Guide to the William Leighton, Jr. Family Papers, 1846-circa 1950s SPEC.RARE.0369 Finding aid prepared by Casey Blackmore Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections
1858 Neil Avenue Columbus, OH, 43210
2025 January This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2026-01-22T10:56-0500 English Describing Archives: A Content Standard William Leighton, Jr. Family Papers SPEC.RARE.0369 Ohio State University Libraries Special Collections 1.987 Cubic feet 1846-circa 1950s William Leighton, Jr., author and blown glass maker, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 22, 1833. He is credited with developing a new glass formula that required soda bicarbonate rather than lead crystal. Other members of Leighton, Jr.'s family include his father William Leighton, Sr. (1808-1891), Leighton, Jr.s' nephew Frederic Leighton (1895-1963) and niece Mary Elizabeth Leighton (1903-1987). The William Leighton, Jr. Family Papers contains family history writings, a family bible containing birth, death, and marriage records, photographs of the family's trips to Europe, correspondence, and school records. Materials are dated 1846-circa 1950s. (3) 5" letter document boxes; (2) oversize folders; (1) flat box; (1) oversize flat box English Leighton, Frederic, 1895-1963 Leighton, Mary Elizabeth, 1903-1987 Leighton, William S., 1808-1891 Leighton, William, 1833-1911 Arrangement of Materials

This collection is arranged in four series:

Series 1: William Leighton, Jr.

Series 2: William Leighton, Sr.

Series 3: Frederic Leighton

Series 4: Mary Elizabeth Leighton

Acquisitions Information

Accession No. RARE.2025.0197: Purchase, 2019 April.

 Preferred Citation

[identification of item], William Leighton, Jr. Family Papers, SPEC.RARE.0369, Rare Books and Manuscripts Library, Ohio State University

 Access to Materials

Materials in this collection are available for use, but may be used in the Thompson Library Special Collections reading room only.

 Use of Materials

Materials in this collection may be protected by copyright, and are made available for research and educational purposes. In general, the OSU Libraries do not own the copyright for materials from our collections and cannot grant copyright permissions for these materials. The user is responsible for making a final determination of copyright status. If copyright protection applies, permission must be obtained from the copyright holder to reuse, publish, or reproduce the work beyond the bounds of fair use or other exceptions to the law. Works in the public domain are not protected by copyright and do not require permission to use.

 Processing Information

Procesed by: Casey Blackmore, 2026 January; Finding aid written by: Casey Blackmore, 2026 January.

 Biographical Note

William Leighton, Jr., author and blown glass maker, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on June 22, 1833. He graduated from Harvard University in 1853. After graduation, Leighton took work at Wheeling, West Virginia at Hobbs Brockunier Company, one of the largest glass companies of the 19th century. He is credited with developing a new glass formula that required soda bicarbonate rather than lead crystal. During his time at Harvard, Leighton developed an interest for writing poetry and verse.

Other members of Leighton, Jr.'s family include his father William Leighton, Sr. (1808-1891), Leighton, Jr.s' nephew Frederic William Leighton (1895-1963) and niece Mary Elizabeth Leighton (1903-1987). Frederic and Mary Elizabeth were brother and sister.

 Scope and Contents

The William Leighton, Jr. Family Papers contains family history writings, a family bible containing birth, death, and marriage records, photographs of the family's trips to Europe, business records, correspondence, and school records. The majority of the family history materials can be found in Series 2, photographs of the family's travels and portraits are in Series 1, and printed ephemera and correspondence make up Series 3 and 4. Materials are dated 1846-circa 1950s.

 Leighton, Frederic, 1895-1963 Leighton, Mary Elizabeth, 1903-1987 Leighton, William S., 1808-1891 Leighton, William, 1833-1911 Bible records Black-and-white photographs Business records Correspondence Family life--West Virginia--Wheeling--19th century Family life--West Virginia--Wheeling--20th century Glass blowing and working--West Virginia--19th century Glass blowing and working--West Virginia--20th century Landscape photography--19th century Landscape photography--20th century Student records--West Virginia--Wheeling--20th century Writers, American--20th century William Leighton, Jr. Series 1 1857 October 1, 1896-1907, 1953 July 13 Scope and Contents

Series 1 contains travel and family photographs, photocopies and a first edition of Leighton Jr.'s Florentine Sonnets. This series also contains some material pertaining to Leighton Jr.'s wife, Mary Jane Leighton. The majority of the annotations on the back of the photographic prints in this series were written by his niece Mary Elizabeth Leighton.

