The Swain Report, Number Four
In 2009, the David Library made a large acquisition at the Pennsylvania State Archive. The Papers of Jasper Yeates was among those acquired. As you'll note in David’s report, Yeates was a very important figure in revolutionary Pennsylvania. Stationed in Lancaster County as a prominent lawyer, he served on the Committee of Safety for the County, was a member of the Middle Department for Indian Affairs during days immediately following Independence, and served as a Supreme Court judge for the state of Pennsylvania. The Collection we have contains a wide-range of his papers. Other portions of his papers can be found in the Lancaster County Historical Society and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Patrick Spero
Jasper Yeats Family Papers
by David Swain
Biographical Information
Jasper Yeats (or Yeates) was born in 1745 and died in 1817. His father, John Yeats, was a Philadelphia merchant, so Jasper may have been born in Philadelphia and moved to Lancaster when he decided to start a law practice. He married Catherine Burd, whose family came from Carlisle, and his business correspondence includes a number of letters from two of her brothers, Joseph and Edward. Another in-law family was the Shippens of Lancaster. The Yeats, Burds, and Shippens all knew each other well and intermarried closely. Judging from his family papers, Jasper practiced law from the early 1760s until he died. In 1791, he was appointed an associate justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a position he held until he died.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Jeduthan Baldwin Diary Finding Aid
The Swain Report, Number Three
We recently acquired the Jeduthan Baldwin Diary from the Massachusetts Historical Society. What follows is David Swain's excellent and intriguing report of what he discovered in the diary. David describes the three main sections of the diary and lets us in on some of the juiciest nuggets he discovered.
Reading David's report, I was struck by two things. First, Baldwin’s diary truly captures the era of the Revolution, beginning with the Seven Years War and ending in the midst of ratification. Although many works of history begin or end with 1776, Baldwin's life shows how for many the era of the Revolution was a period of continuity. What Baldwin's diary tells us about this era is something for researchers to answer.
The second observation comes at the end of David's detailed and fascinating report. David mentions a portion of the diary that includes records relating to Shays' Rebellion and notes that while portions of Baldwin's Diary have been published, this part has not. I did a quick search of Google Books and found that few books have cited this manuscript copy. What new insight on Shays' Rebellion might this collection hold?
Patrick Spero
Jeduthan Baldwin Diaries
by David Swain
Biographical Information
Jeduthan Baldwin (1732-1788) was born in Woburn, MA. He lived most of his life in North Brookfield, a small town in a still rural area NW of Worcester. He apparently learned the construction trades and mechanical engineering early in life because he served in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War as an engineer, designing and supervising (and probably doing) the construction of fortifications, buildings, bridges, and the like for American colonial and then US national military efforts. His rank during the French and Indian War was Captain. By late in the Revolutionary War, he had risen to the level of Colonel.
We recently acquired the Jeduthan Baldwin Diary from the Massachusetts Historical Society. What follows is David Swain's excellent and intriguing report of what he discovered in the diary. David describes the three main sections of the diary and lets us in on some of the juiciest nuggets he discovered.
Reading David's report, I was struck by two things. First, Baldwin’s diary truly captures the era of the Revolution, beginning with the Seven Years War and ending in the midst of ratification. Although many works of history begin or end with 1776, Baldwin's life shows how for many the era of the Revolution was a period of continuity. What Baldwin's diary tells us about this era is something for researchers to answer.
The second observation comes at the end of David's detailed and fascinating report. David mentions a portion of the diary that includes records relating to Shays' Rebellion and notes that while portions of Baldwin's Diary have been published, this part has not. I did a quick search of Google Books and found that few books have cited this manuscript copy. What new insight on Shays' Rebellion might this collection hold?
Patrick Spero
Jeduthan Baldwin Diaries
by David Swain
Biographical Information
Jeduthan Baldwin (1732-1788) was born in Woburn, MA. He lived most of his life in North Brookfield, a small town in a still rural area NW of Worcester. He apparently learned the construction trades and mechanical engineering early in life because he served in both the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War as an engineer, designing and supervising (and probably doing) the construction of fortifications, buildings, bridges, and the like for American colonial and then US national military efforts. His rank during the French and Indian War was Captain. By late in the Revolutionary War, he had risen to the level of Colonel.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Revere Family Papers Finding Aid
The Swain Report, Number Two
In his second installment, David Swain, the David Library's volunteer researcher, describes a couple of interesting items he discovered in the Revere Family Papers. For those interested in Paul Revere or in the military action in Rhode Island, it might hold a few gems.
Patrick Spero
Paul Revere Family Papers
by David Swain
Biographical information
Paul Revere (1734-1818) lived his entire life in Boston, becoming a wealthy and prominent silversmith. His niche in history has been assured by the endurance of the tradition about the role he played as messenger of the Lexington-Concord patriot victories. The papers discussed here focus more on Revere and his family’s business in metalworking.
In his second installment, David Swain, the David Library's volunteer researcher, describes a couple of interesting items he discovered in the Revere Family Papers. For those interested in Paul Revere or in the military action in Rhode Island, it might hold a few gems.
