TABLE OF CONTENTS

Descriptive Summary

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note

Arrangement

Access Points

Related Material

Administrative Information

Bibliography

Series 1. Hartshorne Family Papers, 1840-1966

Series 2. Judge Richard Hartshorne Papers, 1910-1979

Series 3. Ellen Fritz Sahlin Hartshorne Diaries, 1921-1933

Guide to the Hartshorne Family Papers
1840-1979
(Bulk 1950-1967)

MG 1312

© 2005 All rights reserved.

The New Jersey Historical Society, Publisher

Inventory prepared by Nicole M. Rogers.

Finding aid encoded by Julia Telonidis. January 2005. Production of the EAD 2002 version of this finding aid was made possible by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Finding aid written in English.

Biographical Note

The Hartshorne Family trace their lineage to Richard Hartshorne (1641-1722) a lawyer from Hathearne, Leicestershire, England, who was one of the original proprietors of Eastern New Jersey. His brother, Hugh, was also one of the original proprietors. He came to present day Monmouth County in 1669 and attained land in Middletown and Highlands. Most notably, he acquired Sandy Hook from the Indians in 1677. His descendants retained much of this property. On November 27, 1670, he married Margaret Carr of Newport, Rhode Island. They had eleven children: Robert, Hugh (1), Thomas, Mary, William, Richard (1), Katherine, Hugh (2), Sarah, Richard (2), and Mercy. An illustrious citizen, he was appointed to Deputy Governor Laurie's Council in 1684 and elected to the Middletown general assembly in 1685. He then became an assembly speaker from 1686 to 1693 and 1696 to 1698. He was also nominated for High Sheriff of Monmouth County, a position that he declined.

Richard Hartshorne is also a direct descendant of Captain John Bowne, of England, who signed the Monmouth Patent in 1665. Bowne and his wife Lydia Holmes were one of the first five families to settle in the County as they made their home in what is now Holmdel. Considered a prominent citizen, Bowne served as a deputy to the First Assembly in Governor Carteret's time and helped to organize Middletown Baptist Church. Bowne's granddaughter, name unknown, went on to marry an ancestor of Abraham Lincoln, making Richard Hartshorne a far-removed descendant of the former President.

Other notable Hartshorne family members include Richard Salter (1699-1762/3), former Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court. Richard Hartshorne's grandfather, John Hartshorne (1801-1878), was a former Treasurer of Newark. He married Caroline Smith, a daughter of Moses and Phoebe Ward Smith. She was the granddaughter of Moses Smith (1748-1780) of Elizabethtown, NJ, who died at the battle of Connecticut Farms. He served in the Second Regiment of Essex County, N.J. Militia and was killed by a cannon ball.

Judge Richard Hartshorne was born on February 29, 1888 in Newark. His parents were William Sidney Hartshorne and Margaret Bentley Hartshorne. William worked for forty years in the firm of Boice and Hartshorne, dealers in farm produce, with a large West Indian trade. He attended Newark Academy in 1905 and then moved on to Princeton, where he rowed crew and graduated in 1909. Hartshorne graduated Columbia University Law School in 1912 and subsequently gained admittance to the New Jersey and New York bars. From 1912 to 1931, he practiced law privately at the Newark firms of Riker and Riker, Edward W. and Raymond Colie, and Stewart and Hartshorne. During World War I, he served in the U.S. Navy as a Reserve Lieutenant. He also served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney for the district of New Jersey in 1925. In 1931, he became a Judge in the Essex County Court of Common Pleas. Although he had a reputation as a stern judge, he did focus on rehabilitation instead of jail time when he handed down sentences. He also advocated greater cooperation among states for law enforcement. To promote this cause, he served as President of the Interstate Commission on Crime from 1935 to 1943 and worked as Chairman of the New Jersey Commission on Interstate Cooperation from 1935 to 1950. As a member of the American Bar Association, Hartshorne chaired the Grand Jurors' Handbook Committee of Judicial Section, which created the Federal and State Grand Jury Handbooks used throughout the United States. He was also Professor of Constitutional Law and Law of Insurance at the former New Jersey Law School.

His federal appointment as U.S. District Court Judge for New Jersey by President Truman on October 17, 1951 marked the highlight of Hartshorne's judicial career. New Jersey Democrats were angered by the choice of Hartshorne, a Republican, because they felt that Truman had deserted his party. Others, including Governor Driscoll, praised his nomination as a step toward a bi-partisan court. Major newspapers, such as the Star-Ledger, the Newark Evening News, and the Trenton Times carried the story. Hartshorne served as federal judge until his retirement on October 29, 1961.

