Collection Summary
James Wadsworth Family
Papers
1730-1959
1730-1959
MSS44297
Wadsworth, James,
1768-1844
7,000
items
39 containers plus 12 oversize
22 linear feet
English
Collection material in English
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress
Washington, D.C.
Correspondence,
diaries, financial papers, scrapbooks, clippings, photographs, and other papers
of the family of James Wadsworth (1768-1844) and his brother, William Wadsworth
(1761-1833), who settled in Geneseo, N.Y., in 1790 and endowed schools and
libraries there.
Selected Search Terms
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.
People
Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889.
Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872--Correspondence.
Hay, John, 1838-1905. John Hay papers. 1861-1959.
Lincoln, Abraham, 1809-1865. Abraham Lincoln correspondence. 1864 July 9.
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919--Correspondence.
Wadsworth family.
Wadsworth, James S. (James Samuel), 1807-1864. James S. Wadsworth papers.
Wadsworth, James Wolcott, 1846-1926. James Wolcott Wadsworth papers.
Wadsworth, James Wolcott, 1877-1952. James Wolcott Wadsworth papers.
Wadsworth, James, 1768-1844.
Wadsworth, William, 1761-1833. William Wadsworth papers.
Organizations
United States. Army--Officers.
United States. Congress.
United States. Department of State.
United States. National Security Training Commission.
Subjects
Diplomatic and consular service, American--Great Britain.
Gettysburg, Battle of, Gettysburg, Pa., 1863.
Libraries--New York (State)--Geneseo--Endowments.
Schools--New York (State)--Geneseo--Endowments.
Slavery--Southern States.
Wilderness, Battle of the, Va., 1864.
Places
Geneseo (N.Y.)--History.
London (England)--Social life and customs--19th century.
New York (State)--Politics and government--1865-1950.
Pennsylvania--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Autographs.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Casualties.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Peace.
United States--Politics and government--1865-1933.
Virginia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns.
Washington (D.C.)--Social life and customs--19th century.
Titles
Wadsworth family papers
Occupations
Landowners.
Philanthropists.
Reformers.
Provenance
The papers of the James Wadsworth Family were given to the Library
of Congress by James W. Symington, Evelyn W. Symington, James J. Wadsworth, and
Reverdy Wadsworth between 1960 and 1983.
Processing History
The Wadsworth Family Papers were arranged and described in 1961. The
description was revised in 1997.
Additional Guides
A description of the papers appears in the
Library of Congress
Quarterly Journal of Current
Acquisitions,
vol. 18, no. 3 (May 1961), pp. 129-130.
Copyright Status
Copyright in the unpublished writings of the James Wadsworth Family
in this collection and in other collections of papers in the custody of the
Library has been dedicated to the public.
Access and Restrictions
The papers of the James Wadsworth 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.
Online Content
A Civil War photograph album is available on the Library of Congress Web site at
[http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.msmcc051].
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:
Container number, James Wadsworth Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Notes
James Wadsworth
Date
Event
1768, Apr. 20
Born, Durham, Conn.
1787
Graduated, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
1796
1798
Acquired property with William Wadsworth on the bank of the Genesee
River, New York state
Traveled to Europe with the help of Robert Morris, Aaron Burr, and
DeWitt Clinton to interest foreign capitalists in American
investments
circa 1800
circa 1844
Urged establishment of county academies; instrumental in securing the
enactment of legislation authorizing sending the public
Lectures on School-Keeping
to each school district;
responsible for establishment of school district library system in New York;
and built and endowed a public library in Geneseo, N.Y.
1804
Married Naomi Wolcott
1844, June 7
Died, Geneseo, N.Y.
James S. Wadsworth
Date
Event
1807, Oct. 30
Born, Geneseo, N.Y.
1834
Married Mary Craig Wharton
1861
Commissioned brigadier general, U.S. Army
1864
Commissioned brevet major general in the field for gallantry at the battles
of Gettysburg, Pa., and The Wilderness, Va.
1864, May 8
Died of wounds received at The Wilderness, Va.
James Wolcott Wadsworth, Sr.
Date
Event
1846, Oct. 12
Born, Philadelphia, Pa., son of James S. Wadsworth
1864
1865
Volunteer aide on staff of Major General G. K. Warren, U.S. Army
1865, Jan. 24
Commissioned and appointed captain, aide-de-camp
1865, May 25
Brevetted major for gallant and meritorious service at Five Forks and
Petersburg, Va.
