Search

This collection is made up of correspondence, documents, and other items related to New Jersey politician Jonathan Dayton; his son-in-law, Oliver Hatfield Spencer; and Spencer's son-in-law, William Nelson Wood. The materials concern politics, finances, property, genealogy, and other subjects.

This collection is made up of 3 linear feet of correspondence, documents, and other items related to New Jersey politician Jonathan Dayton; his son-in-law, Oliver Hatfield Spencer; and Spencer's son-in-law, William Nelson Wood. The materials date between 1764 and 1892, and they concern politics, finances, property, genealogy, and other subjects. The collection is arranged into groups of Jonathan Dayton papers, Oliver Hatfield Spencer papers, William Nelson Wood papers, and Spencer and Wood family papers.

The Jonathan Dayton Papers are divided into 3 subseries. The Jonathan Dayton Correspondence subseries is made up of Dayton's incoming (over 310 items) and outgoing (approximately 55 items) letters between 1780 and 1824. Dayton corresponded with family members, professional acquaintances, and political figures. Many of the early letters pertain to Dayton's congressional service, national and local politics, and personal matters. A group of 14 letters from 1807 concern the Burr Conspiracy and its effects on Dayton, who was imprisoned in connection with the incident. Some of Dayton's correspondents discussed Native American relations and the Northwest Territory. Others provided family news from Cincinnati and commented on legal and financial issues.

The Jonathan Dayton Financial Documents (15 items, 1774-1830) consist of receipts, accounts, and account books, pertaining to real property, taxes, and other financial matters. The 2 account books (1792-1793 and 1823) concern shipping costs, livestock, debts, and real property. A copy of Gaine's New-York Pocket Almanack for 1775 contains an unidentified writer's manuscript notes and financial records kept between 1775 and 1779.

The Jonathan Dayton Legal Documents (76 items, 1764-1821) include deeds for property in New Jersey, contracts, records pertaining to court cases, and other items.

The Oliver Hatfield Spencer series , divided into subseries of Correspondence (5 items) and Documents (13 items). Letters to Spencer, dated 1820-1821, concern his claims against the estate of "Mr. Evans." Other items, dated between 1802 and 1856, include certificates, deeds, Spencer's will, receipts, and a military commission. These documents relate to Spencer's medical career, his work for the New Orleans Board of Health and the Medical Board of the State of Louisiana, and his memberships in the Medical Society of Philadelphia and the Chemical Society of Philadelphia. Three later items pertain to his estate.

The William Nelson Wood series includes Correspondence (19 items) and Estate Documents (41 items). James Cook informed Wood of his brother's death in a letter dated February 21, 1831. The bulk of the remaining correspondence, written from 1853-1854, concern the estate of Clement Wood, a resident of England. Two letters by Luigi Palma di Cesnola (June 27, 1864, and July 7, 1864) report the death of Wood's son Oliver during the Civil War and discuss the Battle of Trevilian Station. A subseries of Estate Documents consists primarily of claims made against Wood's estate following his death in 1865.

The Spencer and Wood Family Papers (153 items) consist of letters, documents receipts, genealogical notes, autographs, an invitation, and an essay related to the descendants of Jonathan Dayton, Oliver Hatfield Spencer, and William Nelson Wood. Correspondence, Documents, and Receipts include incoming and outgoing letters related to members of the Dayton, Spencer, and Wood families, often concerning family news and legal affairs. The series includes Genealogical Materials for the Dayton, Williamson, Halstead, Spencer, and Ogden families. Eighty-seven Autographs cut from letters include signatures and handwriting of prominent individuals in the late 18th and early 19th century. The final items in the collection include an essay description of Jesus Christ (with an 1847 song "The Hieland Laddies' Farewell" written on the back) and a vellum invitation for Edward Meeker Wood to attend The General Society of the Cincinnati and the Sons of the Revolution commemorative event for the death of George Washington, held on December 14, 1899.

Richard D. Morison, a physician from Hardin County, Ohio, used this volume to record financial accounts, essays, medicinal recipes, and notes. The essays pertain to religious topics and, in one case, women's suffrage.

Richard D. Morison, a physician from Hardin County, Ohio, used this volume to record financial accounts, essays, medicinal recipes, and notes. The essays pertain to religious topics and, in one case, women's suffrage.

The volume, originally intended as a ledger, contains 162 numbered pages, which follow approximately 14 pages with alphabetical tabs. The bulk of the volume consists of financial accounts between Morison and his patients, as well as essays on theological and other subjects. The medical accounts (pages 1-73) are organized by patient. Morison usually recorded the individual's name, hometown, and occupation (or relation to other patients); many lived or studied in Ada, Ohio. Each "treatment" cost less than $2.00, and most were given between September and December 1884. Other financial records concern Morison's rent payments to Carson Prime in September and October 1884 (page 3a), rent payments Morison received from boarders in 1901 and 1902 (page 110), accounts regarding foodstuffs and other items from 1895-1902 (pages 111-112), and expenses for "Repairs to R.R. property" made in October 1907 (pages 115-117).

Morison wrote essays, recipes, and notes throughout the volume, including on the blank pages between patient records. Most essays concern religious topics such as morality, the afterlife, sectarianism, and good and evil. Other topics include scientific subjects such as atmospheric science and the human circulatory system, and genealogical information about 16th century British monarchs. Morison wrote one essay in support of women's suffrage (beginning on page 56), and recorded recipes for diseases, pains, injuries, and other medical ailments.