Collections : [Yale University -Manuscripts and Archives]

Account books and autograph albums kept by various members of the Makepeace family of Connecticut. One, kept by Orlando Porter, relates to the clock manufacturing company of Samuel Harrison and Company. Another, kept by Ward Peck betweeen 1818 and 1842, records his farming activities in Waterbury. The four autograph albums (1827-1885) contain the signatures of such notables as John Burroughs, Leonard Bacon, Timothy Dwight, James A. Garfield, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Wendell Phillips, Henry Ward Beecher, Catherine Beecher, and Horace Greeley. Also in the collection is an account book kept successively by two members of the Burtch family of Stonington, Connecticut. The first part (1773-1787) was kept by Thomas Burtch, a cooper and the second by his grandson, also Thomas Burtch, a day laborer. Their accounts deal largely with work on ships. Diplomas and certificates of Walter D. Makepeace and genealogical material make up the remainder of the collection.

Letters from Narcissus Graham to his family chiefly about his unhappiness in the Army, which he joined in 1776 and left in 1783.

Thirty-one manuscript letters to Nathanael Greene, one photostatic copy and two volumes of typed transcripts of letters and Revolutionary War era documents. The originals of these transcripts were formerly owned by William A. Reed and are now in the Clements Library of the University of Michigan.

Account books, ledgers, a letter book and over 8,000 bills and receipts of Nathaniel Shaw and his brother, Thomas, who succeeded him in managing the family business. Many of the ledgers and accounts are for cargoes in Shaw's ships which were engaged in the West Indies trade. During the American Revolution Nathaniel Shaw was an active partisan of the colonies and his letter books refer to the ongoing situation. From 1776 he was "agent of the Colony [Connecticut] for naval supplies and taking care of sick seamen" and his ledgers document the financial side of these enterprises, including the accounts of privateers and the disposition of prizes taken by American ships during the war.

Correspondence and legal and financial papers reflecting Pendleton's service in the Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General Nathanael Greene, and his close connection with Alexander Hamilton. The correspondence includes letters from Samuel Finley, Mrs. Nathanael Greene, Alexander von Humboldt and Otho Holland Williams. Legal and financial papers as well as correspondence of Alexander Hamilton are also included since Pendleton was executor of his estate. Also included are legal documents of the Bard family and papers of other members of the Pendleton family, among them Edmund H. Pendleton and Philip C. Pendleton. Other documents in the papers relate to Indian lands in Georgia (1788) and a summary of a treaty between the King of Spain and the Creek, Choctaw, Chickasaw and Cherokee Indians, dated 1793.

The bulk of the collection is made up of correspondence, notebooks, military commissions and other military papers, reflecting his service during the American Revolution. Also in the papers are letters (1802-1804) from his son, mostly relating to pensions for members of the Twenty-first regiment. Other members of the family represented in the collection include his great-great grandfather, Edward Johnson, his father, Obadiah Johnson and his second wife, Lucy Cady Spaulding. Also among the papers are contemporary printed pamphlets and broadsides.

Papers of several branches of the Peck family in Connecticut. Half of the collection is made up of the papers of the Ambrose Peck family (1691-1911) including correspondence, diaries, account books, legal papers, photographs, and memorabilia. Noteworthy are letters on the Battle of Bunker Hill and the War of 1812, as well as diaries by Abby Ann Hyde Peck from her school days, 1824-1832, and her old age, 1874-1883. Another member of the family represented is Tracy Peck (1785-1862) an important public figure in Bristol, Connecticut, and active in the Congregational Church. The papers of Epaphroditus Peck contain lecture notes taken while he was attending Yale Law School (1903-1908) and family correspondence. Miscellaneous papers (1812-1907) of other members of the family make up the remainder of the collection.

Sermons of Peter Starr, together with the sermons of his predecessor in Kent (now Warren), Connecticut, Sylvanus Osborn, and of two relatives by marriage, John Keep and John Stevens. Three-fourths of the papers are by Peter Starr. During the Revolutionary War Starr shifted his loyalty, and the sermons provide biblical justification on both sides. John Keep was a chaplain during the war and a number of his camp sermons are in the collection.

Correspondence of Tapping Reeve, jurist, author, and teacher of law, and of his wife, Sarah Burr Reeve, sister of Aaron Burr (1756-1836). Correspondents include Joel Barlow, Aaron Burr, Peter Colt, Jonathan Edwards, Pierpont Edwards, Timothy Edwards, and John Cotton Smith. The letters relate to both family and business affairs.

Correspondence, reports, legal records, financial documents and genealogical material of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Included are both family letters and political correspondence. Of special interest are the letters to Governor Jonathan Trumbull on the relationship of Connecticut to the prosecution of the war (1777-1780). Among Sherman's writings are a report from the Constitutional Convention (1787), a note on the proposal for a national bank (1791) and a printed copy of his Almanac for 1760. Genealogical and other papers assembled by Sherman's grandson, George Frisbie Hoar (1826-1904) are also in the collection. Major correspondents are Oliver Ellsworth, Samuel Hopkins, Titus Hosmer, Samuel Huntington, Stephen Mix Mitchell and William Williams.