John Handley Collection

522 THL

Inventory created by Archives Staff 05/1986. Last revised 02/2021

ACCESS RESTRICTIONS: Collection is open to all researchers.

USE RESTRICTIONS: Restrictions may apply concerning the use, duplication, or publication of items in this collection. Consult a member of the archives staff for information concerning these restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. Note: As noted in the organization section below, some items in this collection are copies of materials belonging to another institution. Consult the holding institution with questions about copyright and use of these materials.

TECHNICAL ACCESS: This collection contains a VHS videocassette and requires a video player to view.

EXTENT:  1.58 linear feet

DATE: 1866-1995

SCOPE AND CONTENT: The John Handley Collection contains information about the dispersal of Judge Handley’s estate and the subsequent 100^th anniversary celebration of the bequest. There are some personal items and biographical sketches, as well as a handwritten opinion by Judge Handley in a case he adjudicated in September 1875.

BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL:  John Handley was born in Ireland in 1835. He emigrated to the United States and became a U.S. citizen in New York in 1856. He settled in Scranton, PA, where he practiced law. Handley had friends in Winchester and began visiting the area in 1869. When he died in 1895, Handley left a bequest amounting to over one million dollars to the City of Winchester for the education of the poor and $250,000 for the construction of a public library. He is buried in Mt. Hebron Cemetery.

RELATED MATERIAL: The DVD “Judge John Handley Bequest 100^th Anniversary Dinner,” February 1, 1995 is located in the Media Collection, 1306 THL.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Quarles, Garland R. John Handley and the Handley Bequests to Winchester, Virginia.

Winchester, VA: Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society,1998, second edition.

CITE AS: John Handley Collection, 522 THL, Stewart Bell Jr. Archives, Handley Regional Library, Winchester, VA, USA

ORGANIZATION

BOX 1

News Articles—Judge John Handley—unnumbered pages, printed (photocopy)

Handley, John – Papers

Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1885 (Dec. 14; Dec. 23), with transcriptions, 2 leaves, manuscript, 2 leaves, typescript

Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1886 (May 17.; Nov. 5), with transcriptions, 2 leaves, manuscript, 2 leaves, typescript

Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1887 (Jan. 15), with transcriptions, 1 leaf, manuscript, 1 leaf, typescript

Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1888 (Mar. 1), with transcriptions, 1 leaf, manuscript, 1 leaf, typescript

Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1889 (Nov. 14; Nov. 26; Dec. 7), with transcriptions, 3 leaves, manuscript, 3 leaves, typescript
   
Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1890 (Feb. 11; Apr. 9; Apr. 18; Apr. 20; May 23; Dec. 15; Dec. 16; Dec. 16), with transcriptions, 8 leaves, manuscript, 8 leaves, typescript

Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1891 (Jan. 9; Mar. 20; Apr. 16; May 22; May 30; Dec. 4; Dec. 12;), with transcriptions, 7 leaves, manuscript, 7 leaves, typescript

Handley, John – Letters to Holmes Conrad, 1893 (Mar. 28), with transcriptions, 1 leaf, manuscript, 1 leaf, typescript

Handley, John – Letter to Clarence Pifer, April 16, 1890, 2 leaves, manuscript (photocopy with original)

Legal opinion written by Judge Handley, September 1875, re-naturalization of James P. Kane, 2 items, 10 leaves, manuscript; 1 leaf, typescript

Handley, Elizabeth–letters of administration intestate, 1866, 3 leaves, manuscript on printed form (photocopy)

Visiting card, John Handley, c. 1890, 1 item, printed; 1 item, typescript

Will of John Handley, Deceased, n.d., c. 1895

Will – United States Court of Appeal, Exhibit B – Judge John Handley, na, nd.; Exhibit C – Pennsylvania Railroad

Biographical Information

Correspondence concerning Handley’s biography and photo of tomb, 6 leaves, typescript, 1 ph

"Judge John Handley, 1835-1895"–biographical sketch by Garland R. Quarles, 1974, 5 items, 4 pages, printed

"Judge John Handley: Yankee Carpet-Benefactor of Winchester," by William W. Hassler, article in Virginia Country, September-October 1984, 4 leaves, printed (photocopy)

Handley, Judge John – correspondence, etc. between C. F. Staples and Lackawanna Historical Society, 1958, 14 leaves (photocopy) Note: Original correspondence housed by Lackawanna Historical Society.

