- Collection Overview
- Collection Description & Creator Information
- Access & Use
- Collection History
- Find Related Materials
Biddle, Clement, 1793
Collection Overview
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by correspondent in two sub-series, General and Family, as described below.
Collection History
- Custodial History
Some items were transferred from General Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection (C0140) over the years.
- Appraisal
The Edward Livingston Papers and the Delafield Family Papers were acquired by the Special Collections, Princeton University, as one large gift by the Delafield family in the Spring of 1986. Prior to the donation, certain items were removed and kept by Historic Hudson Valley (HHV) of Tarrytown, New York, for research purposes connected with Montgomery Place, the historic home of the Livingston and Delafield families. The following items are extracted from a list compiled by Jaquetta Haley, Director of Research for HHV, 3/23/86. Items duplicated for our collection are identified as such.
List of Items Housed at Historic Hudson Valley
Blueprints, maps, plans, etc.
Plans for playhouse
Plans for 1922 renovation of house
Plans regarding location of the new state road
Blueprints for Montgomery Place
Plans for heating Montgomery Place
Blueprints for squash court at Montgomery Place
Plans for barn alterations at Montgomery Place
Location of buildings at Montgomery Place
Plans for Montgomery Place sewage system
1923 landscape design for Montgomery Place
Ehler's landscape proposal, 1850's, Montgomery Place
Roll of wallpaper samples from Montgomery Place
Survey of original purchase of Montgomery Place by John Cox, Jr., 1802
Survey of Montgomery Place purchase by John Cox, Jr., 1802
Plan for drainage to north and south of the avenue
A.J. Davis drawings for coach barn, rolled, in poor condition
A.J. Davis plans or proposals regarding Montgomery Place renovations of 1842-1843 and 1860-1863, both with regard to mansion house and the outbuildings
Proposals (not by A.J. Davis) for renovations of house or outbuildings at Montgomery Place
Bound Journals
Thomas P. Barton plant journal, 1840's
1921-1922 inventory of Montgomery Place taken by John Ross Delafield, with comments on each item by Julia Barton Hunt
Papers relating to construction of buildings on property, or to the creation of the landscape
1804 contract for the interior of Montgomery Place
1844 contract for work on pavilion and south wing, according to A.J. Davis' plans
A.J. Downing correspondence with Louise Livingston, Cora L. Barton, and Thomas P. Barton, and some lists of plants in Thomas Barton's hand (xerox copies are in the Edward Livingston Papers, in each recipient's series)
1859 contract for construction of the coach house
1860 contract for barn, 2 sheds, and corn house
Account regarding work done on interior of house, 1854
Specifications for 1920's greenhouse and potting shed
Surveyor's notes regarding grading of north and south side
Property lines, deeds and surveys
Railroad map showing south and west property line, from rock in south bay
File on St. John's Church regarding transfer of property, 1930's
File relating to the purchase of the Sawkill property, 14 items
Deed for New York State property to Janet Montgomery, river rights, 1807
Contract between Louise Livingston and A.J. Donaldson regarding Sawkill property
Petition regarding ownership of the rock in south bay
Deed of John Van Benthuysen to Janet Montgomery, 1802
Survey of north boundary of property, 1801-1802
Mr. Spurr's property
Survey, John Bard and Louise Livingston, 1860
Sale of land to Hudson River Railroad in 1850's
Miscellaneous Manuscripts, etc.
Sample of original drawing room wallpaper
Coralie Barton's sketch of Janet Montgomery (old copies are in the Edward Livingston Papers in either Janet Montgomery's or Cora Barton's series)
File on the mill at Annandale, 19 items
Ink sketch of north portico of Montgomery Place
Photographs
Sawkill and Annandale (14 items)
Century Plant and Conservatory, including negatives
J. Dennis Delafield as a child at lily pond
Montgomery Place and Annandale (6 items)
Photographs from 1966 Antiques (10 items)
Original photograph of century plant and conservatory
Montgomery Place interiors and exteriors, 1920's - 1960's, Montgomery Place Orchards, 1944 (146 items)
Portraits of Louise L. Hunt
- Sponsorship:
The Edward Livingston Papers were the gift of Mr. J. Dennis Delafield and Professor Penelope D. Johnson in 1986. Processing of this collection was sponsored by the Delafield Fund.
