American Historical Financial Documents Collection
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, accounts, receipts, checks, printed currency, circular letters, printed forms filled out in manuscript, and other printed material related to American finance, currency and lotteries during and after the Revolutionary War. Series I, Currency and Public Debt Documents, includes letters by Jacques-Pierre Brissot de Warville; Albert Gallatin; John Gibson; Alexander Hamilton; Gouverneur Morris; Robert Morris, and Thomas Willing. There is a small group of letters between Gouverneur Morris and the London bankers Sir Francis Baring, Edmund Boehm, and Thomas Henchman concerning their possible investment in the "new American funds" in 1790 and 1791. Printed material includes Thomas Paine's Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance (Philadelphia, 1796) as well as circular letters and debt payment tables. Other contents include reports on Revolutionary War loans and other contemporary financial matters; receipts issued by several states, particularly Connecticut and Massachusetts, between 1780 and 1789; and samples of state and Continental Congress paper money. Series II, United States Lottery Documents, contains letters by state agents for the Continental Lottery; accounts and account logs for the lottery; memoranda; and a printed lottery ticket from 1779.
Dates
- 1734-1874
- Majority of material found within 1777 - 1790
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from William Reese Co. on the Edwin J. Beinecke Book Fund and the Library Associates Fund, 2003.
Arrangement
Organized into two series, both arranged in the order in which the material was received. Series I., Currency and Public Debt Documents, contains examples of currency and printed forms issued by various states and the Continental Congress, followed by alphabetically arranged correspondence, circular letters, official documents and printed ephemera. Series II, United States Lottery Documents, contains roughly chronologically arranged correspondence and other papers.
Extent
4.76 Linear Feet (6 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Abstract
Correspondence, accounts, receipts, checks, printed currency, circular letters, printed forms filled out in manuscript, and other printed material related to American finance, currency and lotteries during and after the Revolutionary War. Series I, Currency and Public Debt Documents, includes letters by Jacques-Pierre Brissot de Warville; Albert Gallatin; John Gibson; Alexander Hamilton; Gouverneur Morris; Robert Morris, and Thomas Willing. There is a small group of letters between Gouverneur Morris and the London bankers Sir Francis Baring, Edmund Boehm, and Thomas Henchman concerning their possible investment in the "new American funds" in 1790 and 1791. Printed material includes Thomas Paine's Decline and Fall of the English System of Finance (Philadelphia, 1796) as well as circular letters and debt payment tables. Other contents include reports on Revolutionary War loans and other contemporary financial matters; receipts issued by several states, particularly Connecticut and Massachusetts, between 1780 and 1789; and samples of state and Continental Congress paper money. Series II, United States Lottery Documents, contains letters by state agents for the Continental Lottery; accounts and account logs for the lottery; memoranda; and a printed lottery ticket from 1779.
Processing Information
This collection consists of materials formerly classed as Uncat MSS 474 and Uncat MSS 516. In 2014, the collection received a baseline level of processing, including rehousing. The existing arrangement of material in each accession was retained. Folder titles were based on information provided by the bookdealer. Some names were updated to conform to Library of Congress name authorities.
- Accounts -- United States -- 18th century
- Baring, Francis, Sir, 1740-1810
- Boehm, Edmund
- Brissot de Warville, J.-P. (Jacques-Pierre), 1754-1793
- Checks (bank checks) -- United States -- 18th century
- Continental currency -- United States -- 18th century
- Debts, Public -- Law and legislation -- United States
- Debts, Public -- United States
- Debts, Public -- United States -- States
- Finance, Public -- United States
- Finance, Public -- United States -- States
- Gallatin, Albert, 1761-1849
- Gibson, John, 1729-1782
- Hamilton, Alexander, 1757-1804
- Henchman, Thomas
- Lotteries -- United States
- Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816
- Morris, Robert, 1734-1806
- Paper money -- United States
- Paper money -- United States -- 18th century
- Reed, Joseph, 1741-1785
- United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1789
- United States -- Politics and government -- 1789-1797
- United States -- Politics and government -- 1797-1801
- United States -- Politics and government -- 1801-1815
- United States. Board of Treasury
- United States. Congress
- United States. Continental Congress
- United States. Department of the Treasury
- Willing, Thomas, 1731-1821
- Title
- American Historical Financial Documents Collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Beinecke Staff
- Date
- April 2014
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository
Location
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511
Opening Hours
Access Information
The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.