]
]
This collection has access restrictions. For details, please see the restrictions.
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
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Collection Overview
| Size | 3.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2020 items) |
| Abstract | Members of the white Alexander and Hillhouse families of Sunbury, Ga., Washington, Ga., and Savannah, Ga., owned plantations, relied on enslaved labor, and had business interests in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennesse, and New England, including Fairfield Plantation and Hopewell Plantation. The collection includes some materials documenting enslaved labor, free Black men, 20th century Black employees, and abolitionist movements, including a letter written by May Brown, an enslaved woman. The majority of the collection contains extensive family and personal correspondence, business correspondence, plantation accounts, physician's accounts, estate papers, travel journals, and genealogical materials, primarily documenting white family, political, and religious life in Washington and Savannah, Ga., and in Connecticut and New York. |
| Creator | Alexander (Family : Alexander, Adam, 1758-1812)
Hillhouse (Family : Hillhouse, David, 1756-1804) |
| Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
| Language | English |
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Processing Information
Processed by: Allie Mae Blake, 1936; B. Allan, November 1963; and Jill Snider, July 1990, with subsequent revisions
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Diacritics and other special characters have been omitted from this finding aid to facilitate keyword searching in web browsers.
Conscious Editing Work by: Dawne Howard Lucas, September 2020. Updated abstract, subject headings, biographical note, scope and content note, and container list.
Since August 2017, we have added ethnic and racial identities for individuals and families represented in collections. To determine identity, we rely on self-identification; other information supplied to the repository by collection creators or sources; public records, press accounts, and secondary sources; and contextual information in the collection materials. Omissions of ethnic and racial identities in finding aids created or updated after August 2017 are an indication of insufficient information to make an educated guess or an individual's preference for identity information to be excluded from description. When we have misidentified, please let us know at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu.
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Subject Headings
The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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Biographical Information
Members of the white Alexander and Hillhouse families of Sunbury, Ga., Washington, Ga., and Savannah, Ga., owned plantations, relied on enslaved labor, and had business interests in Georgia, South Carolina, Tennesse, and New England, including Fairfield Plantation and Hopewell Plantation.
Members of the white Alexander family established themselves in 1776, when Scottish physician Adam Alexander (1758-1812) emigrated to Sunbury (Liberty County) Ga., where he acquired land and married Louisa Frederika Schmidt (1777-1846). The Alexanders' son, Adam Leopold Alexander (1803-1882), was a plantation owner in Washington (Wilkes County), Ga., Chatham County, Ga., and Maury County, Tenn.
David Hillhouse (1756-1804) of Connecticut married Sarah Porter of Massachusetts and settled in Georgia in 1787. His son, David P. Hillhouse (1790-1851), had property and business interests in New England, South Carolina, and Georgia. His daughter, Sarah Hillhouse (1782-1808) married Felix H. Gilbert in 1804. Gilbert was a member of the Georgia legislature, 1807-1808. In 1823, Adam Leopold Alexander married Sarah Hillhouse Gilbert, the daughter of Felix H. Gilbert and Sarah Hillhouse Gilbert. Together they had ten children, among them Louisa (Alexander) Gilmer (1824-1895); Edward Porter Alexander (1835-1910); Sarah (Alexander) Lawton (1826-1897); and Harriet (Alexander) Cumming (b. 1828). Adam's sister, Louisa, married Anthony Porter of Savannah. Adam Leopold Alexander (1867-1911) married Nellie Holman Baldwin (1869-1954). Their son, Adam Leopold Alexander (1902-1960), married Elizabeth Baldwin (b. 1913) in 1939.
Adam Leopold Alexander: The U.S. Census 1850 Slave Schedule indicates that Adam Leopold Alexander enslaved 55 people in Wilkes County, Ga. The U.S. Census 1860 Slave Schedule indicates that Adam Leopold Alexander enslaved 46 people in Wilkes County, Ga., 8 people in Chatham County, Ga., and 1 person in Maury County, Tenn.
Alexander R. Lawtwon: The U.S. Census 1850 Slave Schedule indicates that Alexander R. Lawton enslaved 5 people in Chatham County, Ga.
Anthony Porter: The 1850 Slave Schedule indicates that Anthony Porter enslaved 5 people in Chatham County, Ga., and 51 people in Liberty County, Ga. The U.S. Census 1860 Slave Schedule indicates that Anthony Porter enslaved 6 people in Chatham County, Ga.
