- Collection Overview
- Collection Description & Creator Information
- Access & Use
- Collection History
- Find Related Materials
Expanded View
Collection Overview
- Creator:
- Alexander, James, 1691-1756
- Title:
- James Alexander Papers
- Repository:
- Manuscripts Division
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/t435gc98t
- Dates:
- 1688-1756
- Size:
- 10 boxes
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-10
- Language:
- English
Abstract
James Alexander was a lawyer in New Jersey and New York during the eighteenth century. This collection consists of correspondence, documents, and manuscripts of James Alexander, the bulk of which relate to the allocation and ownership of land, primarily in New Jersey and New York.
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Description:
The collection consists of correspondence, documents, and manuscripts of James Alexander, the bulk of which relate to the allocation of land, primarily in New Jersey, or to the legal and government problems arising from its ownership during the period Alexander was surveyor-general of New Jersey and, later, New York. Indian deeds, surveys, and a "Copy of the Jersey Commission for running the Division Line betwixt the Province of New Jersey and New York" are included, with petitions and correspondence regarding land riots (1740) and those arrested during land disputes, and the petition of Alexander and William Smith for reinstatement after their disbarment in the libel trial of printer/publisher John Peter Zenger. In addition, there are letters and documents signed by colonial governors of New York and New Jersey, including William Burnet, Robert Hunter, Edward Hyde Cornbury, Cadwallader Colden, and Jonathan Belcher, as well as letters by David Ogden, and Richard Stockton.
- Arrangement
The letters and documents have been tipped into 10 folio-sized bound volumes and are arranged in rough, chronological order.
- Collection Creator Biography:
Alexander, James, 1691-1756
James Alexander was a lawyer in New Jersey and New York during the eighteenth century. Born in Scotland in 1691, Alexander fought in the Rebellion of 1715, which resulted in the exile of the Stuarts from England. That year, he moved to the United States and became the surveyor general of the Province of New Jersey. He served on both the Council of New York, from 1721 to 1732, and the Council of New Jersey, from 1723 to 1735. From 1723 to 1727, he also served as New Jersey's attorney general. Alexander died in 1756.
Collection History
- Acquisition:
Gift of Mrs. Walter K. Earle.
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
This collection was processed by Joe Calizo in 1996. Finding aid written by Joe Calizo in 1996.
Biography written by Jessica Marati, '08.
Access & Use
- Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research use.
- Conditions Governing Use
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. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
- Credit this material:
James Alexander Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/t435gc98t
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1-10
Find More
- Subject Terms:
- Indigenous peoples of North America -- New Jersey -- Land transfers -- 18th century.
Land tenure -- New Jersey -- Cases -- 18th century.
Surveyors -- New Jersey -- 18th century. - Genre Terms:
- Deeds -- New Jersey -- 18th century.
Surveys (land) -- New Jersey -- 18th century. - Names:
- Zenger, John Peter, 1697-1746.
- Places:
- New Jersey -- Governors -- 18th century.
New York (State) -- Governors -- 18th century.
New Jersey -- Boundaries -- New York (State) -- 18th century.
New Jersey -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
New Jersey -- Politics and government -- To 1775.
New York (State) -- Boundaries -- New Jersey -- 18th century.
New York (State) -- Politics and government -- To 1775.
