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The Suckley family papers provide documentation of family life, mercantile business, and the Methodist Church in antebellum New York City.

This Suckley collection is only a small residuum of a much larger collection, yet what remains provides important documentation of several aspects of nineteenth century life, particularly relating to commercial life in antebellum New York City and the Methodist Church.

Boxes 1 and 2 consists primarily of in-coming correspondence dated between 1791 and 1839, centering on the personal and professional life of George Suckley, with the earliest material originating in the family of his first wife, Miss Lang, in England. The letters contain some information on English Methodism (1:1-6, 16-18). Of particular interest are the letters of the Methodist missionary, Francis Asbury (1:10-11) and of the wife of Richard Reece, who began his itinerant ministry in 1787 (The Christian Advocate and Journal, May 13, 1846, contains a brief sketch of Reece's life). The letters of Catherine Rutsen Suckley and Joseph Holdich include discussions of the Methodist Church in America, and the missionary Freeborn Garretson, is discussed in several letters (1:21-23,25,26,32).

George Suckley's business correspondence includes dealings with the English firm of Holy, Newbould and Suckley (1:33-42,47) and two sets of letters from agents who Suckley retained to manage his vast land holdings, John Reed in upstate New York and John Rangeley in Maine. Among the personal correspondence are several letters from Philadelphia lawyer(?) Cornelius Comegys and letters from three of George Suckley's sons. John Lang Suckley wrote frequently to request money to pay his servants; Rutsen Suckley assisted in managing his father's properties, and Thomas Holy Suckley was a college student.

Box 3 contains family correspondence written after George's death in 1846. Among the family members represented are George's children Rusten, Mary, and Thomas Holy Suckley, and his grandson Dr. George Suckley (1830-1869). George's letters are the most intrinsically interesting, as they were written during a period in the 1850s when he was practicing in Oregon and Washington Territory and considering land investments in California. During this same period, Dr. Suckley was the recipient of several letters from David and Jack Green (apparently cousins of some sort). One item (3:39) relates to George's Civil War service. The later correspondence heavily concerns New York charities. One interesting letter (3:52) is a stableman's apology for drunkenness on Christmas.

Boxes 5 through 9 are arranged in folders by subject. Of particularly interest are materials that document the various New York City rental properties owned by Rutsen Suckley, recording rents collected and upkeep expenses between the 1840s and 1870s. The cost of living in New York can be calculated from bills and receipts for a wide range of products and services.

The Thomas Flournoy papers consist of letters, documents, and receipts of Flournoy, a lawyer from Augusta, Georgia, who commanded in the South during the War of 1812. He served as commissioner to the Creek Indians between 1820 and 1836. The collection consists of over 90 letters, around 20 documents, six receipts, and a lock of hair.

The Correspondence series contains around 25 items relating to Flournoy's military and War of 1812 service, including letters, returns, requisitions, reports, orders, and petitions. They cover a range of topics, such as desertions, courts martials, supplies, and appointments. Approximately 20 letters relate to his position as United States commissioner to the Creek Indians (1820).

• Around ten letters pertinent to legal disputes between Flournoy and Judge George Walton, and the resulting duel between Flournoy and the judge's nephew John Carter Walton (1799-1804).
• This series also incorporates around 20 family letters, including three from his nephew Matthew Wells (November 12, 1806, May 12, 1816, and May 4, 1837), one letter and one letter fragment from his brother John James Flournoy, 15 from his brother Matthew Flournoy, and one reply to Matthew his brother. These discuss business, professional favors, death of a son in Fayette, Kentucky, and family news.
• Letter by Thomas H. Cushing to Thomas Flournoy, on receipt of Flournoy's acceptance of the appointment as Brigadier General (July 17, 1812).
• Letter by Col. Jno. Pray to Thomas Flournoy, giving him an evaluation of conditions, strategic issues, and risks at Savannah, Georgia, referencing African Americans (November 3, 1812).
• Draft letter by Thomas Flournoy respecting the removal of Lt. Col. Houston of the 8th Regiment Infantry (commanding at Savannah) as a result of "mental derangement, which disqualifies him for command." Suspended until further order (November 16, 1812).
• Four official letters between Flournoy and Patrick Jack, colonel of the 8th Regiment of U.S. Infantry (1812).
• A letter from William Harris Crawford, the U.S. minister to France, concerning the management and politics of the war (November 30, 1812).
• A letter from John Houstoun McIntosh, director of the Territory of East Florida, concerning the settlers of Talbot Island and Nassau River, East Florida (December 26, 1812).
• An inspection return from the 3rd Regiment of Georgia militia at Point Peter Battery, Florida [January 9, 1813].
• A copy of Brigadier General Ferdinand Leigh Claiborne's "Talk to the Choctaw Indians" (August 2, 1813).
• A letter from Choctaw Chief Pushmataha (Pooshemataha), signed with his mark, to James Wilkinson, discussing murdered and imprisoned Choctaw Indians (August 9, 1813).
• Three letters between Flournoy and Former South Carolina Governor and Creek Indian negotiator Andrew Pickins, Jr., concerning treaties with the Creek Indians (August 21, 28, and October 30, 1820).
• Three items to and from John C. Calhoun of the War Department.
• Letter from William H. Crawford to Thomas Flournoy, on Georgia and Kentucky politics. "The present governor admits of nothing like neutrality. Whoever is not devoted to him is considered his enemy." (October 2, 1820).
• Nine letters with David Brydie Mitchell, including a communication from Tustunnuggee Thlocco (Tiger Tail) and Tustunnuggee Hopoie (November 10, 1820).
• A letter to John Clarke of Augusta, Georgia, concerning claims of Georgia residents for Creek lands (October 4, 1820).
• An eight page letter from Thomas Flournoy to Rev. Dr. Davies pertains to Flournoy's responses to a sermon sent by Davies. He noted that he asked Judge Longstreet questions about scripture, naming 1 Corinthians 15 in particular, and that Longstreet apparently discussed it in church. An indirect source told Flournoy that he "asked a number of Infidel questions of Longstreet, which he refused to answer" (April 27, 1840).
• A letter from Flournoy's nephew, Thomas C. Flournoy, includes content on Kentucky land business and politics. He praised the oratory skills of Senator Corwin of Ohio (May 17, 1849).

The Documents series (20 items) consists of a list of rules for the duel between Flournoy and Walton (1804); general orders appointing Thomas Flournoy as aide de camp to the Commander in Chief, with rank of Lieutenant Colonel (April 6, 1804); reports on the arms, ammunition, and crew of the gun vessels at the Georgia Station (1813); weekly reports and morning reports of the troops stationed at Fort St. Philip, Fort St. Charles, New Orleans, and for the 2nd Regiment of Light Dragoons; orders from the Southern Department; a transaction record at the Bank of Augusta; and a memo listing "Order of Correspondence relating to the Treaty with the Creek Indians" (1820); and the last will and testament of Thomas Flournoy (July 20, 1856).

The Receipts series (6 items) is comprised of receipts deposited in the Bank of Augusta, Georgia; 2 payments made to John Campbell; and 2 receipts for sugar and brandy.

The papers also include a lock of Thomas Flournoy's Hair, clipped when he was 46 years old.

The Thomas Gage papers consist of the military and governmental correspondence and headquarter papers of General Thomas Gage, officer in the British Army in America (1754-1763) and commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America between 1763 and 1775. The papers include incoming correspondence and retained copies of letters written by Gage, together with a large quantity of documents related to military administration and manuscript maps of North America. The collection is particularly strong in documenting British administration of North America after the French and Indian War, interactions with Native Americans, and the years preceding the American Revolution. The Thomas Gage Papers include seven groups of materials: English series, American series, Warrants series, Letter and Account Books series, Jeffrey Amherst papers, Peter Warren papers, and William Skinner papers. The Thomas Gage Warrants, Jeffery Amherst Papers, Peter Warren Papers, and William Skinner Papers are described more fully in separate finding aids. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created three other research aids: a Correspondence Inventory , a partial Subject Index , and individual Volume Descriptions .