- Processing Information
This collection and its sister collection, The Delafield Family Papers (C0391), were housed, until 1986, at Montgomery Place, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, the ancestral summer residence of many members of the Livingston and Delafield families from circa 1805-1985. The Delafield family, especially John Ross Delafield, 1875-1964, were avid genealogists who explored and augmented their Livingston ancestor's papers as well as their Delafield antecedent's records. The two collections arrived at Princeton in several different arrangements, with collection parameters based on the family agencies that owned the physical property. At Princeton, it was decided that the body of the original materials would be split along family lines into two collections. Researchers interested in the Livingston/Beekman line may also want to examine the Delafield Family Papers for secondary sources, iconography, and genealogical research on that branch of the family.
Edward Livingston's papers have the most complex arrangement of any individual in the collection, with some sections of his papers sorted by type and others by occupation and function. The arrangement of his papers, particularly the series of "papers relating to public offices/public life" and the "penal code" reflect the provenance of record groups that were found together when the collection arrived at Princeton, but the researcher should also bear in mind that the collection is not in original order; other family members (especially John Ross Delafield, 1875-1964) and other archivists had a hand in the arrangement. The groups of materials, as found, often indicated particular functions of Livingston's various public offices and projects. During original processing, this order was maintained with the presumption that an arrangement strictly by document type would have sacrificed important contextual connections. To aid users, many notes, cross references, and occasionally, photocopies of items were included throughout the collection. Some old folder notes and headings by John Ross Delafield and the Delafield Foundation's archivist, Todd Boli, were also maintained.
This collection was processed by Stacy Flora Roth in 1986-1988. Finding aid written by Stacy Flora Roth in 1988.
Finding aid updated by Faith Charlton in 2015. Oversize materials rehoused in 2015.
Folder inventory added by Kristine Gift (GS) in 2015.
Some oversize items were repaired by Preservation in 2015.
Series 1-3 were assessed for conservation needs and digitized in 2021.
Access & Use
- Conditions Governing Access
Open for research use.
- 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:
Biddle, Clement, 1740-1814; Edward Livingston Papers, C0280, Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (mss): Box 3
Find More
- Separated Materials
Some of the Livingston maps were interfiled with the General Map Collection, which is organized by geographic area, then date. "Edward Livingston Papers" is printed on the lower right corner of the verso of each map. Please ask the curator for assistance.
1. Map of England, NW France, English Channel by E. Collin, Rue de la Harpe, No. 45, (Paris), undated ("Feuille 1")
2. Map of the German States by E. Collin, Rue de la Harpe, No. 45, (Paris), undated ("Feuille 4")
3. Map of France and Central Europe, including Germany and Bavaria by E. Collin, Rue de la Harpe, No. 45, (Paris), undated ("Feuille 4")
4. Map of France and Spain by E. Collin, Rue de la Harpe, No. 45, (Paris), undated ("Feuille 5")
5. Map of the Mediterranean including Italy and Greece by E. Collin, Rue de la Harpe, No. 45, (Paris), undated ("Feuille 6")
6. Map of France by E. Collin, Rue de la Harpe, No. 45, (Paris), 1816, 1821. ("Carte Routiere de la France Dressee...Feuille 5")
7. Map of NW France and the South Coast of England, undated ("No. 1")
8. Map of Denmark by Adolph Bull, Copenhagen, 1851. (3 pieces)
9. Map of France, by A.H. Brue, Rue de Bac, No. 6 pres le Pont Royal, 1818 ("Carte, Administrative et Routiere de la France...") ("No. 3")
10. Map of France by A.H. Brue, 1820. ("Carte Physique et routiere de la France, de la Suisse, et de l'Italie septentionale...")
11. Map of France by C.H. Piquet, Quai de Conti, No. 17, undated ("Gallia Antiqua ex Aevi Romani Momentis Bruta...")
12. Map of France 1790, 1832. ("Atlas Nationale de France") ("Department du Nord, Decrele le ler Fevrier")
13. Map of France, Italy, and North Coast of the Mediterranean, undated ("No. 4")
14. Map of NE France, Germany, and Italy, undated ("No. 2")
15. Map of Flanders by Sanson, 1696. ("Le Comte de Flandre")
16. Map of France by C.Fx. De La Marche, Rue de Jardinet, No. 13, (Paris), undated
- Bibliography
Source: Concise Dictionary of American Biography (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1977).
- Names:
- Cox, John (1756-1825)
French, Benjamin
Jackson, Andrew (1767-1845)
Livingston, Margaret Beekman (1724-1800)
Montgomery, Janet Livingston (1743-1828)
Montgomery, Richard (1738-1775)
Montgomery, Richard (1738-1775)