Call Number:

C0027

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

3 boxes

Language:

English

Date:

1804-1911 (inclusive)

Creator:

Pinkney, William, 1764-1822

Form:

Bookplates, American -- 19th century., Briefs -- United States -- 19th century., Deeds -- Maryland -- 18th century., and Deeds -- Maryland -- 19th century.

Abstract:

Consists of papers of the notable American statesman and attorney William Pinkney, including writings, political and diplomatic correspondence from his time as minister to Great Britain and Russia, legal notes, deeds, bookplates, and other assorted papers. The collection also contains some papers from his grandson, William Pinkney Whyte, and a notebook from Joseph White, a Pinkney relative.

William Pinkney was born on March 17, 1764, in Annapolis, Maryland. Originally interested in pursuing medicine, Pinkey ultimately chose law as his desired profession and passed the Maryland bar in 1986. After practicing law in Maryland, Pinkney was sent to London by George Washington to serve as an American commissioner. After spending eight years in England, Pinkney returned to the United States and became Attorney General in 1811. In 1816 he left the country again to serve as an American minister in Russia. Pinkney is most famous for his involvement in McCulloch v. Maryland and Cohens v. Virginia, two significant Supreme Court cases. Pinkey passed away unexpectedly on February 16, 1822, in Washington, D.C.

The collection consists of the papers of Pinkney and, to a lesser degree, of William Pinkney Whyte (1824-1908), his grandson. Included are several works by Pinkney, his diplomatic correspondence while he was U.S. minister to Great Britain (1807-1811) and to Russia (1816-1818), legal notes, deeds, bookplates, and assorted memorabilia. Pinkney's correspondents include John Quincy Adams, Baron Auckland, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and Jonathan Russell. For Whyte, there is correspondence from such notable figures as James G. Blaine, Reverdy Johnson, and Thomas Swann, as well as several documents. In addition, there is correspondence of several other persons, such as James Buchanan, Cardinal Gibbons, Francois de Kossuth, and various Pinkney family members.

Included in the collection are the notebook of Joseph White, a Pinkney relative, that contains "Historical Notices of the Inauguration of the Presidents" from Washington to Lincoln, and a volume of Pinkney's legal jottings that includes a letter (80 pp.) "To the Editor of the Anti-Jacobin Review" and a 162-page brief of an "Issue in Tail."