Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Green family.
Title:	Green Family Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1774-1889
Quantity:	1.0 linear ft.
Abstract:	Papers of the Green family of Massachusetts, New York, and South Carolina. Correspondence (1786-1889) of Timothy Ruggles Green, Mary Ruggles Green, other Green family members, and Asa Danforth; legal and financial documents (1774-1861) of Mary Martin Green, Timothy Green, Timothy Ruggles Green, including records of land transactions (1774-1840) in Connecticut, Georgia and New York State, with particular reference to the area surrounding Onondaga Lake.
Language:	English
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Members of the Green family whose papers are found in this collection resided in Massachusetts, New York and South Carolina.The principal figures are Timothy Green and his son, Timothy Ruggles Green, both lawyers and merchants in New York City.

Timothy Green was the son of Dr. John Green of Leicester, who emigrated to America and married Mary Ruggles of Sandwich, Mass. The family settled in Worcester around 1770. Timothy graduated from Brown in 1786, married Mary Martin of Providence, and practiced law in Worcester briefly before moving permanently to New York City. He engaged in commerce and land speculation with brothers and branches of the Green family in Columbia, S.C. While returning from Charleston in December 1813, Timothy Green was lost at sea. Meltiah, a brother who had worked for him as a commission merchant, had died of yellow fever on the Island of St. Bartholomew four years earlier.

Timothy Ruggles Green inherited his father's legal practice and mercantile interests in New York City. He eventually formed a partnership with his brother-in-law, John W. Mitchell. Their trade and real estate transactions, however, were never on the grand scale of Timothy Green. Timothy Ruggles Green, who devoted much of his time to an equitable distribution of his father's estate among the family, died in December, 1840.

His mother, the widow of Timothy Green, supported herself by opening a boarding house and running a girl's academy in New York. Records in the collection indicate that the school was in operation between 1828 and 1834, and that two instructors were her daughters, Mary and Elizabeth.

Two genealogical charts, Green family (A) and Green family (B), give the family trees for John Green (1736-1799) and Timothy Green (1765-1813) respectively.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Green Family Papers are divided into three sections: correspondence; legal and financial records; and miscellany. The collection spans more than one hundred years (1774-1889), with the bulk falling between 1795 and 1840.

Correspondence, 1786-1889, includes letters mailed from New York City as well as Guilford, Niagara, Poughkeepsie, Red Hook, and Syracuse, New York; Worcester, Massachusetts; and Columbia, South Carolina. Subjects discussed in the correspondence include land and lumber transactions, financial affairs, legal matters, merchant reports, family affairs and the salt works in Onondaga County. In addition to a dozen members of the Green family, the correspondents include Asa Danforth (1 letter) and his son Asa Danforth, Jr. (16 letters), James E. Mott (2), Robert Swartwout (1) and Nicholas Ware (1). An index of correspondents, which also lists postmarks, is provided at the end of this inventory.

More than a dozen letters from Asa Danforth, Jr. to Timothy Green deal with commerce and industry around Lake Onondaga. The subjects under discussion include salt mining, land speculation and road building in the decade following 1797. At one time, Green seems to have been hounding Danforth for a disputed debt of more than $100,000. An unusually testy letter by Danforth reveals that he was in jail, and he then proceeds to lash out at Green, who apparently had a hand in his confinement.

Legal and financial papers, 1774-1861, are filed alphabetically under the names of their former owners. The largest sections are for Mary Martin Green, Timothy Green, Timothy Ruggles Green and John W. Mitchell. There is a special section of court suits, arranged by title. Items in the main section include bills and receipts, deeds and related land agreements, bank books, shipping papers, property inventories, debt summonses and wills.

The most important papers in the legal and financial section concern land sales between 1774 and 1840. The transactions dealt with extensive tracts in Connecticut, New York and Georgia. A recurring name in the documents is Asa Danforth, and the transactions often concern the development of the salt industry around Lake Onondaga. Aaron Burr is also mentioned on a few promissory notes. One document bears the signature of Timothy Green and DeWitt Clinton; it is an agreement of 1795 relating to 100,000 acres south of Lake Ontario. Another transaction, dated 1797, released 24,000 acres of land in Franklin County, Ga.

