- Creator
- Steele, William, 1762-1851
- Call number
- MssCol NYGB 18147
- Physical description
- 1 v, 29 cm; 1 v, 29 cm
- Preferred Citation
- William Steele poems : manuscript, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
- Repository
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Access to materials
- Request an in-person research appointment.
William Steele (1762-1851) and his wife Mary Dayton Steele (1769-1834) resided with their family in New Jersey and later moved to upstate New York. William Steele was born in New York City and served in the Revolutionary War. In 1791 he married Mary Dayton, daughter of physician Jonathan Dayton (1731-1778) of Springfield, New Jersey. The Steele family moved from New Jersey to Painted Post, Steuben County, New York in 1819. William Steele died in Big Flats, Chemung County, New York in 1851. An album of original verse by William Steele (1762-1851), inspired by incidents of personal and family life, life events, and celebrations, as well as local, historical and political events. Dated poems span 1781-1850, with earlier poems noting the locations of Springfield and other places in New Jersey, and later poems noting the locations of Painted Post and Big Flats, both near Corning, New York. Poems marking births, marriages and deaths provide genealogical information on members of the Steele, Dayton, Salter and Winans families, and other individuals. A note by William Steele pasted inside the front cover states that the poems have been transcribed for the pleasure of his family and friends. A "Genealogy of the Steele Family of Springfield, N.J.," compiled from the poems at a later date, is pasted inside the back cover. Also present is a 12-page pamphlet, "Elegy on the Rt. Honorable William Pitt, late Earl of Chatham on his accepting a peerage" (Boston, 1808; Shaw & Shoemaker 14692), and a few research notes.
Administrative information
Custodial history
Gift of Mrs. Eduardo Carranza to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, 1933.
Key terms
Names
- Steele, William, 1762-1851
- Dayton family
- Salter family
- Steele family
- Winans family
- New York Genealogical and Biographical Society Collection
Subjects
Places
- New Jersey -- Genealogy
- New Jersey -- Social life and customs
- New York (State) -- Genealogy
- New York (State) -- Social life and customs
Material types
Titles
Using the collection
Location
Manuscripts and Archives DivisionStephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328