The Underhill Society of America
The Underhill Society of America

Acquisitions

List of Acquisitions by the Archives of the Underhill Society of America, 1999-2006
 

  1. Books (23), published mostly in the 19th century and possibly Underhill related (donated in 1999 by Caroline Jenkinson through Gloria B. Tucker)
     
  2. Framed fragments of the commission pendant and hull of the Destroyer Escort U.S.S. Underhill (donated in 1999 by N. Robert Underhill)
     
  3. Bible of Mrs. S. D. Underhill (donated in 2000 by Andrew Hawley through Gloria B. Tucker)
     
  4. Framed artist’s conception of Captain John Underhill at the First Muster in Massachusetts Bay, painted by Ralph Fournier (donated in 2001 by N. Robert Underhill)
     
  5. Framed color graphic of the Destroyer Escort U.S.S. Underhill (donated in 1989 and deposited in 2001 by N. Robert Underhill)
     
  6. Papers of George T. Underhill, Jr., including some related to his mother and his father, past President George T. Underhill, Sr. (donated in 2001 and 2003 by George T. Underhill, Jr.)
     
  7. Three maps of the Underhill Burial Ground (donated in 2001 by Gloria B. Tucker)
     
  8. Photo album of Oyster Bay and vicinity, consisting of photocopies of more than 100 photographs from the late 19th century to ca. 1950 (donated in 2001 by Tullio Donisi through Gloria B. Tucker, who labeled the photographs)
     
  9. Genealogical Papers of Leta Ludlam Schoelles, a former Genealogist of the Underhill Society (donated in 2001 by Francis Aproy Ludlam Uhlendorf)
     
  10. Papers of Harriet Streek, Treasurer of the Underhill Society of America, 1995-2001 (deposited in 2001 by Harriet Streek through Gloria B. Tucker)
     
  11. Miscellaneous Papers of Carl J. Underhill, Genealogist of the Underhill Society (donated in 2001 by Carl J. Underhill)
     
  12. Framed albumen print of Nicholas Underhill (1793-1881), taken circa 1870-1881 in his War of 1812 or militia uniform (purchased in 2003)
     
  13. Memorial stone to John Taylor and Capt. John Underhill erected by Myron  C. Taylor and Willard Underhill Taylor (donated in 2003 by Warwick Potter)
     
  14. Framed genealogy of Capt. John Underhill’s English ancestry, “Extracted from the Records of the College of Arms London,” dated 26 March 1929 (donated in 2004 by Marjorie Strang through Samuel Underhill Mitchell)
     
  15. Copy, proofs, and plates for Underhill Genealogy, Vols. VII-VIII (donated in 2004 by Carl J. Underhill)
     
  16. Photographs of John Garrett Underhill, Sr. (6th President of the Underhill Society of America), and his son, John Garrett Underhill, Jr. (9th President) (donated in 2005 by Jeanne Underhill McDonald through Carl J. Underhill)
     
  17. Kathleen G. Velsor, Brother & Me: Thomas Jackson & the Underground Railroad . . . Westbury & Jericho many generations ago: A Historical Novel (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.: Rosalie Ink Publications, 2005), with the author’s signed inscription on the half-title page (donated in 2006 by Kathleen G. Velsor, through Gloria B. Tucker)
     
  18. Papers of Phebe Alice Apgar, Treasurer of the Underhill Society, 2001-2005 (donated in 2006 by Phebe Alice Apgar, through Samuel Underhill Mitchell)
     
  19. Gloria Bayles Tucker, “The Village of Oyster Bay” (2005), a 56-page, illustrated essay describing the buildings in the village of Oyster Bay (donated in 2006 by the author)
     
  20. George Sidney Underhill Collection, consisting principally of the Bayley Family Bible Record and 19th-century correspondence of the donor’s family (donated in 2006 by George Sidney Underhill)
     
  21. Papers of George T. Underhill, Jr.: box 5, consisting of personal, family, business, and genealogical papers, correspondence, photographs, and artifacts, ca. 1957 to 2005 (donated in 2006 by George T. Underhill, Jr.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

 MYRON C. TAYLOR

 Myron C. Taylor (1874-1959), descended from Captain John Underhill through his mother, Mary Morgan Underhill, was a prominent New York attorney, banker, and businessman.  As head of the Finance Committee of the board of directors of U.S. Steel, and subsequently as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1932 to 1938, Taylor modernized the corporation and enabled it to survive the rigors of the Depression.  In 1937 he revolutionized labor relations in the steel industry when he negotiated an agreement with John L. Lewis, who had begun a drive to unionize steelworkers.  The following year Taylor left his post as Chairman (though he continued to serve on the Finance Committee of the board) to devote himself more fully to the relief and humanitarian activities he had begun earlier in the decade.  During the Thirties, Taylor became a supporter of the New Deal and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who in 1939 appointed this Episcopalian as his personal representative to Pope Pius XII with the rank of Ambassador, a post he continued to hold under President Harry S. Truman until 1949.  A generous benefactor of the Underhill Society, in the late 1920s and early 1930s Taylor financed research on the life of Captain John Underhill and on the origins of the Underhill family in Warwickshire, sub-vended the publication of the first four volumes of The Underhill Genealogy, and played a central role in the Society’s affairs from that time until his death.

FDR’S INSTRUCTIONS

Instructions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Myron C. Taylor as his personal representative to Pope Pius XII; undated but probably issued ca. 23 December 1939, when Taylor accepted the appointment.  Reproduction in Myron C. Taylor Scrapbook No. 2, Myron C. Taylor Papers, Underhill Society of America.

Photo of Instructions of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Myron C. Taylor as his personal representative to Pope Pius XII; undated but probably issued ca. 23 December 1939, when Taylor accepted the appointment.

 TRUMAN’S CITATION

The certificate accompanying the award of the Medal of Merit honored Taylor “for extraordinary fidelity and exceptionally meritorious conduct,” and was issued by President Truman “in accordance with the order issued by General Washington at Headquarters, Newburgh, New York, on August 7, 1782, and pursuant to Act of Congress.”  From Myron C. Taylor Scrapbook No. 2, Myron C. Taylor Papers, Underhill Society of America.
 
Photo of citation for the awarding of the Medal For Merit by President Truman

 TAYLOR-POPE PIUS XII

Undated photograph of Myron C. Taylor and Pope Pius XII.  In 1927 Taylor and his wife, Anabel Stuart Mack Taylor, acquired the Villa Schifanoia, a Medici estate in the hamlet of San Domenico, within the old Etruscan city of Fiesole, just north of Florence, which they donated to the Pope in 1946 for the purpose of establishing a school of fine arts for American women.
 
 Photo of Myron C. Taylor and Pope Pius XII in conference