Call Number:

C1201

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 1.33 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Hugh Simm Collection, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1768-1784 (bulk) and 1748-1810 (inclusive)

Creator:

Simm, Hugh, d. 1810

Form:

Indentures -- England-- 18th century. and Letters --New Jersey -- Princeton -- 18th century.

Abstract:

Consists of twenty-two letters and documents of Hugh Simm, a mechanic from Paisley, Scotland, who, after moving to America in 1768, briefly served as Princeton University's first librarian and inspector of rooms.

Hugh Simm was a mechanic by trade in the town of Paisley in Scotland. He also studied the classics and divinity under the tutelage of the Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon. When Witherspoon left Paisley to take the presidency of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in 1768, he took Simm with him. On Witherspoon's recommendation, Simm was hired by the trustees of the college to become Princeton's first librarian and inspector of rooms, for a salary of £5. Simm was awarded the honorary degree of Bachelor of Arts from the College in 1768. Simm received news about friends and family in Scotland from his brother, Andrew, and sent information about the growing community of people coming to America from Paisley and Glasgow, Scotland. Within a year Simm became a teacher at the grammar school, which was in the same building as the College, and following that he took another teaching position at a grammar school in Freehold, N.J., where he taught Latin, Greek, and natural philosophy, earning a salary of £50 to £55 per year. Simm left Freehold to teach at another grammar school in New York City, where he got married, then became the head of another school in Albany, N.Y. The advent of the Revolution caused a break in his relationship with Witherspoon. Simm was a loyalist to the British Crown while Witherspoon was a member of the Continental Congress. Simm finally returned to Paisley and was rewarded for his loyalty during the Revolution by the British Crown.

Andrew Simm, Hugh Simm's brother, was a weaver in Paisley, Scotland.

John Witherspoon was the sixth president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and, from 1776 to 1782, a leading member of the Continental Congress. He came from Scotland in 1768 to assume the presidency of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and held office there until his death, a quarter of a century later.

"Paisley" is world famous as the name of the teardrop pattern used on everything from clothing to a range of everyday domestic goods. However, the pattern did not actually originate in the town of Paisley, Scotland; it can be traced back 2,000 years to Indo-European cultures. It became associated with Paisley after soldiers returning from British colonies in India brought back cashmere shawls containing the pattern and weavers in Paisley adopted it for their own use. At the end of the 18th century a very large number of Scottish individuals and their families from Paisley immigrated to America seeking a better life. Their letters home provide a valuable source of information about the towns where they settled.

The collection consists of twenty-two letters and documents of Hugh Simm who traveled to America in 1768 with John Witherspoon. The correspondence provides a personal account of a British immigrant to North America during the Revolutionary era. The bulk of Simm's letters, postmarked from New Jersey or New York, are addressed to his brother, Andrew Simm, of Paisley, Scotland. The first letter, headed "from my cell princeton college decem 2 1768," explains how Simm got his bachelor's degree from Princeton after his arrival, and describes the graduation gown he had to purchase. In other letters, Simm writes about what is happening in America at the time, including Witherspoon and the College of New Jersey, the Stamp Act, the arrival in Boston of regiments from Ireland, the destruction to cities following the Spanish and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. In his letter dated 8 June 1769, Simm notes the accomplishments of Witherspoon at the College of New Jersey which was almost bankrupt at the time of his arrival. Simm also writes about the different positions he accepted, his marriage, the death at childbirth of two sons, and his joining the Loyalists and accepting a commission of Quarter Master of the regiment of Col. Rudolph Ritzina. Also included is a letter from Hugh Simm to Robert Atkin in Freehold; a document indenturing his brother, Andrew, to Robert Pollack and John Marshall, dated Paisley, 12 February 1747, signed by Andrew Simm, his father, John Simm, and others, and a document dated 1808 informing Andrew Simm that he has been chosen to serve in the Renfrew County Militia. In a letter dated New York, 2 October 1778, Simm gives statistics of the "present state of New York," which include the number of homes, inhabitants, and ships of war in the harbor.

Material is arranged chronologically.