“The Legacy of John Handley,” Shenandoah Insights, August/September 2007, 1 volume, printed

Items concerning 100^th Anniversary of Bequest

100th anniversary celebration (1895-1995), John Handley Memorial Dinner, February 1, 1995 -invitation, program, guest list, 3 leaves, manuscript on printed form (photocopy); 3 pages, 1 leaf, printed

"John Handley, R. Gray Williams and Progressive Education for Winchester," paper delivered by Kenneth W. Rose, February 1, 1995, at 100th Anniversary Memorial Dinner, 1 item, 28 leaves, typescript (photocopy)

100^th Anniversary Memorial Dinner - videocassette

Box 2 – Estate Papers

Correspondence, 1895-1908 – "Estate of John Handley, Deceased," 1 item, bound book, 479 leaves, manuscript and typescript (copy)

Correspondence, 1897, 3 leaves, manuscript; 1 leaf, typescript

Correspondence, 1915-1917, 21 leaves, typescript; 15 leaves, manuscript; 20 leaves, typescript telegrams; 2 leaves, manuscript (copy) telegram 

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA–Book of notes, 1874-1917 (#1-176), 1 item, manuscript on printed form

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA–Interest account bankbook (Shenandoah Valley National Bank of Winchester), 1920-1923, 1 item

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA–Report and Appraisement, 1914, 4 leaves typescript (photocopy)

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA–Report of Capitol Stock, 1895 and 1915, unnumbered pages, manuscript on printed form

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA–Statements, March 26, 1895 to November 6, 1913, 1 item, 55 leaves, typescript (copy)

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA–Transfer of stock receipts, 1874-1917, 11 leaves, manuscript on printed form

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA–Trustees correspondence and reports, 1897-1913, 53 leaves, typescript (copy)

Petition of the Handley Board of Trustees, 1914-1915 (folder contains the following):
Correspondence between lawyers, June 1914-March 1915, 5 leaves, typescript; 11 leaves, typescript (copy)
Petition to court, February 20, 1915, 21 leaves, typescript (copy)
Show cause order, February 20, 1915, 3 items, 2 leaves, typescript (copy); 1 leaf, typescript on printed form
Answer of the Executors, March 1915, 3 items, 13 leaves, typescript, 2 copies
Answer of the Executors, March 1915, 13 leaves, typescript (copy)
Answer of the Executors, March 1915,13 leaves, typescript (copy)
Facts for basis of reply to the petition of the Handley Board of Trustees, no date, 5 leaves, typescript (copy)

"Report of the Handley Board of Trustees for Two Years Ending December 31, 1917," 1 item, 24 pages, printed

Box 3

Stock Certificates for Equity Improvement Co. of Scranton, PA, #1-85, 86 leaves manuscript on printed form

Bookkeeping Journal, 1895-1916, 1 item, manuscript, bound volume

Ledger, 1895-1911,1 item, manuscript, bound volume

Box 4

Annual Accounts of Executors Books, February 18, 1895 – May 11, 1917, 2 items, bound, 208 leaves, typescript, (photocopy)

OVERSIZE

MAPCASE 2, Drawer 10

Equity Improvement Company of Scranton, PA
Archbald Borough Addition, 3 leaves, blueprints
Estate of John Handley in Scranton PA, 4 leaves, renderings
Plat of Handley Estate Subdivision, compiled by Alexander Spotswood Dandridge, October/November 1921, 3 items

PHOTOGRAPHS:  Photographs and other images belonging to this collection may be accessed online through http://handley.pastperfectonline.com/