1865, June 26
Mustered out of U.S. Army
1875
1877
Supervisor, Geneseo, N.Y.
1876
Married Louise Travers
1878
1879
Member, New York general assembly
1880
1881
Comptroller of New York
1881
1885
United States representative from New York
1898
Honorary A.M., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
1901
1907
United States representative from New York
1926, Dec. 24
Died,
Geneseo, N.Y.
James Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr.
Date
Event
1877, Aug. 12
Born, Geneseo, N.Y., son of James Wolcott Wadsworth, Sr.
1898
B.A., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
1899
Entered stock and farming business
1902, Sept. 30
Married Alice Hay, daughter of John Hay
1905
1910
Director, Genesee Valley National Bank and Trust Co.
Member, New York general assembly; speaker, 1906-10
1908
1928
Delegate, Republican national conventions
1911
1915
Managed large ranch, Paloduro, Tex.
1915
1927
United States senator from New York
1933
1951
United States representative from New York
1951
1952
Chairman, National Security Training Commission
1952, June 21
Died, Geneseo, N.Y.
John Hay
Date
Event
1838, Oct. 8
Born, Salem, Ind.
1858
A.M., LL.D., Brown University, Providence, R.I.
LL.D., Princeton University, Princeton, N.J.
LL.D., Yale University, New Haven, Conn.
LL.D., Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
LL.D., Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
1861
1865
Private secretary, with John George Nicolay, to Abraham Lincoln
Brevet colonel, United States volunteers
1865
1870
Secretary of legation, Paris, France; Madrid, Spain; Vienna, Austria
Chargé d'affaires, Vienna, Austria
1874
Married Clara Stone
1879
1881
President, International Sanitary Conference
1890
Published with John George Nicolay
Abraham Lincoln, a History
(New York: Century Co. 10
vols.)
1897
1898
Ambassador to England
1898
1905
Secretary of state
1905, July 1
Died, Washington, D.C.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of the James Wadsworth Family of Geneseo, New York, span the period 1730-1959
and describe the activities of four generations of the family in both regional and
national affairs. The collection consists chiefly of the [correspondence](fpaper) of James and William
Wadsworth, who founded the Geneseo branch of the family and occupied land there in 1790;
James S. Wadsworth, Civil War general who commanded the First Division, I Corps, at
Gettysburg and was later killed in the Battle of the Wilderness; James Wolcott
Wadsworth, United States representative from 1881 to 1885 and 1891 to 1906; and James
Wolcott Wadsworth, Jr., who represented New York in the United States Senate from 1915
to 1927 and in the House of Representatives from 1933 to 1951. Consisting primarily of
personal correspondence, the papers reflect the changing problems of the nation in the
careers of succeeding generations.
Included in the collection is correspondence of [John Hay,](jhay) whose daughter Alice
married [James Wolcott Wadsworth,
Jr.,](jwwad) and whose letters, chiefly in the years 1882-1903, comment on life in
London and Washington, D.C., in the late nineteenth century.
Also in the collection are a letter from Abraham Lincoln to Horace Greeley, 9 July 1864,
in which he promises safe conduct for any person or persons “professing to have any
proposition of Jefferson Davis in writing for peace embracing the restoration of the
Union and abandonment of slavery,” and an album containing autographed photographs of
scores of the nation's leaders during the Lincoln administrations. Letters of Theodore
Roosevelt are also among the correspondence.
Organization of the Papers
The collection is arranged in six series:
-
[Family Papers,
1730-1959](fpaper)
-
[Family Financial
Papers, 1835-1851](ffinan)
-
[Family Miscellany,
1730-1952](fmisc)
-
[John Hay Papers,
1861-1959](jhay)
-
[James Wolcott
Wadsworth, Jr., Papers, 1723-1957](jwwad)
-
[Oversize,
1884-1952](ov)
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/mm78044297]
Container List
Box
Contents
1-8
Family Papers,
1730-1959
1730-1959
Correspondence, primarily incoming, of various members of the
Wadsworth family. Also included in the papers are a diary, legal papers, and
other miscellaneous papers.
Arranged chronologically with an index of James S. Wadsworth's
Papers filed at the end of the papers.
