The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University

About the Collection

(5.8 linear ft.)
Processed by Magdalen Wong

William F. Lucas, son of Fielding Lucas Jr. who founded the Lucas Bros. Inc. in 1804, acquired the Lucas Bros. printing and stationary business in 1866. In 1886 William F. Lucas was elected president of the Merchanic’s National Bank. The Lucas Bros. business was then passed down to his three children, William F. Jr., John Carrell, and Bertha E. in 1897. T.A. Steinmueller became the president of the Lucas Bros. Inc. in 1929 with Jesse G. Kaufman as vice president, and John Carrell Lucas as treasurer.

The Lucas Bros. store was located on 116 East Baltimore Street. Located in the center of the city, it became a popular meeting place for many fashionable people often connected to the history of Baltimore, such as Mr. John H. B. Latrobe, whose books had been published by Fielding Lucas.

William F. Lucas & Family Papers included family correspondences, letters, account books, journals, and five photo albums with tintypes, C.D.V.s, and cabinet photos of family members and friends. Among their closest friends were the Frick and the Jenkins families. Bertha E. Lucas’ writing books during the time of her studies in Misses Hall’s School included subjects in literature, geography, and important manners, as well as, personal letters to her close friends. The seven scrapbooks reveal the Lucas family’s interests in poetry, the American Civil War, and clocks, as well as the family’s involvements in and invitations to events and happenings in Baltimore during the late 19^th century and the early 20^th century.

- Magdalen Wong

Descriptions and Box List