Scope and Contents
Correspondence, reports, legal records, financial documents and genealogical material of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Included are both family letters and political correspondence. Of special interest are the letters to Governor Jonathan Trumbull on the relationship of Connecticut to the prosecution of the war (1777-1780). Among Sherman's writings are a report from the Constitutional Convention (1787), a note on the proposal for a national bank (1791) and a printed copy of his Almanac for 1760. Genealogical and other papers assembled by Sherman's grandson, George Frisbie Hoar (1826-1904) are also in the collection. Major correspondents are Oliver Ellsworth, Samuel Hopkins, Titus Hosmer, Samuel Huntington, Stephen Mix Mitchell and William Williams.
Dates
- 1749-1904
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of this collection are in the public domain. There are no restrictions on use. Copyright status for other collection materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
In part, transferred from the Baldwin Family Papers (MS 55), and gift of Charles, Hugh, and Rockwood Foster and the estate of Frances Hoar Foster.
Arrangement
The Papers of Roger Sherman (1721-1793) are divided into two parts. The first consists of about two hundred items which were taken from the Baldwin Family Papers. Included here are correspondence for the years 1783-1793, financial records, and a survey map made by Roger Sherman in 1753. A folder list in this register provides an over-all guide to these materials. In addition, each item is individually catalogued in the Manuscripts and Archives catalogue under the heading, Roger Sherman, 1721-1793.
In 1975 Yale University Library acquired the second part, ninety items, as a gift from Charles H. W. Foster, Hugh K. Foster and Rockwood H. Foster. These comprise correspondence for the period 1770-1790, writings, including notes on the Constitution and on proposals for a national bank, a printed almanac compiled by Sherman in 1760, and materials on the Sherman family. An itemized list of these materials is in this register under the title, ROGER SHERMAN COLLECTION, ADDITION.
In 1975 Yale University Library acquired the second part, ninety items, as a gift from Charles H. W. Foster, Hugh K. Foster and Rockwood H. Foster. These comprise correspondence for the period 1770-1790, writings, including notes on the Constitution and on proposals for a national bank, a printed almanac compiled by Sherman in 1760, and materials on the Sherman family. An itemized list of these materials is in this register under the title, ROGER SHERMAN COLLECTION, ADDITION.
Extent
1 Linear Feet (2 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Catalog Record
A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog
Persistent URL
Overview
Correspondence, reports, legal records, financial documents and genealogical material of Roger Sherman, signer of the Declaration of Independence. Included are both family letters and political correspondence. Of special interest are the letters to Governor Jonathan Trumbull on the relationship of Connecticut to the prosecution of the war (1777-1780). Among Sherman's writings are a report from the Constitutional Convention (1787), a note on the proposal for a national bank (1791) and a printed copy of his Almanac for 1760. Genealogical and other papers assembled by Sherman's grandson, George Frisbie Hoar (1826-1904) are also in the collection. Major correspondents are Oliver Ellsworth, Samuel Hopkins, Titus Hosmer, Samuel Huntington, Stephen Mix Mitchell and William Williams.
Biographical / Historical
Roger Sherman was born in 1721 in Newton, Massachusetts, and early moved to Stoughton, Massachusetts, where he attended the public schools and later learned the shoemaker's trade. He moved to New Milford, Connecticut, in 1743 and became surveyor of New Haven County in 1745. During this period Sherman was engaged in the study of law and was admitted to the bar in 1754. He was a member of the Connecticut Assembly in 1755, 1756, 1758-61 and 1764-66. As Justice of the Peace for Litchfield County (1755-1761), he issued the warrant for the arrest of Timothy Hurlburt. He served as judge of the New Haven Superior Court and was a member of the State Senate. He served as Treasurer of Yale College from 1765 to 1776. He was a member of the Continental Congress 1774-1781, 1783, and 1784, and signed the Declaration of Independence as a member of the committee which drafted it. He was also on the committee which drafted the Articles of Confederation, and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. As such he became the only person to sign all the great American state papers: the Articles of Association, of 1774, the Declaration of Independence of 1776, the Articles of Confederation in 1783, and the Constitution in 1787.
Appendix: Persons Mentioned in the Collection (Part I)
- Adams, John, Pres. U.S., 1735-1826
- Allen, Benjamin
- Arnold, Benedict, 1741-1801
- Austin, David
- Baldwin, Ebenezer, 1790-1837
- Baldwin, Simeon, 1761-1851
- Barclay, Andrew
- Bogert, Rudolph
- Brady, James
- Butler, Zebulon, 1731-1795
- Chauncey, Charles, 1747-1823
- Denison, Nathan
- Edwards, Pierpont, 1750-1826
- Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807
- Franklin, John, 1749-1831
- Franklin, W.
- Gibbs, Henry, 1749-1794
- Goodhue, Benjamin, 1748-1814
- Gray, Samuel
- Guno, Nathan
- Hazen, Moses, 1733-1802
- Herox, James
- Hillhouse, James, 1754-1832
- Holmes, Temperance
- Howell, Joseph
- Humphreys, David, 1752-1818
- Huntington, Samuel, 1731-1796
- Hurlburt, Timothy
- Imlay, William
- Johnson, William Samuel, 1727-1819
- Lanning, Henry
- Leavenworth, Jesse
- Leavensworth, I.
- Lynde, Joseph
- Mallet, Peter
- Mason, George, 1725-1792
- Mitchell, Justus, 1754-1806
- Mix, Jonathan, 1753-1817
- Noble, Stephen
- North, Charles
- Ogden, Robert, 1746-1826
- Otis, Samuel Alleyne, 1740-1814
- Payne, Col.