Among the quaint items in Miscellany are a broadside from 1851, the autograph of Cadwallader David Colden on an undated note, and several sheriff's warrants from Worcester County, signed by Judge Levi Lincoln.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is filed chronologically. Legal and financial papers are subdivided into general information and material relating to lawsuits; within these, material is arranged alphabetically. Miscellany is likewise arranged alphabetically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Subjects

Places

Genres and Forms

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Green Family Papers
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Purchased, 1965-1969.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: JEJ
Date: Nov 1970
Revision history: 26 Sep 2008 - converted to EAD (MRC); 12 Dec 2016 - index code corrected (MRC); 8 Nov 2024 - rehoused, inventory updated (MRC)

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Inventory

	Correspondence
Box 1		General 1786
Box 1		General 1792
Box 1		1796-1818 (23 folders)
Box 1		General 1820-1822 (3 folders)
Box 1		General 1824-1825 (2 folders)
Box 1		General 1827-1836 (10 folders)
Box 1		General 1838-1840 (3 folders)
Box 1		General 1845
Box 1		General 1849
Box 1		General 1855-1856
Box 1		General 1862
Box 1		General 1864
Box 1		General 1889
Box 1		General Undated

	Legal and Financial
		General
			Miscellaneous
Box 1				Bills and receipts 1824-1839
Box 1				Promissory notes and summons 1785-1861
Box 1				Real Estate 1794-1841
Box 1			Bleecker, Anthony J. 1851 - real estate papers, auction broadside
Box 1			Bridgen, C. with T. Green 1796-1799 - accounts
Box 1			Brig Little George 1808-1809 - account book
Box 1			Danforth, Asa 1796-1803
Box 1			Green, Cornelia (Arnold) ca. 1840
Box 1			Green, John 1789 - summons
Box 1			Green, Mary E. 1825-1833 - bills and receipts
			Green, Mary (Martin)
Box 1				Miscellaneous 1815-1831
Box 1				Bank book 1827-1829
Box 1				Bills and receipts 1815-1834
Box 2			Green, Meltiah 1804-1810
Box 2			Green, Samuel of Worcester, Mass. 1774 - deed, Connecticut lands
Box 2			Green, Samuel of Columbia, S.C. 1837 - will
			Green, Timothy
Box 2				Miscellaneous 1789-1813
Box 2				Bills and receipts 1792-1813
Box 2				Real estate papers 1794-1815
Box 2				Shipping papers 1796-1808
			Green, Timothy Ruggles
Box 2				Miscellaneous 1833-1838
Box 2				Bills and receipts 1828-1839
Box 2				Inventory of property 1840
Box 2				Will and probate 1840-1849
			Mitchell, John W.
Box 2				Miscellaneous 1835-1841
Box 2				Bills and receipts 1839-1846
Box 2			New York Protestant Episcopal Church, City Mission Society and Sunday School Union 1834-1850
Box 2			Onondaga Salt Springs 1807
Box 2			Strong, Roger ca. 1808
		Suits
Box 2			Clinton v. Green undated
Box 2			Danforth v. Woodruff 1810
Box 2			Green v. Catlin 1808
Box 2			Green v. Danforth 1797
Box 2			Green v. Ewing 1796
Box 2			Green v. Gelston 1810
Box 2			Green v. Leroy 1797
Box 2			Green v. Sawyer 1797
Box 2			Lawrence v. Howe 1819

	Miscellany
Box 2		Lot maps, New York and Maine undated
		Memorabilia
Box 2			Miscellaneous 1789-1797
Box 2			Green, Timothy undated
Box 2		Sketch undated

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Selected index to correspondence

