THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY RARE BOOKS & MANUSCRIPTS DIVISION MANUSCRIPTS SECTION ACCESSION SHEET Accession # 38M52, *84M53 Location Title William Smith. Papers. Approximate inclusive dates c.1631-1883. Bulk: 1770s Date of receipt 1920, 1938 Number of boxes 6 ab, 10 volumes Condition Good Restrictions None Description An influential leader of the New York Presbyterian whigs, William Smith was born in New York City in 1728, and died in 1793 in Quebec, Canada. He was a distinguished lawyer, historian of New York, the last Royal Chief Justice of the Province of New York, and Chief Justice of Lower Canada under Guy Carleton. His son, William Smith III, was born in 1769 in New York City and died in 1847 in Quebec. He was a clerk of the provincial parliament, Secretary of State for the colonies, a member of the executive council, and historian of Canada. The bulk of the papers of the senior Smith chronicle the years 1770-1783, a period in North American history of great social and political upheaval; a time which tested the complex divided loyalties of confirmed colonial imperialists, such as Smith, whose fortunes depended alike on Royal support and assent, and on the friendship of plutocratic families (In Smith's case, the Livingstons, the Mac Dougalls, and the Schuylers) who served the revolution and with whom he shared some of the fundamental social, economic, and political beliefs which formed the basis for the struggle for independence. Included are fine letters and documents reflecting Smith's activities as lawyer of special interest are those which deal with the disputes of two Royal Governors of New York with Lt. Governor Cadwallader Colden, historian, sharp-witted diarist, property owner, political pamphleteer (William Livingston) provincial legislator, chief justice of New York, and, afterwards, Quebec, ambivalent loyalist, champion in the Governor's Council of the Livingston family against their Anglican arch-rivals, the Delanceys, and arbitrator in the peace negotiations of 1780. The papers of William Smith III consist of some official and personal letters, some Smith family personalia (including letters, accounts, wills, land papers, warrants and commissions appointing him to various offices in Canada, and papers relating to lands in Canada. The collection is on negative microfilm, *ZZ 44 & 45 Special format Maps William Smith Papers Box 1 Lots 176-192 2 193-205 3 206-214 4 215 5 216 6 217; 219; portraits, miscellany volumes 1 Part 2 of Smiths History of New York (Shelved in Case 19:12) 2 Memoires, 1753, Oct. 5; 1760, Dec.; 1777, May 5-July 5 3 " 1775, May 6-July 5 4 " 1761, Oct. 19; 1775, Aug. 14 5 " 1775, Sept. 4-1777, May 4; 1777, Nov. 25-1778, May 5 6 " 1778, Aug. 26-1780, Dec. 21 7 " 1780, Dec. 21; 1783, Nov. 12 8 Memoires, supplement: 1769, 1776, 1777, 1778 9 Miscellanie A: "A Scheme for Drawing Out Bills of Costs in the Supreeam Court of New York"; Promptuary; copy of "A Bill concerning Assignments of Specialtys"; "Ordinance for regulating and Establishing the law hereafter... of the Court of Chancery of the Province of New Jersey"; Instructions given with Letters of Marque against France"; and miscellaneous other orginal or copied items 10 Supreme Court Register A, 1750-1760 Historical Memoirs of William Smith.....by H. W. Sabine, N.Y. 1958, 2 vols. peviously unpublihed material taken from vols 2-9 Index to selected Names and Subjects American Revolution, 1775-1783, Lots 192, 193, 194 ARNOLD, Benedict, Lots 183, 194(No. 8) CANADA, Lots 206, 207, 209-216 COLDEN, Cadwallader, Lot 178 COLLEGE of New Jersey, Lot 189 (No. 13), 190 COLLEGE of New York, Lot 189 CONNECTICUT, Lot 179 DUANE, James (No. 2) ESTATES of William Smith, and William Smith III, Lot 216 FAMILY Papers, Lot 216 GENEALOGICAL papers, Lot 216 HAMILTON, Alexander, Lot 194 HICKEY, Percy, Lot 216 INDIANS, Lot 181, 182 JEFFERSON, Thomas, Lot 217 JESUITS, Lot 206 JOHNSON, Sir William JOHNSON, William Samuel KING'S Peace, 1780, Lot 194 (Nos 2 & 3) KNOX, William, Lot 212 LAND Papers, Lot 216 LEISLER, Jacob, lots 176, 177 [184] LIVINGSTON, James, Lot 202 LIVINGSTON, Robert, Lots 212 (nos. 3, 6, & 7) 215 LOYALISTS, Lots 183, 192, 193 MARYLAND, Lot 184 MASSACHUSETTS, Lot 185, 197 (No. 3) MILITIA Bill of 1775, Lot 197 NEW Brunswick (Canada) Lot 207, 209 NEW England, Lots 188, 185, 186, 199 NEW Hampshire, Lot 186 NEW Jersey, Lots 187, 189 (no. 13) 190 NEW York, College of, Lot 189 NEW York Law Society, Lot 201 NEW York