Finding Aid to the Frank D. Abell Papers, 1901–1968. Finding Aid to the Frank D. Abell Papers, 1901–1968 North Jersey History and Genealogy Center
The Morristown and Morris Township Library One Miller Road Morristown, NJ 07960
Overview of Collection Frank Dale Abell H929 MSS Abell Frank D. Abell Papers, 1901–1968. 3 linear feet in 3 MSS boxes and two flat file boxes Biography of Frank Dale Abell, 1878–1964.

Frank Dale Abell was born in Morristown, New Jersey, on July 26, 1878. He attended local schools and began his business career in New York with a finance company. Mr. Abell then worked as an assistant postal clerk in Morristown until 1898, when he joined the First National Bank of Morristown. He served as president there from 1930 until the bank's merger with the National Iron Bank in 1944 and continued as president of the new bank until 1945 when he was named chairman of the board. He served in that capacity until 1963 when he was elected honorary chairman. Mr. Abell was a past president of the New Jersey Bankers Association (1944-1945).

Prominent in Republican politics, Mr. Abell served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1926 to 1931. He was a member of the New Jersey State Assembly from 1925 to 1926 and for twelve years prior to that he was a Morris County freeholder. Mr. Abell's primary area of expertise was finance.

In addition Mr. Abell was a member of the Board of Managers of Greystone Park State Hospital and later president of the Board. He was treasurer of the Federal Farm and Loan Association from 1915 to 1918. He also served as a commissioner of the Port of New York Authority; president of the Morris County Welfare Board; Morristown town treasurer; and a director of the Jersey Central Power and Light Company, of the Morristown YMCA and of the Morris County Fair.

Mr. Abell married Dr. Elvira Dean in 1918. Dr. Abell graduated from Cornell Medical College in 1911, came to Morristown, and entered practice with her sister, Dr. Jennie Dean Beaver, as a pathologist and roentgenologist at Memorial and All Souls Hospitals. In 1930 she was invited by President Herbert Hoover to be a delegate to the National conference on Child Health and Protection. She was the first woman member of the Board of Directors of Shonghum Mountain Sanatorium in Morristown and for several years was president of the New Jersey Tuberculosis Association. Dr. Abell died on December 8, 1948.

The Abells had two children: Alice Dean Abell (Caulkins) and Frank Dale Abell, Jr.

Frank Dale Abell died on November 21, 1964.

 Related Materials in this Repository

For a related collection, please see the papers of Dr. Elvira Dean Abell’s sister, Jennie Dean Beaver, M.D. (H929 MSS Beaver).

Additional genealogical clippings can be found in the following HVFG (vertical files): Abell, Caulkins, Dean, and Tainter.

 Scope and Content Note of the Papers

The Frank D. Abell Papers, 1901–1968, document the personal, political and professional life of a prominent Morristown businessman and politician. These materials reflect the diversity of interests and activities in which Mr. Abell was engaged during his life.

The bulk of the material spans the time from 1926 to 1954. The collection better documents major events and highlights of Mr. Abell's career rather than daily or routine activities. Types of material in the collection are primarily limited to correspondence, subject files, printed material, ephemera, and scrapbooks. The scrapbooks include newsclippings culled from a wide variety of state newspapers and are a valuable source of information that document Mr. Abell's political life and times and the banking profession.

The collection also includes material pertaining to Mr. Abell's wife and family, and spans the years 1901 to 1964, with the bulk of the material dated 1928 to 1954. These papers are spotty and lack continuity and therefore do not adequately reflect the lives and significance of Elvira Dean Abell and other family members.

The collection is divided into four series.

 Arrangement of the Papers

Series I: Frank Dale Abell, 1922–1964.

This series contains correspondence, subject files, printed material, journal articles relating to Mr. Abell, and miscellaneous certificates and awards. The bulk of correspondence, 1928 to 1964, is professional in nature and is arranged chronologically. Subject files, 1935 to 1963, reflect Mr. Abell's work at the First National Bank of Morristown, as a member and president of the Board of Managers of Greystone Park, and as a commissioner with the Port of New York Authority. Files include correspondence, reports, financial statements, programs, and announcements. Printed material is arranged by the nature of the activity involved (i.e., political, professional) and is composed of programs, newsletters, membership rosters, invitations, certificates, membership and business cards -- all relating to Mr. Abell's varied activities. Articles from state banking journals document Mr. Abell's prominence in the banking world during the 1940s and 1950s.

 Series II: Elvira Dean Abell, 1910–1960.

This series is composed primarily of items relating to Dr. Abell's professional life. Some private correspondence with Ruth Cheney Streeter, dated 1930, is also included. Speeches given by Dr. Abell pertain to specific medical topics, including birth control. Professional awards, educational certificates, programs, invitations, and announcements kept by Dr. Abell comprise the remainder of the series.

 Series III: Abell Family Files, 1901–1968.

Series III contains correspondence between family members, a few printed items relating to family activities, and newspaper clippings regarding both Alice Dean Abell and her first husband, Benjamin Franklin III.

 Series IV: Scrapbooks and Ephemera, 1918–1949; 1958.

