4 March 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School in Wickford, Rhode Island. Discusses general subjects of study in mathematics, astronomy and geography. Also makes reference to the re-election of President Thomas Jefferson and related celebrations. He remarks: "Public days are not celebrated with such animation as they formerly were..." Asks George to ask Mr. Updike to look out for a servant for Ellery. He would like "a black boy about 14 years old, who is good tempered, active, and tractable, who knows how to take care of a horse or cow, and how to milk, and who is faithful and honest. I…

GLC02300.18

14 March 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School in Wickford, Rhode Island. Has received George's letter. Berates George for sending him the wrong description of the geography he needed for school. Corrects the grammar of his letter. Is glad to hear that there are persons in Wickford who are religiously inclined. Advises him to read his Bible: "and may the Holy Spirit inspire you with a principle of holiness. Without holiness no man can see God, and enjoy his smiles." He continues to have the "bad humour" about the lower region of his belly, "otherwise my health is as good as a man my age…

GLC02300.19

26 March 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School, Wickford, Rhode Island. Thanks him for his letter. Is glad that Mr. Updike has furnished George with a scale and dividers; he has sent him money to purchase a geography book for him. Is glad to hear that "the inoculation for the small pox did not take on those who had been inoculated for the swine pox; not because I in the least doubted the latter being a perfect security against the former, but because it will inspire the Wickfordians with faith, and induce them to undergo vaccine inoculation." Corrects his spelling and grammar. Happy that…

GLC02300.20

15 April 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School, Wickford, Rhode Island. Thanks him for his letter. Is pleased to hear from Mr. Updike that the two volumes of geography have arrived. Wishes that he would read English grammar in his leisure hours: "It will assist you in speaking and writing English correctly, which is an accomplishment. Any honor you may acquire by attention to your studies and conduct, I shall receive a portion of by reflection, and shall by your improvement in useful learning be amply requited for any kindness I have shown you." Adds, "an honest man is the noblest…

GLC02300.21

24 April 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School in Wickford, Rhode Island. Thanks him for his letter. He has no objection to his learning to dance, for it will make him easy and graceful. If the fee is to be paid at entrance to dancing studies, Ellery asks George to ask Mr. Updike to advance it. Warns him not to let the dancing interfere with his studies. Aunt Burt in Bristol is seriously ill. Dean's wife died yesterday, leaving a "husband, and her eleven children many of whom are quite young. Every death should be a memento to us to be prepared for death, who spares no age nor condition…

GLC02300.22

10 June 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son. Thanks him for his letter with its "serious and just observations on the all conquering power of death." His "dear Aunt Burt" has "gone to join with the redeemed." "Judge Dana has come to Newport to wait upon his wife and Sarah Ann and Mr. Channing." Has enjoyed their company, and wishes George had been there to join them. Is now sending George Euclid's Elements, and recommends he study it. A Member of the Continental Congress from 1776 until 1785, William Ellery was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was Collector of the Port of Newport from 1790 until…

GLC02300.23

24 June 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School in Wickford, Rhode Island. Thanks him for his letter. Advises him to continue with his studies. Ellery plans for George to finish the academy, and at such time to place him in a situation where he "may acquire a knowledge of merchants accompts." Is glad that the academy increases in the number of its students, and looks forward to the time when it will exceed the Greenwich Academy in quality as well as in size. Asks George to tell him how the recent eclipse of the sun affected him. A Member of the Continental Congress from 1776 until 1785,…

GLC02300.24

12 July 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter signed

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School in Wickford, Rhode Island. Encloses a pair of socks, enlarged by Nancy. Hopes that George will use his remaining time at school well. Discusses the question as to whether or not Lombardy poplar and worms that infest it are poisonous. A Member of the Continental Congress from 1776 until 1785, William Ellery was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was Collector of the Port of Newport from 1790 until 1820.

