John Ford Sollers Collection, 1855-1963, MS 3114

Finding Aid to the John Ford Sollers Collection, MS 3114

H. Furlong Baldwin Library, Maryland Historical Society

 

Collection summary

 

Title

John Ford Sollers Collection

Creator

Sollers, John Ford.

Call number

MS 3114

Inclusive dates

1855-1963

Bulk dates

1858-1963

Extent

1 box.

Abstract

Summary: The collection contains correspondence, photographs, prints, and ephemera of theater proprietor John T. Ford, a relative of Sollers. Photographs and prints of the Ford and Sollers family are also included, along with the memoirs of Confederate soldier and family friend, Arthur B. Pue.

 

 

Administrative summary                                                                 

 

Repository

H. Furlong Baldwin Library

Maryland Historical Society

201 W. Monument St.

Baltimore, MD 21218

www.mdhs.org

special_collections@mdhs.org

Access restrictions

Open to the public without restrictions.

Use restrictions

Permission to quote must be received in writing from the Special Collections Librarian.

Provenance

Gift of John Ford Sollers, August 2012.

Accession number

2012-112-LIB

Processing note

The collection was processed by Lara Westwood, November 2012.

 

Biographical Note

            John Ford Sollers is a descendant of the famous theater owner John T. Ford. Over the years, Sollers collected items related to Ford and his theaters. Ford, born in Baltimore in 1829, owned and operated multiple theaters in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Virginia. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in his D.C. theater, Ford and his brother were arrested and questioned because of their association with the Booth family. Ford was also active Baltimore city government and business. He served as president of both the Baltimore City Council and the Union Railroad Company.

            Arthur B. Pue fought in the Civil War as a Confederate soldier. After the war’s end, he enlisted in the United States Army. Pue befriended Sollers’ father while living in a soldiers’ home in Pikesville (Md.). A prolific storyteller, he decided to record his life story before his death in 1926.

 

Scope and Content

 

            The collection contains personal items of John T. Ford and his theater business, as well as material related to his descendants and family friends. Photographs of Ford’s home in Baltimore are included, along with carte de visites of John Wilkes Booth, owned by Ford’s daughters, Lizzie and Martha. Also among the theater items is an admission ticket for box seats at the Holliday St. Theatre, handwritten by Edwin, Ford’s brother. The Pue manuscript recalls the life of a Confederate veteran and his life in Maryland before and after the Civil War.

The original order of the material has mostly been retained. The items are generally divided between personal and theater-related matter. Additional photographs of the Ford, Sollers, and Pue families and Ford’s theaters are available on a CD included in the collection’s reference file.

 

Container List

 

Contents

Date

Box

Folder

Photographic prints of John T. Ford

1858-1893

1

1

Letter from Thomas H. Mules to John T. Ford

1864, July 17

1

2

Letter from Philip C. Friese to John T. Ford

1893, February 7

1

3

Miscellaneous notes and envelopes

1905-1910

1

4

Photographs of John T. Ford’s house (1536 N. Gilmor Street Baltimore, Md.)

1895?

1

5

Christmas card from Edith Ford

1915

1

6

Stereopticon card of Ford’s Grand Opera House (Baltimore, Md.)

1910

1

7

Carte de visite of Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.)

1858

1

8

Photographic copies of carte de visites of Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D. C.)

No date

1

9

Ford’s Grand Opera House schedule/ program

1908-1909

1

10

Admission for box seats at the Holliday St. Theatre (Baltimore, Md.), signed by Edwin Ford

1856, March 17

1

11

Souvenir prints of John Wilkes Booth, signed by Martha and Lizzie Ford

No date

1

12

“Looking Backward Seventy Years,” by Arthur B. Pue

No date

1

13

Holliday St. Theatre (Baltimore, Md.) playbill

1855, May 19

Oversize