Collections

This collection is made up of 11 letters addressed to Judge Robert Morris of New Brunswick, New Jersey, including 10 letters from his nephew, James Boggs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Boggs discussed Morris's financial affairs, the yellow fever epidemic, and his intention to join a military regiment raised in response to the Whiskey Rebellion.

This collection is made up of 11 letters addressed to Judge Robert Morris of New Brunswick, New Jersey. John Singer of Trenton, New Jersey, wrote a brief note to Morris about finances on January 19, 1786, and James Boggs wrote the remaining 10 letters to Morris, his uncle, between October 14, 1792, and October 2, 1795. Most of his letters relate to real property, the local rate of exchange, and miscellaneous financial and business transactions. His letter of August 25, 1793, refers to the recent emergence of yellow fever and Philadelphians' initial responses to the growing epidemic. In September 1794, Boggs wrote 2 letters about his intention to join a military regiment raised in response to the Whiskey Rebellion; though Boggs praised the generally enthusiastic response, he noted that "lower characters in life" were less likely to volunteer.

This collection is made up of autobiographical manuscripts, correspondence, documents, and family photograph albums related to James B. Pond, Sr. and Jr. Some of the items pertain to Pond's service during the Civil War and both father and son's lecture business.

This collection is made up of autobiographical manuscripts, correspondence, documents, and family photograph albums related to James B. Pond, Sr. and Jr. Some of the items pertain to Pond Sr.'s service during the Civil War and both father and son's lecture business.

The Pond Family Papers series includes one box containing miscellaneous correspondence ranging in date from 1896-1932, Civil War related material, autobiographical sketches, family photographs, and personal photograph albums.

The Civil War related material includes a few items relating to James Pond's Civil War service in the 3rd Wisconsin Cavalry, among which are a typescript of official reports relating to the massacre at Baxter Springs, Kansas, a printed poem on the massacre, and a printed notice of the death in the 1880s of William T. Brayton of the 3rd Cavalry. Pond also collected other reminiscences of the war, including an autobiographical account of Mrs. Horn, wife of a Missouri surgeon, which includes a description of Quantrill's raiders pillaging town and taking her husband prisoner, and a memoir of Edward P. Bridgman, a soldier in the 37th Massachusetts Infantry who served with John Brown in 1856, and may have known Pond.

More than half of this series consists of autobiographical manuscripts, parts of which, at least, were published as magazine articles. Most of these focus on his early years (prior to 1861) when he and his family were living a marginal existence in frontier Wisconsin and when he was a young man in search of a livelihood. The collection includes three major manuscripts, each present in several copies or versions, all of which are related to each other - "A Pioneer Boyhood," "The American Pioneer: My Life as a Boy," and "Pioneer Days" - plus there are less polished manuscripts of childhood and Civil War reminiscences. All appear to have been written initially in 1890, though some copies were apparently made several years later. In addition, there is an autobiographical sketch "How I got started in the Lecture Business" in which he describes his part in Anna Eliza Young's "apostatizing" and entering onto the lecture circuit.

The collection also contains 5 photograph albums. These volumes contain over 800 personal photographs taken between 1896 and 1902, including many pictures of family members at leisure both indoors and outdoors and Pond's business acquaintances from his lecture agency. Travel photographs include views of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as a group of pictures taken during a visit to England, Switzerland, and Germany in 1901. European items include a series of colored prints, located in Volume 4. The albums contain images of locomotives, railroad cars, and steamships. Volume 1 contains images of the inauguration of William McKinley and Volume 2 contains images of crowds gathered for a GAR parade in Buffalo, New York. Throughout the albums are glimpses of various lecture tours and clients including John Watson (Ian Maclaren) and Anthony Hope in Volume 2 and Francis Marion Crawford in Volume 3. Other notable figures include Sam Walter Foss and William Dean Howells in Volume 1, Charles W. Blair and Edward William Bok in Volume 3, and Sir Henry Morton Stanley, Charles William Stubbs, Robert Stawell Ball, Horace Porter, Frank Thomas Bullen, and Israel Zangwill in Volume 4. In addition to the albums, there are loose photographs of family, James B. Pond Jr., and the Adventurers' Club of New York. Oversized photographs are housed in Box 3.

