John W. Bacon papers
Abstract
The John W. Bacon papers is a collection of nine folders of manuscript letters and miscellany written or received by Bacon (though some pieces pertain to his mother and other family members), spanning the dates 1842 to 1886. Two folders contain documents related to Bacon's time as a student at Trinity (then Washington) College in Hartford, Connecticut. One folder contains letters to Bacon's mother, Sarah Watson Bacon (prior to her marriage), with dates ranging from 1812 to 1826. Miscellany includes bills, receipts, inventories, and other writings.
Dates
- Creation: 1812-1886, undated
Creator
- Bacon, John W. (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is open to the public and must be used in the John M.K. Davis Reading Room of the Watkinson Library, Trinity College Library, Hartford, Connecticut. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws when using this collection.
Conditions Governing Use
Digital surrogates may be provided to researchers, in accordance with the duplication policy of the Watkinson Library.
Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs unless otherwise specified. It is the researcher's responsibility to secure permission to publish materials from the appropriate copyright holder.
Archival materials may contain sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal and/or state right to privacy laws or other regulations. While we make a good faith effort to identify and remove such materials, some may be missed during processing. If a researcher finds sensitive personal information (e.g. social security numbers) in a collection, please bring it to the attention of the reading room staff.
Biographical / Historical
John Watson Bacon was born June 9, 1827 in Hartford, Connecticut. He attended Trinity (then Washington) College, receiving a BA in 1846 and an MA in 1849. While at Trinity he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society and IKA fraternity, and delivered the valedictory oration at his graduation in 1846. Later he served as a Junior Fellow on the Board of Fellows from 1858 to 1861.
Though he studied law for two years, and briefly worked as a teacher, Bacon ultimately became a civil engineer. He was responsible for survey work completed on the New York and New England Railroad from Hartford to Willimantic, including Hartford's Willimantic Bridge and Union Station. He served as general superintendent of the New England Railroad and then the Danbury and Norwalk Railroad, later becoming Connecticut's Railroad Commissioner from 1877 until 1887. In 1893 he was appointed Commissioner of the Connecticut Topographical Survey. Bacon also served as president of the Savings Bank of Danbury, Danbury Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and the Danbury Cemetery Association, as well as a director of the Danbury National Bank. He was a member of the Amercian Society of Civil Engineers.
John W. Bacon married in 1852 and had three children. He died February 27, 1907.
Full Extent
.23 Cubic Feet (1 legal document box with 9 legal size envelopes of manuscript letters) ; Legal document box (15.5 x 2.5 x 10.25) equals .23 cubic feet (UNLV calculator)
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
Arranged in a single series in chronological order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased by the Trinity College Library in June 1946.
Processing Information
Prior to additional processing in 2026, the collection was partially processed at an earlier, unknown date, when letters and other items were counted and placed inside large envelopes which include handwritten titles, date ranges, and number of pieces. It is apparent that possibly not all letters pertain exclusively to John W. Bacon, but to other family members or friends. An additional folder was created to accommodate a group of letters which were found in an exisiting envelope but which have a much later date range than what the envelope's dates suggest (presumably an oversight during the first round of processing).
- Title
- Guide to the John W. Bacon papers
- Author
- Amy M. FitzGerald
- Date
- 2026-04-30
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Watkinson Library - Archival Collections Repository