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Samuel Sewall was a judge, businessman, and printer in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. Collection comprises an affidavit sworn by Susanna Ramer before Samuel Sewall, testifying "that going up into her Garret this Monday Morning to call her Negro Alexander, she found Anne Staples Servant Maid of Samuel Eaton, in Bed with the said Alexander, which was a great surprise to her, not knowing that such an one was at all in the house. Sworn March, 16 1713 in presence of Anne Staples...." With attestation in a different hand, reading "April 10 1713 Sworn in Court at Boston Att. Davenport."

This collection centers around John Wetmore Hinsdale (1843-1921), a successful lawyer and businessman who served in the Confederate army. His son, John Wetmore Hinsdale, Jr., was also a lawyer and politician in North Carolina. Correspondence, Civil War diaries, newspapers clippings, C.S.A. War Dept. records book, and other papers, of a family of lawyers, of Raleigh and Fayetteville, N.C. Includes material on Confederate generals Theophilus Hunter Holmes, William Dorsey Pender, and James Johnston Pettigrew; schools, education, railroad taxation, and legislation, government and politics in North Carolina, particularly during the 1930s; and medical practice in Virginia ca. 1900. Persons represented include Ellen Devereux Hinsdale, John Wetmore Hinsdale, and John Wetmore Hinsdale, Jr.

Holograph, signed. Deed of land purchase. Witnessed by Solomon Tracy and Benajah Bushnell. Acknowledged by Richard Bushnell, Justice of the Peace.

Holograph, signed. Deed of land purchase. Witnessed by Solomon Tracy and Benajah Bushnell. Acknowledged by Richard Bushnell, Justice of the Peace.

Collection comprises a manuscript volume (170 pages) written in several hands that was probably passed among the generations in the Stennett family; probably from Joseph Stennett to Samuel; there is a notation on p. 11 that the volume was passed from Samuel Stennett to E[lizabeth] Stennett, his daughter, in 1795. The volume contains religious materials, primarily hymns and poetry, including hymns by Samuel Stennett (beginning p. 53), along with some verse. A few pieces are in Latin, and many pieces are tied to Biblical verses. Corrections and additions to the text are common.

Cosimo III de' Medici was the penultimate Medici Grand Duke of Tuscany. He reigned from 1670 to 1723, and was the elder son of Grand Duke Ferdinando II. Collection contains a letter on vellum that is a notice from Cosimo III de Medici (Duke of Etruria etc.), to John Philip de Incontris of Florence regarding rents of 222 and 220L in reference to John Philip’s equestrian military preparation. Dated at Florence, 1 February 1705, in the 35th year of the Dukedom of Etruria.

Rector of Langley Burrell, Wiltshire, England; Nonjuror. Volume of writings and correspondence of Thomas Stampe, who, in 1701, recanted an oath of allegiance to William and Mary, and thus became a Nonjuror while a beneficed clergy of the Church of England. Writings and letters all relate to the issues of religion, government, and allegiances, and mention George Hickes and Thomas Ken, Bishop of Bath and Wells. Also includes correspondence with Gilbert Burnet, the Bishop of Salisbury.

Rebecca West was a British writer and critic. The Rebecca West note consists of a single autograph manuscript note to an unknown correspondent reading, "With Miss Rebecca West's compliments." On letterhead stationery: 15, Orchard Court. Portman Square.W.1., Welbeck 3606.

William Helfand is a scholar of pharmaceutical history and art, and collector of ephemera and art related to medicine. The William H. Helfand Collection of Medical Prints and Posters consists of 34 prints and posters realted to the history of medicine and pharmacology, dating from 1695 to 1991, with the bulk of the prints dating from 19th century. Paris, France is the provenance for many of the posters, but several hail from England and the United States. The posters are represented in two formats: lithographs and engravings, some of which are hand colored. Ranging in size from 5"x8" to 19"x23", the prints include caricatures, political satire, comics and advertisements, dealing with a range of subjects from quacks, alchemy, charlatans and cheats, to pastoral and hospital scenes. George Cruikshank and Honoré Daumier are represented amongst the artists. Acquired as part of the History of Medicine Collections at Duke University.

