Pitt Ross and Edmund Ross family papers
Collection
Identifier: MSS-786-BC
Scope and Content
Scattered throughout the collection are correspondence and deeds in Spanish. Pitt Ross' personal papers include bills, receipts, and business and personal correspondence. The business correspondence covers his work as attorney before the United States General Land Office as well as material covering his term as Albuquerque City Engineer and Surveyor. His personal correspondence contains information about organizations he was involved with such as the Church Erection Fund for the Presbytery of Rio Grande, Spanish Presbyterian Church. Pitt was on the Board of Trustees and his personal papers also include deeds, correspondence, articles of incorporation for the Presbytery of the Rio Grande and some material for Presbytery of Santa Fe. This material concerns the Presbyterian churches at Mogollon, Jarales and Socorro from 1881-1924. Pitt Ross' ledgers cover newspaper, printing and engineering businesses. The ledgers contain listings of business card printing jobs, as well as printing for Cobb Studio photo cards, and for advertising. Also in this series are Pitt's personal cash account books, daily diaries and surveying notes covering 1871-1923.
Edmund Ross' personal papers include records of the Sons of the American Revolution New Mexico Society, Good Citizens' League of Bernalillo County, American Association of Engineers Albuquerque Chapter, Bernalillo County Democratic Central Committee, Las Bocas Irrigation Company and other local organizations. There are folders containing material from Edmund's jobs as Albuquerque City Commissioner, Bernalillo County Surveyor and District Engineer for New Mexico State Highway Department. Edmund’s U.S. Mineral Surveyor files contain his reports to the Office of the U. S. Surveyor General, including correspondence, plats of the mining claims surveyed, field notes and tabling and calculations sheets.
The Ross Engineering Company (Ross Engineering Office) series contains the company's general business records, ledgers/account books, correspondence, customer files, Homestead claims and surveys, maps and job files. The majority of the correspondence is between the company, their clients and the U.S. Land Office. The customer files contain correspondence, affidavits, petitions, receipts, applications to contest, contracts, maps and plats. There is material in English and Spanish. The files are arranged alphabetically by client's name or land grant name. The homestead records contain homestead entry applications, as well as petitions for designation as stock-raising homesteads under the Homestead Law (Act of December 29, 1916). See the Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records Official Federal Land Records Site at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ for more information on Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, including New Mexico.
The job files contain descriptions of mine and land holdings, U.S. government documents relating to private and public land claims and Santa Fe Railroad land holdings. The correspondence between Pitt Ross and Howel Jones, Land Commissioner for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, and the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Company concerns railroad land leases. There are quitclaim deeds and oil and mining claims, and correspondence for McKinley County. The same kind of material is available for the New Mexico Oil Land Agency owned by Edmund Ross and J. G. Mayo. Also available are files on Antonio Sedillo Ditch and Reservoir System built 1923-1925 in Valencia County, New Mexico. The project involved the Furneaux Bros., a farming and stock raising company out of Texas. Included are photographs of work done at the dam.
The majority of the Everitt and Ross Family series concerns the Everitt family. There are diaries, financial journals, record books, address books, deeds, wills and correspondence including correspondence from Annie Reynolds Everitt's family in England. Other correspondence belongs to the Everitt daughters, Edyth, Olive and Evelyn. Edyth Everitt's correspondence includes letters received from Harry Jenks from his job sites around America and Mexico 1904-1910. Edmund Ross' letters to his wife, Evelyn, give a glimpse of surveying in rural New Mexico in the mid 1930s. Olive's correspondence includes letters from her family in England. Among the material from the Ross family is a ledger for E. G. Ross and Sons, 1871-1901, and a folder containing correspondence to and about Edmund G. Ross.
The Photographs series consists of 3 folders of black and white photographs, one color photograph, postcards and one cyanotype. Postcards and photographs can be found throughout the collection as well. The subjects range from family photos to job sites to a train derailment and scenic views. Twenty nine negatives have been transferred to a CD, which is filed in this series.
Oversize materials consist of plats, maps and drawings related to the Ross Engineering Company. There are also Pitt Ross' ledgers for 1881-1922, Ross Engineering Day Book 1927-1929, and receivership ledger for El Dorado Supply Company.
Edmund Ross' personal papers include records of the Sons of the American Revolution New Mexico Society, Good Citizens' League of Bernalillo County, American Association of Engineers Albuquerque Chapter, Bernalillo County Democratic Central Committee, Las Bocas Irrigation Company and other local organizations. There are folders containing material from Edmund's jobs as Albuquerque City Commissioner, Bernalillo County Surveyor and District Engineer for New Mexico State Highway Department. Edmund’s U.S. Mineral Surveyor files contain his reports to the Office of the U. S. Surveyor General, including correspondence, plats of the mining claims surveyed, field notes and tabling and calculations sheets.