• ---, Samuel : 1809 May 2, ----, to Timothy Green; 1809 May 9, ----, to Timothy Green
• ---- : 1786 Oct 26, ----, to Timothy Green
• ---- : 1800 Mar 29, Onondago, to Timothy Green
• ---- : 1801 Jun 18, N.Y.C., to Timothy Green
• ---- : 1809 Jun 22, ----, to Timothy Green
• Albert & Co. : 1798 Jan 30, ----, to Joseph Thugounend
• Baily, J.B. : 1838 Aug 21, Syracuse, to Green & Mitchell; 1838 Sep 11, Buffalo, to Green & Mitchell; 1838 Dec 21, Kalamazoo, to Green & Mitchell; 1839 Oct 15, ----, to Green & Mitchell
• Baldwin, Seth C. : 1816 Oct 22, Johnstown, to Mary Martin Green
• Bogart, David S. : 1805 Feb 29, Southampton, to Timothy Green
• Button, Thomas C. : 1809 Oct, ----, to Barnum Lionond
• Carpenter, Benjamin : 1818 Oct 14, Little Falls, to Mary Green
• Clare, Ada : 1864 Jan 28, ----, to John W. Mitchell
• Colburn, H.C. : 1855 Dec 4, ----, to J.H. Mitchell
• Cumings, Samuel : 1817 Sep 20, Philadelphia, to Mary Martin Green
• Dana, Daniel, Jr. : 1840 Apr 15, N.Y.C., to John W. Mitchell
• Danforth, Asa, Jr. : 1821 Apr 24, ----, to Andrew Phares; 1810 Oct 15, ----, to Andrew Phares; 1808 Jul 20, Onondago, to Timothy Green; 1797 Jan 11, ----, to Timothy Green; 1797 Mar 5, Onondago, to Timothy Green; 1800 Mar 18, Herkimer Gaol, to Timothy Green; 1800 Mar 19, German Flats, to Timothy Green; 1800 Apr 22, Onondago, to Timothy Green; 1800 May 29, Upper Canada, to Timothy Green; 1801 Jun 11, Onondago, to Timothy Green; 1804 Jul 13, Onondago, to Timothy Green; 1804 Oct 5, Salina, to Timothy Green; 1806 Jun 2, Salina, to Timothy Green; 1806 Aug 8, Onondago, to Timothy Green; 1807 Dec 19, Onondago, to Timothy Green; 1808 May 9, Salina, to Timothy Green; 1808 July 20, Salina, to Timothy Green
• Danforth, Asa : 1802 Apr 12, Albany, to Timothy Green
• Davis, C.D. & Co. : 1839 May 11, ----, to Green & Mitchell
• Duffie, C.R. : ----, ----, to Mrs. Green; ----, ----, to Green; 1856 Feb 9, ----, to J.W. Mitchell
• Elliot Nathan : 1814 Feb 19, Catskill, to Mary Martin Green
• Evertson, Nicholas : 1797 May 11, ----, to Green & Swartwout
• Fitzpatrick, Thomas : 1796 Mar 27, ----, to Timothy Green; 1796 May 14, ----, to Timothy Green
• Garr, Andrew : 1827 Sep 24, N.Y.C., to Henry H. Whitwell; 1827 Sep 26, N.Y.C., to Henry H. Whitwell
• Gedney, Joseph : 1796 Dec 28, N.Y.C., to Timothy Green; 1802 Jun 5, New Paltz, to Timothy Green
• Green, John H. : 1862 Mar 6, ----, to John ---
• Green, John L.B. : 1808 Apr 21, East Port, to Timothy Green
• Green, Lucinda : 1816 Jun 19, ----, to Mary Martin Green
• Green, Mary E. : 1809 Jun 17, N.Y.C., to Mary Martin Green
• Green, Mary Martin : 1818 Sep 9, N.Y.C., to Ephraim Baker; 1809 Jul 4, Worcester, to Timothy Green; 1809 Jun 17, Worcester, to Timothy Green; 1809 Jul 19 , Worcester, to Timothy Green; 1814 Jan 24, N.Y.C., to Elisha Jenkin; 1816 Dec 16, N.Y.C., to William Kibbe
• Green, Meltiah : 1809 Jul 19, Worcester, to Timothy Green; 1809 Nov 8, St. Bartholomew, to Timothy Green; 1799 Jun 18, N.Y.C., to Amasa Paine; 1800 Jun 28, N.Y.C., to Amasa Paine; 1797 Oct 12, ----, Watson & Goodwin
• Green, Samuel : 1812 Dec 28, Columbia, S.C., to Mary Martin Green; 1813 May 5, Columbia, S.C., to Mary Martin Green; 1813 Jul 31, Columbia, S.C., to Mary Martin Green; 1813 Aug 3, Columbia, S.C., to Mary Martin Green; 1813 Dec 25, Columbia, S.C., to Mary Martin Green; 1810 Nov 6, Columbia, to Timothy Green
