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Call number
MssCol 1144
Physical description
.84 linear feet (2 boxes, 2 volumes, 1 other item)
Preferred Citation

Gerry-Townsend papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library

Sponsor
Digitization was made possible by a lead gift from The Polonsky Foundation.
Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.
Portions of this collection have been digitized and are available online.

The Gerry-Townsend family of Massachusetts included statesman Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814). The collection consists of correspondence of Elbridge Gerry, 1773-1814, and his son-in-law David S. Townsend, 1812-1846); legal papers and accounts of Eliza Gerry, administrator of Elbridge Gerry's estate; deeds, mortgages, and other land papers concerning lands owned by the Gerry and Townsend families in Boston; and diary, 1813, Elbridge Gerry, Jr. kept during a journey from Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C. Includes letters relating to Gerry's mission to France, 1797-1798 (the XYZ Affair), and to national politics. Correspondents include John Adams, William Gordon, Gideon Granger, Thomas Jefferson, James Lovell, James Madison, W. Vans Murray, George Partridge, C.C. Pinckney, Samuel Osgood, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., James Warren, James Wendell, and John Wendell.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Annette Townsend Phillips (great, great-granddaughter of Elbridge Gerry)

Processing information

Compiled by Archives Unit, 2016

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328