- Pearson and Glover, firm, New Haven
- Prescott, Henry
- Safford, Samuel
- Sherman, Elizabeth, 1765-1850
- Sherman, Elizabeth, 1778-1834
- Sherman, Harriet, 1776-1795
- Sherman, Isaac, 1753-1819
- Sherman, John, 1750-1802
- Sherman, Maria, 1774-1857
- Sherman, Rebecca (Prescott), 1742-1813
- Sherman, Roger, 1721-1793
- Sherman, William, 1751-1789
- Si1kin, George
- Spencer, Joseph
- Squiers, Samuel
- Strong, aoseph, 1753-1834
- Swift, Heman, 1733-1814
- Toller, Daniel
- Toller, Lazarus
- Wales, Nathaniel
- Whiting, William Jos.
- Whi tman, Mary
- Williams, Nathan, 1735-1829
- Willis, Roswell
- Winched, Azariah
- Wooster, David, 1711-1777
Appendix: Persons Mentioned in the Collection (Part II)
Individiual | Folder Number |
---|---|
Adams, Simon, 1722-1803 | 7 |
Ames, Ellis, 1809-1884 | 33 |
Boutwell, George Sewall, 1818-1905 | 32 |
Butler, Zebulon, 1731-1795 | 12 |
Ellery, William, 1727-1820 | 10 |
Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807 | 6,8,16 |
Gerard, Conrad Alexandre, 1729-1790 | 6 |
Griswold, Matthew, 1714-1799 | 17 |
Hoar, George Frisbie, 1826-1904 | 29-33 |
Hosmer, Titus, 1737-1780 | 6, 16 |
Huntington, Samuel, 1731-1796 | 9 |
Jameson, John Franklin, 1859-1937 | 29 |
Jay, John, 1745-1829 | 6 |
Jefferson, Thomas, Pres.U.S., 1743-1826 | 11 |
Johnson, William Samuel, 1727-1818 | 17 |
Lee, Thomas Sim, 1745-1819 | 10 |
Mitchell, Stephen Mix, 1743-1835 | 17 |
Osgood, Samuel, 1747/48-1813 | 10 |
Sherman, Elizabeth, 1765-1850 | 1 |
Sherman, Isaac, 1753-1819 | 2 |
Sherman, Nathaniel, 1724-1797 | 3 |
Sherman, Rebecca (Prescott), 1742-1813 | 4 |
Sherman, William, 1751-1789 | 15 |
Stiles, Ezra, 1727-1795 | 11 |
Trumbull, Jonathan, 1710-1785 | 6 |
Williams, William, 1731-1811 | 11 |
Wolcott, Oliver, 1726-1797 | 17 |
- Almanacs
- Ames, Ellis, 1809-1886
- Austin, David, 1759-1831
- Baldwin, Simeon, 1761-1851
- Butler, Zebulon, 1731-1795
- Channing, Henry, 1760?-1840
- Connecticut -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
- Constitutional history -- United States
- Denison, Nathan
- Ellsworth, Oliver, 1745-1807
- Franklin, John, 1749-1831
- Gibbs, Henry, 1749-1794
- Goodhue, Benjamin, 1748-1814
- Hazen, Moses, 1733-1803
- Hoar, George Frisbie, 1826-1904
- Holmes, Temperance
- Hopkins, Samuel, 1721-1803
- Hosmer, Titus, 1737-1780
- Howell, Joseph (Joseph Williams), 1857-1918
- Humphreys, David, 1752-1818
- Huntington, Samuel, 1731-1796
- Imlay, William, 1742-1807
- Johnson, William Samuel, 1727-1819
- Law
- Lawyers
- Legislators
- Lynde, Joseph, 1702-1788
- Marsh, Charles, 1765-1849
- Mitchell, Justus, 1754-1806
- Mitchell, Stephen Mix, 1743-1835
- Morris, Gouverneur, 1752-1816
- New England theology
- Ogden, Robert, 1746-1826
- Otis, Samuel Allyne, 1740-1814
- Politicians
- Prescott, Henry
- Safford, Samuel
- Sherman family
- Sherman, Elizabeth, 1765-1850
- Sherman, Elizabeth, 1778-1834
- Sherman, Harriet, 1776-1795
- Sherman, Isaac, 1753-1819
- Sherman, Maria, 1774-1857
- Sherman, Nathaniel, 1727-1797
- Sherman, Rebecca Prescott, 1742-1813
- Sherman, Roger, 1721-1793
- Sherman, William, 1751-1789
- Silkin, George
- Spencer, Joseph, 1714-1789
- Strong, Joseph, 1753-1834
- Susquehanna Claim, 1753-1808
- Swift, Heman, 1733-1814
- United States -- History -- 1783-1865
- United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
- United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
- United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Equipment and supplies
- United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783 -- Finance
- United States -- Politics and government
- United States. Constitution
- United States. Constitutional Convention -- 1787
- United States. Continental Army
- Whitman, Mary
- Williams, Nathan, 1735-1829
- Willis, Roswell
- Wooster, David, 1711-1777
- Title
- Guide to the Roger Sherman (1721-1793) Collection
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- compiled by Ruth Gay
- Date
- January 1976
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
Contact:
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Yale University Library
P.O. Box 208240
New Haven CT 06520-8240 US
(203) 432-1735
(203) 432-7441 (Fax)
beinecke.library@yale.edu
Location
Sterling Memorial Library
Room 147
120 High Street
New Haven, CT 06511