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This collection primarily consists of correspondence of U.S. diplomat Christopher Hughes; his twin sister Peggy Hughes Moore; his in-laws the Moore family; his spouse Laura Smith Hughes (1792-1832); their daughter Margaret Smith Hughes Kennedy (1819-1884); and Anthony Kennedy (1810-1892), his son-in-law. The papers largely date between the War of 1812 and the U.S. War with Mexico. Christopher Hughes corresponded with U.S. Presidents, Secretaries of State, and a large circle of friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic. The papers reflect American diplomatic policy in Europe after the War of 1812, particularly in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. They also present the lives and experiences of the social and personal lives of women and children who traveled as part of the duties of an American diplomat.

This collection primarily consists of correspondence of U.S. diplomat Christopher Hughes; his twin sister Peggy Hughes Moore; his in-laws the Moore family; his spouse Laura Smith Hughes (1792-1832); their daughter Margaret Smith Hughes Kennedy (1819-1884); and Anthony Kennedy (1810-1892), his son-in-law. The papers largely date between the War of 1812 and the U.S. War with Mexico. Christopher Hughes corresponded with U.S. Presidents, Secretaries of State, and a large circle of friends and family on both sides of the Atlantic. The papers reflect American diplomatic policy in Europe after the War of 1812, particularly in Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, and France. They also present the lives and experiences of the social and personal lives of women and children who traveled as part of the duties of an American chargé d'affaires.

The papers also include financial papers, military documents, property documentation, materials related to the San Pedro Company, writings, poetry, sketches, photographs, ephemera, and other printed items. Among the writings is an 1840 account of a visit by Christopher Hughes to physician Fru Jansen at Catherineberg for health care; 1842 travel writing by Margaret Hughes; and manuscript and printed poetry, including dinner toasts, a valentine poem, an acrostic on Margaret's name, translations, and more.

Other selected items include pencil sketches of four of the five peace commissioners at the Treaty of Ghent negotiations in Belgium, by Dutch artist P. van Huffel, January 1815. The portraits include John Quincy Adams, James A. Bayard, Henry Clay, Albert Gallatin, and Christopher Hughes (as secretary of the delegation). A group of 24 photographs from the early 1930s depict the grave of Laura Smith Hughes (1795-1832) and the church where she was buried, Bromme Church in Akershof, near Stockholm, Sweden, and a variety of other people and places.

Please see the Christopher Hughes Indices and Notes for an index of letter writers and inventories of non-correspondence materials.

The Le Maire Family Papers are made up of 325 letters and documents largely pertinent to this Dunkirk, France, family's coffee and cocoa plantation near Jérémie, St. Domingue. The collection focuses on the period immediately preceding the Haitian Revolution and years following the conflict, though a group of letters date from the period of the revolution. A significant portion relates to the Le Maire (or LeMaire) and interrelated Fockedey families' pursuit of compensation for lost plantation property, including enslaved laborers, according to French indemnity demands of 1825. The letters and documents are primarily those of Dominique Le Maire, his mother Mme. Vve. Le Maire, his sister Mme. Le Maire Fockedey, and his nephew Jean-Jacques Fockedey. A selection of others includes family and business relations, such as F. de Jonquieres (Jonquieres et Auge), Le Cointe & Company, John Boccalin, Flabeau Cavailler, Christophe Le Maire, Forcade Le Maire, Guillaume Le Maire, Jacques Le Maire, and Louis Le Maire.

The Le Maire Family Papers are made up of 325 letters and documents largely pertinent to the Dunkirk family's coffee and cocoa plantation near Jérémie, St. Domingue, and to family finances. The collection focuses on the period immediately preceding the Haitian Revolution and years following the conflict, though a group of letters date from the period of the revolution. A significant portion relates to the Le Maire (or LeMaire) and interrelated Fockedey families' pursuit of compensation for lost plantation property, including enslaved laborers, according to French indemnity demands of 1825.

The letters and documents are primarily those of Dominique Le Maire, his mother Mme. Vve. Le Maire, his sister Mme. Le Maire Fockedey, and his nephew Jean-Jacques Fockedey. A selection of others includes family and business relations, such as F. de Jonquieres (Jonquieres et Auge), Le Cointe & Company, John Boccalin, Flabeau Cavailler, Christophe Le Maire, Forcade Le Maire, Guillaume Le Maire, Jacques Le Maire, and Louis Le Maire.

Please see the box and folder listing for details about each file in the Le Maire Family Papers.