Collections

This collection contains 3 letters and a poem related to Major General Richard Montgomery, a native of Ireland who became a Continental Army officer during the American Revolution. The items, 3 of which are addressed to British Army officer Perkins Magra, concern a venereal infection, Montgomery's life as a country farmer in New York in the mid-1770s, and the beginning of the American Revolution.

The Montgomery collection consists of 3 letters and 1 poem related to Richard Montgomery and his wife, Janet Livingston. Three of the items are addressed to British Army officer Perkins Magra.

In the first letter, dated from Dublin on November 27, [1769], Montgomery complained about a woman whom he claimed had infected him with a venereal disease. In a letter to Magra dated 1774, Montgomery discussed his decision to live in the countryside, and shared his conviction that he would be killed "by a pistol." Montgomery's final letter concerns events in Boston, the widespread political influence of the Second Continental Congress, and George Washington and Charles Lee (July 2, 1775). The collection also contains a narrative poem that Janet Livingston Montgomery wrote for Magra on May 25, 1775, with a brief prose postscript dated June 1, 1775. Montgomery congratulated Magra on his marriage and commented on the Battle of Bunker Hill, her husband's appointment to the provincial congress, and the possibility of war.

This collection contains correspondence, documents, and a poem related to Philadelphia merchant Samuel Coates, including Coates's recounting of Mayhew Folger's discovery of the HMS Bounty mutineers' colony on Pitcairn Island, correspondence concerning nautical travel in 18th-century New York and contemporary opinions on the American Revolution. Four items relate to the late Doctor Samuel Cooper, for whom Coates served as estate executor.

This collection contains correspondence, documents, and a poem related to Philadelphia merchant Samuel Coates. Most of the material consists of incoming personal letters addressed to Coates, including three letters by Richard Dimsdale, who recounted his recent nautical travels around New York City and throughout the state of New York (June 29, 1773) and provided his opinion on recent social unrest in the colonies (September 9, 1775). Another acquaintance, Joseph Pemberton, inquired about food prices in Philadelphia during the Revolutionary War, and shared his desire for Washington to surround General Howe and secure victory (January 23, 1777). Additional incoming items include a letter from Ezekiel Edwards (October 25, 1772), a shipping receipt (December 18, 1772), and a letter from William Jones concerning the estate of the late Samuel Cooper (February 4, 1799). The collection also holds three items written by Samuel Coates: a letter to Moses Brown describing a recent epidemic and conditions in the Pennsylvania Hospital (October 30, 1798); a letter about Samuel Cooper's estate (December 6, 1806); and a letter from Samuel Coates to Henry Clifton (ca. 1809) containg whaling captain Mayhew Folger's account of his discovery of a colony on Pitcairn Island consisting of the widows, children, and last survivor of the HMS Bounty mutineers. Additional material includes an indenture apprenticing Samuel Cooper to Samuel Clark, Bartholomew Wistar, and Samuel Coates, managers of the Pennsylvania Hospital (January 1, 1793), and a poem written by Enoch Lewis in memory of Samuel Cooper (September 6, [1798]).