Found 3 collections related to New York (State) -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865

The collection consists chiefly of papers of members of the Gansevoort, Lansing and Melville families and reflects the social, business, and political interests of the families, their friends and associates. Also included are some papers of members of the Sanford, Van Schaick and other prominent families of the Hudson and Mohawk Valley areas of New York State. The papers include accounts, correspondence, maps, and land, court, and military records, as well as personal collections of photographs and artifacts documenting the families' history. Notable individuals represented int the collection are Revolutionary War officer Peter Gansevoort, Jr. (1749-1812), his son Peter Gansevoort (1788-1876), a New York State Assemblyman, Senator, and Judge Advocate General, Henry Sanford Gansevoort (1835-1871), Union officer in the Civil War, and author Herman Melville. less

Abraham Yates Jr. (1724-1796) of Albany, New York, was an American lawyer, politician, and political essayist of the Founding Era. He was an Anti-Federalist during the Confederation and Constitutional periods, known for his writings as "Rough Hewer" and "Sidney" in the New York press. Yates held many elected and appointed offices, notably Albany alderman (1753-1773), high sheriff of the city and county of Albany (1754-1759), chairman of the Albany Committee of Correspondence (1775-1776), and member of the four New York Provincial Congresses and the State's first legislative convention (1775-1777), chairing the committee to write the State's constitution. He then served as New York State senator (1777-1790), Continental Loan Officer for New York (1779-1786), delegate to the Confederation Congress (1787-1788), and mayor of Albany (1790-1796). The Abraham Yates Jr. papers, 1688-1920s (bulk 1754-1795), chiefly span his professional and political activities in New York from 1754 until his death in 1796, reflecting his work as sheriff, lawyer, Revolutionary War patriot, public official, political essayist, and avocational historian. The papers comprise correspondence, documents, and printed matter, 1688-1825; a letter book kept while Continental Loan Officer, 1779-1782; journals, including a record of his time as sheriff during the French and Indian War, 1750s-1790s; drafts of his political and historical writings for publication, 1783-1796?; research materials serving his legal, political and historical endeavors, 1750s-1790s; and papers concerning the Manor of Rensselaerswyck, 1761-1700s. Also present are early 20th-century typescript copies of materials in the collection. less