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Rieman family collection

 Collection
Identifier: MS 3045

Abstract

The papers in the Rieman Family Collection span over 150 years, and document the genealogical history of the Rieman Family in Baltimore. The materials consist of legal papers, wills, land deeds, real estate records, plats and blueprints, and records of the genealogical research conducted by various Rieman family members during the twentieth century.

Dates

  • 1815-1991

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

The reproduction of materials in this collection may be subject to copyright restrictions. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine and satisfy copyright clearances or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections. For more information visit the MCHC’s Rights and Permissions page.

Biographical / Historical

The Rieman family of Baltimore is descended from Daniel Rieman (1755–1829), a German immigrant who operated a sugar refinery in Baltimore City. His son, Henry Rieman, was a provision dealer and commission merchant in the meat market, importing pork and bacon to Baltimore from the western states. His firm, Henry Rieman and Sons, prospered during the nineteenth century. Henry Rieman’s son, Joseph Henry Rieman, continued his father’s business in partnership with his brother Alexander Rieman. Alexander also served as a president of the Maryland-Pennsylvania Railway Company, while Joseph Henry expanded his business investments into real estate, until his holdings in Baltimore City represented some of the best properties in the downtown business district. In 1864, Joseph Henry purchased Dumbarton Farm in Baltimore County near Towson for the family seat, as he had recently married Annie Lowe of Dayton, Ohio. Dumbarton remained in the Rieman family until 1954, when the Baltimore County Board of Education purchased the property from Charlotte Rieman McIntosh in order to build an urgently-needed new junior high school for Towson. The house, as a historic landmark, was preserved, and is currently occupied by the Baltimore Actor’s Theatre Conservatory.

Charles E. Rieman, a long-time Baltimore banker and the son of Joseph Henry, was interested in the family’s history and genealogy, and in the 1890s, began researching both the Lowe and Rieman family roots. Charles’ nephew, Joseph Rieman McIntosh, continued these genealogical investigations, collecting most the papers that are contained in this collection. Other members of the family mentioned in the collection are Margaret Kalbfus, the daughter of Daniel Rieman and the sister of Henry; Mary Jones Rieman, Henry’s wife; Peter Lowe, Annie Lowe Rieman’s father; Elizabeth Taylor Goodwin Rieman, the wife of Charles; Perlee Lowe Rieman, Charles brother and the son of Joseph Henry and Annie Lowe; and Charlotte Rieman McIntosh and David G. McIntosh, Jr., parents of Joseph Rieman McIntosh, the collector of this collection. J. Rieman McIntosh died in 1988 without children.

Extent

5.0 Linear Feet (2 document boxes, 2 oversize boxes, and oversized material)

Language of Materials

English

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Mrs. J. Rieman McIntosh, 1991.

Related Materials

MS 2768, Serena Johnson Papers, 1828-1927

MS 1879, Daniel Rieman business records, 1807-1905

MS 2785, Henry Rieman and Sons business papers, 1863-1908

MS 3061, Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club collection, 1884-1992

PP252, Rieman family photograph collection, 1927-1983

Bibliography

McIntosh, Joseph Rieman. Genealogy and history of the Rieman family of Baltimore, descended from Daniel Rieman 1755 – 1829 a native of Germany, (Baltimore: private printed), 1986.

McIntosh, Joseph Rieman. McIntosh Family Genealogy (Baltimore: private printed), 1990.

Rieman, Charles Ellet. Lowe Family Genealogy, ed. J. Rieman McIntosh, (Baltimore: private printed), 1990.

Scope and Contents

The papers in the Rieman family collection span over 150 years, and document the genealogical history of the Rieman Family in Baltimore. The materials consist of legal papers, wills, land deeds, real estate records, plats and blueprints, and records of the genealogical research conducted by various Rieman family members during the twentieth century. The collection has been organized alphabetically by subject, paying attention to general themes followed by the collection’s creators, Mr. and Mrs. J. Rieman McIntosh (now Mrs. Joseph [Elizabeth] Bryan III).

The bulk of the material relates to the genealogical interests of the Rieman family. In addition to several genealogical charts of both the Rieman and Lowe pedigrees, there are the correspondence of Charles E. Rieman and J. Rieman McIntosh with various agencies and people as they searched for information on their family history. The genealogical research is also evidenced in the collection of originals and copies of Rieman family wills, which represent their efforts to investigate family property holdings and relationships. In particular, there is an original copy of Henry Rieman’s 1865 will, complete with the original wax seal and various additions and proofs of land ownership attached. The wills provide valuable information about the nineteenth-century procedures for probate and the workings of the Baltimore Orphan’s Court.

The collection contains several particularly interesting items. The Iowa Land Warrants of Henry Rieman (1786 – 1865) were awarded to him and his heirs by the United States’ government in payment of Henry’s service in the War of 1812. Henry’s grandson, Charles Rieman (d. 1954), also saved a safe-conduct warrant that the U.S. granted to him at age 18, when he traveled to the Iowa properties. Furthermore, the Family Papers contains original stock certificates belonging to Joseph Henry Rieman (1822 – 1897), which demonstrate the expanding capitalist interests of the Riemans, as well as the growing importance of the U.S. stock market. Joseph Henry’s papers also contain plans for the addition of a hydraulic elevator to Dumbarton Farm in the early 1890s, cutting-edge technology for the time, demonstrating the Riemans’ wealth and social status in Baltimore County.

J. Rieman McIntosh (1905 – 1988) was also heavily involved in the Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club, a fox-hunting association in Baltimore County. The papers relating to this Club have been removed from the Rieman Family Collection to form the Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club Collection, as the processor deemed that they did not match the intellectual needs of a family history collection.

Also of particular note in the oversized material series, is the scrapbook Ocean Gems, which Annie Lowe Rieman received from her father, Peter Perlee Lowe. It contains pressed sea weed and other plants. The Family Papers series also includes several ledgers recording the expenses of Henry Rieman, Joseph Henry Rieman, Charles Rieman, and J. Rieman McIntosh. One ledger also contains scale drawings of the Rieman’s Baltimore properties. The Land Deeds folder contains items that record the real estate transactions of the Riemans. They are important for noting the historical progression of ownership of prominent Baltimore sites, and also record the developments and ground rent values of the properties. In addition to this business history, the Dumbarton House papers include several late-nineteenth century plats and landscape plans of Dumbarton House, which record the development of one of Baltimore County’s historic treasures. The collection of these plats and other maps demonstrates the concern that Mr. J. Rieman McIntosh had for preserving his family’s history. The provenance of the Rieman Family Collection has determined its scope; it reflects specifically on the genealogical interest and family pride of the Rieman family.

Title
Guide to the Rieman family collection
Status
Under Revision
Author
Joanna Lamb and Eben Dennis
Date
2010
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

Revision Statements

  • 2020-03-23: Manually entered into ArchivesSpace by Mallory Herberger.

Repository Details

Part of the H. Furlong Baldwin Library Repository

Contact:
H. Furlong Baldwin Library
Maryland Center for History and Culture
610 Park Avenue
Baltimore MD 21201 United States
4106853750