The Thomas Gage papers consist of the military and government correspondence of General Thomas Gage, officer in the British Army in America (1754-1763), commander-in-chief of the British forces in North America (1763-1775), and Governor of Massachusetts (1774-1775). The papers include incoming correspondence and retained copies of letters written by Gage, together with a large quantity of headquarters documents related to military administration. The collection is particularly strong in documenting British colonial administration after the French and Indian War, interactions with Native Americans, and the years preceding the American Revolution.

1. The English Series (30 volumes) contains Gage's correspondence with military officers and politicians in England, including the Secretaries of State, the Secretaries at War, the Treasury, the Board of Trade, the Board of Ordnance, the paymaster general, the commanders-in-chief, and other officials.
2. The American Series (139 volumes) consists of Gage's correspondence with military officers and civil authorities in North America, including colonial governors, generals, commanders and subordinate officers, Indian superintendents and deputies, admirals of the British Navy in North America, engineers, army contractors, and various prominent civilians.
3. The Letter Books, Account Books, and Additional Material series (17 items) contains copy books of communications with military outposts in North America and accounts for military expenses.
4. The Warrants series (40 boxes) is made up of financial documents authorizing payment for the British military forces in North America. The Thomas Gage warrants series is described in a separate finding aid.
5. The Maps series (87 maps) includes maps and fort plans created for British military leaders in North America in the years before the American Revolution.

The English series and the American series comprise the bulk of the collection. In addition to the many letters, these series contain the following: addresses, speeches, and proclamations; official petitions and memorials for troop promotions and transfers; proceedings and depositions from courts martial and courts of inquiry; intelligence on enemy activities; reports on the condition of the army and the state of the colonies; orders, instructions, memoranda, and meeting minutes; stores and provision inventories, receipts, and accounts of expenses; newspaper clippings and broadsides; and other miscellaneous items. Memorials typically describe the military career and professional history of a soldier or officer; these frequently contain information on both his regiment's activities and his personal life. The courts martial document desertion, embezzlement and fraud, violence, murder, rape, and other crimes committed by service members. Some of these cases, such as the trials of John Wilkins and Robert Rogers, are extensively recorded, involving many levels of the military and government. Returns typically list the numbers of troops, by rank, stationed at a fort, city, or region. These occasionally include names and other personal information. Stores and artillery lists account for the food, supplies, and ammunition maintained at forts, cities, and regions.

The English Series (30 volumes) contains Gage's incoming and outgoing letters from the Secretaries of State, Secretaries of War, Secretaries of the Treasury, Board of Ordnance, Judge Advocate General, Paymaster General of the military, Board of Trade, and the Admiralty. The bulk of these items were created during Gage's tenure as military governor of Montréal, commander-in-chief of North America, and governor of Massachusetts. Gage's years as an officer during the French and Indian War and his time in Britain from 1773-1774, however, are not well represented.

Gage communicated extensively with the British Secretaries of State. In many of these letters, he discussed, at length, the state of the colonies, with particular focus on civil unrest. He also reported on Indian relations and boundary lines, conditions of forts and the British military presence on the western and southern frontiers, hostilities toward the Stamp Act and other parliamentary acts, and civil unrest in Boston, New York, Charleston, and other colonial cities. Secretaries include: George Montagu-Dunk, Lord Halifax (Montagu Dunk); Sir Henry Seymour Conway; Charles Lennox, the Duke of Richmond; William Petty, Lord Shelburne; Wills Hill, Lord Hillsborough; William Legge, Lord Dartmouth; William Henry Nassau, Earl of Rochford; and Lord George Germain.

• A report from Lord Hillsborough concerning relations with Indians and advising Gage to cut military spending by abandoning forts on the frontier (English Series [hereafter ES]): April 15, 1768)
• A report, with treaty extracts, describing the boundary lines for colonial and Indian territories in Georgia, East and West Florida, North and South Carolina, and the northern territories (ES: April 15, 1768)
• Narratives on the Boston Massacre written on and just after March 5, 1770
• A narrative and discussion of the Boston Tea Party (ES: April 9, 1774)

In communications with Secretaries of War Lord William Barrington and Welbore Ellis, Gage discussed troop movements and logistics; regiment conditions, supplies and expenses; colonial troop quartering and recruitment; requests for regimental needs, such as surgeons, hospitals, and barrack repairs; and officer transfers and promotions. The secretaries frequently petitioned Gage to allow officers to return to England for personal reasons, such as health and estate issues. These letters also provide general updates on the state of the colonies and contain information on Indian affairs.

• Barrington's opinions on whether or not the British should designate the western lands for Indian nations (ES: October 10, 1765).
• A warning from Gage that "the colonists are taking large strides towards Independency, and that it concerns Great Britain by a speedy and spirited conduct to show them that these provinces are British Colonies dependent on her, and that they are not Independent States" (ES: January 17, 1767).

The Secretaries of the Treasury letters offer detailed information on colonial expenses and the financial decisions made in London and by Gage. The treasury secretaries include Charles Jenkinson, Thomas Whatley, William Mellish, William Lowndes, Grey Cooper, Thomas Bradshaw, and John Robinson.

Gage also communicated regularly with the Judge Advocate General Charles Gould, Earl of Granby John Manners, and John Boddington from the Office of Ordnance; Paymaster General of the Military Richard Rigby; and Generals Amherst, Harvey, and George Williamson. Gage received many letters from army officers stationed in England and Ireland. Most of these officers served under Gage and wrote him regarding business or legal issues. Notable officers include Lieutenant Colonel John Wilkins of the 18th Regiment and Major Robert Rogers stationed at Michilimackinac. Also of note in this series are printed versions of speeches made by King George III to parliament and the official responses from the Houses of Lords and Commons.

The American Series (139 volumes) comprises the bulk of the Thomas Gage papers. The Correspondence and Enclosures subseries (volumes 1-136) contains the communications between Gage and various civil and military personnel from North America and the West Indies. Represented are documents from Gage's tenures as an officer in the British Army during the French and Indian War under Braddock and Abercromby, as military governor of Montréal, as commander-in-chief of North America, and as governor of Massachusetts. The items from 1754-1760 all relate to the military, and include communications from various forts, often containing troop returns and stores inventories. As governor of Montréal, much of his administrative duties pertained to coordinating sloops, bateaux, and other ships that moved troops and provisions around Canada. The breadth of his responsibilities and the variety of decisions he had to make expanded considerably during his service as commander-in-chief and governor.

Writers (contributors) in the American Series include: colonial governors and lieutenant governors, private merchants and suppliers, generals and headquarters staff (barrack master general, quarter master general, commissary of stores and provisions), subordinate staff (barrack masters, paymasters, and engineers), superintendents and deputies from Departments of Indian Affairs, surveyor generals, commissioner of customs, and admirals and other naval officers.

• Disseminating information from England
• Enforcement of parliamentary acts, particularly concerning commerce
• Managing relations between the colonies and settling inter-colonial boundary disputes
• Quelling violence and civil unrest in the cities and policing new settlements on the western and southern frontiers
• Managing Indian relations and enforcing treaties
• Maintaining outposts and constructing new forts
• Coordinating colonial defenses and troop movements, provisioning, and quartering
• Settling disputes between military and civil leaders

Notable gaps in documentation occur between May and August 1760 and during Gage's time in England between June 1773 and May 1774, when General Haldimand served as commander-in-chief of British forces in North America. Though fairly well documented, the year 1769 also seems incomplete.