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Scope and Content
Comprising mostly personal correspondence, this collection also contains plantation and business papers of Dr. Adam Alexander, Adam Leopold Alexander (1803-1882), Anthony Porter, David P. Hillhouse, William Gilbert (brother of Felix H. Gilbert), and Adam Leopold Alexander (b. 1903?), including records kept at Fairfield Plantation and Hopewell Plantation. Whereas the collection primarily documents the white Alexander and Hillhouse families, some materials provide insights into the relationships family members had with the people they enslaved, free Black people, and post-bellum Black employees. Anthony Porter's plantation and business papers, scattered across the years 1820 to 1868, include bills of sale for people he enslaved. Adam Leopold Alexander's (1803-1882) financial and legal papers include agreements concerning the hiring of enslaved people. A memorandum book for 1851-1864 lists clothing and cloth given out to people enslaved by Adam Leopold Alexander on one plantation at Washington, Ga. There are also lists of winter clothes and shoes given out to people enslaved by Adam Leopold Alexander at his Hopewell Plantation in 1860. Adam Leopold Alexander's correspondence provides insights into his relationship with the people he enslaved and with free Black people. In a letter dated 30 April 1839[?], a woman formerly enslaved by the Alexander family [May Brown?] requests that Adam Leopold Alexander buy her back from the person she has been sold to. There are two items related to Alexander Brown, a free Black brick mason: a document dated 2 October 1843 appointing Adam Leopold Alexander as Brown's guardian for legal purposes, and 24 August 1843 receipt for Brown's corporation tax in Washington, Ga. There is a letter dated 4 August 1849 written by William Bostwick concerning a free Black man Alexander had asked Bostwick to employ. There is evidence that Alexander gave legal and economic aid to at least two free Black men, and that he maintained relationships with people he had formerly enslaved after emancipation. Materials from other family members includes an 1848 letter in which Sarah Gilbert Alexander Lawton describes her problems finding a satisfactory servant; and a letter from the Alexander's nurse Cynthia, who might have been an enslaved laborer, to Louisa Alexander. There are also a few letters documenting support of abolitionist organizations. Later materials include the marriage certificate of Walter Spencer and Lucille Cuthbert, 1952, and the death certificate of Walter Spencer, 1983. Lucille Cuthbert Spencer was a Black woman employed by the Alexander family as a laundress and cook, 1940s-1960s.
The majority of the collection contains personal correspondence pertaining to the religious, family, and political life of white families in Washington and Savannah, Ga., and of various locations in New England. Alexander family correspondence focuses on family and religious practices. Correspondence indicates that members of the Alexander and Hillhouse families were congregants of Protestant Christian churches. Sarah Alexander's correspondence illuminates the relationship between northern and southern women, documenting the lives of friends and family in Georgia, Connecticut, and New York. The correspondence of Adam Leopold Alexander (1803-1882) gives limited information on his financial affairs, but gives insights into his relationship with the people he enslaved and with free Black people.
The Alexander family's financial and legal papers provide information chiefly concerning the estate of Adam Alexander, including financial accounts and land acquisitions. Papers for Adam Leopold Alexander's plantations consist primarily of legal agreements with other planters. There is a significant amount of material for Anthony Porter, mostly documenting his personal finances. Other papers of the Alexander family provide information about late eighteenth century immigrants bringing their own ways of life to America, including cooking habits and medicinal remedies, and also provide insights into antebellum family life and travel.
Hillhouse personal correspondence belongs mostly to David P. Hillhouse, documenting Georgia politics and white family life. There is also significant correspondence for Felix H. Gilbert, Sarah Gilbert Alexander before her marriage, and other Hillhouse family members. Business affairs are discussed, but little detail is available. The correspondence of Margaret P. Hillhouse provides a large amount of information on the genealogy of the white Hillhouse, Porter, Baldwin, and other New England and Georgia families. The financial and legal papers of David P. Hillhouse (and others) mostly provide details of his plantation's value and income, and shed little light on his other business ventures. These papers mostly offer information about Sarah (Gilbert) Alexander's inheritance. Other papers pertaining to the Hillhouse family provide mostly genealogical information. David P. Hillhouse's travel journals provide descriptions of politics, New England industries, towns in New York state, and various educational and social welfare institutions.
Photographs include individuals in both the Alexander and Hillhouse families, with a few photographs of homes and landscapes.
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Series Quick Links
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Subcollection 1. Alexander Family Papers, 1758-1952.
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Series 1. Alexander Family: Correspondence, 1798-1952.
Mostly personal correspondence, with some business letters, of the Alexander family. Most of the correspondence belongs to Adam Leopold Alexander and his wife, Sarah Gilbert Alexander. Other significant correspondents are their children, Louisa, Harriet, Sarah, and Edward P.; Adam L. Alexander's mother, Louisa Schmidt Alexander; his sister, Louisa, and her husband, Anthony Porter; and the Alexanders' in-laws and several of their grandchildren.