Patrick Spero
Paul Revere Family Papers
by David Swain
Biographical information
Paul Revere (1734-1818) lived his entire life in Boston, becoming a wealthy and prominent silversmith. His niche in history has been assured by the endurance of the tradition about the role he played as messenger of the Lexington-Concord patriot victories. The papers discussed here focus more on Revere and his family’s business in metalworking.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
The John Rowe Diary Finding Aid
The Swain Report, Number One
David Swain is our volunteer resident researcher. On the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month, we will feature some of the items David has found in our archives. In his first entry for the blog, David writes about the recently purchased Diary of John Rowe. Rowe lived in Boston, where he earned a living as a merchant and sometime smuggler like John Hancock. Rowe kept a detailed and meticulous diary from the revolutionary era, which the David Library just purchased on microfilm from the Massachusetts Historical Society. Rowe was active politically and socially in Boston. He was a Freemason, served on numerous town committees, and regularly socialized with people like Samuel Adams and George Washington. As you will see, Rowe's diary can provide a wonderful window into the world of revolutionary Boston.
Patrick Spero
John Rowe Papers (diary)
by David Swain
Biographical information
John Rowe (1715-1787) was born in Exeter, England and came to Massachusetts Bay colony as a boy with his brothers. He settled in Boston and lived there for the rest of his life. He became a prominent merchant whose primary interests in life revolved around his private business activities and related socializing (especially through active membership in Freemasonry starting in 1740).
David Swain is our volunteer resident researcher. On the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month, we will feature some of the items David has found in our archives. In his first entry for the blog, David writes about the recently purchased Diary of John Rowe. Rowe lived in Boston, where he earned a living as a merchant and sometime smuggler like John Hancock. Rowe kept a detailed and meticulous diary from the revolutionary era, which the David Library just purchased on microfilm from the Massachusetts Historical Society. Rowe was active politically and socially in Boston. He was a Freemason, served on numerous town committees, and regularly socialized with people like Samuel Adams and George Washington. As you will see, Rowe's diary can provide a wonderful window into the world of revolutionary Boston.
Patrick Spero
John Rowe Papers (diary)
by David Swain
Biographical information
John Rowe (1715-1787) was born in Exeter, England and came to Massachusetts Bay colony as a boy with his brothers. He settled in Boston and lived there for the rest of his life. He became a prominent merchant whose primary interests in life revolved around his private business activities and related socializing (especially through active membership in Freemasonry starting in 1740).
Monday, February 1, 2010
Introducing the Swain Report Finding Aids
Over the course of July 2010, David Swain, our volunteer researcher, re-edited his finding aid reports and provided the following introduction, which I have ante-dated for new users. We owe David a great debt of gratitude for his tireless work, which promises to make life much easier for future users of our microfilm collection. To see all of the Swain Reports at once, click on the link under "Topics" in the menu sidebar.
Will Tatum
The purpose: To highlight new microfilm acquisitions by the David Library of the American Revolution and to provide summary information about each to guide researchers seeking manuscript documents about particular people, events, or topics within the Library’s area of historical interest—the American Revolutionary period from about 1750 to about 1800.
Will Tatum
The Swain Reports
The purpose: To highlight new microfilm acquisitions by the David Library of the American Revolution and to provide summary information about each to guide researchers seeking manuscript documents about particular people, events, or topics within the Library’s area of historical interest—the American Revolutionary period from about 1750 to about 1800.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
2009-- A Year in Review
Edited by Patrick Spero, Past Historian at the David Library
What's new at the David Library? A lot. Over the course of the past year, the David Library acquired a number of new collections that we hope will be of great interest to our patrons.
What's new at the David Library? A lot. Over the course of the past year, the David Library acquired a number of new collections that we hope will be of great interest to our patrons.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Understanding Rev War Pension Applications
Patron's Perspective
Sue Winter and Bill Schleicher, two longtime patrons of the David Library, recently shared some of their insight into searching the Revolutionary War pension records we have here. The Pension Records are one of the richest resources we have - and that is saying a lot since we have over 700 collections and 10,000 reels of microfilm. The Pension Records contain data on every soldier who filed a pension with the federal government. Many include narratives of their time in the war. Previously, Kimberly Hess shared the fascinating story of Elizabeth Poole, which she had found in the records.
Patrick Spero
It pays to cast your nets widely in the Revolutionary War pension files.
Happy is the family historian who finds an ancestor's pension file record. But even if your ancestor never applied for a pension, you may not be completely out of luck. And, if you're fortunate enough to have found a pension file, there may still be more to discover.
Sue Winter and Bill Schleicher, two longtime patrons of the David Library, recently shared some of their insight into searching the Revolutionary War pension records we have here. The Pension Records are one of the richest resources we have - and that is saying a lot since we have over 700 collections and 10,000 reels of microfilm. The Pension Records contain data on every soldier who filed a pension with the federal government. Many include narratives of their time in the war. Previously, Kimberly Hess shared the fascinating story of Elizabeth Poole, which she had found in the records.
Patrick Spero
It pays to cast your nets widely in the Revolutionary War pension files.
Happy is the family historian who finds an ancestor's pension file record. But even if your ancestor never applied for a pension, you may not be completely out of luck. And, if you're fortunate enough to have found a pension file, there may still be more to discover.
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