 Arrangement of Materials

Series 1 material is arranged alphabetically by title of folder. Materials within the same title are further arranged chronologically.

 Cambridge High School certificate belong to Mary Jane Leighton 1 1 1857 October 1 Scope and Contents

This certificate was awarded to Mary Jane "Jennie" Reed Leighton, William Leighton, Jr.'s wife.

 Family portrait photographs 1 2 1902-1904 Florentine Sonnets booklet 4 1 1906 Germany photographs 1 3 1896-1906 Germany photographs 1 4 1906 Italy photographs 1 5 circa 1904-1905 Italy photographs 1 6 circa 1904 Italy photographs 1 7 1904 Italy photographs 2 1 1904 Italy photographs 2 2-4 1907 Letter concerning Mary Jane Leighton's death 3 1 1953 July 13 Scope and Contents

Folder contains a letter from an unknown family member inquiring about placing Mary Leighton's birth and death information on William Leighton, Jr.'s gravestone in Concord, Massachusetts.

 Switzerland photographs 3 2 1907 William Leighton, Sr. Series 2 1846, 1877-1879 Scope and Contents

Series 2 contains a family bible and a family history manuscript. William Leighton, Sr. was William Leighton, Jr.'s father. William Sr. also worked in the glass blowning industry at the Hobbs Brockunier Company in Wheeling, West Virginia.

 Arrangement of Materials

Series 2 materials are arranged chronologically.

 Illuminated family bible 5 1 1846 Family history manuscript 3 3 1877-1879 Frederic William Leighton Series 3 1908-1914; 1942-1954 Scope and Contents

Series 3 contains high school report cards and writing exams, publicity for Leighton's Mexican imports store, correspondence and ephemera. Frederic Leighton, William Leighton, Jr.'s nephew, was the owner of a Mexican imports and home goods store in New York City. Leighton ran the shop during the 1930s and 1940s until the shop was bought by Murray Mondschein and turned into a luxury jewelry store.

 Arrangement of Materials

Series 3 materials are arranged chronolgically.

 Hyde Park High School report cards 3 4 1908-1913 School reports RARE Shared 5 1 1908 Haseltine, Lake & Company letter 3 5 1914 April 24 Leighton (George W.) to Frederic Leighton letter 3 6 1942 October 8 Scope and Contents

George W. Leighton was Frederic Leighton's father.

 Leighton (Chris) to Frederic Leighton letter 3 7 1945 Hillyer (Stanley) correspondence 3 8 1946-1951 Imports store publicity 3 9 1947 Latin America passport 3 10 1947 Sales figures 3 11 circa 1949-1952 Leighton (Juanita) to Frederic Leighton letter 3 12 circa 1950 Rock Handcrafts & Agencies correspondence 3 13 1953 British West Indies development organization telegram 3 14 1952 April 20 Doney (Hugh) to Frederic Leighton letter 3 15 1953 July 8 Scope and Contents

Hugh Doney was married to Mary Leighton (1903-1987), Frederic's sister.

 Safe deposit box inventory 3 16 1953 July 13 Schramm (C. W.) to Frederic Leighton letter 3 17 1954 December 22 Mary Elizabeth Leighton Series 4 1922-1925 May 13, circa 1950s Scope and Contents

Series 4 contains manuscript poems, correspondence, and astrology charts and lessons. Mary Elizabeth Leighton was the niece of William Leighton, Jr. and Frederic Leighton's sister. She attended Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts and graduated in 1924.

 Arrangement of Materials

Series 4 materials are arranged chronologically.

 Lamb (Louis) manuscript poems 3 18 1922 Scope and Contents

Louis Lamb was a family friend of the Leightons.

 Smith College commencement booklet 3 19 1924 Lamb (Louis) to Mary Leighton letter 3 20 1925 May 13 Astrology charts RARE Shared 5 2 1951 Astrology lessons and notes 3 21 circa 1951-1952 Postcard indexes 3 22 circa 1950s Scope and Contents

This index correspondence with a portion of the photographs and photocopies found in Series 1.