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Watkins and Livingston family scrapbook, 1773-1882 (majority within 1773-1839)

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Summary

Creator:
Rylance, Lucretia Elizabeth Hamersley
Abstract:
The Watkins and Livingston family scrapbook contains letters between members of the Watkins, Livingston, and Jay families; genealogical data recorded by Lucretia Elizabeth Hamersley Rylance; and miscellaneous drawings and newspaper clippings related to the families.
Extent:
94 items (1 volume)
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Jayne Ptolemy, 2014

Background

Scope and Content:

The Watkins and Livingston family scrapbook includes 94 items relating to the Watkins and Livingston families. Lucretia E. Hamersely Rylance created the scrapbook in 1882 and included family correspondence retrieved from her Aunt Beebee's attic as well as her own genealogical research.

The bulk of the collection consists of 69 letters, with many written between sisters Susan Symmes and Judith Watkins. The letters primarily regard family news and concerns, noting health, marriages, and social visits. Additional topics mentioned include the American Revolution, the death of Governor Dewitt Clinton, the Peggy Eaton scandal, Cherokee removal, the nullification crisis, bank and tariff struggles, the anniversary of Andrew Jackson's Battle of New Orleans, the Panic of 1837, African American servants, Fanny Kemble Butler, and Austrian exile Giovanni Albinola. Letters from John Jay and his descendants are also represented in the collection. With women from prominent families penning many of the letters, the correspondence also highlights women's relationships, reading habits, engagement with financial matters, and occasionally thoughts on political affairs.

The Watkins and Livingston family scrapbook also includes newspaper clippings, a family tree, a cabinet card, a pen and ink drawing of a scene from a fairy tale, and colored pen and ink drawings of family coats of arms. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information about each item.

Biographical / Historical:

Lucretia Elizabeth Hamersley Rylance, the compiler of this scrapbook, descended from the Watkins and Livingston families. She married George Leib Morgan and had three children, Thomas Hamersley Morgan, Brokholst Morgan, and Joseph H. Rylance.

Lucretia Rylance's maternal great-grandfather was William Livingston (1723-1790), Constitutional Congress and Constitutional Convention delegate and first governor of New Jersey. He had thirteen children (nine of which survived infancy); several of the Livingston children are represented in the scrapbook, including Susannah (1748-1840), Catharine (1751-1813), Mary (b. 1753), William (1754-1817), Sarah Van Brugh (1756-1802), Henry Brockholst (1757-1823), and Judith (1758-1843).

Susannah (or Susan) Livingston (1748-1840) married John Cleve Symmes in 1794 and traveled with him and his daughters to Ohio. One daughter, Anna (1775-1864), married William Henry Harrison. Susan Symmes left John in 1808 and eventually lived in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, with her niece, author Susan Anne Livingston Ridley Sedgwick, and her husband Theodore Sedgwick, Jr.

Catharine Livingston (1751-1813) married Matthew Ridley in 1787, and had two daughters, Susan and Matilda. After the deathof Matthew Ridley, Catharine married her cousin, John Livingston. Susan Ridley married Theodore Sedgwick, Jr., became an author, and worked with Catharine Maria Sedgwick.

Mary Livingston (b. 1753) married James Linn in 1771 and eventually divorced.

William Livingston (1754-1817) married Mary Lennington.

In 1774, Sarah Van Brugh (1756-1802) married John Jay (1745-1829), diplomat and statesman, governor of New York, and Chief Justice of the United States. Together they had six children, Peter Augustus, William, Susan, Maria, Ann, and Sarah Louisa. Peter Augustus Jay (1776-1843) was a lawyer and politician.

Henry Brokholst Livingston (1757-1823) was a lawyer and associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Judith Livingston (1758-1843) married John W. Watkins (1757-1813), who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution and later became a merchant. Although their marriage was an unhappy one, they had five children, Lydia, Susan Brockholst, Charles, John, and William Livingston. Susan Brockholst Watkins married Thomas Hamersley and has at least one child, Lucretia Elizabeth Hamersley.

Acquisition Information:
1998. M-3453 .
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 was disbound before arriving at the Clements Library, but has been returned to Lucretia E. Hamersley Rylance's original arrangement.

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

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

Watkins and Livingston Family Scrapbook, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan