Trimble family papers, 1795-1901 (majority within 1808-1861)

Summary

Creator:

Trimble family

Abstract:

This collection is made up of correspondence, legal documents, and financial records related to Alexander and Chilion A. Trimble of Crown Point, New York. The materials pertain to the Trimbles' financial affairs, Chilion's service as Essex County sheriff, state politics and elections, and other subjects. Many family members wrote of their lives in New York, Illinois, Iowa, and Montana.

Extent:

5.75 linear feet

Language:

English

Authors:

Collection processed and finding aid created by Galen R. Wilson, 1979, and Meg Hixon, January 2014

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection is made up of correspondence, legal documents, and financial records related to the Trimble family of Crown Point, New York.

The collection contains two groups of Correspondence . Family Correspondence(approximately 2.75 linear feet) largely consists of incoming correspondence to Alexander Trimble and his son Chilion, both of Crown Point, New York. Alexander's siblings shared personal and local news. James King, an acquaintance in Albany, New York, frequently discussed Alexander's financial affairs. From 1816 to 1841, King corresponded with Chilion Trimble, in which he discussed news from Albany, property ownership, legal disputes, wheat sales, and other business matters. Chilion and his wife Charlotte also received letters from their siblings and other family members in New York, Virginia, Illinois, Iowa, and Montana. The personal letters often concern religion, health, bereavement, farming, and other aspects of the writers' daily lives.

Frank and Hiram Stone, Charlotte's brothers, traveled to California during the 1849 Gold Rush, and Frank later wrote to Charlotte from Helena, Montana, in the late 1860s. Mary L. Cheney and her husband, L. P. Cheney, lived in Chicago, Illinois; their earliest letters describe the Illinois terrain, including prominent corn crops, and their later letters describe the growth of Chicago. Some of the family correspondence pertains to national and local political issues, such as the 1856 and 1860 presidential elections and John Brown's raid on the United States arsenal at Harper's Ferry. A small number of letters from the Civil War era mention the war, occasionally revealing the writers' fears for the union's survival. Charlotte Trimble received condolence messages following her husband's death in 1862, and she continued to receive personal letters until the late 1860s.

The Business Correspondence subseries(approximately 2 linear feet) includes a few early items (1800s-1810s) addressed to Alexander Trimble, concerning finances, real estate, and decedents' estates; the bulk of the material consists of incoming letters written to Chilion Trimble after 1820. Some items pertain to Chilion's involvement in the New York Militia and to political issues and elections. From 1843-1846, the materials relate to Chilion's service as sheriff of Essex County, New York; these often refer to the results of court cases and request assistance in collecting payments or performing other actions related to court judgments. After 1846, Chilion's correspondents often wrote about financial and business affairs such as property ownership, and he received a series of personal letters from John S. Rice of Maquoketa, Iowa, in the early 1860s. The series includes a facsimile letter by Samuel J. Tilden requesting information about New York voters (September 25, 1866) and late letters addressed to George Brown.

The Documents and Accounts series (approximately 0.75 linear feet) contains legal documents, financial records, and account books pertaining to several generations of the Trimble family, particularly Chilion Trimble. Materials include indentures related to property in New York, records concerning real property and decedents' estates, and accounts between James King and Chilion Trimble, often related to sales of wheat. Other groups of items relate to insurance policies, Essex County elections, and Trimble's service as Essex County sheriff. One account book contains entries dated 1894-1901.

The Writings and Ephemera series (approximately 0.25 linear feet) contains fragments, lists, poems, and other materials. Poetry includes an item entitled "Destruction of Pompeii," a religious poem, and a revised version of the Lord's Prayer related to soldiers' experiences during the Civil War.

Biographical / Historical:

Alexander Trimble (1726-1785) emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1749. He and his wife, Sarah McClaughry, married in 1754 and had nine children: Isabella (b. 1755), John (b. 1757), George (b. 1760), William (b. 1763), Jane (b. 1765), Alexander (b. 1767), Elizabeth (b. 1770), Sarah (b. 1773), and Timothy (d. 1810). Isabella married Peter Hill; Jane married Andrew King; Elizabeth married Samuel Hunter; and Sarah married David Comfort.

