University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archives Department.

Downer, Jason, 1813-1883.

Papers, 1853-1883.

Milwaukee Manuscript Collection O

5.2 cubic ft. (13 archives boxes)


ABSTRACT: Business and personal letters of a Milwaukee lawyer, including extensive files containing office copies of materials prepared for legal cases, deeds, wills, and leases. The best documented cases involve a series of lawsuits between Peter McNab, Josiah A. Noonan, and John Jay Orton concerning the failure of the Humboldt and Menomonee Paper Mills. Most of the remainder of the collection contains miscellaneous personal financial information concerning fees and land purchases. A small amount of correspondence concerns Downer's involvement with the Fox Lake Academy. Most of Downer's family correspondence refers to business matters. There is almost no mention of the Civil War in the correspondence from 1861-1865.


ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: There are no access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all members of the public in accordance with state law. However, the researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel, privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin Statutes 19.21-19.39).

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The Jason Downer Papers cover the period from 1853 to 1883. The papers are in three groups; correspondence, 1853-1883; legal papers; and bills and receipts. The correspondence has been arranged chronologically. The three categories are approximately the same in size, the correspondence being slightly the largest of the three. Both business and personal letters are included in the correspondence, the personal letters being in the large part from members of his family and frequently referring to business matters.

The legal papers are also quite extensive, including office copies of documents prepared for legal cases, deeds, wills, leases, and other legal documents. The legal cases have been arranged alphabetically according to the case name. The remainder of the collection is made up of bills, receipted bills, cancelled checks, and books of check stubs. They have been filed chronologically also.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Jason Downer was born at Sharon, Vermont, September 9, 1813. He remained at the family home helping with the farming until he was nineteen years old, and then entered Kimball Union Academy at Plainfield, New Hampshire. He entered Dartmouth College in 1834, and graduated in 1838. He then moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he studied law and it was there that he was admitted to practice. In 1842 he moved to Milwaukee, then a struggling young town, where he settled permanently, his fortune and profession growing with the town.

Upon his removal to Milwaukee he became one of the original proprietors of the Milwaukee Sentinel, Milwaukee's first daily newspaper, holding the editorial chair for about six months. After turning over the editorial position to Rufus King, he began the practice of law. He proved to be very successful in this field, and in November, 1864, he was appointed by the governor as an associate justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to finish out the term of a justice who had resigned. He was elected to this position without opposition in April, 1865 for the full six year term, but resigned in 1867. He returned to his private law practice where he continued until his death, never holding another public office.

In 1866, Judge Downer was elected to the presidency of the Board of Trustees of the Wisconsin Female College at Fox Lake. He continued in this capacity, giving freely of his time and money, until he died seventeen years later. Judge Downer made the college his residuary legatee in his will, and the name of the school was changed to Downer College to honor his generosity. Downer College later merged with the Milwaukee Female Seminary and is known today as the Milwaukee-Downer College.

Judge Downer died September 1, 1883, just days short of his 70th birthday, an eminent lawyer and jurist and a respected citizen of the city of Milwaukee.

COLLECTION CITATION: This collection should be cited as:

Downer, Jason, 1813-1883. Papers, 1853-1883. Milwaukee Manuscript Collection O. Wisconsin Historical Society. Milwaukee Area Research Center. UWM Libraries. University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee.

RELATED COLLECTION:

Orton, John Jay, 1817-1895. Papers, 1837-1884. (Milwaukee Manuscript Collection BK)

ACQUISITION: Presented by Mr. Hugh Jones of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on September 26, 1955.

PROCESSING: Processed by AM on February 10, 1965.

MARC RECORD SEARCH TERMS: The following terms were used in the online bibliographic MARC record to this collection:

MILWAUKEE MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION O BOX FOLDER
Address Book, undated 10 1
Bank Account Book, 1864-1874 [volume 8] 13  
Bank Account Book, 1872-1878 [volume 9] 13  
Bank Account Book, 1879-1882 [volume 10] 13  
Bills and Receipts, 1851-1861 8 1
Bills and Receipts, 1862 8 2
Bills and Receipts, 1863 8 3
Bills and Receipts, 1864 8 4
Bills and Receipts, 1865-1866 8 5
Bills and Receipts, 1867 9 1
Bills and Receipts, 1868 9 2
Bills and Receipts, 1869 9 3
Bills and Receipts, 1870-1871 9 4
Bills and Receipts, 1872-1873 9 5
Bills and Receipts, 1874 9 6
Bills and Receipts, 1875 9 7
Bills and Receipts, 1876 9 8
Bills and Receipts, 1877 9 9
Bills and Receipts, 1878-1879 9 10
Bills and Receipts, 1880 9 11
Bills and Receipts, 1881 9 12
Bills and Receipts, 1882-1883 9 13
Book Memorandum, "The History of the Catholic Church," undated [volume 3] 11  
Cancelled Checks, 1863-1876 10 2
Cancelled Checks, 1877-1883 10 3
Cash Book, 1858-1860 [volume 11] 13  
Cash Book, 1877-1882 13  
Check Stubs, 1864-1877 10 4
Check Stubs, 1878-1882 10 5
Correspondence, 1856-1860 1 1
Correspondence, 1861 1 2
Correspondence, 1862 1 3
Correspondence, 1863 1 4
Correspondence, 1864 1 5
Correspondence, 1865 1 6
Correspondence, 1866 1 7
Correspondence, 1867-1869 1 8
Correspondence, 1871 2 1
Correspondence, 1872 2 2
Correspondence, 1873 2 3
Correspondence, 1874 2 4
Correspondence, 1875 2 5
Correspondence, 1876 3 1
Correspondence, 1877 3 2
Correspondence, 1878 3 3-4
Correspondence, 1879 3 5
Correspondence, 1880 4 1-2
Correspondence, 1881 4 3-4
Correspondence, 1882 4 5
Correspondence, 1883 4 6
Legal Cases, A-D, 1862-1880 5 2
Legal Cases, Estate of Sidney L. Rood, 1845-1874 7 3
Legal Cases, Estate of Sidney L. Rood, 1877-1883 7 4
Legal Cases, F-H, 1868-1883 5 3
Legal Cases, K-Martin, 1875 5 4
Legal Cases, List, undated 5 1
Legal Cases, McNab vs. Noonan, 1868-1872 5 5
Legal Cases, McNab vs. Noonan, Downer, et al, 1872 5 6
Legal Cases, Meyer-Nash, 1863 5 7
Legal Cases, Nauretz vs. Milwaukee and Madison Railway Company, 1875-1882 5 8
Legal Cases, Noonan vs. Bradley, Noonan vs. Orton, 1871-1873 5 9
Legal Cases, Noonan vs. Orton and McNab, 1872 6 1
Legal Cases, Noonan and McNab Bankruptcy, 1870-1872 6 2
Legal Cases, Noonan and McNab vs. Orton, 1870-1872 6 3
Legal Cases, Noonan and McNab vs. Orton, 1868-1873 6 4
Legal Cases, Orton vs. Noonan,1872-1874 6 5
Legal Cases, Orton vs. Noonan and Downer, 1870-1874 6 6
Legal Cases, Orton vs. Noonan and McNab, 1868-1872 6 7-8
Legal Cases, P-Wal, 1867-1877 7 1
Legal Cases, Record, 1858-1883 [volume 2] 11  
Legal Cases, Trustee for Estate of Elizabeth D. Small, 1877-1878 7 7
Legal Cases, Trustee for Estate of Elizabeth D. Small, 1879-1882 7 8
Legal Cases, Watson et. al. vs. Milwaukee and Madison Railway Company, 1880 7 5
Legal Cases, Watson et. al. vs. Milwaukee and Madison Railway Company, 1881-1882 7 6
Legal Cases, Wau-Wis, 1860-1872 7 2
Legal Papers, 1862-1870 8 6
Legal Papers, Deeds, 1835-1856 8 7
Legal Papers, Deeds and Mortgages, 1854-1873 8 8
Legal Papers, Miscellaneous, 1872-1898 13 1
Legal Papers, Wills and Life Insurance Policies, 1869-1875 8 9
Letterbook, 1853-1860 [volume 4] 11  
Letterbook, 1861-1882 [volume 5] 11  
Letterbook, 1873-1874 [volume 6] 12  
Letterbook, 1869-1872 [volume 7] 12  
Miller and Cushman Receipts, 1848-1849 13 2
Record of Newspaper Articles, 1862-1875 [volume 1] 11  

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Last edited on Tuesday, May 13, 2003.
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