Colonial Governors. As commander-in-chief, Gage maintained communications with the governors of every colony in North America and several West Indian islands. He received administrative information on civil government and was particularly involved in legal matters concerning civil/military relations and in quelling violence and unrest in the cities and on the frontier. The governors were partially responsible for implementing parliamentary acts regarding trade and raising troops for the British army. The letters also contain vast amounts of information on relations with Native Americans, local political movements, militias, and the provincial governments that emerged during the years preceding the Revolutionary War. (See Additional Descriptive Data for a list of the colonial governors represented in the collection.) Gage communicated with deputy paymasters general of North America including James Barbut, Jacob Blackwell, William Eddington, and Abraham Mortier. He also corresponded with the French and Spanish governors of Louisiana, including Jean-Jacques-Blaise Abbaddie, Charles Phillippe Aubrey, Alejandro O'Reilly, Antonio de Don Ulloa, and Luis de Unzaga.

• Responses to the Stamp Act, including riots and non-importation agreements, with disturbances focused in Massachusetts and New York (1765)
• Ongoing conflicts between Major Farmar of the 34th Regiment and George Johnstone, governor of West Florida at Pensacola, who claimed the authority to give orders to the military (1765)
• Civil unrest in Boston that forced Governor Bernard to flee to Castle William (1768)
• A build up of forces in West Florida in response to threats of war between England and Spain (1771)
• Territorial disputes between New York and New Hampshire over settlements in what is now Vermont (1774-1775)
• Governor of New Hampshire John Wentworth's reports on the raid of Fort William and Mary by revolutionaries, including Paul Revere (1775)
• The battles and aftermath of Lexington and Concord (1775)

British Army in America. An important portion of the collection relates to Gage's administration of the far-reaching British military occupying North America. He communicated with many high-ranking officers and generals including Henry Bouquet, John Bradstreet, John Burgoyne, Ralph Burton, Henry Clinton, Frederick Haldimand, William Howe, Alex Mackay, John Pomeroy, and James Robertson. Subordinate officers, such as engineers, majors, barrack masters, paymasters, and ensigns, also corresponded with Gage. Routine topics include officer promotions and transfers; troop discipline and courts martial, particularly surrounding desertions; provisioning regiments and forts with food, supplies, and ammunition; and orders and instructions regarding troop movements and recruitment numbers.

Gage also interacted with the British Navy in North America, which was integral to provisioning and transporting troops. Ships traveled along the Atlantic seaboard from Newfoundland to the West Indies, to Québec by way of the St. Lawrence River, along the Mississippi river, and on Lakes Champlain, Erie, George, Huron, Michigan, Ontario, Superior, and at Forts Niagara and Detroit. Gage also oversaw naval stores and naval activities, such as shipbuilding and ship maintenance, and frequently received news on shipwrecks. Prominent contacts included Admiral Alexander Colville, Commodore Samuel Hood, Commodore James Gambier, Admiral Samuel Graves, Captain Joshua Loring, and Admiral John Montague.

• Relations between the Native Americans and colonists of Québec, including intelligence about a possible alliance between the Five Nations and the French-Jesuit clergy (1762)
• Colonel Henry Bouquet's expeditions against the Indians on the Pennsylvania and Ohio frontiers (1764)
• The court martial of Major Robert Farmar, whom West Florida Governor Johnstone accused of embezzling funds (1765)
• Problems with the "Black Boys Gang" of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania (1765)
• Mining efforts in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia for coal, and around Lake Superior for copper and other metals (1764-1775)
• The court martial of Robert Rogers, infamous superintendent of Michilimackinac (1767-1769)
• Eyewitness accounts of the Boston Massacre, including reports and depositions from all of the troops who took part in event, and news from the ongoing trial of the troops involved (1770)
• The court martial of Colonel John Wilkins of the Illinois Country over charges of embezzlement and fraud (1771-1773)
• Civil unrest in Massachusetts as a result of the "Intolerable Acts" and the formation of new bodies of local government (1774)
• Twenty testimonies and oaths of Massachusetts residents, including several women, concerning the Association (Continental Association) which prohibited merchants from trading with Great Britain (February 13-17, 1775)
• Descriptions of the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord (1775)
• Reports of Americans taking Ticonderoga and Crown Point (1775)
• Intelligence on troop counts and fortification descriptions for the British and the colonists at the Battle of Bunker Hill, along with many memorials from soldiers who fought in the battle (1775)
• Reports on the American march on Québec and Montréal lead by General Philip Schuyler and Benedict Arnold (1775)
• Attacks by the Machias "pirates" on British ships in the Bay of Fundy (1775)
• Three letters from General George Washington to Gage (June 17, 1768, August 11 and 20, 1775)
• A spy letter from a Mrs. Cooke who had contact with Generals George Washington and Charles Lee and who reported on the squalid conditions in the barracks in and around Boston before she was caught in Lexington (1775)

Indian Superintendants and Deputies. The Gage papers contain a large body of letters and documents relating to Indian Superintendents Sir William Johnson of the Northern District and John Stuart of the Southern District. Gage, who supervised the Indian Departments, received extensive communications documenting all aspects of Indian affairs, including negotiations and treaties, accounts for gifts, trade regulations, captives, and information on violent civil and military conflicts with the Native Americans. Letters include particularly extensive documentation on the New York and Canadian Indians, and on interactions at Detroit, Fort Stanwix, Nova Scotia, and the frontier areas of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Georgia, and East and West Florida. In addition to having direct lines of communication with Johnson and Stuart, Gage received material from subordinate officials, including Colonel Guy Johnson (who took over his father Sir William Johnson's responsibilities after his death), and Indian agents Captain Daniel Claus, Edward Cole at Illinois, Colonel George Croghan, Major Joseph Gorman, Montaut de Montereau, Benjamin Roberts at Michilimackinac, and Lieutenant John Thomas in Mississippi. Agents dealt closely with the colonial governments and often described the actions and motives of the legislature and the governor, and the Indians' responses. Throughout the collection, particularly in the late 1760s and early 1770s, Gage dealt with a constant stream of reports of murders of British frontier settlers and Native Americans. Prominent tribes included the Arkansas, Carib, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Delaware, Iroquois (Five/Six Nations: Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora), Kaskaskia, Kickapoo, Miami, Mingo, Ojibwa (Chippewa), Ottawa, Potawatomi, Shawnee, and Wyandots. For a comprehensive list of Native American materials search the Subject Index.

• Congress at Niagara resulting in a treaty with Western Indians (1764)
• Conflicts and treaties with Chief Pontiac, including Pontiac's Rebellion (1763-1769)
• Negotiations at Fort Pitt and the Congress of Fort Chartres with the Shawnees, Delaware, Huron, and Six Nations of the Iroquois (1766)
• Unsuccessful efforts by the British government to remove colonial settlers from the Redstone Creek and Cheat River region near Fort Pitt (1767)
• Congress of Fort Stanwix (1768)
• The First Carib war on St. Vincent's Island (1772)

Merchants, Contractors, and Civilians. Also important are communications with merchants and contractors. Gage relied heavily on private contractors to provision the army and to build and maintain the military's forts and ships. Additionally, Gage received letters from colonial citizens, usually concerning business matters or legal proceedings. Prominent citizens, merchants and shipping companies included George Allsopp; Baynton, Wharton, & Morgan; David Chamier; Delancy and Watts; Volkert Van Dow; Franks, Inglis, & Barclay; John Hancock, Thomas Hancock, Plumstead and Franks; Philip Schuyler, Edward Shippen, George Townshend, and Nathaniel Wheelwright. Of note is an extended legal battle over the assault of merchant Thomas Walker by citizens of Montréal (1766-1767).

The Indian Congresses and Treaties subseries (15 items) contains reports, proceedings, treaties, negotiations, and memorials related to Indian Affairs in the Southern District and on the Illinois frontier. The bulk of the treaties and Indian-related documents are ordered throughout the American Series. See the Subject Index for an itemized list of this subseries.

The Journals and Reports subseries (24 items) is a collection of volumes and documents concerning the administration of the British Army in America. Several items describe the condition of forts and waterways on the southern and western frontiers, while others are expense and provision reports. Of note are John Wilkins' "Journal of Transactions and Presents Given to Indians from 23 December 1768 to 1772," and a "Journal of Events at Fort Edward Augustus," which describes abandoning the fort during Pontiac's rebellion. See the Subject Index for an itemized list of this subseries.