Hartshorne married Ellen Fritz Sahlin in 1919. She was an interior designer before the birth of their children. They had four children together: Richard, Jr., John Fritz, Nancy, and Penelope. Penelope, who became Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler, is a former National Park Service Historical Architect who carried out restoration on Independence Hall in Philadelphia in the 1950s through the 1970s. The family lived in East Orange and remained members of the Old First [Presbyterian] Church in Newark. His numerous organizational affiliations included the Essex County Bar Association, Board of Proprietors of Eastern New Jersey, the Davella Mills Foundation, the International Film Foundation, the East Orange Tennis Club, and the Republican, Presbyterian, Essex, and Mason Clubs. Hartshorne was also a member of the Princeton University and Columbia Law School Alumni Associations. Hartshorne was most active in the Sons of the American Revolution and the American Legion. He served as National Chancellor General of the SAR and received their good citizenship medal in 1960. For the American Legion, he served as Commander of the New Jersey Department and helped found their Boys' State program in 1945. Boys' State aimed to create responsible citizens by educating young boys about their government and the duties of citizenship. Judge Hartshorne stayed involved in his former causes and activities after his retirement despite suffering from arthritis and near blindness. In his later years, he moved to Philadelphia to be closer to family and died there on September 19, 1975, at the age of 86.

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Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of correspondence, deeds, real estate transactions, photographs, and genealogical information relating to the Hartshorne family of Newark. Also included are the papers, correspondence, photographs, diaries, certificates and ephemera related to Judge Richard Hartshorne, former U.S. District Court Judge for New Jersey. A major part of the collection includes newspaper articles and correspondence relating to Judge Richard Hartshorne's federal judge appointment by President Truman in 1951. Included is Hartshorne's correspondence with many prominent individuals including former presidents. A highlight of the collection is letters from former presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, Dwight Eisenhower, and Harry Truman. Correspondence with Supreme Court figures include Hugo Black, William J. Brennan, Jr., Harlan Stone, and Earl Warren. Hartshorne also corresponded with J. Edgar Hoover, Thomas Mann, Alexander Graham Bell, and Henry Fairfield Osborne. Also included are the diaries of Judge Richard Hartshorne's wife, Ellen Fritz Sahlin Hartshorne, from the years of 1921-1933. The daily entries include records of her days and thoughts. Her daughter, Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler, has included her own notes on the diaries and provided a guide to the people discussed in the entries.

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Arrangement

The papers are organized into three series:

Series 1: Hartshorne Family Papers, 1840-1966

Series 2: Judge Richard Hartshorne Papers, 1910-1979

Series 3: Ellen Fritz Sahlin Hartshorne Diaries, 1921-1933

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Related Material

For other collections pertaining to the Hartshorne family, see:

Manuscript Group 282, Holmes Family (Middletown, NJ).Contains information on the Bowne family.

Manuscript Group 1003, Sabbath School for Coloured People (Newark Academy) Female Department Reports. Reports prepared by Moses Smith, Judge Hartshorne's great-grandfather.

Manuscript Group 1218, Proprietary Era. Contains indentures from East New Jersey signed by Hugh Hartshorne, Richard Hartshorne's (1641-1722) brother.

Manuscript Group 1363, New Jersey People: Individuals, Families, and Groups. Box 15, Folder 16 contains material on Judge Richard Hartshorne.

Manuscript Group 1411, Elias Boudinot Stockton, Genealogist. Contains a folder on various branches of the Hartshorne family.

The Monmouth County Historical Association, located in Freehold, has a collection of Judge Hartshorne's papers as he compiled his family's genealogy. It is Collection #86.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

This collection should be cited as: Manuscript Group 1312, Hartshorne Family Papers, The New Jersey Historical Society.

Acquisition Information

The collection formerly included only information on the Hartshorne family. Penelope Hartshorne Batcheler donated the materials from that part of the collection in 1989. In January 2003, the children of Judge Richard Hartshorne donated four boxes containing their father's papers, correspondence, photographs, diaries, certificates and ephemera and on folder of material of his grandfather, John Hartshorne (1801-1878), treasurer of Newark. These items were integrated into the collection in October 2004.

Processing Information

The collection is organized chronologically. The exception is material related to Judge Hartshorne's appointment as a U.S. Federal Judge, which has its own section in the collection.

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Bibliography

Ellis, Franklin,History of Monmouth County, New Jersey. Philadelphia: R.T. Peck and Co., 1885.

Nelson, William,New Jersey Biographical and Genealogical Notes from The Volumes of the New Jersey Archives. Newark, N.J., The New Jersey Historical Society, 1916.

Stillwell, John E.,Historical and Genealogical Miscellany; Data Relating to the Settlement and Settlers of New York and New Jersey. Baltimore: Genealogical Pub. Co., 1970.

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Series Descriptions and Container List