Jay family papers, 1772-1901 (inclusive), 1801-1901 (bulk) | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Papers of five generations of the descendants of John Jay, chief justice of the United States Supreme Court, through his eldest son, Peter Augustus Jay. John Jay is represented by nine letters beginning in 1801 at the time of his retirement. These chiefly discuss his health and family matters. Early legal papers include several documents regarding the manumission and sale of slaves in the possession of the family. The correspondence (1801-1805) of Peter A. Jay, particularly with the political philosopher, Augustus Brevoort Woodward, discusses contemporary politics in the emerging republic. Peter Jay's family letters discuss personal matters and describe the epidemics between 1819 and 1836 in New York City, where he worked as a lawyer. The letters of his daughter, Mary Rutherfurd Jay Prime, are interesting for their description of social life in New York City in the 1820s and 1830s. Several Civil War letters to her daughter, Mary Rutherfurd Prime, are also in the papers. The largest volume of papers was left by the fifth generation and consist entirely of school materials of John Jay (1875-1928, Yale 1898) and trace his career at St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire and his college years at Yale (1894-1898). Included are correspondence, poetry, course notebooks, printed memorabilia and photographs