Title: Charles L. Dering Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1827-1872

Creator:

• Dering, Charles L., 1836-1921

Call Number: Platteville Mss T

Quantity: 0.4 c.f. (1 archives box including 1 volume)

Repository:

Housed at the Southwest Wisconsin Room and Area Research Center, Ullsvik Hall, University of Wisconsin-Platteville; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Platteville Southwest Wisconsin Room / Platteville Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Dering, including business papers concerning lead mining by his father Philip and other family members in New Diggings, Wis., in the 1830's and 1840's; a journal of John C. Smith, Galena, Ill. merchant, 1836-1841; and diaries kept by Dering, 1856-1857 (while a student at Hobart College, Geneva, N.Y.) and 1865. Also included is an 1846 deed for land signed by Father Samuel Mazzuchelli.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-pltv000t

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Charles Lewis Dering, the son of Philip F. Dering, was born at Sunbury, Pennsylvania, on December 30, 1836. His family were among the early settlers at New Diggings, Wisconsin, where they engaged in lead mining. Mr. Dering graduated from the Platteville Academy in 1855, and in 1856 entered Hobart College, Geneva, New York.

Charles L. Dering served in the Civil War in Company B, Third Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers from June, 1861, until he was wounded at Cedar Mountain, Virginia, and mustered out in July, 1863. He practiced law at Columbus, Wisconsin and after 1880 at Portage, and served in both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature.

On October 7, 1874, Mr. Dering married Sarah A. Maxwell of Waterford, Pennsylvania. When he died at Portage on April 13, 1921, he was survived by his wife and three children: Mrs. Samuel J. Nutting, Mrs. William T. Whitney, and Charles M. Dering.

The Charles L. Dering Papers, 1827-1872, deal mainly with the early lead mining activities of Mr. Dering's father, Philip F. Dering, and other members of the family, at New Diggings, Wisconsin, in the 1830's and 1840's. The collection includes miscellaneous business and legal papers, 1827-1872, as well as the journal of John C. Smith, Galena, Illinois, merchant, 1836-1841, who transacted business with the Dering family. Included in the business papers is an agreement for a lot for the Catholic church at New Diggings executed on April 7, 1846, by Father Samuel Mazzuchelli.

The collection also contains two diaries kept by Charles L. Dering. The first, which was recorded in the John C. Smith journal, begins at Rose Dale, in June, 1856, and continues through July, 1857, while Mr. Dering was a student at Hobart College. In this diary, he records his sentiments regarding American nativism. The second diary is for 1865, and is mainly concerning business. It is unbound and is located in the folder labelled “ephemera.”

Acquisition Information

These papers were placed on deposit at the Historical Society by Mrs. Irma Dering Whitney and Charles M. Dering, August, 1922.

Processing Information

Processed by Jack T. Ericson, February 1, 1967.

Box   1	Business and legal papers, 1827-1872
Box   1	Ephemera, including diary of C. L. Dering, 1865
Box   1	John C. Smith, Galena, Illinois, journal pages, 1836, 1839-1841
Box   1 Volume   1	Diary, Charles L. Dering, 1856, June - 1857, June