Harry E. Biedinger Papers
Collection
Identifier: Midwest-MS-Biedinger
Scope and Content of the Collection
Personal diaries, datebooks, and financial records kept by Harry E. Biedinger between 1898 and 1949. Biedinger writes about a variety of topics, including detailed notes about the planning and building of Zion City. He provides insight into the inner workings of Zion City and its tight controls over the community. Diaries form the 1930s and 1940s are small pocket diaries or datebooks and the events recorded are increasingly briefer and less frequent. Diaries contain more detailed, personal entries while datebooks have smaller entries.
Biedinger also kept detailed financial records and expense reports from 1906-1924. Includes expenses for the Mt. Pleasant Stone Quarry, for which he may have been the general manager from 1910-1913. Also contains financial and legal materials related to a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Biedinger and his family on behalf of their father, Charles G. H. Biedinger (1850-1908), the inventor of a machine that produced wrappers for bottles. Additionally, Biedinger owned a 1915 four-cylinder SH Studebaker and recorded notes about mileage, gas usage, cost, and repairs.
Biedinger also kept detailed financial records and expense reports from 1906-1924. Includes expenses for the Mt. Pleasant Stone Quarry, for which he may have been the general manager from 1910-1913. Also contains financial and legal materials related to a patent-infringement lawsuit filed by Biedinger and his family on behalf of their father, Charles G. H. Biedinger (1850-1908), the inventor of a machine that produced wrappers for bottles. Additionally, Biedinger owned a 1915 four-cylinder SH Studebaker and recorded notes about mileage, gas usage, cost, and repairs.
Dates
- 1898-1949
Creator
- Biedinger, Harry E. (Person)
Language
Materials are in English.
Conditions Governing Access
The Harry E. Biedinger Papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).
Ownership and Literary Rights
The Harry E. Biedinger Papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.
Biography of Harry E. Biedinger
American engineer, surveyor, and founding member of the Christian utopian community Zion City, Illinois.
Harry Eugene Biedinger was born in San Francisco, California on Dec. 19, 1880 to Charles G. and Elizabeth Biedinger. His diaries begin in October 1898 when he was a high school senior in Cincinnati, Ohio and active with the Zion Tabernacle. On July 14, 1900, Biedinger attended a consecration ceremony for Zion City, the utopian community planned by John Alexander Dowie, leader of the Christian Catholic Church of Zion. The city was devised as a place where Dowie’s congregation could worship, work, and play free from the temptations of the world. Following the ceremony, Biedinger lived in Chicago and spent the summer with Arthur G. Taylor canvassing small towns throughout the Midwest with Zion materials.
After a short stent at Zion College, Biedinger took a surveying position for Zion City on January 6, 1901, working on the foundation for the lace factory. During 1902, his mother, brother Rob and sister Carrie also moved to Zion City. Biedinger was laid off from his job in November 1902 and left Zion City for Chicago, only to return as the assistant city engineer in 1903. Diaries from this time show Biedinger becoming more disenchanted with Zion and Dowie’s leadership. By 1904, he has left Zion City again and is working in Janesville, Wisconsin as assistant to the city engineer and meets his wife, Grace Inez Ladd. They had three children, eventually divorcing in 1925. By 1932, Biedinger lives on Beacon Street in Chicago, working as an auditor, and married to his second wife Alice. He died on Dec. 12, 1958 in Hammond, Indiana.
Harry Eugene Biedinger was born in San Francisco, California on Dec. 19, 1880 to Charles G. and Elizabeth Biedinger. His diaries begin in October 1898 when he was a high school senior in Cincinnati, Ohio and active with the Zion Tabernacle. On July 14, 1900, Biedinger attended a consecration ceremony for Zion City, the utopian community planned by John Alexander Dowie, leader of the Christian Catholic Church of Zion. The city was devised as a place where Dowie’s congregation could worship, work, and play free from the temptations of the world. Following the ceremony, Biedinger lived in Chicago and spent the summer with Arthur G. Taylor canvassing small towns throughout the Midwest with Zion materials.
After a short stent at Zion College, Biedinger took a surveying position for Zion City on January 6, 1901, working on the foundation for the lace factory. During 1902, his mother, brother Rob and sister Carrie also moved to Zion City. Biedinger was laid off from his job in November 1902 and left Zion City for Chicago, only to return as the assistant city engineer in 1903. Diaries from this time show Biedinger becoming more disenchanted with Zion and Dowie’s leadership. By 1904, he has left Zion City again and is working in Janesville, Wisconsin as assistant to the city engineer and meets his wife, Grace Inez Ladd. They had three children, eventually divorcing in 1925. By 1932, Biedinger lives on Beacon Street in Chicago, working as an auditor, and married to his second wife Alice. He died on Dec. 12, 1958 in Hammond, Indiana.
Extent
1.3 Linear Feet (3 boxes)
Abstract
Collection of more than 60 diaries, datebooks, and financial records kept over a lifetime by Harry E. Biedinger (1880-1956), who was among the founding members and builders of Zion City, a failed utopian Christian community outside of Chicago.
Arrangement
Materials arranged alphabetically.
Collection Stack Location
1 39 1
Provenance
Purchase, 2016.
Processed by
Catherine Grandgeorge, 2017.
- Appointment books
- Biedinger, Harry E.
- Christian Catholic Apostolic Church in Zion
- Diaries
- Dowie, John Alexander, 1847-1907
- Financial records
- Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Zion
- Religious communities -- Illinois -- Zion -- History -- Sources
- Utopias -- Illinois -- Zion -- History -- Sources
- Zion (Ill.) -- History -- 20th century -- Sources
Creator
- Biedinger, Harry E. (Person)
- Title
- Inventory of the Harry E. Biedinger Papers, 1898-1949
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Catherine Grandgeorge
- Date
- ©2017.
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the The Newberry Library - Modern Manuscripts Repository
Contact:
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org
60 West Walton Street
Chicago Illinois 60610 United States
312-255-3512
reference@newberry.org