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Contact information: https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm80039859
Collection material in English
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
The papers of the Shippen family were deposited in the Library of Congress by Lloyd P. Shippen from 1930 to 1946 and converted to a gift in 1975.
The papers of the Shippen family were processed and prepared for microfilming in 1971. The finding aid was revised in 2009. The scope and content note was expanded to include additional description from Julie Miller in 2021.
Shippen family correspondence can be located at other libraries, including the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society, both in Philadelphia.
Related collections in the Manuscript Division include those of Joseph Hopper Nicholson, and a number of Shippen family members. A fuller list of related collections is available under related resources at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000084
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Shippen family is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of the Shippen family are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
A microfilm edition of these papers is available on fifteen reels. Consult reference
staff in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase and interlibrary
loan.
The Shippen family papers are available on the Library of Congress Web site at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/collmss.ms000084.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container or reel number, Shippen Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of the Shippen family span the years 1671-1936. They consist of correspondence, diaries, account books, memorandum books, legal and business papers, indentures, and miscellaneous papers. Family members primarily represented include William Shippen Jr. (1736-1808); his wife Alice Lee Shippen (1736-1817); their children Anne ("Nancy") Home (or Hume) Shippen Livingston (1763-1841) and Thomas Lee Shippen (1765-1798); and William's father, William Shippen Sr. (1712-1801) Papers of the Nicholson family (1671-1860) are also included. The collection is organized in six series: Diaries and Journals, Correspondence, Family Papers, Miscellany, Nicholson Family Papers, and Oversize.
The papers chiefly document the family of William Shippen Jr. They reflect the family’s experiences during the Revolutionary War, their participation in the Philadelphia social circle that surrounded George Washington during his presidency, and the family’s engagement with national politics. They cover William Shippen Jr.’s medical practice, the family’s dealings in Philadelphia real estate, the administration of family estates, and the private lives of family members. The papers are notable for their documentation of the lives of the women of the family, in diaries, letters, and such ephemera as embroidery patterns. Correspondence with and material from members of the Carter, Lee, Nicholson, Roberdeau, other families, some of whom are related, is included.
Correspondents of note include Thomas Jefferson, Francis Scott Key (to Rebecca Nicholson), James Madison (1749-1812), Richard Rush (who appears to have administered the estates of William Shippen Jr. and his son, Thomas Lee Shippen), William Short, and George Washington (two letters to William Shippen Jr, May 3, 1777, and May 7, 1789).
Ann ("Nancy") Home Shippen Livingston’s life is documented by diaries, correspondence, and letterbooks. These document her romance with French diplomat Louis-Guillaume Otto, comte de Mosloy, her unhappy marriage to Henry Beekman Livingston, her separation from Livingston and loss of custody of her child, Margaret "Peggy" Beekman Livingston, her observations on women’s position in society, her life in and around Philadelphia, travels to New York to see her daughter, and more. Her correspondence is with her parents, husband, daughter, uncles Arthur Lee and Richard Henry Lee, and members of the Livingston family.
The diaries and correspondence of Thomas Lee Shippen document his travels in Europe during the 1780s, and subsequent family life until his death in 1798. Correspondence of his wife, Elizabeth Carter (Farley) Bannister Shippen, is also included. (A young widow at the time of their marriage, Elizabeth Shippen married George Izard after Thomas Lee Shippen's death.) Thomas Lee Shippen’s correspondence includes letters from Thomas Jefferson advising him on his European travels, including a detailed itinerary, dated June 19, 1788. There is substantial correspondence on political and family topics between members of the family and Alice Lee Shippen’s brothers, particularly diplomat Arthur Lee and Revolutionary War figure and United States Senator Richard Henry Lee. Alice Lee Shippen’s correspondence is largely to her children and to her niece, Lucy Carter.
Also included is a substantial group of papers of Joseph Hopper Nicholson (1770-1817), a Maryland congressman (1799-1806) and subsequently a judge; his wife, Rebecca Lloyd Nicholson; father, Joseph Nicholson Jr., and other members of their family. Joseph Hopper Nicholson’s correspondence includes letters from congressional colleagues, including Nathaniel Macon, John Randolph, and C. A. Rodney. There are also letters from Frances Few, niece of Hannah Nicholson Gallatin and Albert Gallatin.
Two oversized account books, 1763-1776 and 1776-1793, maintained by William Shippen Jr., contain, among his routine household accounts, records of his medical practice, including purchases of drugs and payments from patients with brief notes on their conditions. Shippen’s correspondence includes letters concerning his hospital post during the Revolutionary War, and exchanges with his children, Edward Shippen, and others.
This collection is arranged in six series:
Available on microfilm. Shelf no. 14,051
Diaries, journals, memorandum books, and account books of family members Ann ("Nancy") Shippen Livingston, Howard Post, Mary Elizabeth Roberdeau, Edward Shippen, and Thomas Lee Shippen.
Arranged by name of family member and therein by type of material and chronologically.
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Letters received by members of the Cutting, Farley, Lee, and Shippen families. Includes letters from Francis Scott Key, Lord Lansdowne, Arthur Lee, Richard Henry Lee, James Madison (1749-1812), and George Washington.
Arranged by name of correspondent and therein chronologically.
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Correspondence, memorandum books, financial and legal documents, and miscellaneous material chiefly of members of the family of William Shippen Jr, including Alice Lee Shippen, Ann Home Shippen Livingston, Thomas Lee Shippen, and others.
Arranged by name of family member and therein by type of material.
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Financial and legal records, miscellaneous correspondence, genealogical material, memorabilia, poetry, printed matter, and other miscellaneous items.
Arranged alphabetically by type of material.
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Chiefly correspondence with some legal material and miscellany.
Arranged by name of family member and therein by type of material and chronologically.
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Three volumes containing financial records and patient records, kept by William Shippen Sr. and his son, William Shippen Jr.
Arranged by size.
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