Adam Leopold Alexander's correspondence provides insights into his relationship with the people he enslaved and with free Black people. In a letter dated 30 April 1839[?], a woman formerly enslaved by the Alexander family [May Brown?] requests that Adam Leopold Alexander buy her back from the person she has been sold to. There is a letter dated 4 August 1849 written by William Bostwick concerning a free Black man Alexander had asked Bostwick to employ. There is evidence that Alexander gave legal and economic aid to at least two free Black men, and that he maintained relationships with people he had formerly enslaved after emancipation. Materials from other family members includes an 1848 letter in which Sarah Gilbert Alexander Lawton describes her problems finding a satisfactory servant; and a letter to Louisa Alexander from the Alexander's nurse Cynthia, who might have been an enslaved laborer. There are also a few letters documenting support of abolitionist organizations.
From 1823 to 1851 much of the correspondence consists of letters written to Sarah Gilbert Alexander in Washington, Ga., by friends and family. Frequent correspondents are her cousin Mary L. Hillhouse in New Haven, Conn., and her friends Harriet Staples Douglass Smith (New Haven and later New York) and Bell Taylor in New Haven. Letters discuss the social and religious life of the Alexanders and their Northern connections.
Adam Leopold Alexander's most frequent correspondent was his wife, Sarah, though he also exchanged letters with a number of other friends and relatives. Many of the earlier letters between Adam and Sarah, especially circa 1825-1832, discuss family news, personal feelings, plantation and other financial affairs, and Adam's travels. Their later letters focus on religion and education. Topics of interest in Adam Alexander's other correspondence include life at Yale and Dartmouth in the 1820s, free Blacks, Georgia politics, and education.
Both Adam and Sarah Alexander maintained correspondence with their children and a number of relatives throughout the 1830s and 1840s. Letters to and from Sarah and Louisa at boarding school in Savannah chiefly discuss school life. Letters from Adam's sister, Louisa Porter, and to and from other relatives chiefly discuss mostly family matters.
Other correspondence of note is that of Anthony Porter and Dorothea Van Yeveren. Most of Porter's correspondence is dated after 1827 and is business related. Dorothea Van Yeveren received scattered letters from relatives in Germany (letters are in German).
Correspondence from 1852-1870 is mostly between the Alexanders and their children and new in laws, together with a significant number of letters their children exchanged with friends and relatives. Included are letters from Edward Porter Alexander and Jeremy F. Gilmer during the Civil War. Letters exchanged among other family members frequently discuss religion and enslavement, secession, wartime preparations and hardships, and family news.
| Folder 1 |
Correspondence, 1798, 1810, 1811, 1819-1823Includes a 24 September 1798 letter (an apparent handwritten copy) from Benjamin Rush to M. Van Yeveren of Albany, N.Y., concerning the death of Henry L. Schmidt. Also includes two letters, 1810 and 1811, from Anthony Porter to Georgia Governor David Brydie Mitchell (1776-1837), written while Porter was serving as the governor's secretary. Between 1819 and 1823 several letters appear addressed to Alexander family members, including Adam Leopold Alexander. Also included are letters, 24 December 1821 and 12 January 1822, from Adam Leopold Alexander to Sarah Gilbert before their marriage |
| Folder 2 |
Correspondence, 1824-1826 |
| Folder 3 |
Correspondence, 1827-1831 |
| Folder 4 |
Correspondence, 1832-1833 |
| Folder 5 |
Correspondence, 1834-1835Includes a letter, dated 1 April 1834, from Harriet discussing the role of emancipation in splits among Presbyterians in New Haven, Conn.; and a letter, dated 13 August 1835, from Adam Leopold Alexander to Sarah Gilbert Alexander about the establishment of a Methodist academy in Washington, Ga. |
| Folder 6 |
Correspondence, 1836Includes a letter, dated 26 September 1836, from Bell Taylor soliciting funds for the Durand Society. |
| Folder 7 |
Correspondence, 1837-1838 |
| Folder 8 |
Correspondence, 1839-1841Includes a letter, dated 30 April 1839[?], from a former enslaved woman [May Brown?] requesting that Adam Leopold Alexander buy her back from the person she has been sold to. This letter might have been written in 1859 instead of 1839. |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/19 |
Letter to Sarah Gilbert Alexander, 5 January 1841 |
| Folder 9 |