Holograph document, signed. Deed for a grant of land. On verso, a receipt for quit rent due on the granted, dated 1739, and a certificate of entry in the Office for Recording of Deeds, dated 1755.

The East India Company was an English joint-stock company formed in 1600 that ruled portions of South Asia until 1858. This collection contains over 55 documents including miscellaneous legal papers, correspondence, receipts, and extracts largely relating to the East India Company's operations and employees; three documents relating to Muhammad Ali Khan Wallajah, the Nabob of Arcot (1745-1795); manuscripts relating to Sir Robert Chambers (1737-1803), who traveled to India in 1774 as one of the first justices of the Supreme Court at Calcutta; and a petition written by the wife of Almas Ali Khan, an important administrator in Awadh and one of the key figures in the trial of Warren Hastings. These manuscripts seem to have formerly been part of Sir Thomas Phillipps noted collection.

Rhodes scholar and lawyer of Asheville, N.C. Collection is divided into the following categories: Correspondence (1815-1969, some transcribed); Writings (1682-1965); Speeches (1896-1965); Miscellany (ca. 1908); Clippings (1792-1975); Printed materials (1865-1977); Volumes (1886-1954); Pictures, late 19th and early 20th centuries; and an Alphabetical file (1787-1977), arranged by topic. Most of the material spans the years 1900-1960. Included are personal correspondence and materials relating to Cocke's political and civic interests; family correspondence and photographs; clippings; and scrapbooks. Cocke's many correspondents include Sam Ervin, B. Everett Jordan, and Terry Sanford. Correspondence topics include the Democratic Party; life as an American law student in England; English law compared to American law; and travels in Europe. Some letters refer to Thomas Wolfe, whom Cocke knew.

Papers of militia officer and customs collector Joseph Jones of Petersburg, Va., and of his children and grandchildren, including business, personal, and military correspondence, deeds, Virginia militia records, general orders, Treasury Dept. circulars, lists of licensed vessels, letters regarding western lands, and papers relating to the port of Petersburg, Va. Correspondents include John Adams, William H. Crawford, Albert Gallatin, Richard Bland Lee, James Madison, Timothy Pickering, John Randolph, and John Tyler.

Kilby and his son, Wilbur John Kilby (1850-1907), were both lawyers of Suffolk, Virginia, and of members of the Riddick family. Correspondence and legal and other papers of Kilby and of his son, Wilbur John Kilby (1850-1907), both lawyers, of Suffolk, Va., and of members of the Riddick family. The bulk of the collection concerns such legal activities of the Kilbys as administration of estates, collection of bills, and adjustments of property. The collection is important in part for its early records of families and references to politics and social conditions of Nansemond County, Virginia, but also for its references to slavery, the American Colonization Society and conditions in Liberia, and for its slave lists from the Riddick and Glazebrook families. There are many wills, one of which refers to the manumission of slaves. Other items refer to the legal affairs of the Riddick family, Richard H. Riddick, merchant of Pantego, N.C., and agent of the Albemarle Swamp Land Company; pro-Civil War activities of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Southampton Insurrection of 1831; Civil War action near Shepherdstown and Fredericksburg; African American soldiers during Reconstruction; the Negro Reformatory Association of Virginia; the gold rush of Pike's Peak, Colorado; a Suffolk, Va. cholera epidemic; and the Panic of 1857.

King Charles II of England (1630-1685) did not have any official heirs. He did, though, have many children by a number of mistresses. For the children born to these other women that the King acknowledged, most were given titles of nobility within a few years of their birth (along with most of their mothers). The names of seven of these children appear in this collection. This collection contains royal warrants or decrees issued during the reign of King Charles II of England. Of the seven documents, four are written on behalf of the King, two are 'certification of armes' the remaining item is a listing of possible heraldic figures. The names listed in the warrants are sons and daughters of the King and three of his mistresses.

