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This collection contains correspondence, documents, newspaper clippings, and other items pertaining to the personal and financial affairs of actor Edwin Forrest, his close friend James Lawson, and members of the Lawson family.

This collection (1 linear foot) contains correspondence, documents, newspaper clippings, and other items pertaining to the personal and financial affairs of actor Edwin Forrest, his close friend James Lawson, and members of the Lawson family.

The Correspondence series (268 items) largely consists of personal correspondence between Edwin Forrest and James Lawson. Forrest discussed his theatrical career and his travels in the United States, England, and Ireland; Lawson provided financial and personal advice, sometimes regarding Forrest's marital difficulties. Few of the letters from the Civil War period mention the conflict; in one letter to Lawson, Forrest commented on the possibility of reconciliation between the North and South. After 1865, Forrest's letters focus primarily on his declining health, though he continued to travel into the 1870s. Catherine Forrest also wrote occasionally to James Lawson about finances.

The series also contains letters that James Lawson wrote to his daughter Nellie after Edwin Forrest's death, as well as other Lawson family correspondence. James Lawson's letter of August 10, 1885, describes a funeral procession honoring Ulysses S. Grant. Others wrote about family news and deaths.

An undated Speech (21 pages), unsigned and delivered to an unidentified audience, concerns the history of Yonkers, [New York].

The Legal and Financial Documents series (33 items) contains accounts, an account book, receipts, insurance records, legal documents, and legislative resolutions related to the financial affairs of Edwin Forrest and James Lawson. Some items pertain to real estate transactions between Edwin Forrest and a religious group, and others concern the establishment of the Edwin Forrest Home. A series of legislative resolutions and a group of court records document disputes over Forrest's estate, sometimes involving his ex-wife, Catherine Norton Sinclair. An undated copy of James Lawson's will is also present.

The Photographs series (13 items) contains card photographs and cartes-de-visite of members of the Forrest and Lawson families. One item provides details about items present in Cornelia B. Lawson's home in Yonkers, New York.

Newspaper Clippings (44 items) include obituaries for members of the Lawson and Sandford families, articles about Edwin Forrest's theatrical career, and articles about disputes over Forrest's estate.

The Ephemera series (9 items) contains name cards, advertisements, the back part of a notepad with postage rates printed on it, a blank coloring page, and a printed map of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, marking several lots within the Blackwell estate.

Fragments (8 items) include manuscript notes about Lawson family genealogy and other subjects.

The James Spelman collection contains correspondence and documents related to the career and finances of Royal Navy officer James Spelman, who served onboard the HMS Ruby and HMS Monmouth during the early 18th century. Spelman corresponded with John Vanden Bempde, a wealthy relative who promoted Spelman's naval career and provided financial assistance. Later material concerns the Spelman family's debts and financial difficulties.

This collection is made up of 16 letters, 2 manuscript financial documents, 4 official documents, and 1 personal inventory related to Royal Navy officer James Spelman, who served onboard the HMS Ruby and HMS Monmouth during the early 18th century. The material concerns his early naval career, his financial affairs, and his family's later debts.

James Spelman wrote 7 letters to James Vanden Bempde, a wealthy relative in London, while serving onboard the Ruby along the English coast and in the Caribbean between 1701 and 1703. He described aspects of seafaring life such as his upcoming assignments, his attempts to study navigation, his opinion of his captain, and news of recent deaths, and also requested assistance in receiving a discharge or a transfer to a different vessel. Vanden Bempde received an additional letter from John Lucie Blackman, who thanked Vanden Bempde for recent assistance and agreed to look after Spelman (November 16, 1701). Other items related to Spelman's naval career from 1704-1710 include a form in which he requested a discharge, partially printed documents regarding the disbursement of his salary to James Vanden Bempde, and an inventory of Spelman's belongings in Portsmouth, England. Vanden Bempde also wrote to a patron about Spelman's salary and naval service. The printed documents bear seals and illustrations of the royal coat of arms and two additional crests.

Later items include correspondence concerning the Spelman family's debts and financial difficulties in 1723 and 1724. John Spelman wrote 3 letters in which he sought to uphold his brother's character, and E. Spelman sent 2 letters to John Vanden Bempde about the family's recent misfortunes.