1
1730, 1755, 1764-1825
(28
folders)
2
1826-1829
(26
folders)
3
1830-1831
(27
folders)
4
1832-1839
(24
folders)
5
1840-1862
(29
folders)
6
1863-1870
(19
folders)
7
1871-1882, 1894-1941
(24
folders)
8
1942-1959, undated
(15
folders)
Index of James S. Wadsworth's
Papers, University of Rochester, Rochester, N.Y., typescript volume
9
Family Financial
Papers,
1835-1851
1835-1851
Arranged chronologically.
9
1835-1851
(48
folders)
10
Family Miscellany,
1730-1952
1730-1952
Correspondence, photographs, clippings, pamphlets and maps,
genealogical information, writings, and other material.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person, topic, or type of
material.
10
Clippings
(2
folders)
Genealogy
Memorial books
Pamphlets and maps
Photographs
(5
folders)
Suffrage letters
Wadsworth, Jeremiah, typescript
volume of his letters
World War I narrative
11-14
John Hay Papers,
1861-1959
1861-1959
Correspondence, pamphlets and programs, poetry, writings,
memorabilia, photograph album, will, and other material pertaining to John Hay
and his family.
Arranged alphabetically by name of person, topic, or type of
material, except for the photograph album which is filed at the end of the
series.
11
Family correspondence
1861-1896
(24
folders)
1897
Jan.-Aug.
(4
folders)
12
Sept.-Dec.
(4
folders)
1898-1906, 1919, 1959, undated
(19
folders)
13
Fink, Joseph L., address,
A Tribute to a Great American,
1938
Index to letters and
diaries
Last will and testament,
1905
Lincoln, Abraham, and Mary Todd
Lincoln, letters, 1861-1864
Memorabilia and
Lincolniana
Miscellany and
autographs
Pamphlets and
programs
Poems
Writings
Hay, Clara Stone
(wife)
Hay, John
Index note cards
The Money Makers
School writing
book
14
Civil War photograph album
Digital content available
15-OV 50
James Wolcott
Wadsworth, Jr., Papers,
1723-1957
1723-1957
Diaries, correspondence, memoranda, speeches, writings, clippings,
printed matter, scrapbooks, and other material.
Arranged in subseries designated Diaries, Senate Papers, House of
Representatives, Personal, Miscellaneous, and Scrapbooks and therein
alphabetically by name of person or organization, topic, or type of
material.
15
Diaries and
autobiography
Autobiography, undated
16
Diaries and summary of
engagements, 1915-1952
17
Senate papers
Antilynching bill (Dyer),
1923-1926
Bonus, 1923-1926
Civil Service, 1824-1926
(4
folders)
Congress of the United States,
bills, committees, and workings, 1919-1927
(5
folders)
Constitution, amendments to,
1923-1925
Crowell, Benjamin, 1923-1925
(2
folders)
Farm policy,
1924-1925
Foreign policy, 1922-1926
(6
folders)
Harding, Warren G., nomination
as president, correspondence, 1935
Immigration Service, 1923-1926
(18
folders)
18
Labor, 1924-1926
(2
folders)
Local self-government versus
federal power, 1924-1926
(2
folders)
Mexico, 1926-1927
Military (Troop M),
1916
Military policy, 1921-1927
(20
folders)
New York state politics,
1908-1927
(11
folders)
19
Politics, 1916-1927
(17
folders)
Prohibition, 1923-1927
(23
folders)
20
Public works,
1921-1926
Retirement, 1927
Senatorial campaign, 1925-1926
(4
folders)
Social legislation, 1925-1926
(2
folders)
Teapot Dome scandal,
1924
World War I, 1916-1925
(3
folders)
21
House of
Representatives
Antilynching bill, 1937-1950
(5
folders)
Austin-Wadsworth bill,
1942-1945
(9
folders)
Burke-Wadsworth draft bill,
1940-1945
(7
folders)
Conduct of World War
II
1935-1941
(13
folders)
22
1942-1948
(28
folders)
Congressional reorganization,
1946
Constitutional amendment,
1935-1950
(6
folders)
23
Demobilization, 1943-1946
(11
folders)
Draft in operation, extension,