The Proclamations and Documents subseries (39 items) has official proclamations, memorials, articles from treaties, extracts from parliamentary acts, official court depositions, and various financial and legal certifications. Many of the items in this series are undated. See the Subject Index for an itemized list of this subseries.

The Broadsides subseries (14 items) contains many of the collection's printed broadsides. Half of the items are related to revolutionary activities in Boston, including a broadside that recounts the Battle of Bunker Hill (June 26, 1775). See the Subject Index for an itemized list of this subseries.

The Newspapers and Clippings subseries (12 items) is comprised of fragments of newspapers from Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina from 1773 and 1774. See the Subject Index for an itemized list of this subseries.

The Pay Lists of British Army Officers subseries (31 items) consists of officer pay lists spanning 1759-1775. The lists contain officer's names, regiments, ranks, days served, and amounts owed for the pay period.

The Letter Books and Account Books Series (17 items) contains four of Gage's official letter books from 1759 to 1763, 12 account books from 1763-1773, and a list of bills spanning 1769-1773.

The letter books contain copies of official communications from Gage to other military outposts in North America and to officials in London. These volumes hold only outgoing letters. The first volume covers "Winter Quarters" in Albany, from January 20 to April 27, 1759 (69 pages), and from December 14, 1759 to May 5, 1761 (119 pages). The second volume concerns Gage's time at Fort Oswego from August 19 to November 20, 1759 (78 pages). The third and fourth letter books contain letters from his time as military governor of Montréal, and consist largely of letters written to other northern military forts and to Commander-in-Chief Jeffrey Amherst. The third volume spans August 21, 1761-December 23, 1762 (92 pages), and the fourth January 15-October 24, 1763 (61 pages).

The Account Books group consists of 12 account books documenting expenses for Transport Services, Incidental Expenses, Secretary's Office, Engineers Department, Naval Department on the Lakes, Indian Department Southern District, Indian Department Northern District, Quartermaster General's Department Albany and New York, Commissary General's Department, Deputy Paymaster General, Crown Account, Warrants, Cash and Contra, Commission of the Treasury, Secretary of War, and Contingent and Extraordinary Expenses from forts throughout North America.

• Account Book 1 (14 pages) 1763-1766
• Account Book 2 (31 pages) 1763-1766
• Account Book 3 (21 pages) 1763-1769
• Account Book 4 (33 pages) 1765-1766
• Account Book 5 (24 pages) 1765-1768
• Account Book 6 (12 pages) 1766-1767
• Account Book 7 (36 pages) 1766-1769
• Account Book 8 (42 pages) 1767-1770
• Account Book 9 (28 pages) 1770-1773
• Account Book 10 (43 pages) 1770-1773
• Account Book 11 (39 pages) 1767-1773
• Account Book 12 (39 pages) 1767-1773

This series also contains a loose list of bills "Drawn by General Gates" on behalf of the officers under him in North America (1769-1773). The categories are "By Whom Drawn," Number of Bills, In Whose Favor, Sums Drawn for (New York Currency), Dates of Acceptance, and Sums Paid.

The Thomas Gage Warrants Series (10 linear feet), a collection of additional administrative and financial records spanning 1763 to 1775, are described in a separate finding aid entitled Thomas Gage warrants. The warrants document payment of the army's departmental salaries and expenses, and represent a large source of information relating to hospitals, victualling, frontier expeditions, the building and repair of fortifications and barracks, transportation of troops and stores, wages for civilian workers, and disbursements to the Indians.

The Maps Series (87 manuscript maps) includes maps on the exploration, settlement, and fortification of the interior of British North America before the Revolution. They cover the years from 1755 to 1775 and were created for the British authorities. The maps portray rivers, lakes, and waterways throughout the continent, the coastlines and ports along the Atlantic, fortifications, and roads and routes between forts and cities. Of note are 12 maps of the Southern District and of the Mississippi River, created by Captain Philip Pittman. These maps are located in the Clements Library's Map Division - search the University of Michigan catalog for "Gage Maps."

• The Correspondence Inventory lists the bulk of the collection's contributors and inventories each item sent or received from them to Gage.
• The Subject Index provides access to events, people, places, and topics discussed in the collection. The index also contains a list of contributors, a list of the collection's maps, and an itemized list of volumes 137-139 of the American series.
• The Volume Descriptions provide brief overviews of the content of each volume in the collection.

The Thomas Gage warrants are financial documents authorizing payment for the British military forces in North America from the conclusion of the French and Indian War through the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The warrants are one series within the larger Thomas Gage papers. The Gage Warrants Finding Aid and Index provides additional information on the Gage Warrants and an itemized list of volumes 6-36.

The financial records contained in this collection represent financial accounts for British forces in North America from the conclusion of the French and Indian War to the beginning of the Revolutionary War. These documents are secretarial copies retained by Thomas Gage (1720-1787) for his personal records.

• Subsistence warrants: Documents issued by Gage authorizing payment for regular salaries and rations.
• Warrants for extraordinary expenses: Documents issued by Gage authorizing payment for irregular expenses.
• Temporary warrants: Documents signed by Gage allowing financial advances.
• Annexed accounts: Detailed lists or accounts affixed to warrants, often including vouchers and receipts from various middlemen and agents. These may be lists of bills of exchange and are occasionally signed.
• Abstracts of accounts: Abstracts or explanations of complex accounts.
• Vouchers: Receipts showing payment.
• These may include:
  • Bills of lading: Used when dealing with hired ships.
  • Pay rolls: Listing of personnel, their occupations, and their wages.
  • Invoices: Enumerating goods received.
  • Bills of exchange: Calling for one party to pay a certain amount to a second party; may be accompanied by receipts.

• Memorials: Signed statements certifying that a service has been performed.
• Legal documents: Depositions, testimonies, contracts, or other witnessed and sworn statements.
• Discharges: Documents releasing men or vessels from military service.
• Wrappers: Papers in which documents were originally contained.

See the Gage Warrants Finding Aid and Index (pdf) for more information on the Gage Warrants and an itemized list of volumes 6-36.

See the finding aid for the Thomas Gage papers for a complete description of the collection.

The Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney papers contain the official letters of Lord Sydney, spanning his entire political career, as well as material related to his grandfather, Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1664-1738); his father, the Honorable Thomas Townshend (1701-1780); and his son, John Thomas Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney (1764-1831). Of note is material related to the Shelburne ministry and the Paris peace negotiations at the end of the American Revolutionary War (1782-1783).

The Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney papers (approximately 1,000 items) contain the official papers of Lord Sydney, as well as letters and documents related to his grandfather, Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1664-1738); his father, the Honorable Thomas Townshend (1701-1780); and his son, John Thomas Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney (1764-1831). The collection is primarily made up of incoming letters and government documents, along with some drafts of letters written by Sydney. Of note is material related to the Shelburne ministry and the Paris peace negotiations (1782-1783).

The Secret Instructions and State Documents relating to the Negotiations for the Independence of America series (51 items) is comprised of two bound volumes of letters and documents. These include letters, reports, negotiation instructions, printed treaty articles, and minutes of the Privy Council, all related to the Peace of Paris that ended the American Revolution. Present are items in the hand of Sydney; William Petty, Lord Shelburne; Henry Seymour Conway; Evan Nepean; Thomas Orde; and Henry Strachey (see Additional Descriptive Data for an index of this material).

The Correspondence and Documents series (approximately 940 items) comprises the bulk of the collection and consists largely of incoming official letters and documents written during Sydney's political career.

The earliest material (1665-1761) relates to the official capacities of Sydney's forebears, Horatio Townshend, Charles Townshend, and the Honorable Thomas Townshend. These papers concern local politics, particularly regardingWhitchurch, as well as international affairs and trade relations with Europe, the West Indies, and America, including issues surrounding the international slave trade. Other topics covered in this period are currency issues in the American colonies, trade issues with Spain and the Spanish-controlled West Indies and South America, and dealings with the South Sea Company.