• Green, Thomas : 1805 Apr 9, ----, to Timothy Green; 1805 Aug 17, ----, to Timothy Green; 1805 Nov 12, Paris, Me., to Timothy Green; 1808 Aug 17, No. Yarmoth, Me., to Timothy Green
• Green, Timothy Ruggles : 1833 Nov 5, ----, to Amos Butler; ----, N.Y.C., to D. Park
• Green, Timothy : 1799 Oct 8, Knoxville, to ----; 1813 Mar, ----, to ----; 180? Nov 22, N.Y.C., to Benjamin Bakewell; 1796 Mar 18, ----, to D.C. Brown; 1809 Nov 22, N.Y.C., to Joel Bunt; 1806 Jan 1, N.Y.C., to John Clark; 1800 Mar 28, N.Y.C., to Asa Danforth, Jr.; 1800 Mar 29 , N.Y.C., to Asa Danforth, Jr.; 1797 Feb 6, ----, to William Ewing; 1809 May 15, ----, to Reuben Folgier; 1809 Nov 27, N.Y.C., to John Graham; 1803 May 28, N.Y.C., to Samuel Green; 1801 May 30, N.Y.C., to George Hall Esq.; 1797 Sep 14, ----, to National Howell Esq.; 1797 Mar 1, ----, to E.W. Judd; 1800 Jun 28, N.Y.C., to Amasa Paine; 1802 Aug 6, N.Y.C., to Amasa Paine; 1802 Jun 9, N.Y.C., to John Richardson; 1807 Sep 14, N.Y.C., to James Smith; 1803 Jul 18, N.Y.C., to Robert Stark; 1800 Jun 21, N.Y.C., to Alex Stewart; 1801 May 30, N.Y.C., to Alex Stewart; 1796 Feb 26, ----, to Othmiol Taylor; 1799 Jun 4, N.Y.C., to Comfort Tyler; 1807 Oct 27, N.Y.C., to Nicholas Ware
• Green, William Elijah : 1813 Apr 17, Worcester, to Mary Martin Green; 1808 Jul 19, Worcester, to Timothy Green; 1809 Jul 19, Worcester, to Timothy Green; 1809 Sep 28, Worcester, to Timothy Green; 1809 Aug 1, Worcester, to Timothy Green
• Hamilton, J. : 1810 Sep 19, Albany, to Samuel Harris
• Hammond, Enoch : 1889 Apr 10, ----, to Bob B. Collins
• Harris, Samuel : 1809 Jun 2, ----, to Timothy Green
• Harris, Stephen : 1792 May 4, Leicester, to Timothy Green
• Hatch, James : 1838 Sep 21, N.Y.C., to Timothy Ruggles Green
• Hill, Matilda C. : 1825 Feb 12, Trenton, to John C. Hill
• Hoffman, Muncey : 1849 Jun 6, ----, to John W. Mitchell
• Howell, John : 1813 Nov 6, New Paltz, to Mary Green; 1814 Sep 17, New Paltz, to Mary Green
• Jones, Louis : 1806 May 21, N.Y.C., to Timothy Green
• Kent, Samuel : 1822 Jul 17, ----, to Mary Martin Green; 1828 Jun 17, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1830 Jun 30, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1830 Sep 16, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1831 Feb 15, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1831 May 26, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1831 Dec 20, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1832 May 1, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1832 Jul 30, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1832 Sep 10, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1833 Feb 19, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1833 Jul 30, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1834 Sep 1, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1835 Mar 24, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1835 Aug 4, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1835 Oct 7, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1835 Nov 17, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1836 Jun 7, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1838 Dec 3, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1838 Dec 17, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1839 Jul 27, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1839 Dec 5, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1839 Jun 11, Guilford, to Timothy Ruggles Green; 1845 Apr 22, Guilford, to John W. Mitchell; 1845 May 19, Guilford, to John W. Mitchell
