Matthew Paul Deady Papers, 1850-1923

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Deady, Matthew Paul (1824-1893)
Title
Matthew Paul Deady Papers
Dates
1850-1923 (inclusive)
Quantity
13 document cases
1 volume
Collection Number
Mss 48 (collection)
Summary
Papers of Matthew Deady, U.S. District Judge for Oregon and prominent figure in territorial and early state affairs. The collection consists of letters written to Deady from friends and political correspondents, including many of Oregon's leading state and national politicians in the late nineteenth century. Influential forces in the state such as Jesse Applegate and Asahel Bush are voluminously represented, as are U.S. senators Joseph Lane, James W. Nesmith, Henry W. Corbett, George Williams, Lafayette Grover and Cyrus Dolph. Complementing these is a small collection of letters written by Deady to several of the same persons. Also included are Deady's personal journals and family materials.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Additional Reference Guides

A card index of correspondents is available in the reading room of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library. The index provides abstracts of each letter.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Matthew Paul Deady, son of Daniel and Mary Ann (McSweeny) Deady, was born near Easton in Talbot County, Maryland on May 12, 1824. The Deady family worked a farm first in Maryland and, after 1828, in Wheeling, Virginia. Deady received his early education from his father and later at Wheeling's Lancasterian Academy. In 1837, three years after Mary Ann Deady's death, the family moved to Ohio. From 1841 to 1845 Deady was apprenticed to a blacksmith and, at the same time, attended Barnesville Academy, studying law under Judge Kennon of St. Clairsville, Ohio. Following his course work he taught school in Ohio for about two years at which point he was admitted to the bar.

In 1849 Deady made his way to Oregon, settling in Lafayette and teaching school for a few months during the winter of 1849-50. In March 1850 he established a law practice in Lafayette and shortly thereafter was elected a representative to the Oregon Territorial house of representatives. He served three sessions, and in 1853 was appointed an associate justice for the Oregon Supreme Court's southwest district, based in the Umpqua valley. He was elected Lincoln County delegate to the Oregon Constitutional Convention in 1857 and ultimately presided over that body. Upon Oregon's admission to the union in 1859, Deady was appointed U. S. District Judge for the district of Oregon by President James Buchanan.

Deady held this position, based in Portland, for the rest of his life. He was an active participant in politics and civic life and was a confidant to many of Oregon's leading political figures, including Joseph Lane, Asahel Bush, James Nesmith and many of Oregon's U. S. Senators. He devoted his personal efforts toward building and supporting many educational and community endeavors. As well as being a founder of the Portland Library Association and the Portland Law School, Deady was a regent of Stanford University and president of University of Oregon's board of regents from 1873 to his death.

Shortly after he had moved to Oregon in 1849, Deady met Lucy Ann Henderson, an Oregon pioneer of 1846 from Missouri. They married in Lafayette on June 24, 1852 and had three sons. Two of them, Paul R. Deady and Edward N. Deady, became lawyers while the third, Henderson B. Deady studied medicine. Matthew's health failed steadily after 1889 as he suffered from spinal troubles and Bright's disease. His lower limbs were partially paralyzed by a stroke in late 1892 and six months later, on March 24, 1893 he died in Portland.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The bulk of the Deady collection consists of letters written to him from friends and political correspondents, including many of Oregon's leading state and national politicians in the late nineteenth century. Influential forces in the state such as Jesse Applegate and Asahel Bush are voluminously represented, as are U.S. senators Joseph Lane, James W. Nesmith, Henry W. Corbett, George Williams, Lafayette Grover and Cyrus Dolph. Also included are substantial files of letters from Judge O.C. Pratt of San Francisco and Judge Stephen Field of the U.S. Supreme Court. Complementing these is a small collection of letters written by Deady to several of the same persons.

Deady also kept a personal journal which, comprising several volumes, recorded his own thoughts and activities during the last twenty-five years of his life and provided a unique account of Portland life and society. Also included are several folders of receipts from taxes and normal nineteenth century living expenses, cards and invitations collected over several years, and texts of speeches Deady gave in the 1870s and 1880s.

The collection is completed by several documents generated and added after Deady's death by his wife Lucy Ann Deady. Many of these are Lucy Deady's letters and items relating to the Deady family. Perhaps most significant of these is her autobiographical narrative describing her family's trek from Missouri to Oregon in 1846.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Matthew Paul Deady papers, Mss 48, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

Alternative Forms Available

Transcriptions of the journals and diaries have been published as Pharisee among the Philistines : the diary of Judge Matthew P. Deady, 1871-1892, Malcolm Clark, Jr., ed. (Portland : Oregon Historical Society, c1975). Complete typescript transcriptions are included in the present collection.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into the following series

  • Series A: Lucy Deady letters, 1863-1923
  • Series B: Letters to Matthew P. Deady, circa 1850-1893
  • Series C: Letters from Deady and personal documents, circa 1854-1891
  • Series D: Journals of Matthew P. Deady, 1871-1892

Acquisition Information

Gift of Mrs. Matthew P. Deady, Dec. 1919.

