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Jedediah Commins Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MRC
Date: 23 Sep 2015

Biographical History

Jedediah Commins (1756?-1836) was an early settler of Lima, New York, arriving in the area prior to 1798. In 1809 he was elected an overseer of the poor. He and his wife Olive had three daughters (Anna, a second daughter named in Commins' will as "Mrs. Wealthy Miller," and Olive) and four sons (Erasmus, Jedediah, Joel, and Ezra). Jedediah Jr. (1790-1867), born in Vermont, was for some time a merchant in Lima; it is unclear whether he or his father started the business, but it was evidently very active. He and his wife Sophia eventually relocated to Akron, Ohio where opened the first drugstore in that city. Variant spellings in the collection include Cummins and Cummings. [Sources: Lockwood Lyon Doty, History of Livingston County, New York, From Its Earliest Traditions to the Present, Geneseo: Edward R. Doty, 1905; "Last Will and Testament of Jedediah Commins," New York Wills and Probate Records, 1659-1999; William Henry Perrin, History of Summit County, Chicago: Baskin & Battey, 1881.]

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Jedediah Commins Papers consists of personal and financial material relating to Jedediah Commins (1790-1867).

Financial material includes correspondence, partnership agreements, loan agreements, memoranda, receipts, checks, ledger pages, etc. Some of the earlier items are headed "Pitts & Commins."

Personal material includes family, legal, and social correspondence, as well as a three-page essay dated 1809 on the Biblical justification for slavery.

Arrangement of the Collection

Subdivided into personal and financial, and arranged chronologically within each series.

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.

Subject Headings

Persons

Commins, Erasmus.
Commins, Jedediah D.

Subjects

Business enterprises -- Lima (N.Y.) -- 19th century.
Business enterprises -- New York (State) -- 19th century.
Slavery -- United States -- History.

Places

Lima (N.Y.) -- History.
Lima (N.Y.) -- Social life and customs.
Livonia (N.Y.) -- History.

Genres and Forms

Agreements.
Correspondence.
Financial records.
Ledgers (account books)
Legal instruments.
Promises to pay.
Receipts (financial records)

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Jedediah Commins Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 2015.

Table of Contents

Personal material

Financial material

Inventory