Richard Varick Papers: NYU Special Collections Finding Aids (original) (raw)

1743-1871 (bulk 1775-1830), inclusive

2.5 Linear feet (5 boxes)

The documents in the collection are in English.

Richard Varick, born in New Jersey, 1753, served as Captain, deputy muster-master-general, and George Washington's secretary during the Revolutionary war. He was appointed one of the first mayors of New York and served from 1789-1801. He died in 1831. His papers contain items resulting from his military, legal, and political careers, as well as personal and familial correspondence and accounts--including letters received, drafts of letters sent, accounts, receipts, military orders, inventories, muster and pay rolls, military pay accounts, indentures, court-martial papers and civil court papers.

The Richard Varick papers are digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.

1753 Mar. 23 Born in Hackensack, NJ. Son of John Varick.

1775 Captain in Alexander McDougall's regiment

1775 July 1 Appointment by General Phillip Schuyler as his secretary

1776 Sept. 25 Appointed by Congress as Deputy muster-master-general

1777 Apr. 10 Lieutenant-colonel

1780 Inspector-general at West Point, and first aide-de-camp to General Benedict Arnold

1781 Recording secretary for General Washington

1784-1789 Recorder of New York City

1787-1788 Speaker of the New York State Assembly

1787-1816 Trustee of Columbia College

1788-1789 Attorney-general of the State of New York

1789 Varick and Samuel Jones appointed revisers of New York States laws (codified state statutes)

1789-1801 Mayor of New York

[1803]-1820 President of Merchants Bank

1816-1831 Founder and benefactor of American Bible Society

1828-1831 President of American Bible Society

1831 July 30 Died in Jersey City, NJ

Richard Varick was married to Maria Roosevelt, daughter of Isaac Roosevelt who was the son of James Roosevelt.

The Richard Varick Papers have been arranged into the following six series.

The materials within each folder are arranged chronologically.

  1. Series I. Correspondence
  2. Series II. Military Documents
  3. Series III. Legal Documents
  4. Series IV. Accounts, Bills, Receipts
  5. Series V. Appointments to Various Offices
  6. Series VI. Genealogies

This collection of Richard Varick's papers contains items resulting from his military, legal, and political careers, as well as personal and family papers such as correspondence and accounts. The majority of the collection dates from the Revolutionary War, and over half of the collection consists of correspondence.

The collection includes letters received, drafts of letters sent, accounts, receipts, military orders, inventories, muster and pay rolls, military pay accounts, indentures, court-martial papers and civil court papers. Also contained within the collection are papers about veterans' claims to military lands in New York State, including some maps; papers relating to the settlement of the estate of Derick Dey, Varick's maternal grandfather, and the affairs of other members of the Dey family; personal and family correspondence and accounts; and a few documents signed by Varick in his capacity as mayor of New York.

The papers in the collection pertain to a variety of subjects, including Varick's command of a company in Alexander McDougall's battalion at Ticonderoga and in Canada during 1775; his service on courts-martial in 1775; problems of the bateau service in northern New York State in 1776; his position as secretary to Gen. Philip Schuyler in 1775-1776; his work as deputy muster master general, inspector general at West Point, first aide-de-camp to Benedict Arnold (including papers about Arnold's defection and subsequent investigations), and as recording secretary for George Washington (including papers about the transcription of Washington's letters); and suits handled by him as an attorney practicing in Poughkeepsie in 1782-1783, and in New York City after the war.

Organizations

Families

Genres

People

Arnold, Benedict, 1741-1801; Bradford, William, 1755-1795; Carthy, Daniel; Cuyler, Cornelius; De Witt, Simeon, 1756-1834; Dey, Derick -- Estate; Elting, Peter; Gano, Daniel, 1758-1849; Gates, Horatio, 1728-1806; Glen, Henry, 1739-1814; Lamb, John, 1735-1800; Lansing, Jacob John; Lansing, John, 1754-1829; Laurance, John, 1750-1810; Lush, Richard; Romeyn, Dirck; Rutgers, Henry, 1745-1830; Sanders, John, 1756-1841; Schuyler, Philip John, 1733-1804; Scott, John Morin, 1730-1784; Sewell, Henry, 1753-1845; Van Rensselaer, Philip, 1747-1798; Varick, John V. B.; Varick, John; Varick, Richard, 1753-1831; Visscher, Matthew; Ward, Joseph, 1737-1812; Washington, George, 1732-1799; Woodruff, Lewis, 1754-1816; Trumbull, Jonathan, 1740-1809; Yates, Peter W. (Peter Waldron), 1747-1826

Topics

Places

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.

Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

This collection should be cited as Richard Varick Papers, MS 655, The New-York Historical Society.

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:50:03 -0400.

Language: Description is in English.

This version was derived from varick.xml

New-York Historical Society