Correspondence, 1842-1843Includes several 1843 letters from Robert Toombs, while he was a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, discussing Georgia elections. |
| Folder 10 |
Correspondence, 1844-1846 |
| Folder 11 |
Correspondence, 1847-1849Includes a letter, dated 13 September 1848, from W. Baud discussing the establishment of a school for women in Savannah, Ga.; and a letter, dated 4 August 1849, from William Bostwick concerning a free black man Adam Leopold Alexander had asked Bostwick to give employment. |
| Folder 88 |
Correspondence, 1848 (Addition of July 2015 (Acc. 102273)).The Addition of July 2015 consists of a letter, 1848, from Sarah Gilbert Alexander Lawton of Savannah, Ga., to her cousin, Abby, concerning the influenza epidemic and its effect on her family as well as her problems finding a new servant to replace "a cook & washer" who "had fallen into bad health & was forbidden by the physician to do hard work any more." |
| Folder 12 |
Correspondence, 1850-1851 |
Folder 13-14
Folder 13Folder 14 |
Correspondence, Undated (circa 1798-1851)Mostly letters received by Louisa Alexander before her marriage in 1850. Many letters are from her mother, Sarah Gilbert Alexander and concern family. Louisa also received several letters from friends. Other correspondence belongs to Adam L. Alexander, Dorothea VanYeveren, and Louisa Alexander Porter. Of note is a letter from "Sally" offering funds to an abolitionist; a letter from the Alexander's nurse Cynthia (a slave?) to Louisa Alexander; a recommendation written by Adam L. Alexander for Mary Moseley; and a letter to "Miss B." from the Trustees of Washington Female Seminary listing the resolutions of the Board. |
Folder 15-19
Folder 15Folder 16Folder 17Folder 18Folder 19 |
Correspondence, April 1852-1860Includes: a large number of love letters exchanged between Harriet Alexander and Wallace Cumming in 1852; letters, circa 1852- 1860, to Anthony Porter and Adam L. Alexander from Jeremy F. Gilmer concerning projects Gilmer was involved with in the Army Corps of Engineers; letters from Edward P. Alexander while he attended West Point, 1859-1860. |
| Folder 17 |
Correspondence, 1853-1854 |
| Folder 18 |
Correspondence, 1855-1857 |
Folder 20-22
Folder 20Folder 21Folder 22 |
Correspondence, 1861-1864Includes letters written by Edward P. Alexander pertaining to the American Civil War: from Richmond, Va., in 1861; from the headquarters of the Army of the Potomac, Richmond, Va., and near Rapidan Station, Va., in 1862; from near Fredricksburg, Va., Caroline County, Va., near Culpeper, Va., near Bunker Hill, W.Va., and near Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1863; and Petersburg, Va., in 1864. These letters often discuss troops and strategies. |
| Folder 23 |
Correspondence, 1865-1870, 1874Includes a letter, dated 2 November 1874, written by Lula (Lucy Roy) Alexander, age 11, to her first cousin, Nora Lawton. |
| Folder 24 |
Correspondence, 1876-1915Mostly letters received by the Alexander children and Louisa Alexander Porter of Savannah. Included are a few letters to the family of Mary Clifford Alexander Hull. Topics of interest are estate matters, family news, and World War I medical care. Two letters, 3 January and 16 January 1915, from Elizabeth Nourse, an American nurse serving in France, to her friend Lucy Baldwin, provide information on hospital conditions and wartime refugees. |
Folder 84-86
Folder 84Folder 85Folder 86 |
Correspondence, 1932-1952 (Addition of August 2002 (Acc. 99301)).Correspondence, 1938-1952, of Elizabeth (Boots) Baldwin (1913-1998) and Adam Leopold (Leap) Alexander (1902-1960) of Savannah, Ga., and a letter, 28 April 1932, from Adam Leopold (Leap) Alexander to his sister, Eleanor Whitaker, describing the 50th wedding anniversary dinner of Alexander R. Lawton (1858-1936) and Ella (Daisy) Beckwith Lawton (1860-1949). The first few letters from Leap Alexander to Boots Baldwin were written in 1938, before they were married. Most later letters were written when Boots Alexander was visiting her parents or other family members. The letters chiefly contain expressions of affection, and also give news of family and friends and some description of travel. Beginning in the 1940s, letters often contain news of the couple's daughter, Elizabeth Baldwin Alexander (born 29 December 1941), who was called Betty or Punkie. Another daughter, Eloise Porter Alexander, was born on 10 November 1944. |
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Series 2. Alexander Family: Financial and Legal Papers, 1758-1888 and
undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
Mostly plantation papers of Dr. Adam Alexander and his heirs, with scattered plantation and business papers of Anthony Porter.