While the earliest Sydney item is a memo from [1748] concerning French Fishing rights off Newfoundland and Cape Breton, the first substantial grouping of his papers begins in 1762, when Sydney served as clerk of the board of green cloth. The collection documents each of Sydney's subsequent official roles: lord of the treasury (1765-1766), paymaster of the forces under William Pitt and member of the Privy Council (1767-1768), and active opposition voice in the House of Commons (1769-1782). Much of this material is related to Parliamentary responsibilities, trade, and politics concerning the Pay Office. Approximately 200 items relate to Sydney's office in the Shelburne ministry during 1782. Of note are 51 items about the Paris peace negotiations, consisting of letters, secret instructions, official documents, minutes of council meetings, and memoranda, and letters between Shelburne and Sydney on the peace process and other foreign affairs in the Mediterranean, Portugal, and Spain.

Approximately 300 items fall between 1783 and 1789, when Sydney served the Pitt ministry. This material concerns home politics, election news, lawmaking, intelligence from Europe (primarily Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Spain), and British interests in India. The collection contains about 200 items, scattered throughout the collection, concerning the West Indies, including letters, memorials, petitions, and customs documents, many of which relate to the Leeward Islands during the American Revolutionary War, and to the St. Eustatius affair in 1781. Also of note are 16 letters from Sydney to George III, and 12 letters to Sydney from the King, as well as 20 letters from British Secretary of War George Young between 1775 and 1788.

The last 34 items relate to John Thomas Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney (1764-1831), covering the period from his father's death in 1800 until 1830. These letters are both social and political in nature. Of note is an 1803 document proposing a new order of knighthood called the "Order of Military Merit."

The series contains 74 undated items. These are ordered by creator's last name, with 39 miscellaneous fragments, documents, poems, essays in Latin, and printed items at the end.

Selected Highlights from the Correspondence and Documents series

• March 11, 1708 and [1708]: Petitions from the governors and assemblies of the Leeward Islands and St. Christopher to Queen Anne petitioning for protection from invaders
• Board of Trade to Queen Anne concerning Governor of New York Robert Hunter's proposal to settle 3,000 Palatines in New York and to employ them in the production of naval stores
• March 31, 1724: Auditors to the treasury department reporting on money due Robert Hunter for providing subsistence for the Palatines sent to New York
• [1730]: Charles Townshend's "Considerations on the Assiento Contract" and the slave trade in the West Indies
• November 1, 1732: Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount, to Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount, containing instructions for managing Whitchurch
• October 4, 1733: Lewis Morris to the Great Britain Board of Trade on "Reasons against Paper Currency in New York and New Jersey"
• February 17, 1735: Francis Harrison reporting on politics in New York from the point of view of the "court party"
• January 15, 1736 and [1736]: Three items providing opinions on liquor licensing in England
• January 12, 1738: William Richardson concerning the selling of wine to Cambridge University
• [1740]: Proposed method "for supplying the Brazills with Negros, & an Encrease of the British Trade and Navigation"
• [1745]: "A Plan for Negotiation of a Peace with Spain"
• September 4, 1746: Ferdinand VI to Joseph Ruiz de Noriega, granting trading privileges for trading slaves in the Spanish colonies
• [1748]: Remarks on the taking of Fort St. Louis by Admiral Knowles (March 8, 1747/1748)
• September 27, 1751: James Ord to Henry Pelham, inclosing three items, one describing "The Present State of the African Trade particularly with relation to the English Collonys"
• [1753]: Petition to George II from Lord Baltimore for consent to "Bar the Entail upon the Province of Maryland"
• [1760]: Document on the Settlement of Nova Scotia and Louisbourg by the British

• May 1-June 10, 1769 and October-December 1772: Intelligence concerning tension between the British and the Caribs ("Black Charibs") of St. Vincent and plans for an expedition against the Caribs
• [1771], May 31, 1772: Report on Puerto Rico for Sir Ralph Payne and a letter from Daniel O'Flaherty related to the island
• February 9, 1774: Power of Attorney relating to High Hall Wentworth's sugar plantation in Grenada
• December 23, 1777: Letter from John Thornton discussing British treatment of prisoners of war and political attitudes toward the American Revolution
• June 9, 1778: British Peace Commissioners to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, concerning peace negotiations, independence, withdrawing the army, and refugees
• July 17, 1779: John Frodsham's "Narrative of the Proceedings of His Majesty's Fleet, under the Command of Vice Admiral Byron from 25th May 1779 to the 15th July 1779" written from St. Kitts
• July 26, 1779: Anonymous letter on the Spanish declaration of war
• November 27, 1779: Letter of support from an anonymous merchant approving Sydney's stand against Lord North in the House of Commons
• [1779]: Intelligence on the French Fleet in the West Indies near Jamaica
• [1780]: Edward Thomson's estimate of the forces necessary to take Surinam
• July 30, 1781; April 20, 1782; September and October 1782: English translation of "A true and impartial Account of the present State of Peru" and intelligence on a revolt in Peru

• February-July, 1782: Letters from Sir Robert Boyd concerning the siege of Gibraltar and Boyd's procuring of 12 Lamego hams as a prize
• August 7, 1782: James Macabee to Shelburne from the Salopian Coffeehouse, outlining a "plan for an expedition against the Havannah, connected with an idea conducive to pacification with America"
• August 13, 1782: Proposal from Benedict Arnold to Shelburne to fund the construction of a ship of war
• August 24, 1782: John Murray Dunmore, 4th earl of Dunmore, to Sydney containing a proposal to settle displaced Loyalists on the Mississippi River after the American Revolution
• September 4, 1782: Anonymous letter opposing the sending of an ambassador to the Barbary State of Morocco
• [September 1782]: Report translated from the Spanish on a revolt in Peru

• [1783]: Notes on New England trade
• June 25, 1784: Henry Caldwell to Thomas Townshend, concerning taxes and the Quebec Act's effect on Canada
• July 17, 1784: Intelligence from Juan Pablo Viscardo y Guzman, on the state of Spanish settlements in South America
• September 24, 1784: William Pitt to Sydney enclosing a letter from George III to Pitt concerning the East India Company and military forces in India[1784]: Document containing "observations on the Statute of 14 Geo: 3 For regulating Madhouses"
• [1784]: "Case of an English Subject at the Capture of Saint Eustatius by Lord Rodney and General Vaughan in the year 1781"
• [1785]: Document containing a "Comparative View of the Trade to Jamaica from the Continent of America in the years 1784 & 1785 and before the War"
• January 9, 1786: Marquis de Lafayette to John Adams dealing with trade between American and French merchants
• June 28, 1786: Lieutenant Governor of Quebec Henry Hope to Evan Nepean concerning Canadian politics and governance
• July 5, 1786: Documents and copies of letters from Sir George Brydges Rodney, commander in chief of the West Indies to the Secretary of the Navy, concerning St. Eustatius and the Leeward Islands, and from William Knox on the St. Eustatius Bill
• June 30, 1788: Thomas de Grey to Sydney concerning William Pitt's slave bill
• December 3, 1788 and [1788]: Resolution from the Privy Council containing the record of examination by George III's physicians of his illness and a report on the medical treatment given to the King
• March 1, 1789: Report from "Speculator A" to Sydney concerning corruption in Cape Breton
• April 9, 1789: Richard Downing Jennings account of the proceedings of Lord Rodney and General Vaughan at St. Eustatius
• June 6, 1789: Statement for Sydney's secret service-related accounts
• May 28, 1790: George Townshend memorandum to the House of Lords concerning the importation of personal property by subjects of the United States
• November 20, 1792: Sydney to unknown concerning the French character and the French role in the American Revolution

• Memorial from John Blankett regarding establishing a colony for convicts on Madagascar
• Extracts from Captain Arthur Phillip's diary detailing affairs with diamond mining in Brazil
• William Townshend to Nicholas Hawksmoor containing a brief note and a detailed pencil sketch of the doorway in the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford
• Sydney's notes on the economy of New England
• Miscellaneous document: Observations on a bill to regulate distillers
• Miscellaneous document: On the status of St. Lucia
• Miscellaneous document: On the status of Surinam in the 17th century

The Additional Items series (3 items) consists of an account book, a legal report, and a legal document. The account book documents governmental expenses for secret services during the American Revolution, many of which are disbursements for Evan Nepean (1782-1791). The legal report concerns an inquiry into Edward Lascelles, collector of customs in Barbados, by Surveyor General Robert Dinwiddie (c.1745). The final item is a "Deed of trust" for land and slaves owned by Henry Compton and others in St. Kitts Island.

