{"value"=>"<p>Samuel B. Ruggles's correspondence files contain incoming and outgoing letters regarding business, real estate, land purchases, the New York City water supply system, the Canal Board, monetary policy, the Paris Exposition of 1867, the International Statistical Congress of 1869, personal affairs and family matters. Correspondents include William Boyd Allison, S. Newton Dexter, Alfred Ely, Nathaniel Pitcher Tallmadge, Gulian C. Verplanck and Benjamin D. Silliman. Letters of Whig statesman and New York Governor Washington Hunt are of particular interest for their discussion of national politics, railroads and canals. Also included are items written by relatives of Samuel Ruggles, such as his son James, his daughter Eleanor, and several family cousins</p>"}