- Collection Overview
- Collection Description & Creator Information
- Access & Use
- Collection History
- Find Related Materials
Expanded View
Collection Overview
- Creator:
- Hosack, David, 1769-1835 and Hosack, David, 1769-1835
- Title:
- David Hosack Family Papers
- Repository:
- Manuscripts Division
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dv13zt222
- Dates:
- 1793-1916 (mostly 1818-1850)
- Size:
- 1 box and 0.4 linear feet
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (mss): Box 1
- Language:
- English
Abstract
David Hosack (1769-1835) was an American physician, botanist, educator, and graduate of Princeton University (Class of 1789). This collection consists of correspondence, deeds, indentures, wills, maps, printed materials, and other assorted family papers related to estates and land owned by David Hosack and his family. Many of the papers concern land in the Lackawanna River valley of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania.
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Description:
The collection consists of a group of personal and family papers of David Hosack (1769-1835, Princeton Class of 1789), mainly concerning family estates and tracts of land owned by David Hosack in the Lackawanna River valley of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. There is correspondence of David Hosack and his brother-in-law, Thomas Eddy (1758-1827), with Ebenezer Bowman, John Conyngham, James Griffin, Jacob Cist, and others, as well as a small amount of correspondence of Hosack's son, Alexander E. Hosack (1805-1871), and Eddy's son, Thomas Eddy, Jr., and some related correspondence between others. Also present are deeds and indentures of the Hosack family in New York and Pennsylvania; wills, inventories, and other estate papers for Henry A. Coster, David Hosack, and Sophia H. Hosack; and various survey reports, notes on coal deposits, lists of land warrants, and maps of the land tracts in Luzerne County. Among the printed materials are a notice of land for sale in Luzerne County (1819) by David Hosack, a survey report for a proposed railroad in the Lackawanna and Wyoming coal valleys (1831), and clippings related to coal mining.
This collection was formerly referred to as the David Hosack Collection.
- Collection Creator Biography:
Hosack, David, 1769-1835
David Hosack (1769-1835), a physician, botanist, and educator, was born in New York City. He began his education at Columbia College (Columbia University) but later transferred to the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and graduated in 1789. After completing additional studies at the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) and the University of Edinburgh, he became a professor of natural history and materia medica at Columbia College, while maintaining his own private medical practice. Hosack became well-known in the medical field during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798, and he was the attending physician at the Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel. He 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 surgeon.
Hosack, David, 1769-1835
David Hosack (1769-1835), a physician, botanist, and educator, was born in New York City. He began his education at Columbia College (Columbia University) but later transferred to the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and graduated in 1789. After completing additional studies at the College of Philadelphia (University of Pennsylvania) and the University of Edinburgh, he became a professor of natural history and materia medica at Columbia College, while maintaining his own private medical practice. Hosack became well-known in the medical field during the yellow fever epidemic of 1797-1798, and he was the attending physician at the Aaron Burr-Alexander Hamilton duel. He 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 surgeon.
Collection History
- Acquisition:
Gift of Emily Stuart in 1989 (AM 90-67).
- Custodial History
Emily Stuart found the papers in the basement of her home at 34 Mercer Street in Princeton in 1988 or early 1989.
- Appraisal
No appraisal information is available.
- Processing Information
This collection was processed in 1995. Finding aid written in 1995.
The finding aid was revised by Kelly Bolding in 2018.
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:
David Hosack Family Papers; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dv13zt222
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (mss): Box 1
Find More
- Subject Terms:
- Coal mines and mining -- Pennsylvania -- 19th century -- Sources.
- Genre Terms:
- Correspondence
Deeds
Estate records
Land surveys
Maps
Wills - Names:
- Lackawanna and Wyoming Valley Railroad
Hosack family
Eddy, Thomas, 1758-1827 - Places:
- Luzerne County (Pa.) -- Description and travel -- 19th century -- Sources.
Luzerne County (Pa.) -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
