Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

The Green-Mitchell family papers are made up of correspondence, legal documents, receipts, and other financial records pertaining to the business and personal affairs of New York attorneys Timothy Green and John W. Mitchell (Timothy Green's son-in-law). Much of the collection pertains to mercantile affairs and land speculation in the South, Northeast and Western United States. A large portion of the collection pertains to South Carolina (Charleston), New York, and Massachusetts (Worcester). The Manuscripts Division has also created an inventory of the letter-writers in the collection: Green-Mitchell Family Papers Correspondent Inventory.

The Green-Mitchell family papers are made up of correspondence, legal documents, receipts, and other financial records pertaining to the business and personal affairs of New York attorneys Timothy Green and John W. Mitchell (Timothy Green's son-in-law). Much of the collection pertains to mercantile affairs and land speculation in the South, Northeast and Western United States. A large portion of the collection pertains to South Carolina (Charleston), New York, and Massachusetts (Worcester).

The Correspondence series contains 1,470 letters to and from members of the Green and Mitchell families between June 26, 1780 and October 1, 1880. Four hundred and sixteen incoming letters to Timothy Green date between 1780, and 1812. He received the bulk of them from family members, business partners, and clients in South Carolina, New York, and Worcester, Massachusetts. Timothy's brother, Samuel Green, a prominent merchant in Columbia, South Carolina, was among his most frequent correspondents. The collection includes 160 letters by Timothy Green, primarily sent from New York. Timothy Green's correspondence comprises the bulk of the collection's materials related to land speculation.

John W. Mitchell received 540 letters, approximately a third of the series, between 1806 and 1880. His primary correspondents wrote from Charleston, South Carolina; Fort Wayne, Indiana; and New York. The subject matter represented in these letters is diverse, pertaining to business and personal affairs, and the Episcopal Church. Other frequent writers include Timothy Ruggles Green, Clarence G. Mitchell, Samuel Green, and Judge Peter P. Bailey, founder of Trinity Episcopal Church in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The Legal Documents series relates to estates administration and 48 legal suits in which the Green and Mitchell families were involved, either as attorneys or as parties to a suit. Materials for some of these cases are extensive and others include only a few pages. The cases comprising much of the series are Conklin v. Mitchell and Davis v. Duffie. Conklin v. Mitchell (New York, 1852-57) pertains to a land dispute between George Conklin and defendant John W. Mitchell. Davis v. Duffie (New York, 1825-1861) concerns charges brought against Smith Davis for fraud and a related mortgage taken out by Cornelius R. Duffie. John W. Mitchell and Clarence G. Mitchell defended Duffie.

Five certificates document commissions held by John W. Mitchell and Clarence G. Mitchell. Additional legal papers include insurance policies, powers of attorney, deeds, civil actions, summonses, depositions, agreements, and other items compiled by Timothy Green and John W. Mitchell in carrying out their work as attorneys.

The Financial Documents series contains 143 receipts, checks, bank notes, accounts, and other financial records dating from 1785-1874. Timothy Green compiled 11 summaries of accounts, representing a portion of his business transactions between 1787 and 1809.

Printed materials include a quarterly chronicle for the Mission to the Working Men of Paris (1877), two monthly bulletins for the Charity Organization Society in New York (1884), a notice of sale, and a cover page from the book One Day With Whistler.

Miscellaneous materials include two items: a partially-printed report card for Clarence G. Mitchell at the Episcopal Institute at Troy, New York, in 1837, and a genealogical document concerning the Boudinot family of Philadelphia.

The Manuscripts Division has also created an inventory of the letter-writers in the collection: Green-Mitchell Family Papers Correspondent Inventory.

The James McHenry papers contain correspondence and documents related to the political career of James McHenry. The majority of the materials pertain to his tenure as Secretary of War from 1796 to 1800. In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a full list of letter-writers in the James McHenry papers: James McHenry Contributor List.

The James McHenry papers contain over 800 items related the life and career of James McHenry. Included in the materials are approximately 670 letters and 106 documents, primarily related to McHenry's political career, as well as financial records and miscellaneous documents, including poetry and genealogical materials. The majority of the correspondence and documents are drafts or retained manuscript copies.

