Johann Daniel Kissel was born October 28, 1771 in Heidelberg Germany; he married Susanna Eleanora Muhl, who was born on June 14, 1783, and together they had five children: Jeanette (b.1801), Lena (b.1803), Sophie (b.1807), Georg (b.1808), and Gustav Herman (b.1810).
Gustav Edward Kissel was born to Gustav Herman and Charlotte Ann Stimson Kissel; the elder Gustav Herman emigrated as a young man from Frankfort Germany in the mid 1800s. Son, Gustav Edward worked as an investment banker and was a founding partner of Kissel, Kinnecutt, and Co. and Vice President of First National Bank in Morristown. Kissel married Caroline Thorn, with whom he lived at 15 W 16th St., New York City. Caroline was born to Mr. and Mrs. William Thorn, and was the granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. She was active in numerous New York charities, and was President of the Samaritan Home for the Aged, organizer and past President of the Garden Club of New Jersey, and a member of the New Jersey Historical Society. Caroline Thorn Kissel died at home on July 30, 1949 at age 91, having survived her husband Gustave who pre-deceased her on April 10, 1911 after a short illness. She was survived by her children: W. Thorn Kissel, Mrs. Edwin S. Sunderland, Louise Kissel, and Lady Pease, wife of Sir Richard Pease of Richmond, England. Also surviving were eight grandchildren: Mrs. Louise Starr, Mrs. Charles Scribner, Jr., Peter Francis Freeman Kissel, W. Thorn Kissel, Jr., Countess Inchape, Richard Thorn Pease and Derick Alix Pease, and Edwin S.S. Sunderland, Jr.
Gustave and Caroline Kissel's Morristown summer home, Wheatsheaf, was located on 100 acres of land situated off of Sussex Avenue -- an August 26, 1904 article in the Jerseyman described the property as a "handsome brick residence... located on the high ground near the polo ground and commands a fine view from the Washington Valley section around Watnong Mountain". The two and a half story English country home was designed by Hamilton Bell and Co. of New York, and included nine bedrooms, five second floor bathrooms, servant’s quarters, and a large furnace that fed the hot water heating system. Wheatsheaf was built upon land previously owned by Samuel Eddy, J.H. Reid, and Theron Butterworth. Upon Caroline Kissel's death the property was divided into land bestowed to daughter Dorothy Kissel Sunderland, with the remainder sold to the Sisters of the Good Shepherd for use as a parochial school and convent. The Wheatsheaf home was razed and the land subdivided for residential housing in 1968.
Rudolph H. Kissel, brother to Gustav Edward, was born on November 27, 1859 in New York to Gustav Hermann and Charlotte Ann Stimson Kissel. Rudolph graduated from the School of Mines of Columbia University in 1879, and married Caroline Morgan of New York in 1887, with whom he had six children: Louis Rokos, Eleanore Kissel, Mrs. Henry T. Eaton, Barbara (Mrs. Jarvis) Cromwell, Lieutenant Gustav H. Kissel, and Rudolph Kissel, Jr.. Following Caroline's 1908 death, Rudolph wed Mary Graff Ball of Philadelphia. Along with his brother Gustav, Rudolph was a founding partner of Kissel, Kinnicutt and Co. of New York, one of the more prominent Wall Street houses prior to its merger with Kidder, Peabody and Co.. Kissel was also vice president of First National Bank of Morristown, president of All Souls Church in New York, and treasurer of the Samaritan Home for the Aged. Rudolph H. Kissel died on March 31, 1942 of a heart ailment at his home "Inamere Farm" in Morristown, age 82.
Barbara Kissel married Jarvis Cromwell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Licoln Cromwell of Morristown in a June 1924 ceremony at St. Peter's Church with a reception at the Kissel Estate, Inamere Farm.
The records consist of two series of scrapbooks documenting various aspects of the Kissel and Cromwell families. Sub-series 1 comprises material collected by Eleanora Morgan Kissel, notably news clippings, photographs and ephemera from her service for the Y.M.C.A. in France during World War I. Additional materials include Eleanora's school essays, family history, property records, and photographs of the family home in Germany. Additional Kissel books contain diaries kept by Rudolph Kissel, and records from James Cromwell's woolen clothing business.
The second series of scrapbooks were organized by Lincoln and Mabel Smith Cromwell, and contain correspondence and ephemera related to New York society, theater, and the arts, as well as sports and World War I.
The books are arranged according to family into two sub-series: Kissel Family Scrapbooks and Cromwell Family Scrapbooks.
This collection is open for research under the conditions set forth in the North Jersey History and Genealogy Center archives access policy. All archival material should be handled with care and kept in its original order; notes may only be taken in pencil or with a computer, and food and drink are prohibited in the Reading Room. Records may be copied for scholarly or personal research using the edge scanner or a digital camera without flash; however, researchers must obtain copyright permission prior to publishing material from the collection.
Cromwell and Kissel Family Papers, 1854 - 1947, North Jersey History and Genealogy Center, Morristown and Morris Township Library.
Processed by Louis Densky, June 1986, updated January 1988. Described and encoded by Jeffrey V. Moy, Archivist, October 2019.