City, Lots 180, 196 NEW York State, 180, 185, 191, 193, 197, 200, 202 NORTH American Indians, Lots 181, 182 NOVA Scotia, Lots 206, 209 OBSERVATIONS on the lost of the American provinces, by William Smith, Lot 205 ONEIDA Indians, Lot 182 QUEBEC, Lots 206, 209, 213, 215 REFLECTOR, Philo, Lot 212 (No. 6) SEWELL, Jonathan, Lot 216 SMITH family genealogical papers, Lot 216 SMITH, Charles Webber, Lot 215, 216 SMITH, William, Lots 193, 202-206, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 215, 216 SMITH III, William, Lots 213-216 SOUTH Carolina, Lot 198 VERMONT, Lot 199 Description of contents by Lot Numbers 176 Draft letter, March 4, 1689, from Leisler to the Gov. of Boston; draft letter, 1689 from Leisler re: Sir Edmund Andros. 177 Letter, Oct. 23, 1690, from Joachim Staets, et al, to Leisler; letter, July 15, 1690, from H. Bruyn, to Leisler. 178 Letters relating to the dispute between Royal Governors of New York and Cadwallader Golden, Lt. Gov. of New York. 179 Papers relating to Connecticut, 1773-1775 180 Papers relating to New York City and the Province of New York, 1760, 1763, 1775. 181 Letters relating to Indian affairs and the Kayadarusseras dispute, 1683,, 1765, 1767, 1768, 182 Letter, c. 1750, re: Oneida Indians and their religious practices in 1748. 183 Papers relating to Loyalists, 1780. 184 Letter [1690?] presumably to Jacob Leisler relating to conditions in Maryland. 185 Papers relating to the New York-Massachusetts boundary, 1773. 186 Letter from Gov. Tryön to Lord Dartmouth relating to lands in New Hampshire, July, 1773. 187 Papers relating to New Jersey, 1756, 1760, 1761, 1782. 188 Certerfied copies of New England records, 1631-1661. 189 Drafts of letters, 1754-1755, by William Smith relating to the proposed College for New York. 190 Draft of letter, Sept. 13, 1754 re: College of New Jersey. C. Burr's reply to Smith, Sept. 11, 1754. 191 Copies of official correspondence, 1745-1760, between David Jones, Speaker of the General Assembly of the Province of N.Y., and Robert Charles, the Colony Agent in London. 192-193 Papers relating to Smith as a suspected Loyalist, 1776, 1777. 194 Drafts by Smith of documents re: the American Revolution, and the King's Peace and other peace proposals, 1775, 1779, 1780, 1781. 195 Journal of Events in July 1778 by Smith, Journals[ ?] July & November, 1777. Relating to personal activities and current military events and movements of troops on both sides. 196 Papers relating to religious matters in New York City and the Province of N.Y., 1718, 1732, 1759, 1769. 197 Mostly drafts by Smith (or corrected by him) of official and semi- official documents relating to the legislature of New York Province, 1769, 1772, 1780, 1782. 198 Papers relating to South Carolina, 1774, 1776. 199 Notes respecting Vermont. Documents by Smith with draft of covering letter to the Commissioner for American Claims, 1784. 200 Papers relating to lands in New York Province, 1775, 1785, 1788. 201 Agreement by N.Y. Law Society members to prevent the unrestrained admission of Clerk, Jan. 1764. 202 Drafts by Smith of various historical documents re: Presbyterian Church in N.Y.; thoughts to a friend, sent to Col. Reid, Dec. 23, 1770, relating to the rivalry between the Livingston and De Lancey families. 203 Drafts by Smith of essays and articles for publication, 1752, 1753, 1769, && 1770? 204 205 Document (c.1785?) by William Smith on the political causes and effects of the American revolution. 206 Official lettersand papers of William Smith while Chief Justice of Quebec. 207 Letters and documents relating to the Canada Bill and its preparation, 1788-1791. 208 Drafts of letters by Smith, 1752-1782- 209 Drafts of documents by Smith (or corrected by him) relating to Canada, 1785, 1792 210 Drafts of copies of letters relating to Canada, 1787, 1788, 1790, 1791, 1792. 211 Letters to William Smith, 1771, 1773, 1783. 212 Miscellany Papers of William Smith III 213 Letters to William Smith III and other papers, 1804, 1815, 1821, 1835, 1883, includes a letter by Audubon, Sept. 1842. 214 Warrants and commissions appointing Smith III to various offices 1812, 1823, 1828, 1830. 215 Title deeds for land sales, transfers, and mortgages in Canada, c.1730- 1830. 216 Smith family papers. Deeds, leases, mortgages, wills, powers of attorney, accounts, some letters, etc. 217 Typewritten transcripts of letters by Thomas Jefferson, August, 1780. 219 Speech, Oct. 27, 1775; The History of Canada, by William Smith III, p.1- 104, 345-352