The Correspondence and Documents series spans 1777-1832, with the bulk of materials concentrated around 1796 to 1803. The first box of the collection contains documents and correspondence related to McHenry's service in the Revolutionary War, including correspondence with Sir Henry Clinton, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton. The materials include a draft of a letter to British general Henry Clinton regarding his military failures, written in McHenry's hand but signed "Z" (October 26, 1779), as well as a copy of a letter allegedly written by Clinton to Lord George Germain, which McHenry sent to Samuel Louden of the New York Packet to be published (March 24, 1780). The postwar materials in the collection pertain to McHenry's tenure as a Maryland statesman. Along with documents related to McHenry's political career during those years is a letter dated August 13, 1794, which relates news of the massacre of French colonists at Fort Dauphin in Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), led by Jean-François, an important figure in the Haitian Revolution.

The bulk of the collection, representing 1796 to 1803, documents McHenry's tenure as secretary of war under presidents Washington and Adams. The correspondence and documents relate to military structures, provisions, international relations, treaties, politics, and relations with Native American tribes. The collection contains frequent correspondence with other cabinet members and politicians, including Secretary of State Timothy Pickering and Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott as well as President George Washington, John Adams, and the Marquis de Lafayette. McHenry served as secretary of war during the Quasi-War with France and, as a staunch Federalist, favored positive relations with Britain over France. A large portion of the correspondence during this period relates to the ongoing feud with that country. A letter from James Winchester to McHenry describes the suspicion with which the Federalists regarded Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans, who favored closer relations with France: "…tho' they will not openly shew at this time their predilection for France, they will discover it in the first calamitous event which may happen to our Country. Depend on it they are not to be trusted. I speak of the party here" (April 18, 1789). Several months later McHenry wrote in an unaddressed letter draft that he believed the President should recommend a declaration of war with France to Congress. He also expressed his concerns over "a faction within the country constantly on the watch and ready to seize upon every act of the Executive which may be converted into an engine to disaffect the people to the government" (November 25, 1798).

In addition to national and international politics, many of the items relate to U.S. relations with Native American tribes, including the Creek, Chickasaw, and Miami. The materials frequently concern attempts to maintain peace and create treaties with the tribes, as well as to prevent them from giving their loyalty to other countries, such as Britain, France, or Spain. Box 2 contains a copy of a "Talk of the Chickasaw Chiefs at the Bluffs represented by Wolf's Friend, Ugalayacabé" regarding the tribe's concerns about the Americans: "Tell me if I may return to my Nation to appease the tumult of their minds. Shall I tell them the talk of the Americans is falsehood? Shall I assure our warriors our children and our women that your flag will always wave over our land, or tell them to prepare to die?" [1797]. This box also contains a small series of letters from General Anthony Wayne, written from his headquarters in Detroit, where he was stationed before his death, after successfully leading U.S. troops in the Northwest Indian War (August 29 to October 3, 1796). After the war, Miami Chief Little Turtle, became a proponent of friendly relations with the Americans. McHenry wrote to him upon his resignation as secretary of war, thanking him for his friendship: "…I shall carry with me the remembrance of your fidelity, your good sense, your honest regard for your own people, your sensibility and eloquent discourse in their favour, and what is precious to me as an individual, a belief that I shall always retain your friendship" (May 30, 1800). Other documents include an extract of a letter from Major Thomas Cushing to Brigadier General James Wilkinson, writing that he had given gifts to the Native Americans in order to prevent them from siding with the Spanish at New Orleans, who were attempting to win their favor (February 15, 1800).