This series relates primarily to Mr. Abell's professional and political life. Occasionally items regarding topical issues of the day are included. Two of the scrapbooks also contain material pertaining to Mr. Abell's immediate family and friends. The bulk of the scrapbooks, 1918–1949, are comprised of clippings from area newspapers including: the Newark Star-Ledger, Sunday Call, Newark Evening News, Daily Record, Hoboken News, Bergen Evening Record, Atlantic City Daily Press, Trenton Times, New York Herald Tribune, Dover Advance, and Newark Star-Eagle. These scrapbooks were kept by Elizabeth York, secretary to Mr. Abell at the First National Bank.

Important Information for Users of the Collection

This material is open for research without restriction under the conditions of the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center archives access policy. Records may be copied for use in individual scholarly or personal research, however, as with all materials in the History Center, researchers are responsible for obtaining copyright permission to use material from the collection. Material in the Frank Dale Abell Papers, 1901–1968 may be photocopied, but because this material is a permanent part of the History Center's collections, researchers are advised to photocopy with care, using only the edge copier/scanner. Digital cameras can be used to capture images of materials however, the use of a flash is prohibited.

Acquisition Information

The papers of Frank Dale Abell were donated to the North Jersey History Center of the Morristown and Morris Township Library in 1989 by Mr. Abell's daughter, Alice Abell Caulkins. Additional materials were incorporated into the collection in 1990 and 2009. The two photographs in box 2, folder 14 were added in March, 2026.

 Preferred Citation

The Frank Dale Abell Papers, 1901–1968. North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, The Morristown and Morris Township Library.

Processing Information

Papers processed and arranged by Cheryl Turkington in 1991; document revisions in 1998; 2009; 2026. Encoded archival description completed 2010.

 Container List Series I: Frank D. Abell, 1922–1964. 1 1 Correspondence received, 1928–1949. 1 2 Correspondence received, 1950–1958. 1 3 Correspondence received, 1960–1964; not dated. 1 4 First National Bank consolidation, 1935–1936. 1 5 First National Iron Bank, 1941–1962; not dated. 1 6 Greystone Park, 1953–1963. 1 7 Greystone Park: The Psychogram, January 1958; (for July 1950 edition see the oversized box). 1 8 Port of New York Authority Commission, 1946–1963. 1 9 Savings Bond Program 1944–195; not dated. 1 10 Printed material: professional, 1940–1941. 1 11 Printed material: professional, 1942–1950; not dated. 1 12 Printed material: political, 1922–1948; not dated. 1 13 Printed material: service organizations, 1931–1953; not dated. 1 14 Printed material: social and miscellaneous activities, 1931–1954; not dated. 1 15 Printed material: membership and professional cards, 1942–1964; not dated. 1 16 Printed material: Abell genealogy, not dated. 1 17 Resolution: Hartley Dodge Foundation, 1937. Box 2 2 1 Banking journals, 1944; 1953. 2 2 Newsclippings, 1930; 1950–1953; not dated. 2 3 Newsclippings and St. Peter's Church bulletin, 1957; 1963–1965. 2 4 Postcard and photographs, 1928; not dated. 2 5 Photograph: Frank Dale Abell, 1913. 2 6 Funeral guest book and photographs of gravesite [2], 1964. 2 7 Memorial: First National Iron Bank, 1964. 2 8 Resolution: First National Iron Bank Quarter Century Club, 1965. 2 9 State of New Jersey Senate Resolution, 1964. 2 10 State of New Jersey General Assembly Resolution, 1964. 2 11 Biographical and genealogical notes, 1930; 1932; not dated. 2 12 Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders Resolution 1964. 2 13 Photographs: Frank D. Abell, Jr., Alice D. Abell and Elvira D. Abell, [2 photographs]; not dated. 2 14 Photographs: Frank Dale Abell (presumed) and others, [2 photographs]; not dated. Series II: Elvira Dean Abell, 1910–1960 2 15 Correspondence: Ruth C. Streeter, 1930. 2 16 Correspondence received, 1930; 1940. 2 17 Speeches, [1947]; not dated. 2 18 Cornell Medical College record, 1908. 2 19 Awards and certificates, 1910–1948. 2 20 Printed material, 1918–1960; not dated. Series III: Abell Family, 1901–1968. 2 21 Correspondence, 1901–1957. 2 22 Printed material, 1939; 1590; not dated. 2 23 Correspondence on the death of Frank Dale Abell, 1964–1964. 2 24 Alice Dean Abell newspaper clippings, 1957; not dated. 2 25 Benjamin Franklin III, 1956; 1968; not dated. Series IV: Scrapbooks and Ephemera, 1918–1949; 1958. 3 1 Scrapbook of clippings and ephemera, 1918–1929. 3 2 Scrapbook of clippings and ephemera, 1925–1929. 3 3 Scrapbook of clippings and ephemera, 1926–1949. 4 - OS flat file box 2 items Abell Family Scrapbook, 1923; 1936–1945 and Scrapbook of newsclippings and ephemera, 1928–1931. 5 - OS flat file box 2 items Scrapbook of newsclippings and ephemera, 1926–1943 and Scrapbook, 1930–1932. 5 - OS flat file box Newspaper Morristown Topics, April 15, 1926 vol. VI No. 8. 5 - OS flat file box Newspaper The Psychogram, July 1950. Vault 10-2 Plaque: Greystone Park award, 1958. FOLIO Appointment to be Commissioner of the New York Port Authority for the State of New Jersey (1 item in Folio), 1945.