Elias Boudinot letters and documents

1777-1820

Elias Boudinot (1740-1821) was an American lawyer and statesman. Born in Philadelphia, he resided in New Jersey for most of his life. During the Revolution Boudinot served in the New Jersey Provincial Congress, was Commissary General of Prisoners from 1777 to 1778, and was a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1778 and from 1781 to 1783, holding a one-year term as its president, 1782 to 1783. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 to 1795, and as Director of the U.S. Mint from 1795 to 1805. A devout Presbyterian, Boudinot was a trustee of Princeton University and first president of the American Bible Society. The collection consists of letters written by Elias Boudinot, 1778-1786 and 1801-1820, as well as three letters received, 1777-1798; his undated draft proposal to prevent further depreciation of Continental currency; and a clipped signature. Letters to numerous correspondents concern government, business and personal matters, many written during the Revolution. They include his retained copies or drafts, among them two letters to General George Washington, dated June 28-July 6, 1778 and August 16, 1779 [i.e., August 16, 1778]. A letter received from James Drummond of Stobhall, Lord Perth, 1798, inquires about his New Jersey land holdings; a thank-you letter from Boudinot to Thomas Sully, 1818, is endorsed by the painter. The collection also includes a letter from James Buck to an unidentified recipient regarding legal matters involving Boudinot, 1787, and a letter from Mrs. R. Boudinot (Rachel Bradford Boudinot, wife of Elisha Boudinot) to William Sullivan of Boston, 1801.