1940-1946
(27
folders)
24
Economy in government,
1937-1950
(12
folders)
Equal rights amendment,
1944-1950
(3
folders)
Farm policy, 1933-1950
(24
folders)
Federal aid, 1939-1950
(2
folders)
Federal power, 1934-1949
(12
folders)
25
Foreign policy, 1937-1950
(23
folders)
Immigration,
1939-1948
Labor, 1934-1950
(17
folders)
Lend Lease, 1941-1951
(5
folders)
26
Liberty League, 1935-1938
(3
folders)
Library of Congress, 1951-1953
(3
folders)
Miscellaneous, 1927-1950
(43
folders)
27
National Security Training
Commission, 1951
Neutrality embargoes, 1933-1950
(17
folders)
New Deal, 1933-1950
(11
folders)
Office of the Clerk,
1941
Office of Price Administration,
1941-1946
(6
folders)
Peacetime draft, 1946-1950
(2
folders)
28
Politics, 1924-1950
(63
folders)
29
Postwar military policy,
Woodrum Committee, 1942-1950
(14
folders)
Prewar military policy,
1920-1947
(7
folders)
Prohibition, 1933-1944
(6
folders)
Public housing, rent control,
1946-1950
(2
folders)
Reorganization of House
committees, 1946
Retirement from Congress,
1950-1951
(22
folders)
30
Retirement, Rochester, N.Y.,
dinner, 1950
(8
folders)
Supreme Court, 1937
(3
folders)
Taxation, 1935-1950
(17
folders)
Un-American activities,
radicals, 1934-1947
(3
folders)
Unification of armed forces,
1946-1949
(5
folders)
31
Universal military training,
1935-1952
(43
folders)
Veterans bonus, pensions,
1934-1952
(4
folders)
32
Personal
American Military Mission to
Armenia, 1919
Atlantic Union, 1950-1952
(4
folders)
Bank matters, 1916-1944
(3
folders)
Campaign contributions,
1926-1952
Degrees and other honors,
1942-1952
(3
folders)
Family history, 1813-1952
(9
folders)
Farm business matters,
1915-1951
(8
folders)
Federal Security Agency,
1951
Freedom on the March, 1950-1951
(4
folders)
Friends, letters
1914-1950
(13
folders)
33
1951, undated
(3
folders)
Frontier Mortgage Co.,
1916-1952
(2
folders)
Geneseo, N.Y., and environs,
1916-1952
(4
folders)
Hay, Clarence, 1938-1950
(2
folders)
Historical documents and books,
1862, 1925-1940
International Stock Yards,
1936-1952
(5
folders)
Land, 1920-1949
Letters received during
illness, 1950-1957
(9
folders)
Miscellaneous, 1951
Ostertag, Harold, 1951
(2
folders)
Press, relations with,
1924-1950
(3
folders)
Ranch, J. A., and Richie
family, 1915-1951
(13
folders)
Requests for information,
assistance, 1926-1951
(5
folders)
Requests to speak, attend
meetings, 1923-1951
(10
folders)
34
Roosevelt, Nicholas,
1950-1951
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1906
(3
folders)
Senate friends, 1950
(3
folders)
Sons of the American
Revolution, 1950-1951
(3
folders)
Summary of James W. Wadsworth
Papers, 1953
Symington, Tim and James,
1942-1951
(2
folders)
Symington, W. Stuart, 1923-1951
(5
folders)
Wadsworth, Craig,
1927-1943
Wadsworth, James J.
(“Jerry”), correspondence, 1917-1950
(16
folders)
Wadsworth, James W., Sr.,
1898-1926
Wadsworth, Reverdy, and family,
1951
Whitney, John Hay,
1951
Yale University, New Haven,
Conn., 1951-1952
35
Miscellaneous
Speeches and
articles
1900-1939
(27
folders)
36
1940-1951, undated
(19
folders)
37
Clippings and political photos,
1910-1952
(12
folders)
38
Printed matter, 1900-1952
(11
folders)
OV 39
Scrapbooks
1723-1864
40
1878-1881
1902-1914, letterbook of James
W. Wadsworth, Jr.
OV 41
1817-1940
OV 42
1898-1935
OV 43
1899-1943
OV 44
1922-1927, 1952
OV 45
1926
OV 46
1933-1950
OV 47
1943-1947
OV 48
1947-1949
OV 49
1950
OV 50
1952
OV 1
Oversize,
1884-1952
1884-1952
Oversize certificates, degrees, and recognitions.
Arranged chronologically.
OV 1
Certificates, degrees, and
recognitions, 1884-1952