The Ross Engineering Company (Ross Engineering Office) series contains the company's general business records, ledgers/account books, correspondence, customer files, Homestead claims and surveys, maps and job files. The majority of the correspondence is between the company, their clients and the U.S. Land Office. The customer files contain correspondence, affidavits, petitions, receipts, applications to contest, contracts, maps and plats. There is material in English and Spanish. The files are arranged alphabetically by client's name or land grant name. The homestead records contain homestead entry applications, as well as petitions for designation as stock-raising homesteads under the Homestead Law (Act of December 29, 1916). See the Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records Official Federal Land Records Site at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/ for more information on Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, including New Mexico.
The job files contain descriptions of mine and land holdings, U.S. government documents relating to private and public land claims and Santa Fe Railroad land holdings. The correspondence between Pitt Ross and Howel Jones, Land Commissioner for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, and the Santa Fe Pacific Railroad Company concerns railroad land leases. There are quitclaim deeds and oil and mining claims, and correspondence for McKinley County. The same kind of material is available for the New Mexico Oil Land Agency owned by Edmund Ross and J. G. Mayo. Also available are files on Antonio Sedillo Ditch and Reservoir System built 1923-1925 in Valencia County, New Mexico. The project involved the Furneaux Bros., a farming and stock raising company out of Texas. Included are photographs of work done at the dam.
The majority of the Everitt and Ross Family series concerns the Everitt family. There are diaries, financial journals, record books, address books, deeds, wills and correspondence including correspondence from Annie Reynolds Everitt's family in England. Other correspondence belongs to the Everitt daughters, Edyth, Olive and Evelyn. Edyth Everitt's correspondence includes letters received from Harry Jenks from his job sites around America and Mexico 1904-1910. Edmund Ross' letters to his wife, Evelyn, give a glimpse of surveying in rural New Mexico in the mid 1930s. Olive's correspondence includes letters from her family in England. Among the material from the Ross family is a ledger for E. G. Ross and Sons, 1871-1901, and a folder containing correspondence to and about Edmund G. Ross.
The Photographs series consists of 3 folders of black and white photographs, one color photograph, postcards and one cyanotype. Postcards and photographs can be found throughout the collection as well. The subjects range from family photos to job sites to a train derailment and scenic views. Twenty nine negatives have been transferred to a CD, which is filed in this series.
Oversize materials consist of plats, maps and drawings related to the Ross Engineering Company. There are also Pitt Ross' ledgers for 1881-1922, Ross Engineering Day Book 1927-1929, and receivership ledger for El Dorado Supply Company.
Dates
- 1832-1954
- Majority of material found within 1880-1940
Language of Materials
English Spanish
Access Restrictions
The collection is open for research.
Copy Restrictions
Limited duplication of CSWR material is allowed for research purposes. User is responsible for compliance with all copyright, privacy, and libel laws. Permission is required for publication or distribution.
Biographical Information
Pitt Ross was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on December 8, 1855. Educated in Kansas he worked in printing and publishing. In 1885 Pitt moved his wife, Maria C. Wilson and their family from Lawrence, Kansas to New Mexico where his father, Edmund G. Ross, was territorial governor. After moving to Santa Fe, Pitt was employed by the Office of the Surveyor General. In 1886, he established the Ross Engineering Company working as a land attorney and surveyor. The next year he moved to Albuquerque where for seven years he served as Albuquerque City Engineer and then Bernalillo County Surveyor until his death in 1925. In 1903 he was selected by the Governor to represent the Territory of New Mexico at the International Conference on Good Roads in Detroit, Michigan. He was also involved with the 16th National Irrigation Congress held in conjunction with the 28th annual New Mexico Territorial Fair and the International Industrial Exposition in 1908. Pitt was a charter member of the New Mexico Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, serving as president 1913-1915. He also belonged to the Masons, Presbyterian Church and New Mexico Democratic Party. He died March 2, 1925.
Edmund Ross, son of Pitt and Maria Ross, was born on December 26, 1887 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated from Albuquerque High School in 1905 and received a B.S. for Mining Engineering from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 1909. While at UNM he was a charter member of the Engineer's Club, on the baseball, track and football teams, and editor of the UNM Weekly. In 1913 he attended the engineering school of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison. That same year he was appointed U. S. Mineral Surveyor for the district of New Mexico. He served as Albuquerque City Engineer from April 1916 until June1917 where he supervised construction and maintenance of city streets and sewers. Various times from 1918-1946 he served as the Bernalillo County Surveyor responsible for supervision of construction and maintenance for county roads, Rio Grande flood control, and surveying and mapping of school districts, precincts and county roads. May 1926 to July 1928 Edmund worked as engineer in charge of property surveys for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. In April 1931 he was appointed District Engineer for the New Mexico State Highway Department supervising construction and maintenance of State and Federal Aid Highways District Office personnel, payrolls, reports, and equipment.