• Larned, John T. : 1815 Apr 3, Providence, to Mary Martin Green
• Learned, H. : 1818 Sep 10, ----, to N. Elliot
• Linelait, William : 1827 Mar 10, Charleston, to Mary Green
• Loomis & Tillinghast : 1799 Jul 5, N.Y.C., to Joseph S. Martin
• Lord, Eleazer : 1817 Jun 25, Liverpool, to Mary Martin Green
• Martin, Elizabeth : ----, ----, to Mary Martin Green
• Mason, --- : 1797 Apr 14, Wolpole, to Timothy Green
• Mitchell, John W. : 1839 May 25, ----, to Timothy Ruggles Green
• Mitchell, Martha Lynde : 1809 Aug 10, Providence, to Caroline Green Mitchell
• Mott, James E. : 1807 Jan 5, Poughkeepsie, to Timothy Green; 1809 Feb 25, Poughkeepsie, to Timothy Green
• Mower, James B. : 1816 Sep 9, Canandaigua, to Mary Martin Green
• Peck, P.F.W. : 1839 May 27, ----, to Timothy Ruggles Green
• Roach, James : 1806 Aug 28, ----, to Timothy Green
• Robinson, B.W. : 1808 May 18, ----, to Timothy Green
• Roorback, B. : 1797 Sep 17, ----, to Timothy Green
• Ruggles, James : 1800 Mar 25, N.Y.C., to John Hiller
• Smith, Isaac M. : 1809 Dec 20, ----, to Timothy Green
• Smith, James Scott : 1807 Sep 25, Poughkeepsie, to Timothy Green; 1809 Jul 11, Poughkeepsie, to Timothy Green; 1809 Mar 18, ----, to Nathan Sanford
• Stephens, J.W. : 1824 May 20, Bloomingdale, to Mary Martin Green
• Stewart, Alexander : 1802 Jul 28, Niagara, to Timothy Green; 1800 Feb 9, Miaganes, to George Hall; 1799 Dec 26, Newark, N.C., to Roger Strong; 1801 Aug 6, Niagara, to Roger Strong; 1801 Aug 19, Niagara, to Roger Strong; 1801 Oct 8, Niagara, to Roger Strong; 1802 Feb 11, Niagara, to Roger Strong; 1805 May 15, Niagara, to Roger Strong; 1806 Mar 7, Niagara, to Roger Strong; 1806 Jun 11, Niagara, to Roger Strong; 1805 Oct 30, Niagara, to Roger Strong
• Strong, Roger : 1806 Jul 19, N.Y.C., to Timothy Green; 1805 Jul 30, N.Y.C., to Alex Stewart; 1802 Oct 8, N.Y.C., to Alex Stewart; 1806 Dec 5, N.Y.C., to Alex Stewart
• Swartwout, Robert : 1808 Sep 30, ----, to Timothy Green
• Thompson, William A. : 1816 Apr 25, New Hartford, to Mary Martin Green
• Torrey, Joseph W. : 1820 Nov 28, Bristol, R.I., to Mary Martin Green
• Turner, Seth : 1811 May 7, Newhaven, to Timothy Green
• Van Ness, Jacob : 1806 Oct 4, Poughkeepsie, to Timothy Green; 1807 Apr 17, Red Hook, to Timothy Green; 1807 Apr 23, Red Hook, to Timothy Green; 1807 Apr 25, Red Hook, to Timothy Green; 1807 May 6, Red Hook, to Timothy Green; 1807 Jul 27, ----, to Timothy Green
• Ware, Nicholas : 1807 Dec 10, Augusta, Ga., to Doctor Green
• Waterman & Barney : 1838 Nov 16, N.Y.C., to Green & Mitchell
• Whitwell, William H. : 1827 Sep 9, Delaware County, to Mary Henry
• Willard, J.M. and ---- : 1834 Jan 8, N.Y.C., to Timothy Ruggles Green
• Williams, Thomas (Rev) : 1810 Jan 4, Providence, to Mary Martin Green
• Willy, Sam : 1809 May, ----, to Timothy Green
• Woodruff, G. : 1829 Apr 10, Trenton, to Mary Martin Green
• Young, Samuel : 1818 Dec 30, Ballston, to Mary Martin Green

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