The Tobias Lear papers consist of correspondence and a journal related to Lear's career as the consul general at Algiers, to his contribution during the War of 1812 as a war department secretary, and as a negotiator of prisoner exchanges with the British. Of particular importance is Lear's contemporary account of the illness and death of George Washington.

The Tobias Lear papers (140 items) are comprised of 118 letters, one diary, and two engravings. The letters are almost all written by Lear, and relate primarily to his career as the United States Consul General to Tunis and Algiers, and to his contribution to the War of 1812, both as a prisoner negotiator with the British and as a war department secretary. He wrote the bulk of the letters (35) to his wife Frances Dandridge Henley Lear; these contain lengthy discussions of his personal and professional life. Of particular importance is Lear's contemporary account of the illness and death of George Washington.

The first six items relate to Lear's connection with George Washington, including a letter to Washington concerning generals St. Clair and Knox in Philadelphia, and payments for living expenses received by Lear from the United States Treasury. Of note is a record of Lear's eyewitness account of Washington’s death, which provides details on Washington suffering from “the croup,” the doctor's bleeding treatment, and Washington’s last words (between 10 and 11 p.m. on December 14, 1799). Also of note is a letter from Thomas Dobson of Philadelphia concerning the publication of a biography of Washington.

The collection contains one item from Lear's appointment as consul to Saint Domingue, in which he described an uprising against Toussaint L'Ouverture to Secretary of State James Madison (October 27, 1801).

Thirty-nine items relate to Lear's activities as consul general to the Barbary States, including many lengthy letters to his wife describing the negotiations for ransom and Mediterranean trade rights. Lear's negotiations with the Bashaw of Tripoli resulted in the release of some 300 Americans imprisoned as a result of the capture of the frigate Philadelphia. The items dated 1807 give an account of Lear's successful negotiations with the Bey of Tunis.

• July 14, 1803: Copies of letters from James Madison to James Leander Cathcart and Richard O'Brien dealing with affairs between the United States and Barbary potentates: the Bey of Tunis, the Dey of Algiers, and the Pasha of Tripoli
• July 16, 1803 and June 9, 1804: Contemporary copies of letters from Thomas Jefferson to the Dey of Algiers, appointing Lear as consul general
• January 1-17, 1804: A 36-page journal describing the negotiation process in Algiers as well as Algerian food, culture, and customs
• May 1, 1804: "Directions for the Captains of merchant vessels; or vessels bringing the Annuities from the United States to Algiers"
• June 1804: President Thomas Jefferson to Mustapha Pacha, Dey of the City and Regency of Algiers
• August 4, 1804: Orders from Edward Preble concerning Commodore Stephen Decatur and William Bainbridge
• [1804]: Instructions for American ships of war to follow when approaching Algiers
• June 4, 1805: Copy of the "Treaty of Peace and Amity" between the United States and the Pasha of Tripoli
• December 31, 1805-June 28, 1806: Letters among Jefferson, Madison, and Sidi Suliman Melli Melli concerning relations with Tripoli
• May 30 and September 7, 1807: Letter from James Madison to Tobias Lear concerning the settlement with Algiers, the Chesapeake Affair, and poor relations with Britain
• August 8, 1812: Letter from Lear to Charles D. Coxe concerning the state of the Mediterranean and being expelled from Algiers

Twenty-seven items relate to the events surrounding Lear's mission to Plattsburg, New York, for a prisoner exchange with the British during the War of 1812. The exchange was largely negotiated between United States Brigadier General William Winder, George Prevost, and British Colonel Edward Baynes, with Lear present to ratify the agreement. United States Army officer Christopher Van Deventer (1788-1838) was among the hostages released. Present are letters from Commissary General of Prisoners General John Mason, Secretary of State James Monroe, and British Commissioner Thomas Barclay, concerning the prisoner negotiations. Included are lists of the American officers and militia men captured at Detroit, a list of the British soldiers held by the United States, and a memorandum of Lear's expenses incurred during the mission. Also of interest is the letter from Lear to his wife describing a trip by steamboat to Albany (July 4, 1814).

Correspondence written in 1815 and 1816 includes 19 letters dealing with settlement of War of 1812 officers' accounts, most to Robert Brent of the War Department, and letters to his wife relating information on his life in Washington and about news of family and friends. The sole letter written after Lear's death concerns his son Benjamin Lincoln Lear's portion of his father's estate (March 21, 1817).

In addition to the letters and journal are two engravings accompanying the letter from August 4, 1804. One shows both sides of the "Preble Medal" (1804), and the other is a portrait of United States Navy officer Edward Preble (1761-1807), engraved by T. Kelly (undated).

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.

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.

The Turner-Harlan family papers are made up of correspondence, legal and financial documents, photographs, scrapbooks, genealogical information, and other materials spanning multiple generations of the Turner and Harlan families of Newport, Rhode Island, and Maryland. The collection particularly regards US Navy Surgeon Dr. William Turner (1775-1837), Commodore Peter Turner (1803-1871), Hettie Foster Harlan née Turner (1850-1937), and their relations.

Collection Scope and Content Note:

The Turner-Harlan family papers are made up of correspondence, legal and financial documents, photographs, scrapbooks, genealogical information, and other materials spanning multiple generations of the Turner and Harlan families of Newport, Rhode Island, and Maryland. The collection particularly regards US Navy Surgeon Dr. William Turner (1775-1837), Commodore Peter Turner (1803-1871), Hettie Foster Harlan née Turner (1850-1937), and their relations. The papers are arranged into five series: Turner Family Papers, Harlan Family Papers, Photographs, Printed Materials, and Turner-Harlan genealogical papers

The Turner Family Papers seriesconsists of 112 letters to and from members of the Turner family and their associates, five log books, and assorted ephemera, with most items dating between 1790 and 1860.

The Turner family Correspondence and Documents subseries contains 112 incoming and outgoing letters and documents of members of the Turner family between 1749 and 1871 (bulk 1799-1840s).

The largest coherent groups within this subseries are 40 letters and documents of Dr. William Turner (1775-1837), revolving largely around his military and medical careers between 1799 and 1837; and 49 letters and documents of Peter Turner (1803-1871), most of them letters to his parents while in naval training and service, 1820-1844. Selected examples from William Turner's manuscripts include:

• August 2 and 13, 1752, letter by William Turner (1712/13-1754) to his father, written with mirrored lettering. He discussed his fears of small pox in Newark; the tremor in his right hand, which forces him to write with his left; and a 30-pound debt.
• Christopher R. Perry's appointment of William Turner (1775-1837) as chief surgeon of the frigate General Greene, August 31, 1799.
• An October 10, 1799, letter by Dr. William Turner from Cap François, Saint-Domingue, in which he relates Captain Perry's description of Toussaint Louverture.
• A September 20, 1800, letter by Dr. Turner defending his assessment and actions relating to a yellow fever outbreak originating from the General Greene on its arrival in Newport, Rhode Island.
• Oliver Hazard Perry ALS to his mother, ca. 1807-1808, informing her of the death of Benjamin Turner, who was killed in a duel over an argument about Shakespeare's plays.
• A letter from Henry Fry respecting the personal effects of Dr. Peter Turner, who died of wounds sustained at Plattsburgh (October 17, 1813).
• Three letters to Hettie Foster Turner from siblings Lillie and George Turner relate information about the health of family members in E. Greenwich, Rhode Island. One of these letters is dated October 18, 1813, the others are undated.
• William Turner's December 23, 1814, letter to General Thomas Cushing, explaining that one condition of his current appointment must be permission to continue his private practice while also tending to garrison duty.
• Three manuscript Portsmouth Marine Barracks countersign-watchword documents from August 22 and 24, and October 31, 1849. The August 24, 1849, countersign "Revolution" matched watchword "Cuba."
• Family letters of Henry E. Turner, William C. Turner, George Turner, and others