Materials pertaining to enslavement and free Black people include There two items related to Alexander Brown, a free Black brick mason: a document dated 2 October 1843 appointing Adam Leopold Alexander as Brown's guardian for legal purposes, and 24 August 1843 receipt for Brown's corporation tax in Washington, Ga. Anthony Porter's plantation and business papers are scattered across the years 1820-1868. They include bonds, bank notes, indentures, tax receipts, deeds, and bills of sale for people Porter enslaved. Material from 1820 to 1882 pertains to Adam Alexander's estate and to the plantation and business interests of Adam Leopold Alexander and Anthony Porter. One 168-page volume, 1824-1858, lists accounts for Adam Alexander's estate, divided among his widow Louisa, his son, Adam Leopold, his son-in-law, Anthony Porter, and his daughter, Dorothea Van Yeveren. There are a number of agreements entered into by Adam Leopold Alexander concerning the hiring of enslaved people and use of lands. A memorandum book for 1851-1864 lists clothing and cloth given out to people enslaved by Adan Leopold Alexander on one plantation at Washington, Ga. Lists of winter clothes and shoes given out to people enslaved by Adam Leopold Alexander at his Hopewell Plantation in 1860 also appear.
Papers between 1758 and 1818 consist mostly of deeds and other papers relating to lands at Sunbury (Liberty Co.), Ga., acquired by Dr. Adam Alexander and inherited by his widow, Louisa Schmidt Alexander. Persons involved in the various property transfers were John and William Peacock, Thomas Chalmers, Joseph Jones, Jesse McCall, John Lawson, and others. Other items include receipts, indentures, wills, and various legal documents relating to the division of the estate. Dr. Alexander's physician's accounts for 1804 to 1806, contained in an 89-page daybook, are also included.
Miscellaneous papers after 1868 include Adam Leopold Alexander's and Louisa Alexander Porter's wills and an 1879 affidavit for a land grant given David Hillhouse in 1778. Undated material includes an article of agreement between Adam L. Alexander and Dr. Robertson; a schedule of lands belonging to the estate of John Hardy; a plat of land bought by Thomas Peacock from William Peacock; and a receipt belonging to John Lawson.
| Folder 25 |
Financial and legal papers, 1758-1806 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/1 |
Thomas Peacock's will, 6 May 1772 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/2 |
Indenture, Esther Alexaner, 13 April 1805 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/3 |
Indenture, Hannah Peacock, 13 April 1805 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/18 |
Land grant to John Williams and James Peacock, 3 January 1790 |
| Folder 26 |
Physician's accounts of Adam Alexander, 1804-180689 pages |
| Folder 27 |
Financial and legal papers, 1807-1811 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/4 |
Indenture, 17 February 1808 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/5 |
Indenture, 11 July 1811 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/6 |
Plat survey of lands purchased by Adam Alexander from John and William Peacock, March 1810 |
| Folder 28 |
Financial and legal papers, 1812-1818 |
| Folder 29 |
Financial and legal papers, 1820-1827 |
| Folder 30 |
Financial and legal papers, 1828-1849Includes two items related to Alexander Brown, a free Black brick mason: a document dated 2 October 1843 appointing Adam Leopold Alexander as Brown's guardian for legal purposes, and 24 August 1843 receipt for Brown's corporation tax in Washington, Ga. |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/7 |
Bank of Georgia statement, 18 October 1839 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/8 |
Indenture, 27 May 1848 |
| Folder 31 |
Memorandum Book for Estate of Adam Alexander, 1824-1858168 pages Lists accounts for Adam Alexander's estate, divided among his widow Louisa, his son, Adam Leopold, his son-in-law, Anthony Porter, and his daughter, Dorothea VanYeveren. There are a number of agreements entered into by Adam Leopold Alexander concerning the hiring of enslaved people and use of lands. |
| Folder 32 |
Financial and legal papers, 1850-1858 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/9 |
Indenture, 13 October 1852 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/10 |
Indenture, city of Savannah and Anthony Porter, 26 May 1858 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/11 |
Indenture, city of Savannah and Anthony Porter, 26 May 1853 |
| Folder 33 |
Plantation book, 1851-1864Includes lists clothing and cloth given out to people enslaved by Adam Leopold Alexander on one plantation at Washington, Ga; and lists of winter clothes and shoes given out to people enslaved by Adam Leopold Alexander at his Hopewell Plantation in 1860. |
| Folder 34 |
Legal and financial papers, 1859-1864 |
| Folder 35 |
Legal and financial papers, 1865-1888Includes an 1879 affidavit for a land grant given David Hillhouse in 1778. |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/12 |
Indenture, 6 April 1869 |
| Folder 36 |
Financial and legal papers, undated |
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Series 3. Alexander Family: Other Papers, 1763-1910 and undated.
