This collection is made up of 11 letters addressed to Judge Robert Morris of New Brunswick, New Jersey. John Singer of Trenton, New Jersey, wrote a brief note to Morris about finances on January 19, 1786, and James Boggs wrote the remaining 10 letters to Morris, his uncle, between October 14, 1792, and October 2, 1795. Most of his letters relate to real property, the local rate of exchange, and miscellaneous financial and business transactions. His letter of August 25, 1793, refers to the recent emergence of yellow fever and Philadelphians' initial responses to the growing epidemic. In September 1794, Boggs wrote 2 letters about his intention to join a military regiment raised in response to the Whiskey Rebellion; though Boggs praised the generally enthusiastic response, he noted that "lower characters in life" were less likely to volunteer.
James Boggs was born in Shrewsbury, New Jersey, on April 5, 1769, the son of James Boggs (1740-1830) and Mary Morris Boggs (1746-1831) and a nephew of Judge Robert Morris (1745-1815). When the Boggs family moved to Nova Scotia in 1784, James and his brother Robert remained in the United States. James lived in Philadelphia and New York City, where he was a merchant and bank president. In the fall of 1794, he served with the 3rd Troop Philadelphia Light Horse during an expedition to Pittsburgh in response to the escalating tensions of the Whiskey Rebellion. Boggs married Sarah Lloyd Broome (1775-1849) on April 29, 1806, and they had 5 children: Mary Rebecca, John, James Samuel, and Julia Augusta. James Boggs died on February 4, 1834.
