Scope and Content Note
The papers of Joseph Meredith Toner (1825-1896) contain a wide variety of material collected by Toner on diverse subjects and are organized in five parts: I: Personal Papers; II: Medical Papers; III: Washingtoniana; IV: Other Collected Material ; and V: Biographical File. The collection reflects primarily the personal and professional life of Toner, the history and practice of medicine in the United States, and the life and times of George Washington.
Part I: Personal Papers
Part I: Personal Papers (1844-1896) contains diaries, correspondence, compilations, lists, maps, notes, surveys, addresses, articles, books, poetry, announcements, invitations, bibliographical material, calling cards, college records, certificates, diplomas, indices, genealogical material, printed matter, and miscellany. A small amount relates to Toner's life prior to 1855. References to his family origin and birth in Pittsburgh (1825) are located among the biographical and genealogical records. A diary for the year 1850 covers part of his life as a student at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. The earliest dated correspondence, 1848-1855, reflects Toner's efforts to obtain an education, especially at Vermont Medical College in Woodstock, Vermont (1850), his struggles as a fledgling doctor at Summit and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Harper's Ferry, Virginia (1850-1855), and his decision in November 1855 to move his medical practice to Washington, D.C.
Although there is a small amount of material dated prior to 1855, most of Part I relates to Toner's activities in the District of Columbia as a civic leader, public benefactor, and one of the area's most prominent residents. References to his activities in the District may be found in the correspondence file. There is documentation relating to the part Toner played in the founding and operation of St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum, St. Ann's Infant Asylum, St. Vincent's Orphan Asylum, Providence Hospital, Garfield Memorial Hospital, and other institutions. There are also references in the correspondence to his activities as a member of the Philosophical Society of Washington, the Literary Society of Washington, the Columbia Historical Society, and other organizations. In the subject and writings file is noteworthy material relating to Toner's pioneering studies of elevations in the United States. This material includes a draft of the introduction to Toner's book, Dictionary of Elevations and Climatic Register of the United States (1874), and the source material on which the book was based. The source material, gathered under Toner's promptings through the offices of Frederick Watts, commissioner of agriculture, and Columbus Delano, secretary of the interior, consists of correspondence of Watts and Delano with their field representatives, as well as the latter's reports on elevations (1872-1873).
Prominent correspondents in Part I include Samuel H. Kauffman, William W. Corcoran, Frederick D. Stone, John W. Jordan, Joseph Henry, John Eaton, Frederick W. Putnam, Robert C. Winthrop, Jr., Benjamin S. Ewell, John M. Cooper, Kate M. Rowland, Madeleine V. Dahlgren, John W. Dean, Spencer F.Baird, Samuel P. Langely, Robert A. Brock, Ainsworth R. Spofford, Daniel C. Gilman, and Moncure D. Conway. Prominent correspondents in other groups may be found by consulting the Container List.
Part II: Medical Papers
Part II: Medical Papers (1732-1896) contains addresses, articles, books, sketches, correspondence, lectures, dissertations, theses, bibliographical material, catalogs, indices, guides, lists, account books, financial papers, appointment books, case histories, commonplace books, notes, notebooks, and miscellany. In this material are references to Toner's activities as a leading member of the medical profession. In the “letters-of-physicians file” are references to Toner's work as a member and leader of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, the Medical Association of the District of Columbia, the American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association, the Board of Visitors of the Government Hospital for the Insane (St. Elizabeth's), and other medical societies and associations. In the writings and compilations file is much of Toner's seminal work in the field of medical history. Among the papers in this file is a draft of Toner's “Anniversary Oration before the Medical Society of the District of Columbia” (1866), a work that is regarded as the standard history of the medical profession in the District of Columbia prior to 1866. In a biography subfile are sketches by Toner reflecting the lives of thousands of American physicians (1776-1896), and in the “letters-of-physicians file” are original autograph letters of more than two-thousand American physicians (1763-1896), Other noteworthy materials in Part II are the medical writings and compilations of authors other than Toner in the form of lectures, dissertations, and theses.
Part III: Washingtoniana
Part III: Washingtoniana (circa 1688-1896) consists of transcripts and printed copies of financial records, estate papers, and military papers, as well as genealogical records, clippings, lists, notes, and miscellany. In later life (circa 1880-1896), Toner attempted to make a complete collection of all of George Washington's writings. In pursuing this goal, he had verbatim copies made of every item in the Washington Papers that were then in the Department of State. He then attempted to secure exact copies of every original Washington letter in historical societies and library collections throughout the world. Next, accessible and original source materials exhausted, Toner procured copies of every available publication containing a Washington item. In addition, he had transcripts, heavily annotated, begin in 1747-1748, and, except for a few chronological gaps, continue to the day before Washington's death (December 14, 1799). Of the remaining material, perhaps most noteworthy are the transcripts of papers relating to Washington's military career and to his consociates in the French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. Of special interest in this connection is Toner's unpublished account of the services and campaigns of General John Forbes of the British Army during the French and Indian War.
Part IV: Other Collected Material
Part IV: Other Collected Material (1717-1902) is organized in two sections: autographs and papers. The autographs section consists largely of letters and clipped signatures (1717-1878). The Container List gives a detailed breakdown of both sections, but a sampling from the papers section includes an individuals file containing the financial records of Robert Brent, the correspondence of Joseph Bryan, the correspondence of Johann Georg Hulsemann, and the diaries of William G. D. Worthington. In an organizations file are correspondence and papers of the Washington National Monument Society and in a locations file are a letterbook from Fort Washington, Ohio, and a group of notes detailing plans for a proposed settlement at Scioto, Ohio.
Part V: Biographical File
Part V: Biographical File contains obituaries and news articles that Toner collected and compiled on medical figures and prominent Americans.