The Pond Lecture Bureau Papers series consists of one box containing client files (arranged chronologically), loose photographs, and ephemera. Much of the content consists of correspondence between clients/prospective clients and photographs of clients (likely for promotional material). This series spans from 1877 to the 1940s covering periods of ownership from both James B. Pond, Sr. and Jr. Some of these clients are as follows: Henry Ward Beecher, Reverend Joseph Parker, Thomas DeWitt Talmage, Leon Pierre Blouet, Reverend John Watson (Ian Maclaren), William Winter, Edward Rickenbacker, Harry A. Franck, Gunnar Horn, Maurice Brown, and Major Radclyffe Dugmore. Unidentified oversized photographs and a scrapbook are housed in Box 3.

This collection contains 7 letters that James C. Anderson wrote to James G. Miller, a friend, after moving from Winchester, Virginia, to Washington, Louisiana, in the 1850s. Anderson discussed his journey from Winchester to Washington, and life in Louisiana.

This collection contains 7 letters that James C. Anderson wrote to James G. Miller, a friend, after moving from Winchester, Virginia, to Washington, Louisiana, in the 1850s. His first letter, dated January 20, 1850, recounts his journey to Louisiana via Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, taken primarily by steamboat. Anderson's remaining correspondence focuses on his life in and near Washington. He enjoyed life in the South, though he frequently reported missing friends from Virginia and often commented on the hazardous health conditions of a tropical climate. He wrote about women in Winchester and Washington, reminisced, and described the emotional impact of a recent yellow fever epidemic (October 5, 1853). Anderson's later letters focus on domestic life following his marriage in 1855, as well as on his planting ambitions for the year 1858.

The James Cheape letters collection contains correspondence from or concerning James Cheape, a naval student at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth, England, and midshipman on board the Caledonia, Warspite, Tigris, Express, and Belette, during the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, and in the Algerian conflict.

The James Cheape letters contain 62 letters from or concerning James Cheape, a naval student at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth, England, and midshipman on board the Caldonia, Warspite, Tigris, Express, and Belette during the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, and in the Algerian conflict. The bulk of the collection consists of 57 letters written by James Cheape with the remaining 5 letters written by fellow sailors, reporting on Cheape’s naval career. The letters are all addressed to his parents at Wellfield, near Kinross, Scotland.

Cheape was at the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth, England, from 1808 until the spring of 1811. From 1811 to 1818, he wrote from various naval vessels, but sent a few letters from London, while on leave. He was on the ship Caldonia, May 19-June 15, 1811; on the Warspite, June 2, 1812-April 1, 1814; on the Tigris, May 14-July 7, 1814; on the Express, June-July 1816; and on the Belette, August 22, 1818.

Cheape's letters include lively accounts of life at the naval academy and as a midshipman in the Royal Navy. He discussed news of other ships and fellow officers and wrote about food, the quality of the ships (how well they sailed and how they were equipped), and the characteristics of the captain, crew, and naval officers. He described Captain Blackwood, for example, as a disciplinarian who seemed to order lashings almost daily. Particularly in the early days, Cheape was in perpetual need of new clothes and money. He enjoyed his time at school, calling it the "best place emaginable," in part because he got to eat muffins, crumpets, and eggs (November 26, 1809). He often seemed less concerned with his studies than with impressing high ranking officials and with "holyday" travel; he spent time in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, and with his uncle Charles Cheape in London. Cheape's family had connections to Admiral Philip Patton, who often loaned him money (September 17, 1808). The letters reveal the curriculum of the academy: "I study the 1 book of Euclid and learnd Latin French English Grammar Writing & Drawing...Our Yacht is in the Bason for us to practice to rig her" (September 17, 1808). In the October 15, 1808 letter, he relayed to his mother an exciting episode when the Prince of Wales (George Augustus Frederick, later King George IV) arrived at the dock with his regiment, in preparation for a voyage to Spain, "but I could hardly see him their was such a crowd."

Once out at sea, Cheape wrote interesting details about nautical life and the workings of the British Navy. Cheape's first assignment was on the ship Caldonia, which convoyed with the Druid and the Revenge. Of the Caldonia, he wrote, "she is not only the longest but the finest ship in the world[.] she carries a 138 Guns and about 900 men" (May 19, 1811). Cheape next served as a midshipman on board the HMS Warspite, which started off from Chatham to patrol the waters between England and France. They spent time off Vlissingen, Netherlands; Douarnenez, France; Basque Roads, France; and at Cawsand, Cornwall.