Contains genealogical materials, clippings, travel journals, recipe books, and other materials related to family and politics.
| Folder 37 |
Genealogical materialsClippings, notes, and other material related to the Alexander family. Includes a memorandum of the baptism of Adam Leopold Alexander, dated 30 July 1803 (actual baptism 29 July), made by his father. |
| Folder 87 |
Genealogical materials, 1902, 1911 (Addition of August 2002 (Acc. 99301))Invitation, 1902, to the wedding of Nellie Holman Baldwin and Adam Leopold Alexander (1867-1911); and obituary of Adam Leopold Alexander (1867-1911). |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/16 |
Marriage license of Nellie Holman Baldwin and Adam Leopold Alexander (1867-1911), 14 January 1902 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/17 |
Marriage license of Elizabeth Baldwin and Adam Leopold Alexander, 22 May 1939 |
| Folder 89 |
Genealogical materials (Addition of August 2017 (Acc. 103134)), 1807-1998Consists of genealogical materials collected and described by Elizabeth Alexander Ford. Included are notes on the Alexander-Gilbert cemetery at Fairfield Plantation in Washington, Ga., 1807-1907 and copies of birth, death, baptism, and marriage records, 1812-1998. Also included are the marriage certificate of Walter Spencer and Lucille Cuthbert, 1952 and the death certificate of Walter Spencer, 1983. Lucille Cuthbert Spencer was an African American woman employed by the Alexander family as a laundress and cook, 1940s-1960s, and she gave these documents to Mrs. Ford's mother for safe-keeping, where they remained with other Alexander family papers. |
| Folder 38 |
Clippings, 1859, 1865?, and undated.Clippings concerning politics and Confederate currency. Three clippings are 1859 letters to the editor of the New York Evening Express by "A.B.C." (probably Jeremy F. Gilmer) defending the United States Army Corps of Engineers from attacks levied by the paper and others. One clipping (probably 1865) lists the value of Confederate money. A final clipping is only a fragment and contains several advertisements. |
| Folder 39 |
Pages from German sketch/notebook of Egydius Schmidt, 1759-1763Includes verses in German and several watercolors. Translations of three items from the volume are filed with it. |
| Folder 40 |
Travel journal of Adam Alexander, 1801Describes a trip he took with William Peacock to the North, including various stops in New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington City, Virginia, and North and South Carolina. |
Folder 41-42
Folder 41Folder 42 |
Other papers, 1833, 1842, 1888, undatedIncludes personal writings, recipes, and other items collected by members of the Alexander family. Included are childhood and later compositions and poems by Sarah R. Alexander and Sarah (Gilbert) Alexander, as well as a brief dramatic sketch (undated, author unknown) describing a scene around the Adam Leopold Alexander dinner table. |
| Folder 43 |
Recipe book (in German and English), undatedContains recipes in German (pp. 1-79) and in English (pp. 80-100 and unnumbered) for cooking and curing diseases. |
| Folder 44 |
Recipe book, undated90 pages Pocket-sized volume containing recipes for cooking and medicines. |
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Subcollection 2. Hillhouse Family Papers, 1759-1976
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Series 4. Hillhouse Family: Correspondence, 1775-1923; 1874-1923.
Arrangement: chronological.
Family and business correspondence of the Hillhouse family of New England and Georgia.
Mostly correspondence of David P. Hillhouse, with significant correspondence also for his brother-in-law Felix H. Gilbert; his parents, David Hillhouse and Sarah Porter Hillhouse; his two sisters, Sarah Hillhouse Gilbert and Mary Hillhouse Shepherd; and his niece Sarah Gilbert Alexander. Also included are scattered letters received by three generations of the Porter family of Hadley, Mass.
The letters to the Porter family were received 1775-1848 and are chiefly from their connections in Washington, Ga. There are two letters to Colonel Elisha Porter "in the American Camp Before Boston" in June 1775, one from Samuel Hopkins at Hadley, poignantly reporting the death of Porter's son, and one from D. Jewett at New London; four letters to Elisha Porter from his daughter Sarah after her marriage; and about a dozen letters scattered between 1804 and 1848 to Samuel, Abigail, and Elisha Porter from relatives in Georgia
Letters addressed to David P. Hillhouse begin with 1808. His most frequent correspondents were David Buel, Jr. (Troy, N. Y.), Oliver H. Prince (d. 1837), and Adam Leopold Alexander. Their correspondence (mostly 1820s-1840s) discusses politics and current events, including conflicts between whites and the Cherokee in 1836, the Nullification crisis, abolitionism, and the rise of the Whig party in Georgia. Letters to Hillhouse also deal with business and family affairs.
Between 1802 and 1813 personal correspondence of Felix H. Gilbert includes a number of letters to and from his wife and mother-in-law while he was traveling and attending the legislature at Milledgeville, 1807-1808. These letters discuss family and politics. Gilbert also frequently wrote David P. Hillhouse and other relatives concerning political affairs. Of interest are letters discussing the proceedings of the Georgia legislature (1808-1809) and the outbreak of the War of 1812 (including the invasion of Canada, 1812-1813).
Sarah Gilbert Alexander's correspondence dates primarily between 1813 and 1823. (Correspondence after her marriage in 1823 is filed in the Alexander subcollection, listed above.) Of note are two letters, probably written in 1822, from educator and antisuffragist Catharine Beecher, which comment on social news and Sarah's engagement to Adam L. Alexander.
| Folder 45 |
Correspondence, 1775-1792Includes two letters to Colonel Elisha Porter "in the American Camp Before Boston" in June 1775, one from Samuel Hopkins at Hadley, poignantly reporting the death of Porter's son, and one from D. Jewett at New London. |
| Folder 46 |
Correspondence, 1802-1805 |
| Folder 47 |
Correspondence, 1806 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/13 |
Letter of O.H. Prince to Sarah Gilbert, 2 September 1807 |
Folder 48-49
Folder 48Folder 49 |
Correspondence, 1807-1811Includes letters discussing the proceedings of the Georgia legislature (1808-1809). |
Folder 50-51
Folder 50Folder 51 |
Correspondence, 1812-1814Includes letters discussing the outbreak of the War of 1812 (including the invasion of Canada, 1812-1813). |
| Folder 52 |
Correspondence, 1815-1816 |
| Folder 53 |
Correspondence, 1817-1818 |
| Folder 54 |
Correspondence, 1819 |
| Folder 55 |
Correspondence, 1820-1821 |
| Folder 56 |
Correspondence, 1822-1823; 1825-1827Includes two letters, probably written in 1822, from educator and antisuffragist Catharine Beecher, which comment on social news and Sarah Gilbert's engagement to Adam L. Alexander. Also includes several letters from Mary L. Hillhouse in 1823 discussing Beecher's emotional state after the sudden death of her fiancee, Professor Alexander Metcalf Fisher of Yale College. One letter, 12 July 1822, quotes Beecher on her feelings about Fisher's death. |
| Folder 57 |
Correspondence, 1828-1833 |
| Folder 58 |
Correspondence, 1834-1837Includes correspondence pertaining to conflicts between whites and the Cherokee in 1836. |
| Folder 59 |
Correspondence, 1838-1842 |
| Folder 60 |
Correspondence, 1843-1845 |
| Folder 61 |
Correspondence, 1846-1849 |
| Folder 62 |
UndatedMostly letters of Felix H. Gilbert to his wife while Gilbert was traveling away from home. Letters discuss his travels through the Southeast and New England, family and financial matters, and news of friends. Miscellaneous family letters to Felix H. Gilbert and Sarah Gilbert Alexander also appear and focus mostly on family news. |
Folder 63-68
Folder 63Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67Folder 68 |
Correspondence, 1874-1923The correspondence of Margaret P. Hillhouse of Yonkers, N.Y., who was gathering family data from members of the Hillhouse and Alexander families. The bulk of this correspondence is dated 1921 and consists of letters from the children and later descendants of Adam Leopold Alexander and Sarah Gilbert Alexander. Letters and their enclosures provide biographical, historical, and genealogical information on members of both families. Additional correspondence of Margaret P. Hillhouse, mostly relating to genealogy, may be found in the Jackson and Prince Family Papers in the Southern Historical Collection. |
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Series 5. Hillhouse Family: Financial and Legal Papers, 1759, 1775-1851, and
undated.
Arrangement: chronological.
The earliest item in the series is a 1759 record of the expenditures of Sarah Taylor, a Hillhouse relative. Other early items include the commission of Elisha Porter as sheriff of Hampshire County, Massachusetts Bay, 1775, and Captain Josiah Lyman's account with Elisha Porter, including such items as "Billetting Roll" and "Recruiting," March-July 1776.