The 49 letters and documents of Peter Turner are largely comprised of correspondence with his parents. Turner wrote as a midshipman aboard vessels in the West Indian and Mediterranean squadrons during the 1820s. He sent his most robust letters from Rio de Janeiro on July 10, 1826, and aboard the US Ship Falmouth on a voyage to Vera Cruz in 1828. Turner met the Erie at Vera Cruz, expecting to find his brother William C. Turner aboard, but the sibling had been left at Pensacola for unspecified reasons. Peter Turner received the disconcerting news of the death of a family member and wrote about his distress at not being able to return home. He updated his parents as he traveled to Pensacola and then the Navy Yard at Charleston, South Carolina. Later in 1828, he joined the US Ship Hornet on a voyage to Brooklyn; yellow fever took the lives of three midshipmen on the trip (November 19, 1828).

From 1828 to 1829, Peter Turner wrote from Brooklyn, where he became an officer in March 1829. The remainder of Peter Turner's correspondence and documents are scattered, including for example:

• A May 4, 1828, letter respecting the estate of Dr. William Turner of Newport, Rhode Island.
• A May 11, 1844, letter by Peter Turner from Rio de Janeiro on stationery bearing an engraved view of the "Praca do Commercio" [Praça do Comércio] by Friedrich Pustkow.
• A letter to Turner respecting a check for $25, which was bequeathed to Turner from commodore Uriah P. Levy, December 1862.
• Three letters and documents respecting the transfer of ownership for pew 83 in Trinity Church, Newport, Rhode Island, in January 1862.
• Two documents regarding $1,387 owed to the estate of William Mathews by the US Naval Asylum in June 1863.

The Turner family Logbooks subseries includes five log books from three different United States Navy vessels:

• US Schooner Nonsuch, August 8, 1821-May 19, 1823. Daniel Turner commanded this vessel on its voyage from the New York Navy Yard to Port Mahon [Minorca] and subsequent service in the Mediterranean. The volume includes five watercolor coastal profiles or views (Corsica, Cape St. Vincent, Milo, and Corvo).
• US Schooner Nonsuch, September 9, 1824-December 14, 1824. Daniel Turner, commanded this ship from Palermo Bay, south along the African coastline, past the Canary Islands, and to the Navy Yard at New York.
• US Schooner Nonsuch, November 1, 1824-December 3, 1824; December 11, 1826-December 31, 1826. The remainder of the volume contains illustrated mathematical propositions related to conic sections and spherical geometry.
• US Schooner Shark, August 5, 1827-October 24, 1827. Isaac McKeever served as commander of the Shark during this voyage from the coast of Nova Scotia to the United States Naval Seminary at the New York Navy Yard. The remainder of the book, beginning at the opposite cover, is comprised of question and answer format essays on aspects of seamanship. The author was an unidentified individual at the Naval Seminary. The essays are followed by a celestial map.
• US Ship Southampton, December 15, 1850-October 31, 1851. Lieutenant Peter Turner commanded the Southampton during the ship's December 30, 1850-October 31, 1851, voyage. The ship set sail from the Brooklyn Navy Yard, traveled around Cape Horn, and arrived at San Francisco harbor.

The remainder of the Turner family series includes miscellaneous writings and cards. The three pieces of writing include a recipe for "Dr. King's Diarrhoea Mixture" (undated); a note from "Daughter" to her mother, secretly pleading with her to change the daughter's teacher (undated), and "Lines on the Death of Miss Martha Turner" (September 17, 1870). Five calling and visiting cards date from the 1850s to the late 19th century.

The Harlan Family Papers series includes approximately 250 items relating to the lives of the Harlan family. The series includes correspondence, legal and financial papers, and scrapbooks.

The Harlan family Correspondence subseries contains 45 letters to and from members of the Harlan family, 1846-1925, with the bulk of the materials falling between the 1880s and the 1910s. A majority concerns the everyday lives of the Henry and Hettie (Turner) Harlan family, including their siblings and children. The most prevalent writers and recipients include Hettie's brother James Turner Harlan of Philadelphia; William H. Harlan of the law firm of Harlan & Webster in Bel Air, Maryland; and Hettie's aunt Ada H. Turner.

One item of particular interest is a letter from "David" [Harlan?] to Henry Harlan, dated August 12-14, [1846], and written aboard the US Steamship Princeton (during the US-Mexico War). David summarized and speculated about current political matters, including tensions relating to the ousting of President Salinas, the assumption of the presidency by Paredes, and the anticipation of the return of Santa Anna. He also provided a lengthy anecdote about the laborious process of loading sheep and cattle from the shores of Sacrificios onto the Princeton.

The Harlan family Legal and Financial documents subseries contains 165 items, dating primarily between 1815 and 1924, and consisting of land deeds and contracts, estate-related materials, and assorted receipts, accounts, checks, and other financial materials. The bulk of the real property referred to in the documentation was in Harford County, Maryland.

One bundle of 21 telegrams, manuscript notes, and newspaper clippings trace the April 1902 Disappearance and Suicide of James V. P. Turner, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer and son of Commodore Peter Turner.

A group of 12 miscellaneous Writings, Cards, and Invitations date from the 1870s to the 20th century. These include 1877 New Year's resolutions by Hettie F. Turner; an 1886 "Journal of Jimmie & Pansie Harlan's Doings and sayings" [By Hettie Foster Turner Harlan?]; a handwritten program for Darlington Academy commencement entertainments, June 18, 1897; and a typed graduation speech titled "We Launch To-night! Where Shall We Anchor?" ([James T. Harlan?], Darlington Academy, class of 1899).

The Photographs series includes six cyanotypes, three cartes-de-visite, four snapshots and paper prints, and three negatives depicting members of the Turner and Harlan families. The CDVs are portraits of Commodore Peter Turner (unidentified photographer), a 16 year-old Henry Harlan (by Richard Walzl of Baltimore), and Hettie Foster Turner Harlan in secondary mourning attire (by Philadelphia photographers Broadbent & Phillips). The cyanotypes, prints, and negatives include 1890s-1910s images of the family's Strawberry Hill estate, Henry and Hettie Harlan, "Pansy" (Hettie F. Harlan), and other family members.

The Scrapbook subseries is comprised of six scrapbooks relating to different elements of the Harlan family.