Processing Note

At one time, most of the letters in the collection were given item numbers consisting of the first letter of the correspondent's surname followed by a serial number, such as "H195" (a letter from John Hughes). An earlier numbering system was abandoned, but those numbers still appear on each item along with the more recent numbers. The recent numbers gererally follow an alphabetical arrangement, however some items are not filed in alphabetical order. In addition, letters written by Deady were all designated "DD" followed by a serial number, such as "DD35." The present arrangement of the letters follows the item numbering system, although some numbers are missing from the sequence.

Separated Materials

A silk sash, worn by Matthew Deady at celebrations marking the arrival of the first transcontinental train to Portland, 1883, is located in the Artifact Collection of the Oregon Historical Society.

Bibliography

Malcolm Clark, Jr., ed. Pharisee among the Philistines : the diary of Judge Matthew P. Deady, 1871-1892 (Portland, Or. : The Oregon Historical Society, c1975)

Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of the life of Matthew P. Deady (San Francisco : The History Company, 1890)

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series A:  Lucy Deady Letters, 1863-1923Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
1/1
Crossing the plains to Oregon in 1846 by Mrs. Matthew P. Deady
Typescript. Reported by Fred Lockley and published in the Oregon Journal
undated
1/2
Letters
54 pieces
1863-1887
1/3
Letters
59 pieces
1888-1906
1/4
Condolence letters to Lucy Deady on the death of Matthew P. Deady
1893
1/5
Condolence telegrams to Lucy Deady on the death of Matthew P. Deady
1893
1/6
Letters to Lucy Deady
22 pieces
undated

