James Douglas papers, 1738-1850 (majority within 1738-1787)
26 volumes and 29 loose letters and documents
26 volumes and 29 loose letters and documents
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).
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.
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.
26 volumes and 29 loose letters and documents
0.25 linear feet
The Samuel Patterson collection (73 items) contains letters to Patterson from friends and family members, who discussed sheep farming, the wool industry, finances and business affairs, and family health.
The Correspondence series (69 items) mostly consists of business letters to Samuel Patterson, including early letters from his brother John. The bulk of the letters are dated 1835-1853, pertaining to Patterson's finances, land ownership, and livestock. Patterson owned a farm in Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he raised sheep for wool, and many of his correspondents discussed the wool trade, including writers from Lowell and Sheffield, Massachusetts. A letter by H. Blanchard & Co. concerns the suitability of the South for raising wool sheep and the current state of the market for wool (October 12, 1849), and small wool samples are enclosed in 2 letters (December 20, 1847, and undated). The collection also includes personal letters from Samuel Patterson to his wife Anne and from Patterson's children to their mother. A few of the business letters are addressed to other recipients. In one late letter, Anne Patterson informed her children of Samuel Patterson's death (July 5, 1858).
The Documents series (4 items) contains articles of agreement between "Candy McCue" (signed with his mark) and Samuel Patterson regarding McCue's son William, who was to live with, work for, and be cared for and educated by the Patterson family (November 2, 1824); an indenture between John Walker and Samuel Patterson regarding Walker's sale of a tract of land in Cross Creek Township, Pennsylvania (September 24, 1833); articles of agreement between Samuel Patterson, John Chambers, and James Brown regarding Patterson's sale of land in Plumcreek Township, Pennsylvania (September 15, 1838); and a signed statement pertaining to the construction of a schoolhouse (undated).