Subseries II: Titled Figures, 1720-1949

Sub-Series

Staff Only

Dates

1720-1949

Access:

All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.

Extent

From the Collection: 17 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Subseries II: Titled Figures, 1720-1949

Subseries II: Titled Figures, 1720-1949, is arranged by country of origin alphabetically and spans the 18th to 20th century. Countries that are represented include France, Italy, Russia, and the United Kingdom. Within each country, documents are arranged chronologically by creation date. This subseries contains documents from foreign individuals with official titles that represented and/or worked on behalf of foreign rulers. These individuals were selected for this subseries based on the limited extent of influence that they had in their country such as chevaliers, earls, barons, counts, ambassadors, high ranking military officers, exchequer/finance representatives, and other noblemen. Documents represented within this subseries include personal letters, signatures, autographs, exchequer/financial receipts, a biography, and heraldry. This collection contains correspondence in English, French, Italian, and Latin. Each item within the collection has the language marked in its header. Titled figures within this subseries include the following individuals: Chevalier Anne-César de la Luzerne (1741-1791), soldier and diplomatic minister to the United States from France Jean-Baptiste Kléber (1753-1800), General of the French Army from France Jacques Necker (1732-1804), banker, Chief Minister of the French Monarch, and Controller-General of Finances of France Count Vitaliano Dal Verme (active early-mid 19th century), a scientist and aristocrat from Italy Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882), Member of the Chamber of Deputies, Dictator of Sicily, and general and revolutionary war hero of Italy C[onstantin] [Konstantin Karlovich]. Fehleisen (1804-1870), Baron of Russia George Montagu [George Montague] (1684-1739), 1st Earl of Halifax and Auditor of the Exchequer of England Thomas Onslow (1679-1740), Baron and Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer of England Isaac Barré (1726-1802), Lieutenant-Colonel of the British Army, Clerk of the Pells, Paymaster of the Forces, and Treasurer of the Navy of England Thomas Gage (1719-1787), British military officer, Governor of Quebec, Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and Commander-in-Chief of North America from England Possibly Philip Yorke [“Viscount Royson”] (1720-1790), 2nd Earl of Hardwicke and Teller of the Receipt of the Exchequer of England Possibly Henry [Fiennes] Pelham-Clinton (1720-1794), 2nd Duke of Newcastle and Auditor of the Exchequer of England Lord Fred[erick Cavendish-]Bentinck (1781-1828), Lieutenant-Colonel of the British Army and Member of Parliament of England Sir Henry Wentworth Dyke Acland (1815-1900), Companion of the Order of the Bath, Knight Commander and Baron of England

Some noteworthy recipients including the following individuals: Anne Paul Emmanuel Sigismond de Montmorency-Luxembourg (1742-1789), Chevalier and commander of military ships from France; fought in the American War of Independence John Hancock (1737-1793), American founding father, Governor of Massachusetts, and President of the Continental Congress from the American colonies “Count d’Hector” [Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing] (1729-1794), Admiral of the French military; fought in the American War of Independence William Petty Fitzmaurice (1737-1805), Marquess of Lansdowne, Earl of Shelburne, and Prime Minister of Great Britain James Monroe Sanderson (1817-1871), Chairman of the Committee of the Arts & Sciences, author, and active proponent of sanitary practices from the United States

Themes and subjects represented within the subseries include late 18th century foreign affairs (particularly between France and the United States), events leading up to the American Revolutionary War, France’s support for the American Colonies in the Revolutionary War, subsequent American Independence, events leading up to the French Revolution, and the foreign purchase of large tracts of land in the United States (particularly in Pennsylvania and New York) following the American Revolution. This subseries contains documents with mention of or direct ties to several monumental conflicts such as the Seven Years War (1756-1763), the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), the Spanish-Portuguese War (1776-1777) the French Revolution (1789-1799), the First Italian War of Independence (1848-1849), the Second Italian War of Independence (1859), and the American Civil War (1861-1865). Shifting democratic ideals are apparent in several documents within this subseries.