Guide to the Henry Ledyard collection, (bulk )

Transcription

1 Guide to the Henry Ledyard collection, (bulk ) Collection overview: Title: Henry Ledyard collection Date range(inclusive and undated dates): Bulk dates: Creator: Ledyard, Henry, Extent: 0.2 linear feet (1 oversize folder) Abstract: Letters and legal documents collected and received by Henry Ledyard ( ), who lived in Newport, Rhode Island, during his later years. Language of materials: English and French Repository: Redwood Library & Athenaeum, Newport, Rhode Island Collection number: RLC.Ms.565 Access and use: Access to the collection: Use of the materials: Preferred citation: Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Henry Ledyard collection, RLC.Ms.565, Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Administrative information: About the collection Acquisition: Gift of Henry Ledyard, 1869 October (see item 27) Processing information: Prior to processing in 2014, this collection was found within the Steel Cabinet collection: Drawer 7, Folder 2. The majority of the materials in this collection are glued onto larger pieces of paper with more than one document typically glued onto one of the sheets of paper. As a result, the documents do not appear to be in any type of discernable order. The larger sheets of paper with the documents glued on them were numbered and two indexes were created, most likely by Library staff at an unknown time. The first index is an alphabetical listing of all the names associated with each document and the second index is by the document s assigned folio number. These indexes can be found in the folder for this collection. Page 1 of 5

2 About the finding aid Author and Encoding: Descriptive rules: In addition, it appears as though some documents were added to this collection after Ledyard s initial gift in There is no other documentation describing their acquisition. Elizabeth Delmage, 2014 July Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) Additional information: Location of Originals: Separated material: Related material: Sponsor: The original copy of Benjamin Franklin s April 5, 1744, letter concerning the formation of a Literary Society is most likely found at the New-York Historical Society and a transcript of such can also be found at the Library of Congress. Folio 16: Insurance papers, signed by various Newport citizens, 1757 Mar 11 can now be found in: RLC.Ms.029, Box 2, Folder 2, Collection of Redwood family papers. Legal papers on the estate of Henry Ledyard, HLS MS 1344, Harvard Law School Library. Funding for processing and cataloging this collection was provided by the van Beuren Charitable Foundation. Biographical note: Henry Ledyard ( ) was born in New York City on May 5, He graduated from Columbia College in 1830 and soon after began practicing law in New York. When Lewis Cass ( ), a military officer and politician of Michigan, served as an Ambassador to France from , Ledyard accompanied him to Paris as one of his chargé d affaires. In 1844, Ledyard returned to the United States and moved to Detroit where he played an active role in the local government and the development of the city. Ledyard was instrumental in establishing the State Savings Bank, the Elwood Cemetery, the Board of Water Commissioners, and was a member of the Board of Education. He also served as alderman of the city from , and was the mayor in In 1857, he was elected Senator, but resigned his seat when Lewis Cass was appointed Secretary of State under President James Buchanan. Ledyard accompanied Cass to Washington, D.C., and remained there until At that point, Ledyard moved to Newport, Rhode Island, where he lived until his death. In Newport, he served as the first president of the Newport Hospital, and was the president of the Redwood Library from In 1839, Henry Ledyard married Matilda Frances Cass ( ) with whom he had five children: Elizabeth ( ), Henry Brockholst Ledyard ( ), Susan Livingston ( ), Lewis Cass ( ), and Matilda Spencer (b. 1860). Ledyard passed away on June 7, 1880, in London, England, during a brief visit to Europe. Page 2 of 5