• "Old Harlan Papers" scrapbook, 1750-late 19th century, bulk 1810s-1840s. Includes 19th century copies of 18th century land documents. Land documents, property maps, and other legal documentation largely respecting Harford County, Maryland, lands. The real property includes "Durbin's Chance," "Betty's Lot," "Stump's Chance," and other properties. The original and copied manuscripts are pasted or laid into a picture cut-out scrapbook belonging to Peter Smith, ca. 1960s (Smith may or may not have been the compiler of the "Old Harlan Papers").
• Harlan Family scrapbook, March 21, 1793-[20th century]. This volume includes land deeds, contracts, documents, letters, printed items, and genealogical materials related to multiple generations of the Harlan family, particularly in Maryland. Of note is a March 6, 1835, legal agreement respecting the sale of Emory, a 17-year old slave, by Anne Page to Dr. David Harlan, Kent County, Maryland.
• Harlan Family scrapbook, "Furniture References," 1860s-1960s, bulk 1890s-1920s. This volume contains interior and exterior photographs of the Harlans' "Strawberry Hill" farm near Stafford, Maryland. Some of these photographs include notes about the furniture depicted in them. Other significant materials include approximately 15 letters by Hettie F. Harlan, James V. P. Harlan, and others, 1898-1902.; and an 1864 "Great Central Fair" committee ticket for Hettie F. Turner (a "Lady's Ticket"), accompanied by a tintype portrait of two women.
• James T. Harlan, "Photographs" album, 1906-1913, 1948-1949. Harford and Baltimore County, Maryland. Interiors and Exteriors of Harlan and Stump family homes; travel photos to Perry Point (Perryville), Maryland, in 1910. 1909/1910 motorcycles, 1906, 1909, and 1910 snapshots from the Baltimore Automobile Show; a 1911 trip to Newport, Rhode Island; ca. 1905-1907 trip to Druid Hill Park; snapshots of James T. Harlan's Baltimore office, National Surety Company of New York.
• Cleveland Commission for the celebration of the Centennial of Perry's Victory on Lake Erie (Perry Centennial Committee of Cleveland, Ohio) scrapbook, 1913. Newspaper clippings, correspondence, real photo and picture postcards, a printed program "The Progress of Woman" (September 16, 1913); printed invitation card for a reception held by the "Committee on Women's Organizations of the Cleveland Commission Perry's Victory Centennial" September 15, 1913); mounted paper portrait photograph of William G. Turner, 1902.
• Handmade album titled "Harford" by an unidentified compiler. Through pasted-in postcards, snapshots, verses from newspaper clippings, and plant matter, the unidentified compiler documented their sentimental attachment for scenes and people in Harford County, Maryland (particularly Stafford and Darlington).

The Printed Materials series includes:

• Approximately 20 newspaper clippings (19th-early 20th century) and a single copy of the newspaper Public Ledger (v. 1, no. 1; Philadelphia, Friday Morning, March 25, 1836).
• In Memory of Elizabeth Dale, Widow of Admiral George C. Read, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia, 1863).
• Henry E. Turner, M.D., Greenes of Warwick in Colonial History. Read Before the Rhode Island Historical Society, February 27, 1877 (Newport, RI, 1877).
• [The Quaker Calendar], Westtown 1907 (Philadelphia: Printed by Leeds & Biddle Co. [incomplete]).
• University of Maryland Annual Commencement. Academy of Music. Monday Afternoon, May Thirty-First at Four O'Clock (1909)
• William Jarboe Grove, Carrollton Manor Frederick Country Maryland. By William Jarboe Grove, Lime Kiln, Maryland., March 29th, 1921 (198 pages [incomplete]).
• Charles D. Holland, Some Landmarks of Colonial History in Harford County, Maryland (Baltimore, 1933).
• "Commodores Belt of Blue Cloth and Gold Embroidery." Addressed to Commodore Peter Turner from the Navy Department. One page, showing design for a commodore's belt and sword sling, and including a manuscript notation "This is correct" (undated).
• One page "prayer."

The Turner-Harlan Genealogy series consists of a wide array of materials relating to genealogical research of the Turner-Harlan families. Items include handwritten family trees, familial biographies, and professionally-produced genealogical items. Also included are 20th century Harlan family newsletters.

The Turner-Whiton papers contain correspondence, financial records, legal documents, essays, and newspaper clippings pertaining to T. Larkin Turner, a druggist from Boston, Massachusetts, and his wife, Elizabeth D. Whiton. The material primarily concerns the couple's courtship and two of Turner's pharmaceutical products.

This collection contains correspondence, financial records, legal documents, essays, and newspaper clippings pertaining to T. Larkin Turner, a druggist from Boston, Massachusetts, and his wife, Elizabeth D. Whiton. The material primarily concerns the couple's courtship and two of Turner's pharmaceutical products.

The first three subseries in the Correspondence series are grouped by correspondents: Elizabeth Whiton letters to T. Larkin Turner (122 items), Letters to Elizabeth Whiton (121 items), and T. Larkin Turner letters to Elizabeth Whiton (12 items). These subseries are comprised of personal letters written in the mid-19th century, primarily concerning the writers' social lives in Hingham, Charlestown, and Boston, Massachusetts. Elizabeth Whiton's correspondents included her siblings and female friends.

The Letters from H. subseries contains 43 letters that a man named Henry and his wife Marie wrote to his parents while traveling in Italy, France, England, and Germany in 1884 and 1885. Henry wrote the majority of the letters, commented on his life in Venice, Paris, and London, and mentioned a recent cholera epidemic. The subseries also includes a ticket and printed advertisement in French.

The Chronological Correspondence subseries comprises the bulk of the collection. The first 2 items are letters from Reverend Sherman Johnson of Southborough, Massachusetts, to a female acquaintance. Most items from 1833-1880 are personal letters to T. Larkin Turner and Elizabeth D. Whiton (later Elizabeth Turner), including their letters to one another during their courtship (ca. 1837-1843) and later letters from a branch of the Turner family in Lexington, Massachusetts. The courtship-era letters primarily concern Turner and Whiton's daily lives in Boston and Hingham, Massachusetts, respectively. Elizabeth Whiton also received letters from male and female friends in New England and New York, particularly in Charlestown and Boston, Massachusetts.

T. Larkin Turner received letters from several correspondents, including George R. Turner, who wrote a series of letters to Turner about his work for a Massachusetts railroad in 1847 and 1848. He commented on his in-state travels, his co-workers, and the railroad's progress. George W. Prescott of the United States Navy Yard in Pensacola, Florida, wrote personal letters to Turner from 1877-1883. Undated items include additional correspondence between Turner and Whiton and genealogical notes about the Turner family.

Advertisements include printed booklets, fliers, and other advertisements for T. Larkin Turner's medical cures, particularly the "Tic-Douloureux, or Universal Neuralgia Pill" and "Lorraine's Vegetable Cathartic Pills." Manuscript drafts of advertisements are also present. Other clippings are articles on medical conditions such as neuralgia, on Turner's pills, and on other medical topics.

A group of papers related to Turner's Nostrums contains manuscript drafted advertisements and notes about T. Larkin Turner's "Tic-Douloureux, or Universal Neuralgia Pill" and other products. Two lengthy manuscript drafts concern the neuralgia pill and a cure for menstrual discomfort. Notes concern various medical conditions and the importance of sleep, among other topics.

The Receipts and Documents series primarily contains receipts to Captain Larkin Turner and T. Larkin Turner, largely for everyday personal expenses. T. Larkin Turner also purchased a newspaper subscription and hired a horse and buggy on at least one occasion. Indentures and similar legal documents primarily pertain to land in Massachusetts.

The Muster Roll/Town Roster series contains two items: a booklet with names of Boston residents and other annotations, and a booklet containing copied information from a 1757 muster roll.

The Genealogy series has notes and fragments about the Whiton, Turner, and Whitney families, as well as poetry, essays, correspondence, and receipts of payment for copied documents.

T. Larkin Turner composed a 94-page Memorative of Larkin Turner, his father, on the backs of assorted documents, scraps, and ephemera items. The bound volume, the first in a series, covers Larkin's life until about 1812.

Additional Newspaper Clippings pertain to deaths, marriages, and the Fusilier Veteran Association.

The Miscellaneous series contains ephemera, sketches, a lock of Turner's hair, a Tufts library card for "Russell H. Whiting," and other items.

This collection is made up of correspondence and financial records related to vessels of the United States Revenue Cutter Service, United States Navy, and United States Merchant Marine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

This collection is made up of correspondence and financial records related to vessels active in the United States Revenue Cutter Service, United States Navy, and United States Merchant Marine in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The materials relate to crews' wages, ships' cargoes and expenses, cutter construction, privateering, and other subjects. See the Detailed Box and Folder Listing for more information about each item.

The donor has collected, arranged, transcribed, and annotated each document and has written a well-researched collection description.