Series B:  Letters to Matthew P. Deady, circa 1850-1893Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
2/A1-A41
2/A42-A72
2/A73-A86
Letters to Jesse Applegate
1851-1864
2/A87-A108
Letters to Jesse Applegate
1862-1864
2/A109-A124
Letters to Jesse Applegate
1865-1866
2/A125-A146
Letters from Jesse Applegate
1867-1875
2/A147-A166
Letters from Jesse Applegate
1867-1875
2/A167-A191
Letters from Jesse Applegate
1875-1883
2/B1-B15
2/B16-B152
A.L. Bancroft and Co., San Francisco (mostly from Fred P. Stone)
Regards publishing and purchasing of books on law and other subjects.
1872-1889
2/B153-B179
Bancroft's Pacific States Histories (The History Company, N.J. Stone, San Francisco)
1882-1891
2/B180-B205
A.L. Bancroft and Co., San Francisco (James T. White)
Regards book purchases by Deady.
1871-1873
2/B206-B230
Bancroft, Hubert Howe (The Bancroft Library, The History Company)
1879-1889
2/B231-B256
2/B257-B289
2/B290-B312
2/B313-B352
2/B353-B387
2/B388-B412
2/B413-B428
2/B429-B461
3/B462-B741
Letters, Asahel Bush
1851-1889
3/B742-B768
3/C1-C32
3/C33-C56
3/C57-C131
Chadwick, Stephen F. (Oregon Secretary of State)
1854-1880
3/C132-C149
3/C150-C186
3/C187-C232
Letters, Corbett, H. W.
1868-1888
3/C233-C240
3/C241-C272
4/D1-D21
4/D22-D44
Letters, Dearborn
1854-1868
4/D45-D64
4/D65-D112
Letters, J.N. Dolph
1884-1893
4/D91-D112
Letters, J.N. Dolph
4/D113-D142
4/D143-D147
Drew, E. P.
1860-1885
4/D168-D229
Drew, Joseph W.; and Drew, M. M.
Joseph W. Drew items are D148-216, D220-228; M. M. Drew items are D217-219, D229.
1852-1888
4/D230-D243
4/E1-38
4/E39-E80
4/F1-F44
4/F45-F77
4/F78-F178
Field, Stephen J. (U.S. Supreme Court Justice)
1859-1883
5/179-256
Field, Stephen J. (U.S. Supreme Court Justice)
1884-1893
5/G1-G59
5/G60-G125
5/G126-G175
6/H1-H53
6/H54-H87
6/H88-H106
6/H107-H135
6/H136-H166
Hof
6/H167-H189
6/H190-H246
Box/Folder
6/I1-I6 6/J1-J20
6/J21-44, K1-5
6/K6-K35
6/K36-K82
6/L1-L26
6/L27-L55
Joseph Lane
1850-1881
6/L57-L74
Lanc-Lanm (except Joseph Lane)
6/L75-L104
6/L105-L122
6/L123-145
6/L146-L186
7/M1-M26
7/M27-M56
7/M57-M70
McD-McG (except E. W. McGraw)
7/M73-M125
McGraw, E. W.
1862-1892
7/M126-M156
7/M158-M191
7/M192-M207
7/M208-M258
7/M259-M321
7/M322-M351
7/M352-M368
7/N1-15 1850-1853
7/N16-N42
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1850-1853
7/N43-N67
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1854-1855
7/N68-N76
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1856
7/N77-N85
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1857-1859
7/N86-N102
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1860-1861
7/N103-N120
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1862-1863
8/N121-N138
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1864
8/N139-N155
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1865-1866
8/N156-N167
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1867-1868
8/N168-N189
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1869-1873
8/N190-N202
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1874
8/N203-N220
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1875-1879
8/N221-N242
Letters to Deady from James Nesmith
1881-1883
8/O1-O8
OA-OD
8/O9-O23, P1-P11
8/P12-P60
Pal-Po
8/P61-P73
Letters to Deady from O. C. Pratt
1851-1853
8/P74-P111
Letters to Deady from O. C. Pratt
1854-1862
8/P112-P136
Letters to Deady from O. C. Pratt
1863-1875
8/P137-178
Letters to Deady from O. C. Pratt
1877-1890
8/P183-221 1877-1890
9/R21-R32
9/R33-R76
9/R77-R103
9/S1-S30
9/S31-S62
9/S63-S97
9/S98-S138
9/S139-S178
9/S179-S185 1869
9/S186-S229
Stark, Benjamin
1853-1897
9/S230-S253
9/S254-S282
9/S283-S301
9/S302-S328
10/S329-S347
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1869-1871
10/S348-S359
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1872
10/S360-S383
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1873-1874
10/S384-S407
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1875-1877
10/S408-S424
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1878-1879
10/S425-S444
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1880-1881
10/S445-S459
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1882
10/S460-S474
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1883
10/S475-S491
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1884
10/S492-S506
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1885
10/S507-S539
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1886
10/S540-S561
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1887-1891
10/S562-S590
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1887-1891
10/S591-S615
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1887-1891
10/S616-S640
Letters to Deady from Lorenzo Sawyer
1887-1891
11/T1-T34
11/T35-T68
Thor-Thu
11/T69-T105
Ti-Ty
11/U1-U36
11/V1-V41
11/V42-V59
Villard, Henry
1876-1881
11/W1-W35
11/W36-W56
Walton, J. J., Walton, Joshua J.
It is unclear whether J. J. Walton, Jr., and Joshua J. Walton are the same person. The handwriting is similar in both sets of letters. Also includes 1 letter from James Walton, 1875 Mar. 23 (W42).
1872-1877
11/W58-W85
Walton, Joshua
1877-1884
11/W86-W116
11/W117-W146
11/W147-W180
11/W181-W205
11/W206-W236
Williams, George H.
1855-1874
11/W237-W274
11/W275-Z1

Series C:  Letters from Deady and personal documents , circa 1854-1891Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
12/1
Bills and Receipts
1872-1884
12/2
Bills and Receipts
1870-1884
12/3
Portland and Valley Plank Road Co. stock certificate
1851
12/4
Invitations, thank you notes, courtesy letters, etc., A-M
1854-1891
12/5
Invitations, thank-you notes, courtesy letters, etc. N-Z
1854-1891
Speeches and addresses by Deady
Box/Folder
12/6
Untitled lecture on word usage in history (manuscript)
Given Mar. 7, 1866 at the Methodist Episcopal Church, Portland; June 6, 1877, at the Congretational Church, Forest Grove; and July 2, 1877 before the college societies at Eugene.
1866 Mar. 7
12/7
Law and lawyers (manuscript and printed version), Portland Law Association
1866 Dec. 6
Address at Willamette University
1876 June 1
12/9
Oration at Roseburg
1877 July 4
12/10
Address to graduation class at the University of Oregon
1878 June 21
12/11
Towns and cities (manuscript), Philomathean Society
1879 Apr. 16
12/12
Commencement address at St. Helen's Hall, Portland
1880 June 9
12/13
Oration at Portland
1885 July 4
12/14
Long and short haul , Opinion in ex parte Richard Koehler, Petition for Instruction, U.S. Circuit Court
1887 July 4
12/15
Centennial of Washington's inauguration, Vancouver, Wash.
1889 July 4
12/16
Untitled lecture on clergy in public affairs (manuscript)
undated
12/17
Speech on Judge O.C. Pratt
undated
Box/Folder
13/1
Inventories of Deady's law book library
1893; 1920; undated
13/2
Invitations, cards, menus, and other ephemera
44 pieces
1854-1891
13/3
Letters from Deady, DD1-DD60
Most are drafts or copies of letters Deady sent.
13/4
General materials
Includes memorials and eulogies on Deady's death; and Deady's opinion in Oregon Short Line and Utah Northern Railway Co. vs. Northern Pacific Railway Co., 1891 July 17; and clipping regarding citing of A. M. Seymour for contempt, 1853 July 9.
1890-1895

