Correspondence, 1816-1822 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Correspondence and journal, 1816-1822, of New York congressman Henry Meigs, chiefly consisting of letters written by him to his father, Josiah Meigs, President of the Columbia Institute in Washington D.C. Meig's letters include extensive observations and commentary on such topics as local and national politics, his own political career, family news, advances in technology, and a wide range of subjects in the fields of philosophy, linguistics, archeology, history, and the natural sciences. Letters also include descriptions of current events and local events in New York City, including outbreaks of yellow fever, weather, Louis Charles Guille's 1819 ascent in a balloon in New York City, internment of General Montgomery's ashes in St. Paul's, Doctor Samuel L. Mitchill, and activities of the New York library and Historical Society. Additionally included is a transcript of a journal, 1811 Mar.-1812 Jun., kept by Henry Meigs while residing in Astoria, New York. The transcription includes meteorological notes extracted from a weather journal kept by John Astor, in addition to Meigs's brief entries recording his observations and encounters with the local indians, gardening notes, sightings of wildlife, and hunting and fishing in the region. Of additional note are a number of small illustrations, executed in watercolor, which occasionally accompany the text of Meigs's letters, including sketches of Guille's balloon in flight, sailing ships, diagrams, architectural sketches, etc