Most other items are legal papers of David P. Hillhouse. From 1798 to 1823 almost all legal and financial items pertain to the inheritance of Sarah Gilbert Alexander, which was managed by her uncles David P. Hillhouse and William G. Gilbert. These papers include wills, deeds, receipts, accounts, and affidavits. Of note are two pages from David P. Hillhouse's journal as her guardian written between 1823 and 1828. From 1823 to 1851, almost all items relate to Hillhouse's plantation and business affairs.
| Folder 69 |
Financial and legal papers, 1759, 1775-1813Includes a 1759 record of the expenditures of Sarah Taylor, a Hillhouse relative; the commission of Elisha Porter as sheriff of Hampshire County, Massachusetts Bay, 1775; and Captain Josiah Lyman's account with Elisha Porter, including such items as "Billetting Roll" and "Recruiting," March-July 1776. |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/14 |
List of expenditures, 25 May 1759 |
| Folder 70 |
Financial and legal papers, 1814-1828 |
| Folder 71 |
Financial and legal papers, 1833-1845 |
| Oversize Paper OP-11/15 |
Passport of David P. Hillhouse, 8 May 1845 |
| Folder 72 |
Memorandum book of David P. Hillhouse, 1835-184952 pages Includes an inventory of his plantation, household, and personal property. This volume lists notes paid off, letters received, and other memoranda. A typed transcript of six pages, listing household and other property, is filed with the volume. |
| Museum Item MU-11/1 |
PencilOne lead pencil, manufactured circa 1835, taken from built-in holder of the David P. Hillhouse Memorandum Book, 1835-1849). |
| Folder 73 |
Bank book of David P. Hillhouse, 1846-1851From the Augusta Branch of the Bank of Georgia. |
| Folder 74 |
Financial and legal papers, 1847-1851 and undated |
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Series 6. Hillhouse Family: Other Papers, 1811-1976.
Arrangement: alphabetical.
Travel journals of David P. Hillhouse, genealogical material pertaining to the Hillhouse and other families, and miscellaneous items.
Clippings, notes, printed publications, biographical sketches, and miscellaneous items relating to the genealogy of the Alexander, Porter, Baldwin, and Hillhouse families. Of note are an index to the New England ancestors of Lucie Harvie Hull Baldwin (undated) and handwritten genealogical extracts from a memorandum book kept by William Hillhouse in 1789 while on a trip to Ireland.
Folder 75-76
Folder 75Folder 76 |
Travel journal of David P. Hillhouse, 1826168 pages in two volumes Dated 29 April 1826 to 16 January 1827, but appears to be an account written at a later time, probably from detailed notes. The journal describes, in significant detail, a trip Hillhouse took to visit relatives and tour in New York State, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Among places described are a Jewish synagogue in Charleston, S.C.; the Connecticut legislature; the Connecticut Asylum for the Education of Deaf and Dumb Persons in Hartford, Conn.; a penitentiary in Auburn, N.Y.; Round Hill School; New York City High School; the Erie Canal; and the University of Virginia. The second volume ends with a summary of the contents of the two volumes, keyed to page numbers. A loose sketch of "the country around the Falls of Niagra" is included. |
| Folder 77 |
Travel journal of David P. Hillhouse, circa 1826-1828Written sometime between 1826 and 1828, documenting a trip Hillhouse took to Washington and then to New England. Jotted down hurriedly, the journal gives little detail, but offers general information on his travels through South and North Carolina and Virginia; proceedings of the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court; and several industries (including clock and button factories) he saw in Connecticut. |
| Folder 78 |
Genealogical materials: Clippings |
| Folder 79 |
Genealogical materials: Notes |
| Folder 80 |
Genealogical materials: Sketches and miscellaneous items |
| Folder 81 |
"Astronomical Almanack" with manuscript entries, 1770Astronomical almanack by Nathaniel Ames, printed in Boston in 1770. Interleaved pages include manuscript entries, presumably by a member of the Porter family of (North) Hadley, Mass. (perhaps by Sarah Porter Hillhouse's father or grandfather, Elisha Porter). Three entries include references to Bible verses, sermons, and family comings and goings, and a list of births and deaths, presumably of citizens of the town for the year. |
| Folder 82 |
Other items, 1811, 1812, 1902, and undated.Includes verses copied by Felix Gilbert in 1811; a prayer copied by Gilbert in 1812; a printed address entitled "The Confederate Veteran" made by General Edward Porter Alexander on Alumni Day (9 June 1902) at West Point's Centennial; a handwritten transcription of the lines Catharine Beecher had inscribed on the gravestone of her fiance, Professor Fisher of Yale College; and an undated handwritten poem (author unknown). |
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Series 7. Hillhouse Family: Photographs, 1840-1918? and undated.
Mostly photographs of Alexander and Hillhouse family members, with a few photographs of homes and landscapes.
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Items Separated