Alexander Trimble and his wife, Agnes Burwell, had multiple children, including Chilion A. (1798-1862), George, Isabella, Adeline, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Mary. Isabella married Andrew N. Young of Montgomery, New York, and they had at least two daughters, Elizabeth and Adeline. Adeline married George Brown, Catherine married Stephen L. Lamson, Elizabeth married into the Murdock family, and Mary married into the Chandler family.

Chilion A. Trimble served as sheriff of Essex County, New York, from November 1843-November 1846. He married Frances Charlotte Stone (1818-1886), the daughter of Leonard Stone (1776-1826) and Betsy Elizabeth Leonard (1781-1848), on September 4, 1838. Their children included James K. (1839-1902), Sarah F., Elizabeth, Andrew Y., Agnes, Franklin S., Bell Y., Chilion, Edwin, Charlotte, and Carrie E. James K. Trimble and his wife, Agnes Chandler (1835-1914), had a daughter named Adeline.

Acquisition Information:

1978-2010. M-1826, M-4712, M-4789 .

Custodial History:

Matthew Skinner, a descendant of the Trimble family, donated portions of this collection to the Clements Library.

Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC). This collection has been processed according to minimal processing procedures and may be revised, expanded, or updated in the future.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in the following series:

• Series I: Correspondence
  • Subseries I: Family Correspondence
  • Subseries II: Business Correspondence
• Series II: Documents and Accounts
• Series III: Writings and Ephemera

The Correspondence subseries are arranged chronologically, with undated items placed at the end. The Documents and Accounts series is arranged by date, type, and subject.

Rules or Conventions:

Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Related

Additional Descriptive Data:

Related Materials

The Benjamin F. Feinberg Library at the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh holds a collection of Chilion A. Trimble correspondence.

Bibliography

Dickson, James Milligan. The Goodwill Memorial; or, The First One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Goodwill Presbyterian Church, Montgomery, Orange Co., N. Y. Newburgh, N.Y.: E. M. Ruttenber, 1880.

Fernow, Berthold. Calendar of Wills on File and Recorded in the Offices of the Clerk of the Court of Appeals, of the County Clerk at Albany, and of the Secretary of State, 1626-1836. New York: 1896.

National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Lineage Book. Volume 116. Washington, D.C.: Judd & Detweiler, 1930.

Werner, Edgar A. Civil List and Constitutional History of the County and State of New York. Albany: Weed, Parsons & Co., 1891.

Wilson, Galen R. "The Trimble Papers." University of Michigan, 1979.

Subjects

Click on terms below to find any related finding aids on this site.

Subjects:

Real property--New York (State)

Formats:

Account books.
Accounts.
Estate administration records.
Insurance records.
Letters (correspondence)
Poems.
Receipts (financial records)

Names:

Essex County (N.Y.) Sheriff's Office.
Chandler, Mary.
Cheney, L. P.
Cheney, Mary Stone.
Hand, Augustus Cincinnatus, 1803-1878.
Hill, Isabella Trimble.
Hill, Nathaniel B.
King, James, 1788 or 1789-1841.
Lamson, C. T.
Rice, Emeline.
Rice, John S.
Stone, Franklin.
Stone, Hiram.
Trimble, Adeline P.
Trimble, Alexander.
Trimble, Charlotte Stone, 1818-1886.
Trimble, Chilion, 1798-1862.
Trimble, Timothy.
Wright, Elizabeth Stone.
Young, Adeline T.
Young, Andrew N.
Young, Elizabeth.

Places:

Albany (N.Y.)
Chicago (Ill.)
Crown Point (N.Y.)
Helena (Mont.)
Maquoketa (Iowa)
Montgomery (N.Y.)
Onarga (Ill.)
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
United States--Politics and government--1849-1861.