Converted to EAD3 : Encoded Archival Description (EAD), Version 3 : Release: 1.1.1 : Release Date: 2019-12-16. Validating against latest version of schema.
Contact information: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/mss.contact
Catalog Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78029702
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 Tobias Lear were obtained by the Library of Congress through gift and purchase from various sources, 1901-2010, including the addition the latter year of two letters and five account books.
The papers of Tobias Lear were arranged and described in 1968. A letter was added to the collection in 1975, and the papers were reprocessed with the incorporation of additional material in 2011.
The addition to the Tobias Lear Papers is described in
Other papers of Tobias Lear can be found in the William L. Clements Library of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Mich.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Tobias Lear is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of Tobias Lear 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.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Tobias Lear Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of Tobias Lear (1762-1816) span 1790-1816 and consist
mainly of correspondence and account books. The correspondence, mainly
outgoing, pertains to the private affairs of George Washington; Lear's
diplomatic missions to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and the Barbary
States; the Tripolitan War, 1801-1805; Lear's business affairs; and family
matters. Correspondents include Sylvanus Bourne, Charles D. Coxe, Christopher
Gore, David Humphreys, Benjamin L. Lear, and George Washington. Two letters
added to the collection in 2011 are from Commodore Samuel Barron of Malta to
Lear, dated May 18 and 22, 1805. They concern the captivity of the
Also added to the papers in 2011 were five account books. Three of the volumes, 1803-1805, document the purchases of gold, jewels, fabric, and tea for distribution by the United States to officials of Tripoli, Algiers, and Tunis during the Tripolitan War, while Lear served as the United States consul in Algiers. The other account books, 1815-1816, pertain to improvements made to real estate in Washington, D.C.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein chronologically.