Theodorus Bailey Myers collection

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Collection Data

Description
Theodorus Bailey Myers (1821-1888) was an American lawyer, businessman, and historical manuscripts collector. His collection consists chiefly of letters and documents signed by individuals prominent in American history during the colonial period, the American Revolution, and the nineteenth century. Represented in the collection are the signers of the Declaration of Independence, governors of New Netherlands and New York, members of the Continental Congress, and generals and other military figures of the Revolution, including American, British, French, and Hessian officers. In addition to prominent figures in American history, the collection contains letters and documents of English and European royalty and military figures, including Napoleon and his marshals.
Names
Myers, Theodorus Bailey, 1821-1888 (Collector)
Casta, Juan de (Creator)
Gist, Mordecai, 1742-1792 (Creator)
Morgan, Daniel, 1736-1802 (Creator)
Rou, Lewis, 1684-1750 (Creator)
Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1542 - 1879
Library locations
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Shelf locator: MssCol 2091
Topics
Cuba -- History -- British occupation, 1762-1763
Europe -- Kings and rulers
Great Britain -- Kings and rulers
New York (State) -- Politics and government -- To 1775
Pennsylvania -- Politics and government -- To 1775
United States -- History -- French and Indian War, 1755-1763
United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
Governors -- New York (State)
Marshals -- France
Genres
Correspondence
Prints
Money
Autographs
Documents
Notes
Biographical/historical: Theodorus Bailey Myers (1821-1888) was an American lawyer, businessman, and historical manuscript collector. He was born in New York City, the son of Major Mordecai Myers, who served as an officer in the War of 1812 and later as mayor of Schenectady, New York and Charlotte Bailey, niece of Congressman Theodorus Bailey. Myers served on the military staff of Governors Bouck and Wright (1842-1846) and, during the Civil War, on the staff of Generals Benjamin Butler and John Wool. He sat on the board of several corporations and charitable organizations and was a member of prestigious New York social clubs. Myers's enthusiasm for American history, especially military history, inspired him to collect historical books and autograph manuscripts. He contributed articles to American history publications, often including transcriptions of manuscripts from his collection. Myers shared this avocation with his close friend, Thomas Addis Emmet. who arranged the collection and had it bound in a similar fashion to his own before Myers's heirs donated it to The New York Public Library.
Content: The Myers collection consists of letters and documents of prominent figures in American history during the colonial period, the American Revolution, and the nineteenth century. Represented in the collection are the signers of the Declaration of Independence, governors of New Netherlands and New York, members of the Continental Congress, and generals and other military figures of the American Revolution, including American, British, French, and Hessian officers. Also included are the papers of General Daniel Morgan, 1777-1808; letterbook of General Mordecai Gist, 1777-1779; documents reflecting the activities of the Pennsylvania Assembly, 1754-1759; pay rolls and subsistence accounts of New York regiments, 1756-1758; and manuscript sermons of Lewis Rou, minister of the French Protestant Church in New York City, 1704-1750. In addition to prominent figures in American history, the collection contains letters and documents of English and European royalty and military figures, including Napoleon and his marshals, and an account by Don Juan de Casta of the siege of Havana, 1762. With few exceptions, printed maps, portraits, views, books, broadsides, bound volumes of paper money, and other printed materials were transferred to other divisions of the Library.
Funding: Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.
Physical Description
Extent: 10.4 linear feet 35 boxes, 10 volumes, 1 oversized folder
Engravings
Type of Resource
Text
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b11868620
MSS Unit ID: 2091
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 8e0e4fd0-2e58-0133-2fde-58d385a7b928
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