3 Scope and content note: This collection consists of letters and legal documents both received and collected by Henry Ledyard. Many of the letters in this collection were written to Ledyard, unless otherwise noted, and typically concern his work in Paris, France, while working on Lewis Cass s staff. Some of these letters are written in French. Also included is a list of the letters presented to the Redwood Library by Ledyard in October Letters and legal documents collected by Ledyard are typically from the colonial era and document both Newport and early American history. Items of particular note include: the 1726 document signed by various Newport citizens which established a Fire Bucket Company in Newport to develop a protocol if a fire were to start in town; a remonstrance from Boston citizens to the British Parliament in 1764 addressing their concerns about stamp taxes and the sugar trade; and an 1805 letter from President Thomas Jefferson to William C. C. Claiborne, governor of the Territory of Orleans, concerning a gift of private lands in that area to General Lafayette of France. Arrangement: This collection is arranged by the folio number that was assigned to them by Redwood Library Staff when this collection was placed into the former Steel Cabinet collection. Inventory: Box Item Title Date Manuscripts 1 Regulations of a Fire Bucket Company, Newport, 1726 Nov 10 Oversize Box 1 R.I. 2 Letter from Joseph E. Johnston 1858 May 13 3 Letter from Lord Francis Napier [18--] Feb 18 4 Letter from Jared Sparks 1841 Jan 16 5 Letter from Achille Murat 1841 Feb 8 6 Letter from Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer 1847 Mar 7-8 Letters from Daniel Webster 1843 Feb 15, Apr 27 9 Letter from Alexis de Tocqueville to Thomas 1843 Jun 5 Bradford (in French) 10 Letter from Baron Charles Dupin (in French) 1843 Aug 1 11 Passport of William Temple Franklin granted at 1796 Apr 8 Paris, signed by James Monroe 12 Letter from Thomas Jefferson to William C. C Mar 10 Claiborne 13 Stock certificate for William M. Allston 1816 Aug Letter from George Washington Lafayette (in 1843 Aug 11 French) 15 Letter from George Catlin 1844 Jan Letter from Lewis Cass 1850 Dec 5 17 Letter from Henry Clay to Joseph B. Weaver of the 1849 Aug 14 Atlantic Hotel in Newport 18 Letter from Edward Everett 1841 Dec 1 Page 3 of 5

4 Box Item Title Date Manuscripts 19 Letter from Reverdy Johnson 1861 Jan 14 Oversize Box 1 20 Letter from Josiah Quincy to George H. Snelling 1859 Jul Letter from Baron Richard Bickenton Pemell 1859 Oct Engraved copy of a letter by Benjamin Franklin 1744 Apr 5 concerning formation of a Literary Society 23 Remonstrance of James Otis, Thomas Cushing, 1764 Jun 25 Oxenbridge Thacher, Thomas Gray, and Edward Sheaffe addressed to Parliament 24 Letter from Samuel Roberts to James Monroe 1817 Mar Letter fragment with seal 1820 Mar Letter from Julian Ursyn de Niemcewicz 1840 Oct List of letters presented by Henry Ledyard to 1869 Oct Redwood Library 28 Pledge of funds for Ida Lewis 1869 Apr 29 Letter from William Henry Channing to Horace 1840 Dec 21 Greeley 30 Autographs of U.S. Naval officers: William T. Sampson, French E. Chadwick, and W. P. Potter 1899 Jun 24 Access terms: Names: Bradford, Thomas, Cass, Lewis, Catlin, George, Chadwick, French Ensor, Channing, W. H. (William Henry), Claiborne, William C. C. (William Charles Cole), Clay, Henry, Cushing, Thomas, Dalling and Bulwer, Henry Lytton Bulwer, Baron, Dupin, Charles, baron, Everett, Edward, Franklin, Benjamin, Franklin, William Temple, Greeley, Horace, James, Otis, Jefferson, Thomas, Johnson, Reverdy, Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), Lafayette, Georges Washington Louis Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de, Lewis, Ida, Lyons, Richard Bickerton Pemell Lyons, Earl, Monroe, James, Murat, Achille, Napier, Francis, Baron Napier and Ettrick, Niemcewicz, Julian Ursyn, Page 4 of 5

5 Quincy, Josiah, Roberts, Samuel, Sampson, William Thomas, Sparks, Jared, Thacher, Oxenbridge, Tocqueville, Alexis de, Webster, Daniel, Subjects: Newport (R.I.) History United States History Colonial period, ca Genre terms: Autographs Legal documents Letters (correspondence) Passports Page 5 of 5