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David Hosack Family Papers
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Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
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.
Hosack, David, 1769-1835David 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.
Emily Stuart found the papers in the basement of her home at 34 Mercer Street in Princeton in 1988 or early 1989.
Gift of Emily Stuart in 1989 (AM 90-67).
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This collection was processed in 1995. Finding aid written in 1995.
The finding aid was revised by Kelly Bolding in 2018.
No appraisal information is available.
People
Organization
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Author
- Kelly Bolding
- Finding Aid Date
- 2002
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Collection Inventory
Consists of correspondence of David Hosack, as well as Alexander E. Hosack (son), Thomas Eddy (brother-in-law), and Thomas Eddy, Jr. (son of Thomas Eddy), as well as some correspondence between others. Most regards family estates and land-related matters.
Physical Description1 box
1 box
3 signed letters to Ebenezer Bowman and John Conyngham.
Physical Description1 folder
15 signed letters, including 9 from Ebenezer Bowman, 1 from James Griffin, 1 from Benjamin Wright, 1 from Jacob Cist, and 4 from John N. Conyngham.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes 1 letter by Chester Butler regarding James Griffin (December 15, 1842), along with a manuscript copy of a deposition given by Alexander E. Hosack, which references the letter, about James Griffin and the estate of David Hosack (March 27, 1838).
Physical Description1 folder
1 box
4 letters to Ebenezer Bowman, Jacob Cist, and James Griffin.
Physical Description1 folder
18 letters by George Eddy (brother), Josiah Lewis, Isaac A. Chapman, Matthias Hollenback, Ebenezer Bowman, Jacob Cist, and Peleg Tracy.
Physical Description1 folder
1 box
9 letters, including 5 to Thomas Eddy, Sr. (father), 1 to J. Bennett, 2 to Coleman Fisher, and 1 to Henry Drinker.
Physical Description1 folder
7 letters by Henry Drinker and Coleman Fisher.
Physical Description1 folder
6 letters, including from Henry Drinker to Samuel Fisher (1813); Jacob List to "Dear Sir" (1825); James Stott to Thomas Meredith (1836); Henry E. Gilpin to Edward Emmet, including a document regarding the estate of Angelica Church Hart (1902); Rolston and Horan Turner to Edward Emmet regarding the estate of Sophia Hosack (1903); and Edward Emmet to "Minnie" regarding the estate of Eliza B. Hosack (1916).
Physical Description1 folder
Consists of deeds, indentures, surveys, and estate documents related to the property of David Hosack and members of his family.
Physical Description1 box
18 documents from New York City and Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes inventory documents.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes notices and inventory documents.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes a will, memoranda, and appraisals. Sophia Hosack was the widow of Nathaniel Pendelton Hosack of New York. She died on April 22, 1891.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes information on Hosack property, including one memorandum by Thomas Eddy, Jr., regarding Legates Creek, Lackawanna, Pennsylvania (1818); 1 memorandum book by Thomas Eddy Jr. regarding tracts of land on the Lacakawanna River, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania (1819); one memorandum book by Thomas Eddy, Jr. regarding land owned by Hollenback, Fisher and Hosack on Lackawanna River, (1819); one survey field notes - Spring Brook tract owned by David Hosack, by Calbin Stockbridge (1825); one survey field notes - Spring Brook tract owned by David Hosack, by Henry Colt (1825); one report on lands in Lackawanna Valley (Hosack estate) by W. Young to Nathaniel P. Hosack (1847); and one memorandum of land purchase by Lord Butler (undated).
Physical Description1 folder
1 folder
Consists of 7 maps of lands owned by David Hosack and others in Lackawanna River valley, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
Physical Description1 folder
Includes a notice of land for sale in Luzerne County by David Hosack (1819), a report on Schuylkill coal miners (1829), a "Report of an Experimental Survey of Part of the Proposed Railroad from the Wyoming and Lackawanna Coal Valleys by Way of Carbondale - Lanesboro - Great Bend - and Chengango Point to Owego, N.Y." by civil engineer James Seymour (1831), a notice regarding coal duty (1832), and newspaper clippings regarding coal (circa 1840-1848) including a clipping from the Luzerne Democrat (July 7, 1847).
Physical Description1 folder