Guide to the William Pierrepont White Collection,
1728-1939

Collection Number: 399

Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
Cornell University Library

Contact Information:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853
(607) 255-3530
Fax: (607) 255-9524
rareref@cornell.edu
http://rmc.library.cornell.edu
Compiled by:
Date completed:
EAD encoding:

© 2002 Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library


DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY

Title:
William Pierrepont White collection, 1728-1939.
Collection Number:
399
Creator:
William Pierrepont. White
Quantity:
63.6 cubic ft.
Forms of Material:
Repository:
Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
Abstract:
Correspondence, diaries, deeds, accounts, maps, surveys, pamphlets, statements, registers, bills, land contracts, inventories, cashbooks, indentures, minutes, and other records and papers reflecting the westward and southward movement of members of the White and related families, concerning their activities in the development of land, canals, railroads, cotton manufacturing, mining, banking, and highways, chiefly in New York State. The early papers relate to the White family of Middletown, Connecticut, and the development after 1783 of Whitestown, New York, and include the town books (1807-1823) for Richland, New York, church records, early election returns, deeds, documents on the Brothertown Indians, grist mills, civil and criminal cases, slave sales, the War of 1812, the Bank of Utica, and the Pierrepont Land Office. Includes the diary of William Pierrepont White. One group of papers relates to the disposal of the Constable lands and the development of Pierrepont Manor, and contains statements of land contracts (1801-1810) given by William Constable, an inventory of the Constable estate (1829), a memorandum of journeys made by William Constable Pierrepont to the Constable tract, lists of bonds for Ellisburgh, New York (1834-1841), and a series of letters from Franklin B. Hough relating to life boats for Ellisburgh and Oswego, and to other matters.
Language:
Collection material in English


COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Correspondence, diaries, deeds, accounts, maps, surveys, pamphlets, statements, registers, bills, land contracts, inventories, cashbooks, indentures, minutes, and other records and papers reflecting the westward and southward movement of members of the White and related families, concerning their activities in the development of land, canals, railroads, cotton manufacturing, mining, banking, and highways, chiefly in New York State. The early papers relate to the White family of Middletown, Connecticut, and the development after 1783 of Whitestown, New York, and include the town books (1807-1823) for Richland, New York, church records, early election returns, deeds, documents on the Brothertown Indians, grist mills, civil and criminal cases, slave sales, the War of 1812, the Bank of Utica, and the Pierrepont Land Office. Includes the diary of William Pierrepont White. One group of papers relates to the disposal of the Constable lands and the development of Pierrepont Manor, and contains statements of land contracts (1801-1810) given by William Constable, an inventory of the Constable estate (1829), a memorandum of journeys made by William Constable Pierrepont to the Constable tract, lists of bonds for Ellisburgh, New York (1834-1841), and a series of letters from Franklin B. Hough relating to life boats for Ellisburgh and Oswego, and to other matters.
Also, correspondence, accounts, and other documents of Hugh White, son of the Whitestown proprietor and early concrete manufacturer.
Other papers concern Canvass White, an engineer for the Erie Canal, construction superintendent for the Union Canal of Pennsylvania, the Delaware and Raritan Canal of New Jersey, and the New York Water Works Company, and promoter of the Cohoes Company. Includes the papers of William N. White, vice-president of the Utica Pipe Foundry Company, director of the Utica and Mohawk Railroad Company, of the Jefferson County National Bank, the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg Railroad Company, and other companies; he was the manager of the estate of his father-in-law, William Constable Pierrepont, and an active figure in political, church, and educational affairs. Also the papers of William Pierrepont White, lawyer and businessman of New York and Utica, president of the Oneida Historical Society, and a pioneer in the development of modern highways. Includes papers of the Wheeler, Constable, and Van Wagenen papers, as well as other families; also, Walcott family correspondence beginning with a series of letters (1825-1827) from Walnut Hills, Mississippi, and other series relating to real estate speculation in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Nebraska, to banking in North Dakota, to the management of cotton mills in Georgia and New York, and to oil and mining interests.

SUBJECTS

Names:
White, William Pierrepont.
Constable family.
Constable, William.
Hough, Franklin B.
Pierrepont, William Constable.
Van Wagenen family.
Walcott family.
Wheeler family.
White family.
White, Canvass.
White, Hugh.
White, William N.
Bank of Utica (Utica, N.Y.)
Cohoes Company.
Delaware and Raritan Canal (N.J.)
Erie Canal.
Jefferson County National Bank (Jefferson County, N.Y.)
New York (State).Legislature.
New York Water Works Company.
Oneida Historical Society at Utica
Pierrepont Land Office.
Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg Railroad Company.
Union Canal (Penn.)
Utica and Mohawk Railroad Company.

Subjects:
Real property--New York (State)
Land titles--New York (State)
Real property--Kansas.
Real property--Missouri.
Real property--Indiana.
Real property--Nebraska.
Canals--New York (State)
Canals--New Jersey.
Canals--Pennsylvania.
Railroads--New York (State)
Cotton manufacture--New York (State)
Cotton manufacture--Georgia.
Textile factories--New York (State)--Oneida County.
Textile factories--Georgia.
Mineral industries--New York (State)
Banks and banking--New York (State)--Oneida County.
Banks and banking--North Dakota.
Roads--Design and construction--New York (State)
Elections--New York (State)--Oneida County.
Brotherton Indians.
Grist mills--New York (State)--Oneida County.
Slavery--New York (State)
Life-boats--New York (State)--Lake Ontario.
Concrete.
Woolen goods.
Education--New York (State)--Oneida County.
Oil industries--New York (State)
Emigration and immigration.
Family--New York (State)--Oneida County.
Migration, Internal--United States.
Industries--New York (State)--Oneida County.
Engineers.
Bankers.

Places:
Oneida County (N.Y.)--Commerce.
Oneida County (N.Y.)--Economic aspects.
Oneida County (N.Y.)--Politics and government.
Oneida County (N.Y.)--Religious life and customs.
New York (State)--Commerce.
Whitestown (N.Y.)--History, Local.

Form and Genre Terms:
Deeds.
Maps.
Surveys.
Inventories.
Cashbooks.
Account books.
Inventories.


INFORMATION FOR USERS

Cite As:
William Pierrepont White collection, #399. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.

RELATED MATERIALS

Consists of collections #399, #565, #586, and #944.
Consists of collections #399, #565, #586, and #944.

CONTAINER LIST

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