- Collection Overview
- Collection Description & Creator Information
- Access & Use
- Collection History
- Find Related Materials
Expanded View
Collection Overview
- Creator:
- Rush, Richard (1780-1859)
- Title:
- Rush Family Papers
- Repository:
- Manuscripts Division
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/z890rt289
- Dates:
- 1675-1885 (mostly 1817-1849)
- Size:
- 61 boxes, 55 items, 11 Volumes, 26.55 linear feet
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (scamss)
- Boxes 1-61
- Volumes 1-11
NoteThis collection is stored onsite at Firestone Library. Box 15, folders 17 and 29; and box 16, folder 8 (letters by Thomas Jefferson) are stored in special vault facilities.- Language:
- English
Abstract
The collection documents the career of Richard Rush (Princeton Class of 1797) as lawyer, statesman, and diplomat, emphasizing diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Great Britain while he was minister to Great Britain (1817-1825) and between the United States and France when he was minister to France (1847-1849), as well as his successful efforts (1836-1838) in securing the Smithsonian bequest, which was used to establish the Smithsonian Institution. The papers of Richard Rush constitute the larger part of the collection; letters of his father, Benjamin Rush, M.D. (Princeton Class of 1760), and papers of his son, Benjamin Rush (Princeton Class of 1829, constitute the other major groups of papers in this family archive.
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Scope and Contents
The collection documents the career of Richard Rush (Princeton Class of 1797) as lawyer, statesman, and diplomat, emphasizing diplomatic negotiations between the United States and Great Britain while he was minister to Great Britain (1817-1825) and between the United States and France when he was minister to France (1847-1849), as well as his successful efforts (1836-1838) in securing the Smithsonian bequest, which was used to establish the Smithsonian Institution. Important international issues detailed in diplomatic dispatches and protocols include fisheries, impressment of sailors, maritime law, territorial claims to the Northwest part of America, the Seminole Wars, West Indian trade, slave trade, and free navigation of the St. Lawrence River. Various writings of Rush, his personal correspondence, a code used for confidential diplomatic correspondence, passports, diplomas, certificates, maps/charts,and other documents are also included.
Correspondents in the collection include John Quincy Adams, George Bancroft, Nicholas Biddle, James Buchanan, George Canning, Sir Stratford Canning, Robert Stewart Castlereagh, James Fenimore Cooper, George Mifflin Dallas, Albert Gallatin, Washington Irving, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, the Marquis of Lafayette, Dolley and James Madison, John Marshall, James Monroe, Samuel Morse, John Trumbull, Daniel Webster, and Noah Webster. There is also correspondence to Rush's father, Dr. Benjamin Rush (1746-1813, Princeton Class of 1760); to his son, Benjamin Rush (1811-1877, Princeton Class of 1829); and to other members of the Rush family; and works and correspondence of other persons not members of the Rush family.
- Collection Creator Biography:
Rush, Richard (1780-1859)
Richard Rush was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of physician Benjamin Rush, and Julia (Stockton) Rush. Rush graduated from Princeton University in 1797 and was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1809. He married Catherine Eliza Murray in 1811 and was appointed as Attorney General of Pennsylvania in 1811. Between 1814 and 1817, Rush was the Comptroller of the United States Treasury. He was appointed the United States Attorney General in 1817 and served as the United States Secretary of State between 1817 and 1824. Later in life, he served as the United States Minister to Great Britain from 1825-1828, United States Secretary of Treasury from 1847-1849, and United States Minister to France in 1859. Rush died in Philadelphia in 1859.
Collection History
- Acquisition:
The Rush Family Papers were presented to the Princeton University Library in 1963 by Alexander Rush (Princeton Class of 1933), Benjamin Rush, and R. Stockton Rush (Princeton Class of 1927).
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
This collection was processed in 1970. Finding aid written in 1970.
During 2022, restrictions on Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) letters were lifted as part of a restrictions review project.
Access & Use
- Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research.
- Conditions Governing Use
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.
- Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
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.
- Credit this material:
Rush Family Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/z890rt289
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (scamss)
- Boxes 1-61
- Volumes 1-11
NoteThis collection is stored onsite at Firestone Library. Box 15, folders 17 and 29; and box 16, folder 8 (letters by Thomas Jefferson) are stored in special vault facilities.
Find More
- Bibliography
The following sources were consulted during preparation of biographical note: Dictionary of American Biography, Author's Edition, Volume XVI, 1937, pp. 231-234, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. In addition to the works mentioned in the biographical note on Richard Rush, see an excellent account of Rush's career down to 1840, in the U.S. Mag. and Democratic Rev., Apr. 1840, pp. 301-25; C. K. Webster, The Foreign Policy of Castlereagh, 1815-1822 (1925); Dexter Perkins, The Monroe Doctrine, 1823-1826 (1927); W. C. Ford, "John Quincy Adams and the Monroe Doctrine," in Am. Hist. Rev., July 1902; J. M. Callahan, "Agreement of 1817. Reduction of Naval Forces upon the Great Lakes," in Ann. Report of the Am. Hist. Asso. for the Year 1895 (1896); Beckles Wilson, America's Ambassadors to England, 1785-1928 (1928), and America's Ambassadors to France, 1777-1927 (1928); A Memorial of Dr. Benjamin Rush...Written by Himself (1905); Am. State Papers. Foreign Relations, vols. IV, V (1834, 1858); obituaries in Daily National Intelligencer (Washington), Public Ledger (Philadelphia), August 2, 1859; Trescott Papers, Lib. of Congress.; his diplomatic dispatches in the State Department. References to Dr. Benjamin Rush may be found in The Princeton University Library Chronicle in Volumes V: 36-37; VI: 34; VII: 17-18, 26; VIII: 61; IX: 1-12; and XIII: 178; to Richard Rush in Volumes XVII: 218; and XIX: 177; and to certain letters exchanged between members of the Rush Family in Volume XXII: 99-101.
- Subject Terms:
- Cipher and telegraphic codes -- United States -- Diplomatic and consular service -- 19th century
Diplomatic and consular service -- United States -- 19th century
Diplomats -- United States -- Clothing -- 19th century
Diplomats. -- 19th century
Fathers and sons -- United States -- 19th century
Fisheries -- Newfoundland. -- 19th century
Impressment. -- 19th century
Maritime law. -- 19th century
Seminole War, 1st -- 1817-1818.
Slave trade -- United States -- 19th century - Genre Terms:
- Codes. -- 19th century
Diplomatic documents -- 19th century.
Passports. -- 19th century - Names:
- College of New Jersey (Princeton, N.J.). Class of 1829.
Smithsonian Institution
Rush, Benjamin (1811-1877) - Places:
- France -- Foreign relations -- United States -- 19th century
Great Britain -- Commerce -- West Indies. -- 19th century
Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- United States -- 19th century
Northwest coast of North America. -- 19th century
Saint Lawrence River -- Navigation -- Laws and legislation. -- 19th century
United States -- Commerce -- West Indies. -- 19th century
United States -- Foreign relations -- France. -- 19th century
United States -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain. -- 19th century