Edmund was a charter member of the Albuquerque Chapter of the American Association of Engineers serving as president in 1924. He was a Rotarian, a Mason, a member of the Beta Chi chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity, president of the New Mexico chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution 1921-1922, Albuquerque City Commissioner 1923-1931, member of the Democratic Party and the Presbyterian Church.
He married Evelyn Everitt daughter of Arthur E. Everitt, and Annie R. Everitt. Edmund and Evelyn had three daughters, Evelyn, Elizabeth and Jean and two sons, Edmund Pitt and Arthur Everitt. Edmund Ross died November 15, 1965.
Ross Engineering Office (Box 8, Folder 11)
Ross Engineering Company also known as Ross Engineering Office was established in 1886 by Pitt Ross. The main office was in Albuquerque with a branch office in Farmington, New Mexico. The logo on the company envelope states "We Locate, Examine, Survey Lands, Water Rights, Oil Locations and Mines." They also advertised for map making and blue printing. Edmund Ross joined his father at the business until Pitt's death in 1925. By the late 1940s Clarence B. Beyer, husband of Susan Cobb, Edmund's cousin, had partnered with Edmund to form the Ross-Beyer Engineering Office. After Edmund's death in 1965 his sons, Edmund Pitt (Ned) and Everitt carried on the business, which was eventually acquired by Roy Howard, a Ross employee.
Everitt Family: Arthur Everitt, watchmaker and jeweler, was born in 1853 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England. After moving to Albuquerque, he sent for his wife Annie Reynolds Everitt and their children. In 1883 Arthur opened his jewelry store also known as the Diamond Palace, on Railroad (Central Ave.) In 1920 he retired and moved to Long Beach. A son, George, operated the business for 16 years until he sold it in 1936 to the Redak family. Arthur died in 1937.
The Everitt daughters were Olivia (Olive), Edyth (Edith), Lenore and Evelyn. Olivia Everitt was a stenographer and worked at the law firm of Frank W. Clancy. She died on October 27, 1957 in Long Beach, California. Edyth Everitt was a schoolteacher at the Fourth Ward School in Albuquerque. After marrying Edwin F. Williams she also lived in California until her death in 1933. Evelyn was born December 29, 1890 in Albuquerque. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1913. While a student there she was involved with the Glee Club, Art Editor of Mirage, Vice President of the Student Body, Sigma Kappa Beta and was YWCA president. She married Edmund Ross in 1914. She died October 19, 1957.
Sources: Albuquerque Journal, morning edition, May 19, 1939, p.8 Robert G. Luckey, The History of the New Mexico Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Chartered December 26, 1908, [Albuquerque? N.M.], 1969 New Mexico State Tribune, August 1927 El Servicio Real, "The Illustrious Heritage of Edmund Pitt Ross," v.3, no. 4, July 1968 Ralph Emerson Twitchell, Leading Facts of New Mexican History, vol. 5, p2433, ft. 975, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Torch Press, 1911-1917 UNM Vertical File, "Albuquerque - Businesses - Jewelry - Everitt, Arthur - Jeweler, Mason" UNM Vertical File, "Ross, Edmund - Governor New Mexico"
Edmund Ross, son of Pitt and Maria Ross, was born on December 26, 1887 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He graduated from Albuquerque High School in 1905 and received a B.S. for Mining Engineering from the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 1909. While at UNM he was a charter member of the Engineer's Club, on the baseball, track and football teams, and editor of the UNM Weekly. In 1913 he attended the engineering school of the University of Wisconsin, at Madison. That same year he was appointed U. S. Mineral Surveyor for the district of New Mexico. He served as Albuquerque City Engineer from April 1916 until June1917 where he supervised construction and maintenance of city streets and sewers. Various times from 1918-1946 he served as the Bernalillo County Surveyor responsible for supervision of construction and maintenance for county roads, Rio Grande flood control, and surveying and mapping of school districts, precincts and county roads. May 1926 to July 1928 Edmund worked as engineer in charge of property surveys for the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District. In April 1931 he was appointed District Engineer for the New Mexico State Highway Department supervising construction and maintenance of State and Federal Aid Highways District Office personnel, payrolls, reports, and equipment.
Edmund was a charter member of the Albuquerque Chapter of the American Association of Engineers serving as president in 1924. He was a Rotarian, a Mason, a member of the Beta Chi chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity, president of the New Mexico chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution 1921-1922, Albuquerque City Commissioner 1923-1931, member of the Democratic Party and the Presbyterian Church.
