News
Events
Blogs
Dickinson family papers
Correspondence, documents, business records, essays, notes, and newspaper clippings of John Dickinson, lawyer and statesman. The collection consists almost entirely of papers collected by Dickinson in relation to his political and business activities, but there are some miscellaneous papers of Sall...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Dickinson Family Papers |
| Collection Number: | LCP.in.HSP47 |
| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects and Genres: | |
| Online Access: | Link to finding aid |
| Tags: | Add Tag |
| Physical Description: |
9.0 Linear feet 9 linear feet, 13 boxes |
|---|---|
| Summary: |
Correspondence, documents, business records, essays, notes, and newspaper clippings of John Dickinson, lawyer and statesman. The collection consists almost entirely of papers collected by Dickinson in relation to his political and business activities, but there are some miscellaneous papers of Sally Norris Dickinson, his daughter. Although the correspondence deals predominantly with Dickinson's activities in the public, governmental sphere, a significant portion concerns his private affairs, especially land and business activities. Correspondents include various statesmen and Revolutionary leaders among whom are Samuel Chase, Dickinson's brother Philemon Dickinson, litterateur Elizabeth Graeme Ferguson, poet and political satirist Hannah Griffitts, army surgeon John Jones, Arthur Lee, Charles Lee, Richard Henry Lee, William Lee, the first president of Dickinson College Charles Nisbet, George Read, Caesar Rodney, Charles Thomson, army surgeon James Tilton. There are one or two letters each from Samuel Adams, Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, and George Washington. Interesting letters appear from several of his overseers and tenants including Daniel Walker, a free black tenant farmer.
Documents from the Revolutionary War period, 1776-1883 (100 items) relate chiefly to Dickinson's service as an officer in the Pennsylvania militia. They include furlough recommendations, hospital reports, notes on military movements, militia returns, and information on soldiers' provisions, including ammunition.
Government documents (150 items) extend from the early Revolutionary period and Dickinson's involvement in the Stamp Act Congress to his participation in the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Included are Dickinson's notes on the first Continental Congress, papers concerning early national land policies, foreign policy, taxation proposals, and the New Jersey and Virginia Plans. There are drafts of Dickinson's and Patrick Henry's petitions to the King, 1774, a John Jay draft of the Olive Branch Petition, drafts of Dickinson speeches at the Constitutional Convention, and copies of the Fabius letters which Dickinson wrote in support of the Constitution.
Pennsylvania government documents, 1764-1784, (150 items) include financial accounts, drafts of Dickinson speeches prepared while he was president of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, bills, materials on the Aaron Doane case, court-martial records, materials on the Wyoming controversy and miscellaneous Dickinson notes on government affairs.
Delaware government documents, 1772-1789, (75 items) include papers on the Delaware River land dispute, 1772; suggestions for reform of the court system, submitted by Justice William Killen, 1781; militia returns, 1782; budget figures, and various bill drafts and notes.
The collection includes Dickinson's land and business records, 1733-1854 (500 items). Leases, agreements, memoranda, bills, receipts, etc., center around the management of his real estate holdings, primarily in Delaware; house construction, relations with tenants, property sales, farming techniques, production figures. There is material relating to Dickinson's law practice which include information on cases argued before the High Court of Errors in Pennsylvania. Drafts of Dickinson's will, with codicils, are also present.
Miscellaneous notes and essays include a commonplace book, n.d., essays ("Reflections on the Flag of Truce in America," "Opinion on the 40 Pr Poll Act in Maryland"), a comment on Pennsylvania land law, and a speech written on the founding of Dickinson College.
Chronological arrangement, with series as described. Formerly calendared by John H. Powell, but since rearranged. |