Call Number:

C0687

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.4 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); David Hosack Family Papers, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1793-1916 (inclusive) and 1818-1850 (bulk)

Creator:

Hosack, David (1769-1835)

Form:

Correspondence, Deeds, Estate records, Land surveys, Maps, and Wills.

Abstract:

David Hosack (1769-1835) was an American physician, botanist, educator, and graduate of Princeton University (Class of 1789). This collection consists of correspondence, deeds, indentures, wills, maps, printed materials, and other assorted family papers related to estates and land owned by David Hosack and his family. Many of the papers concern land in the Lackawanna River valley of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.

David Hosack (1769-1835), a physician, botanist, and educator, was born in New York City. He began his education at Columbia College (Columbia University) but later transferred to the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and graduated in 1789. After completing additional studies at the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) and the University of Edinburgh, he became a professor of natural history and materia medica at Columbia College, while maintaining his own private medical practice. Hosack became well-known in the medical field during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798, and he was the attending physician at the Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel. He also established the Elgin Botanical Gardens and was one of the founders of the New York Historical Society and Bellevue Hospital.

Hosack's second wife was Mary Eddy, sister of Thomas Eddy (1758-1827) of Philadelphia. Eddy was a prominent philanthropist and prison reformer. Hosack's son, Alexander Eddy Hosack (1805-1871), became a surgeon.

David Hosack (1769-1835), a physician, botanist, and educator, was born in New York City. He began his education at Columbia College (Columbia University) but later transferred to the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and graduated in 1789. After completing additional studies at the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) and the University of Edinburgh, he became a professor of natural history and materia medica at Columbia College, while maintaining his own private medical practice. Hosack became well-known in the medical field during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798, and he was the attending physician at the Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel. He also established the Elgin Botanical Gardens and was one of the founders of the New York Historical Society and Bellevue Hospital.

Hosack's second wife was Mary Eddy, sister of Thomas Eddy (1758-1827) of Philadelphia. Eddy was a prominent philanthropist and prison reformer. Hosack's son, Alexander Eddy Hosack (1805-1871), became a surgeon.

The collection consists of a group of personal and family papers of David Hosack (1769-1835, Princeton Class of 1789), mainly concerning family estates and tracts of land owned by David Hosack in the Lackawanna River valley of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. There is correspondence of David Hosack and his brother-in-law, Thomas Eddy (1758-1827), with Ebenezer Bowman, John Conyngham, James Griffin, Jacob Cist, and others, as well as a small amount of correspondence of Hosack's son, Alexander E. Hosack (1805-1871), and Eddy's son, Thomas Eddy, Jr., and some related correspondence between others. Also present are deeds and indentures of the Hosack family in New York and Pennsylvania; wills, inventories, and other estate papers for Henry A. Coster, David Hosack, and Sophia H. Hosack; and various survey reports, notes on coal deposits, lists of land warrants, and maps of the land tracts in Luzerne County. Among the printed materials are a notice of land for sale in Luzerne County (1819) by David Hosack, a survey report for a proposed railroad in the Lackawanna and Wyoming coal valleys (1831), and clippings related to coal mining.

This collection was formerly referred to as the David Hosack Collection.