On June 5, 1812, Cheape reported to his father the news of a valuable prize they had captured while patrolling for American ships trading with France:

"We had the good fortune to take the richest American Schooner that has sailed from France this war. We captured her only 14 hours out of Nantz [Nantes]...we took her with Gun Boats. They fired a few rounds of Grapes at us but fortunately nobody was hurt...the Capt. Values this schooner at ₤50,000 she is laden entirely with silks and lotions and so much did her owner depend on her sailing that they made another ship take her quantity of brandy, which Bonaparte obliges them to take as part of their cargo."

He later wrote of heading off to search for the American Frigate the John Adams, and that catching it would mean promotions for many on board (July 7, 1814). In a fascinating letter from November 13, 1813, Cheape described the favoritism and political maneuvering involved in organizing the fleet. He wrote that Lord Melville ordered a line of battleships to the "Western Islands" and wanted the Warspite to be among them. Lord Keith, however, told Captain Blackwood (of the Warspite), "that he could not possibly send him as he had orders to send another ship" and sent his friend Captain West's ship instead. Captain Blackwood then sent a "private letter to Lord Keith -- saying he wished the Warspite to have the preference before any other ship -- when showed the letter to Lord Keith he would not read it -- so I suppose they don't speak now." In another particularly interesting letter, Cheape discussed the role patronage played in granting naval appointments. After attempting unsuccessfully to be transferred to a war ship, Cheape lamented that naval appointments were becoming more competitive and more expensive: "they are paying the Lines of Battle Ships off so fast now that every body is trying to get their sons in frigates" (April 28, 1814).

Cheape mentioned conflicts with America several times, often relaying his own brief impressions of the War of 1812; he asked about his father's views of the war. In a letter from London dated June 18, 1812, he asked, "Do you think that there is any likely hood of an American war [with Britain] I am afraid there is not[.] we would have a chance of making some prize money perhaps." Later he wrote "Do you think it is true the Americans are going to make War with France[?] if so they will have no where to trade to at all...I hope we won't make peace with them before we give them a good drubbing" (February 9, 1814).

Cheape also gives personal accounts of his experiences at sea, including details on the many dangers of sea life. In one instance, a marlinspike "tumbled out of the main tops and fell on my head but fortunately not on the crown of the head or the Doctor said it would have killed me" (June 28, 1816). Cheape typically inquired about the health of his mother, brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles, and commented on news he read in his father's letters.

The 5 letters not written by Cheape are from instructors and superior officers informing Cheape’s father about his son's progress. They are generally optimistic. For instance, George Cheape's friend, J. Somerville, commented that James has a good disposition for a young man (August 7, 1808). Sir John Hay reported that his son was well "after the glorious Victory at Algiers" and that he planned to recommend him for promotion (April 27, 1816).

The collection also contains a few non-correspondence items of note. A letter from London, dated December 24, 1810, contains two recipes of mixtures of salt, sugar, and vinegar, likely for medicinal use. The letter from March 20, 1811, includes an inventory of a midshipman's clothes, instruments, and books.

This collection is made up of five letters from James Colquhoun at St. James's Place, London, to William Auriol Drummond-Hay between May and September 1834. At the time, Colquhoun served as British Consul-General for the Hanseatic Cities of Hamburg, Bremen, and Lübeck, and Drummond-Hay was British consul at Tangier, Morocco. The correspondence relates to diplomacy and suppression of piracy in the Mediterranean, the danger to British capital in case of Neapolitan or Hanseatic depredations on foreign cargoes, Neapolitan vessels en route to Morocco, the state of Moroccan ships, and the appropriateness of the Hanseatic Senates' desire to express tangible appreciation to Drummond-Hay for protection of their commerce.