He married Evelyn Everitt daughter of Arthur E. Everitt, and Annie R. Everitt. Edmund and Evelyn had three daughters, Evelyn, Elizabeth and Jean and two sons, Edmund Pitt and Arthur Everitt. Edmund Ross died November 15, 1965.
Ross Engineering Office (Box 8, Folder 11)
Ross Engineering Company also known as Ross Engineering Office was established in 1886 by Pitt Ross. The main office was in Albuquerque with a branch office in Farmington, New Mexico. The logo on the company envelope states "We Locate, Examine, Survey Lands, Water Rights, Oil Locations and Mines." They also advertised for map making and blue printing. Edmund Ross joined his father at the business until Pitt's death in 1925. By the late 1940s Clarence B. Beyer, husband of Susan Cobb, Edmund's cousin, had partnered with Edmund to form the Ross-Beyer Engineering Office. After Edmund's death in 1965 his sons, Edmund Pitt (Ned) and Everitt carried on the business, which was eventually acquired by Roy Howard, a Ross employee.
Everitt Family: Arthur Everitt, watchmaker and jeweler, was born in 1853 in Coventry, Warwickshire, England. After moving to Albuquerque, he sent for his wife Annie Reynolds Everitt and their children. In 1883 Arthur opened his jewelry store also known as the Diamond Palace, on Railroad (Central Ave.) In 1920 he retired and moved to Long Beach. A son, George, operated the business for 16 years until he sold it in 1936 to the Redak family. Arthur died in 1937.
The Everitt daughters were Olivia (Olive), Edyth (Edith), Lenore and Evelyn. Olivia Everitt was a stenographer and worked at the law firm of Frank W. Clancy. She died on October 27, 1957 in Long Beach, California. Edyth Everitt was a schoolteacher at the Fourth Ward School in Albuquerque. After marrying Edwin F. Williams she also lived in California until her death in 1933. Evelyn was born December 29, 1890 in Albuquerque. She graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1913. While a student there she was involved with the Glee Club, Art Editor of Mirage, Vice President of the Student Body, Sigma Kappa Beta and was YWCA president. She married Edmund Ross in 1914. She died October 19, 1957.
Sources: Albuquerque Journal, morning edition, May 19, 1939, p.8 Robert G. Luckey, The History of the New Mexico Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Chartered December 26, 1908, [Albuquerque? N.M.], 1969 New Mexico State Tribune, August 1927 El Servicio Real, "The Illustrious Heritage of Edmund Pitt Ross," v.3, no. 4, July 1968 Ralph Emerson Twitchell, Leading Facts of New Mexican History, vol. 5, p2433, ft. 975, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Torch Press, 1911-1917 UNM Vertical File, "Albuquerque - Businesses - Jewelry - Everitt, Arthur - Jeweler, Mason" UNM Vertical File, "Ross, Edmund - Governor New Mexico"
Extent
10 boxes (9.22 cu. ft.) + 1 oversize folder
Abstract
This collection contains personal papers and correspondence of Pitt Ross, his son, Edmund, Edmund's wife, Evelyn Everitt Ross and various members of the Everitt family. There are also records from their surveying and engineering business, the Ross Engineering Company. The photographs in the collection are personal as well as company related.
Arrangement
Arranged in 6 series:
- Pitt Ross: Personal Papers and Correspondence; Ledgers, Cash Account Books, Daily Diaries and Notebooks
- Edmund Ross: Personal Papers and Correspondence; U.S. Mineral Surveyor Files
- Ross Engineering Company Records: General Business Records, Ledgers/Account Books; Correspondence; Customer Files; Homestead Claims/Surveys; Job Files
- Everitt and Ross Family Papers
- Photographs
- Oversize Materials
Separated Material
Engineering periodicals sent to Centennial Science and Engineering Library.
Helen D. James medical student's notes sent to New Mexico Health Historical Collections, Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center.
Original CD of photographs stored in B3.
Helen D. James medical student's notes sent to New Mexico Health Historical Collections, Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center.
Original CD of photographs stored in B3.
- Albuquerque (N.M.) -- History
- Democratic Party (N.M.). State Central Committee
- Homestead law -- United States
- Land grants -- New Mexico
- Land titles -- Registration and transfer -- New Mexico
- Mines and mineral resources -- New Mexico
- New Mexico -- Maps
- Railroad land grants -- Southwest, New
- Survey -- New Mexico -- History
- Surveyors -- New Mexico
- Title
- Finding Aid of the Pitt Ross and Edmund Ross family papers, 1832-1954
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Author
- T.S. Reinig
- Date
- © 2007
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is in English
Revision Statements
- Monday, 20210524: Attribute normal is missing or blank.
Repository Details
Part of the UNM Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections Repository
Contact:
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu
University of New Mexico Center for Southwest Research & Special Collections
University Libraries, MSC05 3020
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque NM 87131
505-277-6451
cswrref@unm.edu