Richard Wharton was a prominent Boston merchant, land proprietor, attorney, and political figure. Collection comprises a 1671 slave trade contract committing Boston merchant Richard Wharton to acquire slaves for Jonathan Sybury of Maryland in return for tobacco. This contract specifies that prior to the last day of July, 1671, Wharton will "Send forth and Imploy A vessel to Some one or more Islands of America where Negroes are ordinarily to be Sold wch sd vessell shall bee loadon wth a sufficient Cargoe for obtayning and purchasing ten or more healthy & sound Negroes halfe Males and halfe females none exceeding ye age of forty years and not more than two the age of thirty five years" and that the vessel "shall...Carry and Transport to Wye River in Maryland The sd Negroes..." The contract further stipulates that within seven days after the arrival of the vessel in the Wye River, Sybury "will show present and Deliver at some [?] convenient shipping place...the quantity of Three Thousand six hundred and Eighty pounds of bright and large Tobacco without ground leaves or seconds." Failing such payment, Sybury is required to pay with bills of exchange redeemable in London. Much of the contract reckons with various circumstances that might arise and the terms specific to these. The document is signed by Wharton on the lower right and by witnesses John Walley and Georg Young on the lower left.

Holograph document. A bill presented for "writings made and business done for Mr. Michael Harvey and Mr. William Harvey his brother."

William Thomas Laprade was Professor of History at Trinity College (now Duke University) from 1909 to 1953 and Chair of the Department of History from 1938 to 1952. Papers contain personal and professional correspondence, notes, reports, printed materials, manuscript materials, photographs, diplomas, memorabilia, clippings, student papers, and letters from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Major subjects include William Thomas Laprade, history of Trinity College, Trinity College Press, Duke University Press, Duke University Department of History, Duke University libraries, The South Atlantic Quarterly, the American Association of University Professors, study and teaching of European history, American Historical Association, the North Carolina Department of Archives and History, Kiwanis Club of Durham, and Phi Beta Kappa. Major subjects of correspondence include family life, the Great Depression, World War I, and World War II. Materials range in date from 1660-1975 (bulk 1898-1975).

Collection comprises a 35-page memorandum book maintained by the Haulsey family of London, England, from 1646-1846. The memoranda usually record marriages, births, christenings, deaths, and burials, but there are also separate notes on family genealogy, as well as a few notes on land tenancy transfers, and money lent and received. There is one record regarding numbers of silver trays and candlesticks. Volume entries are handwritten on varying types of paper, and are not in chronological order. The volume also features an embroidered binding and a metal-clasp closure with initials G.W. (one clasp is missing). The embroidery includes images of day and night, as well as a dog, monkey, church, house, windmill, swallow, snail, and various plants and flowers.

Scholar, editor, collector, and Duke University faculty member specializing in the history of English and American Methodist history, and the life and career of minister John Wesley. Collection documents the professional career and life of Frank Baker, historian of Methodism and particularly of the founder and Methodist minister John Wesley. Materials are arranged in the following series: Baker Collections Files; Correspondence; Libraries and Archives; Ministry; Personal Files; Printed Materials; Professional Service; Scrapbooks and Albums; Subject Files; Teaching Materials; and Writings and Research. Topics covered include: the history of the Baker book and manuscript collections in the Duke University libraries; the history and development of Methodism and of the Wesley family; the Church of England; the Methodist Church in England, the U.S., and other countries; the development of academic research on Methodist history; music and hymnology; and material on the Wesley Works Series, a publishing project headed by Baker. There are abundant research materials on notable individuals associated with Methodism such as Charles Wesley and many other Wesley family members, William Grimshaw, and Francis Asbury. Printed material abounds, and includes many maps, articles, clippings and newspapers, pamphlets, and religious music.