• May 29, 1834. A Neapolitan Frigate and several corsairs headed to Tangier with instructions to negotiate or, in the case of failure, to resort to force; at the same time a Neapolitan Brig of War has left England to join them there. "The large quantity of British Capital in Foreign Ports & consequently of shipments on British account, distributed in the ships of all nations expose British Interests to be affected indirectly by any depredations committed on Cargoes under the Hanseatic or Neapolitan flag & indeed under almost every flag. . . . The only security for British as well as foreign Commerce in the Mediterranean & on the European Coasts bordering on the Atlantic is via the dismantling of the Piratical Vessels which it is hoped will be enforced & immediately follow the settlement of the Neapolitan question."
• June 2, 1834. The Hamburgh Senate thinks it difficult or impossible to "abolish the piratical system and as Morocco in particular will probably not be brought for some time to alter her System, the Hanseatic negociation must be persevered in, with a view to a final settlement." The Senate is fully aware of the benefits Drummond-Hay's work has provided for the protection of "Hans. Towns" commerce. They are preparing further instructions and in the meantime trust entirely on Drummond-Hay's "Judgment & diplomatic tact still to shield them from any hostile Measures and trust that the piratical Vessels in question will be dismantled forthwith as the best earnest of Security."
• June 30, 1834. Believes the arrival of the Neapolitan fleet and apparent support by a French force will put to rest the risk of putting a Moroccan flotilla to sea. Discusses the state of Moroccan vessels.
• September 1, 1834. Spoke with Secretary of State Thomas Spring Rice regarding the Hanseatic Republics' Senates' desire to express esteem for Colquhoun's diplomatic talents. Rice wants to talk to Lord Palmerston [i.e. Foreign Secretary Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston] about it, so that the two men act on the same principles. "I pointed out the distinction between a British Diplomatic Functionary receiving unlimited presents from Indian Princes or Barbary Pirates and his receiving a well earned Compliment from the States to whom he had rendered services under the auspices of his own Government."
• September 18, 1834. Pleased that Secretary Rice has approved of the Senates making an acknowledgment of Colquhoun's "services at Morocco to Hanseatic Commerce during the last 5 years."

The James Craik collection contains seven letters and recipes written by Craik. Three items relate to the health of George Washington and his family, and six propose contemporary cures for various ailments.

The James Craik collection contains seven letters and recipes written by Craik. Three items relate to the health of George Washington and his family, and six are contemporary cures for various ailments. In the first letter, addressed to Tobias Lear, Craik encouraged him to introduce his friend Mrs. Dixon to George Washington (September 21, 1789). The remainder of the material focuses on medicine, and contains several remedies for a range of complaints, including chest pain, a "perpetual blister," and a malady frequently affecting children. Three of the items relate directly to the health of George Washington and his family.

• A letter to Martha Washington proposing a treatment for her son's fever (August 8, 1780)
• A letter to Colonel Bassett suggesting a method to alleviate "weakness" in Washington's stomach (December 6, 1792)
• A method for easing one of Washington's complaints (undated)

This collection contains letters written to James Cunningham of Adams County, Pennsylvania, by members of his family, and early letters to family members concerning the Cobean family of Adams County, related to Cunningham through marriage. Correspondents discussed family news, agricultural prices, health and medicine, and politics.

This collection (21 items) contains letters written to James Cunningham of Adams County, Pennsylvania, by members of his family, and several early letters from family members concerning the Cobean family of Adams County, related to Cunningham through marriage. The early letters include 1 from Polly Waugh Cunningham to her daughter Betsy (June 2, 1821) and 4 from John Cunningham to his brother James and to their brother-in-law, Samuel Cobean. Cunningham offered his condolences following the death of James's son Alexander and mentioned a recent land purchase by John W. Cunningham (May 23, 1831).

James Cunningham received 9 letters from his nephew, Dr. Alexander Stewart of Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Stewart mentioned his medical practice and the growth of his family and occasionally commented on political issues, such as his thoughts about the Anti-Masonic Party (March 19, 1840) and the Locofoco presence in Pennsylvania (October 28, 1845). John S. Cunningham, another nephew, wrote 5 letters about his life in Pulaski, Pennsylvania, addressing topics such as agriculture and his financial troubles. He wrote about the health of his family and in one letter described a person experiences a lengthy trance (February 24, 1844). A third nephew, Alexander Cobean, wrote to James Cunningham of his trip from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, to Euphemia, Ohio, where he found work as a teacher. Cobean provided insight into his life as new arrival among strangers in the Midwest, discussing local land prices, the landscape, and the corn crop (February 8, 1848). In the final letter, dated October 27, 1851, Cobean reported that he had to abandon his teaching career because of his poor health.

This collection contains 4 letters that James Stokes Dickerson wrote to his brother, John S. Dickerson, while studying at Madison University (now Colgate University) in Hamilton, New York. He provided details of his life at the college, reminisced about his childhood, and discussed his health and finances.

This collection contains 4 letters that James Stokes Dickerson wrote to his brother, John S. Dickerson, while studying at Madison University (now Colgate University) in Hamilton, New York. He discussed many aspects of his life at school, such as his social activities and the boarding hall where he lived (May 23, 1846), and lamented his poverty and poor financial situation, which prevented him from taking full advantage of vacation periods. Dickerson expressed his joy at a recent religious revival in Hamilton and his hope that John would convert to Christianity (March 28, 1846), and some of his early letters concern his family and his childhood.

