Abraham Yates, Jr. papers

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Collection Data

Description
Abraham Yates, Jr. (1724-1796) was an American lawyer, politician, and pamphleteer. He held numerous elected offices and political appointments throughout his life including sheriff of Albany city and county from 1754 to 1759, chairman of the Albany Committee of Correspondence from 1774 to 1776, member of the New York Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1777 and its chairman in 1776 and 1777, New York state senator from 1777 to 1790, delegate for New York to the Congress of the Confederation in 1787 and 1788, and mayor of Albany from 1790 to 1796. Like his nephew, jurist Robert Yates, he was an active revolutionary patriot and Anti-Federalist. As pamphleteers they shared the pen-name, The Rough Hewer. Collection, dated 1754-1825, consists of correspondence, writings, speeches, notes, estate papers, and printed matter pertaining to the activities of Abraham Yates as a political figure in New York State, his legal practice and private financial matters, and his family. Correspondence, dated 1754-1825, contains incoming and outgoing letters and drafts of letters. Writings, notes, and speeches contain essays he wrote on the United States Constitution, notes on proceedings in Congress, speeches to the delegates to Congress in 1786, The Rough Hewer manuscript, and notes for histories of New York and Albany. Also included are papers relating to the Manor of Rensselaerwyck and the Albany Committee of Correspondence, land and family records, photograph of a painting of Yates, and other items such as broadsides and a legal treatise by Thomas Wentworth printed in London in 1663.
Names
Yates, Abraham, 1724-1796 (Creator)
Clinton, George, 1739-1812 (Correspondent)
Lansing, Abraham Gerrit, 1756-1834 (Correspondent)
Livingston, Robert R., 1718-1775 (Correspondent)
Morris, Robert, 1734-1806 (Correspondent)
Ten Broeck, Dirck, 1765-1833 (Correspondent)
Yates, Christopher C., 1778?-1848 (Correspondent)
Yates, Robert, 1738-1801 (Correspondent)
Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1604 - 1825
Library locations
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Shelf locator: MssCol 3405
Topics
Yates, Abraham, 1724-1796
Albany (N.Y.) -- History
Albany (N.Y.) -- Politics and government
New York (State) -- Constitution
New York (State) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
New York (State) -- Politics and government -- To 1775
United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
United States -- History -- French and Indian War, 1754-1763
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
United States -- Politics and government -- 1775-1783
United States -- Politics and government
Lawyers -- To 1775
Pamphleteers
Politicians
Real property -- New York (State)
Genres
Broadsides
legal documents
Correspondence
notes (documents)
Manuscripts
Documents
Notes
Biographical/historical: Abraham Yates, Jr. (1724-1796) was an American lawyer, politician, and pamphleteer. He held numerous elected offices and political appointments throughout his life including sheriff of Albany city and county from 1754 to 1759, chairman of the Albany Committee of Correspondence from 1774 to 1776, member of the New York Provincial Congress from 1775 to 1777 and its chairman in 1776 and 1777, New York state senator from 1777 to 1790, delegate for New York to the Congress of the Confederation in 1787 and 1788, and mayor of Albany from 1790 to 1796. Like his nephew, jurist Robert Yates, he was an active revolutionary patriot and Anti-Federalist. As pamphleteers they shared the pen-name, The Rough Hewer.
Content: The Abraham Yates, Jr. papers, dated 1604-1825, consist of correspondence, writings, speeches, notes, estate papers, and printed matter pertaining to the activities of Abraham Yates as a political figure in New York State, his legal practice and private financial matters, and his family. Correspondence, dated 1754-1825, consists of incoming and outgoing letters and drafts of letters concerning topics such as New York State politics and the state constitution; currency; private property and land transactions; the French and Indian War; the American Revolution; Federalism and Anti-Federalism; private legal matters; and Yates family business. Correspondents include George Clinton, Robert Livingston, Jr., Robert Morris, Christopher Yates, Robert Yates, and Abraham Lansing, amongst others. Writings, notes, and speeches contain essays Yates wrote on the United States Constitution, notes on proceedings in Congress, speeches to the delegates to Congress in 1786, The Rough Hewer manuscript, and notes for histories of New York and Albany. Also included are papers relating to the Manor of Rensselaerwyck and the Albany Committee of Correspondence, land and family records, photograph of a painting of Yates, and other items such as broadsides and a legal treatise by Thomas Wentworth printed in London in 1663.
Funding: Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.
Physical Description
Extent: 2.99 linear feet 8 boxes, 1 volume, 1 oversized folder
Type of Resource
Text
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b11996407
MSS Unit ID: 3405
Archives collections id: archives_collections_3405
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): c9b3d510-e949-0133-17cf-00505686d14e
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