he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served two terms (1897-1900). To remove the popular Democrat from his seat in what was normally a Republican stronghold, William McKinley appointed DeVries to the U.S. Court of Customs Appeals and he remained in this post until retirement (c1930). Evidence in the collection suggests that DeVries subsequently became a Republican. During these years DeVries lived in Washington D.C., where he continued private law practice in partnership with George Roscoe Davis. DeVries also operated his family ranch in San Joaquin County until his death. The DeVries Papers contain business papers of New York real estate developer, William H. Burroughs. Evidence in these papers indicates that Burroughs was president of the Lindenhurst Estates Co. near Babylon, Long Island (1912-1923). Burroughs' relationship to Marion DeVries is unclear.

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Collection is open for research by appointment only.