The James Douglas papers are comprised of letters, letter books, logbooks, account books, and official naval documents relating to the career of Sir James Douglas, a British Admiral who was active in European and Caribbean waters and participated in the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg.

The James Douglas papers are comprised of letters, letter books, logbooks, account books, and official naval documents relating to the career of Sir James Douglas. Douglas rose to the rank of admiral and was active in European and Caribbean waters, and participated in the 1745 Siege of Louisbourg. The collection contains 7 letterbooks, 10 logbooks, 1 orderly book, 7 prize and account books, 1 book of sailing instructions (with notations by Douglas), 10 letters, 17 financial and official documents, and 2 genealogical documents (for an itemized list of the collection, see Additional Descriptive Data).

The Letter Books, Logbooks, and Account Books series contains the collection's bound volumes.

The letter books are comprised of copies of over 1,000 letters and orders to and from Douglas and his fellow naval officers. The letter book from Jamaica (1738-1745) includes letters and orders from Edward Vernon, Sir Chaloner Ogle, Thomas Davers, and Commodore Charles Brown, mostly addressed to naval store keeper George Hinde, concerning repairing and outfitting ships. The 1755-1759 letter book contains observations on ship movements and encounters, and letters from him to other naval officers, largely concerning European waters. The letter books from 1775 to 1777 hold copies of letters from Douglas, written when he was commanding the naval base at Spithead during the Revolutionary War. The letters are primarily addressed to Sir Philip Stephens, Secretary of British Admiralty, regarding naval administration and military news during the war in America (August 6, 1775-May 27, 1777).

• Tilbury, 1741-1742 (kept by Thomas Lempriere)
• Vigilant, 1745-1747
• Anson, 1755
• Bedford, 1755-1759
• Alcide, 1757
• Dublin, 1760
• SterlingCastle, 1760-1762
• Cruzer, 1770 (kept by Midshipman James Douglas, Jr.)
• Cerberus, 1770 (kept by Midshipman James Douglas, Jr.)

Topics of note include: an account of the British attack against the Spanish at Cartagena (Tilbury logbook, 1740-1741); the British capture of Dominica and Martinique, and the Siege of Havana, while Douglas was commander and chief of the Leeward Island Station (1760-1762 logbook); and a logbook for a captured French ship (1760-1761). The logbook of a French ship captured in the West Indies (December 16, 1761-May 1, 1762) contains sketches on the insides of the front and back covers. Depicted are fish and sea creatures; crude portraits of men and women, dressed in finery; silhouettes of faces; and drawings of two stately homes.

• Ledger of Douglas' private accounts (1770-1771).
• Two notebooks accounting for prizes taken by British ships in 1759 and 1762.
• A sederunt book of the trustees, relating to the settlement of Douglas' estate, created sometime after his death in 1787.

Also of note is a printed copy of Sailing and Fighting Instructions, heavily annotated by Douglas.

The Correspondence and Documents series contains 29 letters and documents, including: 8 letters concerning naval matters; 4 letters concerning Douglas' will, estate, and genealogy; Douglas' marriage agreement; 7 signed naval promotions on vellum; Douglas' appointment as baronet (1786); 3 memorials and petitions; 2 essays; 1 speech; 1 receipt; 1 legal disposition; and two genealogical items. Genealogy records include a family tree of Douglas' ancestor Douglas of Friarshaw (d. 1388) and a facsimile of the genealogical chart of Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane's ancestors going back to the 13th century.

This collection is comprised of three letters by James E. Taylor, an artist famous for his work in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, to Colonel George Meade, son of General George Meade. The letters respect the sale and trade of photographs of deceased Civil War officers. The letters are accompanied by a list of photographs owned by Taylor depicting officers who died in the Civil War.

This collection is comprised of three letters by James E. Taylor, an artist famous for his work in Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper , to Colonel George Meade, son of General George Meade. The letters respect the sale and trade of photographs of deceased Civil War officers. The letters are accompanied by a list of photographs owned by Taylor, of officers who died in the Civil War. The dates of these letters likely fall between 1880 (internal evidence) and 1897 (the year of Colonel Meade's death).

See the Box and Folder Listing below for details about each item.