Boxes 6 through 8 contain correspondence and documents written after McHenry's resignation as secretary of war at the end of May 1800. Though he retired from politics, his letters document that he maintained a keen interest in domestic and international issues. Senator Uriah Tracy wrote regular letters to McHenry in February 1801, keeping him up-to-date on the daily events regarding the presidential election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr. After the election, McHenry wrote a letter to U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands William Vans Murray, in which he discussed the election and why public opinion had shifted from the Federalists to Jefferson: "I still am of opinion, that we should have gained nothing by the election of Mr. Burr, could it have been accomplished by federal means. The general sentiment is so strong and ardent for Mr. Jefferson, that experience alone can correct it" (February 23, 1801). This section of correspondence also contains a draft of a letter to the speaker of the House of Representatives containing McHenry's defense against charges brought against him regarding disbursements while secretary of war (December 22, 1802), as well as his opinions of current political happenings, including the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, and the Embargo Act of 1807. Several of the letters written during this period also relate to McHenry's low opinion of John Adams, who forced him out of office. In a series of letters exchanged by McHenry and Oliver Wolcott in 1800, McHenry described his anger regarding Adams, and expressed regret that Adams remained in office after George Washington left. Over ten years later, McHenry wrote a letter to Timothy Pickering, responding to a series of memoirs Adams had printed in the Boston Patriot . He accused Adams of making significant errors and misrepresentations, and mused, "How many recollections have these puerile letters awakened. Still in his own opinion, the greatest man of the age. I see he will carry with him to the grave, his vanity, his weaknesses and follies, specimens of which we have so often witnessed and always endeavored to veil from the public" (February 23, 1811).

The Bound Items series consists of a diary, a published book of letters, a book of U.S. Army regulations, an account book, and a book of poetry. McHenry kept the diary from June 18 to July 24, 1778, beginning it at Valley Forge. It contains accounts of daily events, intelligence, orders, the Battle of Monmouth, and the march of Washington's army to White Plains, New York. The 1931 book, entitled Letters of James McHenry to Governor Thomas Sim Lee is the correspondence written by James McHenry to Maryland governor Thomas Sim Lee during the 1781 Yorktown Campaign. The book of army regulations spans ca. 1797-1798, while the account book covers 1816-1824. The book of poetry is handwritten but undated and unsigned.

In addition to this finding aid, the Clements Library has created a full list of letter-writers in the James McHenry papers: James McHenry Contributor List.

The Phoenix family papers contain correspondence and documents relating to the firm Phoenix, Ingraham & Nixon and its failure in 1811, resulting in Alexander Phoenix's imprisonment for debt. They also include 11 letters from Harriet Beecher to Elizabeth Phoenix, dating to the late 1820s and 1830s.

The Phoenix family papers consist of 67 letters, 32 legal documents, 10 financial records and receipts, 2 drawings of land lots, and a printed bill. The materials span 1776-1884, though the bulk centers on the periods between 1808 and 1814, and 1826 and 1833. Early letters and documents relate primarily to the firm Phoenix, Ingraham, & Nixon. They include a letter from Alexander Hamilton to Nathaniel G. Ingraham, denying him financial assistance because of other obligations (March 5, 1801); the firm's articles of agreement (February 15, 1803); and 27 letters written by Nathaniel Ingraham to Alexander Phoenix concerning business acquaintances and hardships faced by the company, and its eventual bankruptcy (1810-1811). A document of October 11, 1811, gives a full account of the firm's losses.

Between November 1811 and March 1813, nearly all of the 20 letters and documents relate to attempts to free Phoenix from debtors' prison; his attorney, Silvanus Miller, wrote many of them. Also of interest is a manuscript, dated November 1811, containing copied extracts from letters by Phoenix during his imprisonment. In several of the letters, he criticized Albert Gallatin, the Secretary of the Treasury, and discussed other political matters. A copy of a congressional act of March 3, 1813, documents the release of Phoenix and several associates.

Of note is a series of 11 letters written to Phoenix's daughter, Elizabeth, by a young Harriet Beecher in the late 1820s and early 1830s. Many of the letters are undated, but can be traced to this period based on their postmarks. Beecher and Phoenix had been schoolmates at Hartford Female Seminary around 1823, and in her letters, Beecher frequently reminisced about their time at the school, including how strange she must have seemed to the other girls, and discussed mutual friends. Much of Beecher's correspondence is very introspective in nature, and consists of her religious and philosophical thoughts, including a recommendation that Phoenix read the works of Joseph Butler in order to develop her argumentation. Several of the later letters include postscripts written by Catharine Beecher, Elizabeth's teacher in Hartford. A letter of June 11, 1833, mentions their plans to open a "small school" in Cincinnati, where they had moved with their father, Lyman Beecher. Overall, the letters shed light on Harriet Beecher's intellectual and religious development during her young adulthood.

Several items postdate 1836; two of these relate to the estates of Alexander Phoenix and Shearjushub Bourne, a relative of Edgar Ketchum. Two other documents, located in the "Miscellany" series, illustrate land lots.