GLC02300.25

6 August 1806

Ellery, William, 1727-1820

Autograph letter

Title: to George Wanton Ellery

Written to his son at Captain Barney's School in Wickford, Rhode Island. Would be glad to know if George wishes to be at the "commencement in Cambridge." If so, he should be "here on the 18th of this month, for commencement is on the 27th." Has been expecting a letter from him. Undoubtedly George has heard of the death of his Aunt Champlin. She has gone to her eternal reward, for she was a pious woman. Ellery sends regards to Mr. Updike and Captain Barney, and to their families. A Member of the Continental Congress from 1776 until 1785, William Ellery was a signer of the Declaration of…

GLC02300.26

7 April 1778

Franklin, Benjamin, 1706-1790

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Silas Deane

Franklin writes to Deane about an angry letter he received from Arthur Lee, who along with Franklin and Deane was on a diplomatic mission in France. Lee was mad at Deane for "going without acquainting him of it" and also angry with "the Court's sending a Minister to Congress without advising him." Not being trusted by Deane, Lee was kept ignorant of the secret supplies being sent to America via Hortalez & Cie. Lee sent reports to Congress about Deane's supposed embezzlement and helped bring about Deane's recall. He was replaced by John Adams, who Franklin notes in this letter, has not…

GLC02301

1814/06/04

Fulton, Robert, 1765-1815

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Henry Dearborn

Lists the estimated costs of constructing the first steam-powered U.S. naval vessel. Fulton estimates that $25,000 will be required for three months, with the amount decreasing after that. Costs include materials, wages, and a monthly payment to the shipbuilders, "the Messrs. Browns." Accompanied by scribal document giving specifications for "U.S.S. Fulton the First." Former secretary of war Major General Henry Dearborn (1751-1829) served as commander of New York's defenses during the War of 1812. The inventor, engineer, and artist Robert Fulton had been constructing and operating…

GLC02302

4 October 1822

George IV, King of the United Kingdom, 1762-1830

Document signed

Title: [Additional convention to Treaty of Ghent]

The Russian copy in French and English in side by side columns. Signed by George IV and countersigned by George Canning as head of the Foreign Office. Diplomatic document comprising a rider or supplemental convention to the Treaty of Ghent, agreed upon on 24 December 1814. This convention pertains to compensation for American enslaved people who were seized. The first leaf constitutes the King's official Warrant addressed to John, Earl of Eldon, "Our Chancellor of Great Britain," to affix the seal of Great Britain to the treaty between Great Britain, Russia, and the United States. The…

GLC02304

26 June 1848-16 February 1852

Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885

Header Record

Title: Collection of six documents related to Ulysses S. Grant and loss of $1000 in public funds [Decimalized .01-.06]

Pertains to theft of $1000 in public funds entrusted to Ulysses S. Grant when he was lieutenant in 1848. Grant had placed the money in his captain's trunk for safe-keeping when the trunk was taken and the money stolen. Four of the six documents are affidavits written in Grant's own hand and signed by his captain, himself, and two other soldiers testifying to the truth of Grant's story. The fifth and sixth are letters about the case from the U.S. Treasury Department, written in 1852. Grant was not cleared until June 1862, when Congress cancelled the debt, after his victories at Forts…

GLC02305

circa 1777-1781

Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804

Autograph document signed

Title: [Order to a Deputy Commissary General of Purchases] [incomplete]

Orders to agree to a requisition. This is a fragment of a larger document, so the identity of the deputy commissary general is unknown. Signed A. Hamilton, A. D. C.