Series D:  Journals of Matthew P. Deady, circa 1871-1892Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder
13/5
Vol. 1: Voyage from Portland to Sitka
1880
13/6
Vol. 2: Journal
1881-1882
13/7
Vol. 3: Portland to New York
1889
13/8
Vol 4: Journal
1878-1883
14/1
Vol. 5: Journal
1876
14/2
Vol. 6: Journal
1871-1872
14/3
Vol. 7: Journal
1883-1886
14/4
Vol. 8: Diary
1889-1892
14/5
Vol. 9: Trip to the East coast
1881
14/6
Vol. 10: Account book
1881-1882
17/1
Vol. 11: Journal
1872-1878
Transcriptions of journals and diaries
Typescript copies with annotations, probably made by Malcolm Clark, Jr., in preparation for his book Pharisee among Philistines, 1975.
Box/Folder
15/1
Transcripts
1871-1872
15/2
Transcripts
1873-1875
15/3
Transcripts
1876-1879 Dec.
15/4
Transcripts
1879-1881
16/1
Transcripts
1882-1884 Aug.
16/2
Transcripts
1884 Sept.-1887
16/3
Transcripts
1888-1889
16/4
Transcripts
1890-1892

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Constitutional conventions—Oregon.
  • Courts—Oregon.
  • Indians of North America—Oregon.
  • Judges—Oregon—Correspondence
  • Judges—Oregon—Diaries.
  • Legislators—Oregon—Correspondence.
  • Pioneers—Oregon—Correspondence.
  • Women pioneers—Oregon—Correspondence.

Personal Names

  • Applegate, Jesse A., 1811-1888—Correspondence.
  • Bush, Asahel, 1824-1913—Correspondence.
  • Chase, Salmon Portland, 1808-1873—Correspondence.
  • Colfax, Schuyler, 1823-1885—Correspondence.
  • Corbett, Henry Winslow, 1827-1903—Correspondence.
  • Deady, Edward Nesmith, 1853-1914—Correspondence.
  • Deady, Henderson Brooke, 1869-1933—Correspondence.
  • Deady, Lucy Ann, 1835-1923—Correspondence.
  • Deady, Matthew P. (Matthew Paul), 1824-1893—Correspondence (creator)
  • Deady, Matthew P. (Matthew Paul), 1824-1893—Diaries. (creator)
  • Deady, Paul Robert, 1856-1920—Correspondence.
  • Dolph, Joseph Norton, 1835-1897—Correspondence.
  • Field, Stephen Johnson, 1816-1899—Correspondence.
  • Fuller, Melville Weston, 1833-1910—Correspondence.
  • Grover, La Fayette, 1823-1911—Correspondence.
  • Hoffman, Ogden, 1822-1891—Correspondence.
  • Holladay, Ben, 1819-1887—Correspondence.
  • Howard, O. O. (Oliver Otis), 1830-1909—Correspondence.
  • Ladd, William Sargent, 1826-1893—Correspondence.
  • Lane, Joseph, 1801-1881—Correspondence.
  • Lord, William Paine, 1839-1911—Correspondence.
  • Miles, Nelson Appleton, 1839-1925—Correspondence.
  • Nesmith, James Willis, 1820-1885—Correspondence.
  • Pratt, Orville C., 1819-1891—Correspondence.
  • Sawyer, Lorenzo, 1820-1891—Correspondence.
  • Sheridan, Philip Henry, 1831-1888—Correspondence.
  • Stanford, Leland, 1824-1893—Correspondence.
  • Stark, Benjamin, 1820-1898—Correspondence.
  • Wood, Charles Erskine Scott, 1852-1944—Correspondence.

Corporate Names

  • Democratic Party (Or.)
  • Library Association (Portland, Or.)
  • Oregon. Supreme Court.
  • United States. District Court (Oregon)
  • University of Oregon.

Geographical Names

  • Oregon—Constitution.
  • Oregon—History—1859-
  • Oregon—History—To 1859.
  • Oregon—Politics and government—1859-1950.
  • Oregon—Politics and government—To 1859.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Journals.
  • Letters.
  • Reminiscences.