{"value"=>"<p>Letters and Documents, 1688-1825, pertain to Abraham Yates Jr.'s professional and political activities. The series comprises a large group of letters and documents, 1754-1795, numbered and arranged chronologically by the Library at an earlier time; a small group of documents and fragments not included in the initial numbered arrangement, 1750s-circa 1800; and a letter book, 1779-1782, kept by Yates while Continental Loan Officer for New York State.</p> <p>Numbered Letters and Documents, 1754-1795, comprise nearly 250 numbered letters and documents in chronological order, pertaining chiefly to the professional and political activities of Abraham Yates Jr. from 1754 to 1795. Present are letters received and sent by Yates; legal and business documents, including affidavits, complaints, invoices and receipts, wills, writs, and property records; printed circulars; and a broadside. The series notably contains an incomplete draft of New York State's first constitution (item 142a, 1777), and Yates' conditional pledge to vote in the affirmative on an act establishing the date and place for the new federal government to meet (item 225, 1788 August 8), signed by Alexander Hamilton and others. An early document, 1688, dates from Peter Schuyler's mayoralty, and two items post-dating Yates' death, 1807 and 1825, are also found. The series includes draft copies and some third-party letters and documents.</p> <p>Correspondence and documents within this numbered group shed light on his role as sheriff of Albany and Albany County, 1754-1759, his mercantile and legal work during the 1760s and 1770s; his chairmanship of the Albany Committee of Correspondence, 1775-1776; and his dealings with Robert Morris and later the Board of Treasury during his tenure as Continental Loan Officer for the State of New York. Also included are letters to and from Yates in early 1788 while state senator at Poughkeepsie, and later that year while attending Congress in New York City, where he received letters from other Anti-Federalists reporting on the State's ratifying convention in June and July 1788. There are numerous letters from his patron Robert Livingston (1708-1790) during the 1750s-1760s (then signing as Robert Livingston Jr.), and from Abraham G. Lansing, Yates' son-in-law and associate in business and politics. The Yates-Lansing correspondence also contains family news. Other correspondents include Governor George Clinton, John Lansing Jr., Melancton Smith, Christopher P. Yates, and Robert Yates.</p> <p>Unnumbered documents, 1750s-circa 1800, comprise a manuscript copy of the colonial charter of Albany, with revisions conforming the document to the new state government, 1779; a legal document in a case before the Albany Mayor's Court, circa 1760; and notably, Yates' memorandum of 1794 November 24, recounting his visit to Schenectady to promote the founding of the future Union College. A document wrapper and paper fragments are also included.</p> <p>Yates' letter book, 1779 October 31-1782 August 11, contains copies of letters sent and received by him during the early years of his tenure as Commissioner of the Continental Loan Office for the State of New York, including accounts of monies, written in several clerical hands. Correspondents include Loan Office and Treasury officials in Philadelphia, among them Treasurer of Loans Francis Hopkinson, Treasurer Michael Hillegas, and Superintendent of Finance Robert Morris; as well as New York State Governor George Clinton.</p>"}