GLC02307

20 June 1804

Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804

Autograph document signed

Title: [Indentures for the sale of a farm on the Raritan River in New Jersey]

Also signed by Ann Pierce, Charles Wilkes, and Henry Brockholst Livingston. Records a sequence of ownership of a farm property. Pages 1 and 2 are the indenture of Ann Pierce selling a farm "on the south side of the Raritan River in the county of Somerset in the State of New Jersey about a mile and a half above the town of New Brunswick" to Hamilton on 30 April 1803. Certifies that he may sell the land and use the proceeds to pay a bond of Nathaniel Pendleton and John Bard. Page 3 is Hamilton's indenture, which includes his name written five times, signed and sealed by Hamilton and…

GLC02308

28 March 1862

Hill, Daniel H., 1821-1889

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Isabella Morrison Hill

Hill discusses rumors of a new offensive, complaining that President Davis is manipulated by politicians, and passing on news of the early phases of Stonewall Jackson's Valley Campaign (Jackson's wife Anna was Hill's wife's sister). Hill signs as "Husband." Says "We had orders yesterday to be ready to march at a moments notice, but we are still here. Various here have been the conjectures as to our destination; some saying, Staunton; some Fredericksburg; some, North Carolina. We are all in the dark about it. I have had hopes that I might be sent nearer home. But probably, you would feel…

GLC02309

21 October 1870

Hooker, Joseph, 1814-1879

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Aaron F. Perry

Congratulates Perry on winning his Congressional election and praises him as "honest, true, and capable." Declares, "I have always been for a free tariff, and I believe that that is all the country requires now, to fulfil its mission. My idea of government is, that that is the best one, which has the fewest officers, morally, and physically. The evil of evils of the present day is the desire for office. It is degrading our people and our nation." Comments negatively upon President Ulysses S. Grant's administration, particularly on the President's unfair treatment of Secretary of the Interior…

GLC02310

1788/08/11

Huntington, Samuel, 1731-1796

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Benjamin Huntington

Responds to news from Huntington that Congress has chosen Baltimore as a meeting place, but agrees with him that this may not be the final location. Notes that a Colonel Samuel Abbott is very ill. Also informs Huntington that his wife, Anne Huntington, is sick. Abbott died later that year. This was a retained copy of the letter docketed by Samuel Huntington.

GLC02311

5 September 1780

Jay, John, 1745-1829

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Sarah Livingston Jay

Written by Jay as Minister to Spain to his wife, who he refers to as Sally, in Madrid. Mentions he received her letter of 1 September 1780, as well as the bundle of letters she sent along. Says she did well in opening the bundle of letters. Also mentions "poor Morris" - referring to Gouverneur Morris, who had recently been criticized by his localist opponents in the New York Assembly for his inattention to New York land claims in what would eventually become Vermont. He was removed from Congress on 1 October 1779. Refers to the British capture of Charlestown, South Carolina and says Generals…

GLC02312

1952/08/12

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald, 1917-1963

Autograph manuscript

Title: [Portion of an address on the containment of Communism]

Incomplete draft of a speech Kennedy delivered 12 August 1952 to the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Federation of Labor. Reflects on Communist expansion and America's need to contain it. Working manuscript with many insertions and deletions. Written on stationary of the House of Representatives.

GLC02313

1861/07/15

Lee, Robert E., 1807-1870

Letter signed

Title: to Col. A.C. Moore re: organizing defenses of Virginia

Written as Major General to Moore, commander of the 29th Regt. Va. Vols., during the week before first Manassas. (Written before his assignment as commander in South Carolina and later as commander in chief of the Army of Northern Virginia.)

GLC02314

1857/09/30

Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Richard Yates re: urging him to run for election for Illinois governor

Yates served as governor of Illinois during the Civil War. Basler 2: 424. Basler, Roy P. The Collected Works Of Abraham Lincoln. (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1953), Vol. II 1848 - 1858, p. 424

GLC02315

1838-1866

Header Record

Title: Collection of letters of Lincoln's cabinet & Calhoun, Smith, etc. [decimalized]

GLC02320

1855 circa

Seward, William Henry, 1801-1872

Autograph letter signed

Title: to Robert McClelland

Requests a job in the Department of the Interior for "Col Gaszynsk...a Polish gentleman of merit and character."

GLC02320.04

1861 circa

Chase, Salmon P. (Salmon Portland), 1808-1873

Autograph note signed

Title: to unknown

Expects to arrive in New York in a few days.

GLC02320.06