Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User Information
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content Note
Cataloguing Information
Processed by
Chris Harter
6 February 1997
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 5 items
COLLECTION DATES: 1832-1878 (inclusive)
PROVENANCE: Mary Lafferty, Silver Spring, MD
RESTRICTIONS: None
COPYRIGHT: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE FORMATS: None
RELATED HOLDINGS: M219, New Harmony Collection; Elliott, Josephine (ed.). Partnership for Prosperity: The Correspondence of William Maclure and Marie Duclos Fretageot, 1820-1833. (HX656.H2 M36 1994); Hackensmith, Charles W. Biography of Joseph Neef. (LB675.N4 H33 1973)
For Robert Dale Owen: SC 2270; SC 2359; BV 830-835; F 277.
ACCESSION NUMBER: 1997.0212
NOTES:
John Salmon ( 1797-1883) was born in London, England. Salmon left England for the United States in April 1818, and married Wilhelmenia Neef (1809-1878), daughter of Francis Joseph Nicholas Neef, in 1827, in Cincinnati, Ohio. John and Wilhelmenia had four daughters: Louisa, Josephine, Julia, and Ada. Salmon lived on a farm close to Port Fulton (near present-day Jeffersonville, Clark Co.) but maintained a store across the river in Louisville, KY.
Born in France, Joseph Neef (1770-1854) was influenced by the educational theories of Johann Pestalozzi, and taught at Pestalozzi's Insititute in Switzerland before coming to Philadelphia in 1806. There he founded the first Pestalozzian school in the United States. In 1826 Neef moved to New Harmony, IN, an experiment in communal living begun by George Rapp and continued by Robert Owen. However, the Neef family left a year later when the experiment failed. They resided at the Salmon farm, but eventually returned to New Harmony. Joseph Neef resided there until his death.
Robert Dale Owen (1801-1877) was the eldest son of Robert Owen, social reformer and founder of the second community at New Harmony. After being educated by private tutors and at a progressive school in Switzerland, he ran the schools at his father's factory at New Lanark and then at New Harmony. When Robert Owen left New Harmony shortly after its founding, he left Robert Dale in charge. After the failure of New Harmony, Robert Dale worked in various progressive circles, with Frances Wright, with his father, and with a group in New York called "The Free Enquirers."
Robert Dale Owen served in the Indiana General Assembly (1836-1838, 1851), and was an active and useful member of the Indiana Constitutional Convention of 1850.
Owen served in the national House of Representatives from 1843 to 1847. While there he sponsored the bill setting up the Smithsonian Institution; later he was chairman of the Smithsonian building committee. In the 1850's he served as a diplomat in Italy, and embraced spiritualism.
During the Civil War Owen was an influential advocate, first of emancipation and then of the rights of freedmen, but he opposed immediate enfranchisement of Negroes. He wrote several books, including an autobiography.
Sources: Material found in this collection.
Collection Guide - SC 2359, Robert Dale Owen Letters
Elliott, Josephine (ed.). Parternship for Posterity: The Correspondence William Maclure and Marie Duclos Fretageot, 1820-1833. p. 772-774.
Hackensmith, Charles W. Biography of Joseph Neef.
This collection consists of five items relating to the Salmon-Neef family, who lived near New Harmony, Indiana. It includes a record of sales to John Salmon for the years 1832 to 1847; a letter from John Salmon to Luise (Buss) Neef (1783?-1845), dated November 2, 1837; an indenture record between John and Wilhelmenia Salmon and Joseph Neef, August 29, 1846; a typescript copy of Joseph Neef's will, which appoints Robert Dale Owen as co-Executor, dated August 13, 1849; and a genealogical record for the Salmon family, c. 1878.
MAIN ENTRY: Salmon, John, 1797-1883
SUBJECT ENTRIES: Salmon, John, 1797-1883
Neef, Joseph, 1770-1854
Salmon family--Genealogy
Jeffersonville (Ind.)--History--Sources
END