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George Maxwell Robeson Collection
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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
George Maxwell Robeson, lawyer, attorney general of New Jersey, congressman from New Jersey, and secretary of the navy, was born in Warren County, N.J. He graduated with high honors from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1847. Robeson studied law, and was appointed by Governor Newell as prosecutor of Camden County. In 1867 he was appointed attorney general of New Jersey by Governor Marcus Ward, and in 1869 Robeson was appointed secretary of the navy by President Ulysses Grant.
The collection consists of selected correspondence of George Maxwell Robeson. There are fifty-five letters and two telegrams from friends, lawyers, government, and state officials congratulating Robeson on his appointment as Secretary of the Navy in June 1869. Included is a letter from Horace Newton Congar, secretary of state of New Jersey, dated 26 June 1869, giving Robeson some advice about his new duties. Enclosed with this letter is a copy of the press release Congar sent to the Associated Press of New York and of Philadelphia announcing Robeson's new appointment. Both the letter and the press release are written on State of New Jersey, Department of State, letterhead. Other correspondents include New Jersey senator Joseph T. Crowell, David A. Depue, chief justice of the Supreme Court of N.J., lawyer Amzi Dodd, Edward T. Green, New Jersey congressman George Armstrong Halsey, Silas Merchant, James L. Hays, Anthony Quinton Keasbey, John H. Morris, F. B. Ogden, New Jersey governor Marcus Lawrence Ward, senator Theodore Fitz Randolph, James Matlack Scovell, F. H. Stickney, Franklin Westcott, A. Pennington Whitehead, and Thomas D. Jordan and E. Gibson of the "Robeson Battery." Robeson's letters include one to Robert Field Stockton and one to John L. Cadwalader. This letter includes an inscription (in pencil) from Cadwalader to lawyer and College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) trustee Moses Taylor Pyne. Also included are newspaper clippings of Robeson's obituary, along with documents of George Maxwell Robeson and William Penn Robeson.
Folders are arranged by accession number.
The collection was formed as a result of a Departmental practice of combining into one collection material of various accessions relating to a particular person, family, or subject.
Letter to John Cadwalader was a gift originally in the Pyne-Henry collection.
Letter to Robert Stockton was a gift of Moses Taylor Pyne in November 1896.
Fifty-seven letters and documents were purchased on January 25, 1967.
For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.
Folder inventory added by Nicholas Williams '2015 in 2012.
No appraisal information is available.
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- Publisher
- Manuscripts Division
- Finding Aid Date
- 2007
- Access Restrictions
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Collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
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Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.
Collection Inventory
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