Summary
Overview
Hosack, David, 1769-1835.
1793-1916 (mostly 1818-1850)
Princeton University. Library. Dept. of Rare Books and Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
One Washington Road
Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA
Abstract
David Hosack was a physician, botanist, educator, and member of Princeton University class of 1789. The collection contains some of the Hosack family correspondence, deeds, indentures, wills, and other assorted family papers. In particular, some of the papers concern the land in Luzerne County.
Description
Description
The collection consists of selected papers of Hosack (Class of 1789). Included are correspondence of Hosack and his brother-in-law, Thomas Eddy, with Ebenezer Bowman, John Coyngham, James Griffin, Jacob Cist, and others, as well as a small amount of correspondence of Hosack's son, Alexander E. Hosack, and Eddy's son, Thomas Eddy, Jr., and some miscellaneous letters. The correspondence mainly concerns tracts of land owned by Hosack in the Lackawanna River valley of Luzerne County, Pa. Also present are deeds and indentures (1797-1859) of the Hosack family in New Yory and Pennsylvania; wills, inventories, and other estate papers for Henry A. Coster (1820), Hosack, and Sophia Hosack (d. 1891); and various survey reports, notes on coal deposits, lists of land warrants, and maps (1815-1829) of the land tracts in Luzerne County.
Among the printed items are a notice of land for sale in Luzerne County (1819) by Hosack, a survey report for a proposed railroad in the Lackawanna and Wyoming (Pa.) coal valleys (1831), and clippings on coal mining.
Collection Creator
Biography
David Hosack (1769-1835), physician, botanist, and educator, was born in New York City. He began his education there, attending Columbia College; however, he transferred to the College of New Jersey (Princeton) and graduated in 1789. In 1795 he became professor of botany at Columbia, and later professor of materia medica, while maintaining an extensive private practice. He was one of the first physicians to use a stethoscope and was an advocate of smallpox vaccination. Hosack 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 distinguished surgeon.
Access and Use
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research use.
Use Restrictions
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
Preferred Citation
David Hosack Collection; 1793-1916 (mostly 1818-1850), Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
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