Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa collection, 1772-1778
23 volumes
Please see the box and folder listing for more information about each volume in the collection.
23 volumes
Please see the box and folder listing for more information about each volume in the collection.
86 items (0.5 linear feet)
The Castries papers represents only a small portion of the original "archives" of the Maréchal. The core of the Castries Papers includes four major areas of interest:
1. The civil and military administration of French Caribbean colonies;
2. French participation in the American Revolution;
3. The 1784 trial to fix blame for the devastating defeat of the French Navy and the capture of Admiral de Grasse at the Battle of Saints Passage, 1782, and;
4. Royalist conspiracies against the French Republic during the 1790s.
The materials relating to French Caribbean colonies were collected by Castries in his capacity as Ministre de la Marine, a position that gave him some oversight of colonial affairs. Though undated, many of these documents appear to have been prepared in about 1783, and are perhaps related to negotiations at the Treaty of Paris or to the immediate outcome of that treaty. These documents include detailed descriptions of the French colonies in the Isles du Vent and Isles sous le Vent, with notes on administration, police, religious advancement, agriculture, trade, and defense.
Among the items from the period of the American revolution is an important document titled "Memoire en forme de Plan de la Campagne en Amerique dans l'année 1783 redigée par la Compte d'Estaing..." in which the author lays out a plan for global imperial conquest, beginning with the defeat of the British in North America. Also of great interest is the "Order à prendre du Roi, relativement à l'amérique Septentrionale," which contains an analysis of French military strategy in the Americas following Yorktown. A "Projet d'Arrêt du Conseil" of January, 1782, relates to reparations to the residents of Saint Eustatius for depredations committed there during its capture by British forces. Also present is the 1782 appointment of François Barbé de Marbois as consul in the United States.
The de Grasse trial materials contain an extensive body of records of the Conseil de Guerre Extraordinaire held at L'Orient, France, in 1784. These include a minute-by-minute reconstruction of the action at the Battle of Saints Passage (including manuscript maps, housed in the Map Division), interviews with French naval officers, manuscript and printed version of the findings of the Conseil with judgments against the naval officers (most were acquitted of any misconduct), and defenses written by the baron d'Arros d'Argelos and Pontèves-Gien to justify their conduct. All together, these comprise a thorough, though not quite complete documentation of the official inquiry into a major French naval defeat.
The 14 items relating to counterrevolutionary activity in the 1790s present a somewhat less complete picture than that for the de Grasse trial, but serve to indicate the breadth and depth of Castries' involvement in Royalist circles. These include letters from Royalists seeking assistance, documents outlining plans for a proposed invasion of the west coast of France, discussions of the possibility of Royalist forces capturing the colony of Saint Domingue and reestablishing it as a monarchy under Louis XVIII, and analyses of the potential for support among other European powers. Perhaps the most intriguing item in this part of the collection is a lengthy report from a British spy containing information on influential members of the French Directory with notes on whether they can be made useful to the Royalist cause.
The Castries papers are arranged chronologically. Eight maps entered as evidence at the Conseil de Guerre held at L'Orient have been transferred to the Maps Division.
7 items
This collection consists of seven documents and handwritten notes related to a slander suit filed with the New York Supreme Court in Montgomery County, February 1893. The complaint, filed by Elisabeth B. "Lizzie" Creigmus's attorneys, alleges that defendant Michael Youngs publically accused Creigmus of canine castration and bestiality. In the complaint dated February 10, 1893, Creigmus accused Youngs of speaking with malice "false, defamatory, and slanderous words." The document details the nature of the complaint in which Youngs, at Fort Hunter, New York, publicly speculated that Creigmus assisted in luring his dog into the house of a man name Nolter, encouraging the dog to have sexual intercourse with Nolter's female dog, and, then, proceeding to castrate the defendant's dog. Also contained within the complaint are allegations that Youngs accused Creigmus of having "sexual intercourse with a dog or dogs."
The primary documents present are:
3 items
This collection contains three documents related to a boundary dispute on the Nappan River, a tributary of the Maccan River-in the County of Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Canada. The lawsuit involved Captain George Adam Gmelin and Lieutenant Joseph Frederick Wallett DesBarres of the 60th Regiment of Foot. See the box and folder listing below for details about each item.
1 volume
The New Jersey Court Cases volume (140 pages) contains manuscript copies of legal documents related to cases heard by New Jersey courts in the mid-18th century. Cases represent a variety of legal issues, including debt, marriage age, land ownership, and criminal activity.
The volume, entitled "Entries. Vol. iv," pertains to cases representing a variety of legal disputes, most often between two parties. Most of the copied documents are recapitulations of cases argued before various state courts and indentures. Several examples copied from Giles Jacob's The Compleat Attorney's Practice are also present.
125 items
The Noah Phelps papers consist primarily of materials relating to Phelps' service as a Captain during the American Revolution. There are bills for "refreshment of his company," "victualing and Liquor," and lodgings for his troops and horses, as well as a few receipts relating to Capt. Elisha Phelps, Noah's brother. There is an abstract of payment to soldiers of Capt. Noah Phelps' Company of Light Horse in Major Bull's Regiment for August 1777, as well as requests that Phelps "put up the pork" in Simsbury, and return all guns and bayonets to Governor Trumbull of Connecticut. There are accounts of loads of flour carted from Sharon to Simsbury, and an account of the quantities of pork and beef bought by Phelps. There are also a couple documents concerning mutinous soldiers.
There are two notebooks kept by Phelps when he was a surveyor. One from 1772 lists his travel expenses, and the other is an undated notebook filled with measurements he took in the greater Simsbury area. Several documents concern complaints he heard as Justice of the Peace. There are also copies of court records, including the case of Hezekiah Phelps Viets, who was charged in 1779 by Charity Hills of Windsor for "begetting her with child in fornication." There is also a document signed by the proprietors of Victory, Vt., naming Col. Noah Phelps as their legal agent in 1784.
1 volume
P. H. Miller, Justice of the Peace for Warrick County, Indiana, maintained this docket book from 1869 to 1871 to record legal cases that came before him relating to debt, assault and battery, property disputes, and one case relating to mental illness. Additional financial documentation relating to the cases dates to 1887.
The bulk of the volume relates to debt, and most of the entries do not reveal the nature of the transactions between the parties. Those that do, however, reveal how local dry goods merchants, doctors, and laborers used the court system to recoup unpaid bills. Several include copies of bills, providing insight into services and goods being exchanged in the community. In one instance where the defendant fled the state to defraud his creditors, the court included an inventory of his holdings assessed to cover his debts (p.119). They also reveal the kinds of work happening in the community, from blacksmithing, making molasses, farming, brickmaking, and more.
A number of assault and battery cases are also documented, including several that involve plaintiffs and defendants from earlier legal disputes indicating escalating emotion and violence. At least one involved domestic violence, where Josephine Mischke accused August Mischke of hitting her with a horsewhip (pp. 137-139). August Mischke was later taken to court for abusing a horse, and appears periodically throughout the volume as a plaintiff bringing debt cases against patrons of his dry goods store for unpaid bills.
Several disputes over land and household goods like quilts, beds, and clocks are also recorded. The entry for State of Indiana vs. John A. Bristow documents the juried case that adjudged John A. Bristow was "insane and dangerous to community if suffered to remain at large," appointing Larkin Bristow "to take charge of him" (pp. 62-63).
Miller wrote marginal notations about associated fees. Throughout the volume, individuals signed to acknowledge receipt of the "Judgment in full," or loose receipts were pasted or laid in acknowledging payment.