- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"58.23 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear feet"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"150 boxes; 2 microfilm reels", "unit"=>"containers"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- unitid
-
{"value"=>"MssCol 3333", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"3333", "type"=>"local_mss"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"ca. 1833-ca. 1921", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1833/1921", "certainty"=>"approximate"}
{"value"=>"1850-1880", "type"=>"bulk", "normal"=>"1850/1880"}
- date_inclusive_start
-
1833
- date_inclusive_end
-
1921
- keydate
-
1833
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Isaiah Thornton Williams papers"}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">The New York Public Library. <span class=\"subarea\">Manuscripts and Archives Division</span></span> <div class=\"address\"><span class=\"addressline\">New York, New York</span></div>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"The bulk of the collection consists of legal case files, legal correspondence and miscellaneous legal papers of Isaiah Thornton Williams (1819-86), an attorney who practiced law in Buffalo, New York and in New York City from 1844 until his death in 1886. The bulk of the collection consists of legal case files, legal correspondence and miscellaneous legal papers of Isaiah Thornton Williams (1819-86), an attorney who practiced law in Buffalo, New York and in New York City from 1844 until his death in 1886."}
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"<p>Isaiah Thornton Williams papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library</p>"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Williams, Isaiah Thornton, 1819-1886", "type"=>"persname"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Isaiah Thornton Williams (1819-86) was born at New Ipswich, N.H. He was descended on his father's side from one of the Pilgrims who arrived in the New World on the \"Mayflower.\" His maternal uncle (Judge Tenney) was a jurist and member of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Williams received his early education at the Academy at Exeter (N.H.) where he became acquainted with Ralph Waldo Emerson and through Emerson with A. Bronson Alcott and Henry D. Thoreau with whom he established friendships. In 1836 he was apparently briefly employed as \"an assistant in the counting room\" of the Hampshire Manufacturing Company at Ware (Mass.). Afterwards he began the study of law in the in the offices of Henry K. Smith and Millard Fillmore at Buffalo (N.Y.). By 1844 he had begun to practice law in Buffalo as an attorney and counselor of the Supreme Court of Erie County. During the presidency of Millard Fillmore he was often a guest at the White House where he was introduced to many prominent political figures. In 1854, with the help of Millard Fillmore who recommended Williams to his New York friends, he went to New York City where he quickly established his reputation as one of the outstanding members of the New York bar.</p> <p>In the 1850's Williams conducted his legal practice in partnership with Henry M. Barnard (Williams & Barnard) and also with an attorney named Hyde (Williams, Hyde & Barnard). In 1867, his health broken by overwork, he retired from his practice to become register in bankruptcy for New York County. In 1877 he returned to his law practice, entering into partnership with Minott M. Silliman at White Plains (Westchester County). In 1881, his partnership with Silliman dissolved, he reopened his law office in New York City where his son, Elliot Williams, also an attorney, collaborated with him. His practice, which was various in scope, included maritime law, domestic relations, adultery, libel and slander, negligence, personal injury, landlord-tenant relations and bankruptcy. Horace Greeley, with whom he had developed a close friendship, retained him as counsel in several libel cases involving the New York Tribune.</p> <p>In politics Williams supported the Whig, and later, the Republican Party. In the presidential campaign of 1864 he defended in public speeches Lincoln's conduct of the war urging his reelection. Earlier, during the gubernatorial campaign of 1862, he denounced what he regarded as the moral and political bankruptcy of the state's Democratic Party and its gubernatorial nominee, Horatio Seymour.</p> <p>In religious matters Williams was a disciple of Emanuel Swedenborg. He became, however, disillusioned with the leadership of the New Church while attending its national convention held at Philadelphia in 1870, and abruptly resigned his membership in it although he apparently continued to accept its teachings. He remained in close friendship with the prominent Swedenborgian, Benjamin Fisk Barrett. In the 1860's Williams frequented the seances of a spiritualist medium who, supposedly, placed him in contact with a deceased sister. In his later years he experienced a spiritual crisis which plunged him into despondency and despair.</p> <p>In 1849 Williams married Ellen E. White, daughter of Ferdinand Elliot White of Boston. She died in 1877 after a long illness. In 1860 Williams and his family settled at Fordham (then in Westchester Co.) where he remained until 1869 when he purchased a farm at Chappaqua (Westchester Co.) near the residence of his friend, Horace Greeley. He died there on April 5, 1886. He had three sons, Elliot, Kenneth and Reginald; and two daughters, Elizabeth Williams (Girod) and Josephine Williams (Bumstead).</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>About 75% of the papers reflect the professional career of Isaiah Thornton Williams, an attorney who began the practice of law in Buffalo (N.Y.) in 1844 before removing to New York City where he continued to practice law from 1854 until his death in 1886. Included are legal case files arranged alphabetically by case title, legal correspondence arranged chronologically, and miscellaneous legal papers reflecting the litigation of cases before various courts in Erie and Westchester Counties and in New York City. The remainder of the collection consists of Williams' personal papers including correspondence, speeches, writings, bills and receipts, canceled checks and personal miscellany; and family correspondence and papers including correspondence with his wife, his children, brothers and sisters; papers of his sons, Elliot Williams, also an attorney, and Kenneth Williams; and printed ephemera.</p>"}
{"value"=>"<p class='list-head'>The Isaiah Thornton Williams papers are arranged in three series:</p>\n<ul class='arrangement series-descriptions'>\n<li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3333#c108308'>Series I. Papers of Isaiah Thornton Williams</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>This series contains case files, legal correspondence, miscellaneous legal papers, personal correspondence, speeches and writings, personal miscellany; and financial papers</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3333#c108442'>Series II. Family Correspondence and Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>Series includes family correspondence; the papers of Elliot Williams, and the papers of Kenneth Williams, both sons of Isaiah Thornton Williams</p></div></li><li><div class='series-title'><a href='/mss/3333#c108473'>Series III. Printed Ephemera and Oversized Papers</a></div>\n<div class='series-description'><p>The printed ephemera consists of a chronological file (1855-1908) of miscellaneous ephemera; a file of court calendars (1875-1909); miscellaneous trade and calling cards; and other miscellany including a pamphlet endorsed by Elliot Williams entitled Discipline of the Yearly Meeting of Friends, Held in New York; for the State of New York and Parts Adjacent (N.Y., Baker & Duyckinck's Steam Presses, 1856).</p> <p>The oversized papers include shipping articles for the ships \"Palestine\" (1850, Henry C. Scott, Master), the Clipper Steam Schooner \"Peytona\" (1853, James S. Nash, Master); accounts (1854-56) of the Steamships \"Peytona\" and \"Polynesian\"; and wage receipts (1855) for the Steamship \"Peytona\". The shipping articles list names of members of the crew, their stations, birthplace, age, height, and monthly wages.</p></div></li></ul>\n", "type"=>"arrangement"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Isaiah Thornton Williams papers are organized in the following series:</p> <ul> <li>Series I. Papers of Isaiah Thornton Williams</li> <li>Series II. Family Correspondence and Papers</li> <li>Series III. Printed Ephemera and Oversized Papers</li></ul>", "supress_display"=>true}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Gift of Constance Williams and Mrs. George D. Mackay, (granddaughters of Isaiah Thornton Williams), 1947</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Compiled by John D. Stinson.</p>"}
- extent_statement
-
58.23 linear feet (150 boxes; 2 microfilm reels)
- date_start
-
1833
- date_end
-
1921
- date_bulk_start
-
1850
- date_bulk_end
-
1880