COLLECTION GUIDES

1775-1785

Guide to the Microfilm Edition


Collection Summary

Abstract

This collection consists of correspondence and other papers of jurist and political leader Meshech Weare of New Hampshire.

Biographical Sketch

Meshech Weare (1713-1786) was one of the most important figures in Revolutionary War New Hampshire. He was the first president (governor) of New Hampshire and also served as president of the council, chief justice, and chairman of the Committee of Safety.

Collection Description

This collection consists of two volumes of tipped-in correspondence, 1775-1785, and a letterbook of manuscript copies of letters, 1779-1782, all reproduced on one reel of microfilm. Among Weare's most frequent correspondents are Josiah Bartlett, Abiel Foster, John Taylor Gilman, Samuel Huntington, John Jay, Henry Laurens, Samuel Livermore, Nathaniel Peabody, Jeremiah Powell, John Sullivan, Charles Thomson, and George Washington. The collection also contains correspondence with Ira Allen; Benedict Arnold; Jacob Bayley; Jeremy Belknap; Elias Boudinot; George Clinton; Henry Dearborn; Nathaniel Folsom; Horatio Gates; William Greene; John Hancock; Jabez Hatch; William Heath; Thomas Jefferson; Robert R. Livingston; Thomas Mifflin; Gouverneur Morris; Robert Morris; Joseph Nourse; Timothy Pickering; Alexander Scammell; Roger Sherman; John Stark; Friedrich Wilhelm, Baron von Steuben; Jonathan Trumbull; Louis Philippe de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil; Artemas Ward; Joshua Wentworth; and William Whipple.

Subjects represented in this collection include military operations during the Revolutionary War, money and provisions for the war effort, recruitment, privateers, policies related to Loyalists and prisoners of war, peace negotiations and the Treaty of Paris (1783), political appointments, the activities of the Continental Congress, the New Hampshire land grants, Vermont statehood, and currency issues.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Redford Webster.

Detailed Description of the Collection

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This list includes all of the items in the collection in the order they appear on the microfilm. Items are filmed in approximate chronological order. Outgoing letters from Meshech Weare consist mostly of unsigned letterbook copies.

Preferred Citation

Meshech Weare papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.

Persons:

Hancock, John, 1737-1793.
Heath, William, 1737-1814.
Jay, John, 1745-1829.
Laurens, Henry, 1724-1792.
Morris, Robert, 1734-1806.
Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829.
Stark, John, 1728-1822.
Sullivan, John, 1740-1795.
Ward, Artemas, 1727-1800.
Washington, George, 1732-1799.

Organizations:

New Hampshire. President (1784-1785 : Weare).

Subjects:

New Hampshire--Politics and government--1775-1783.
United States--Politics and government--1775-1783.

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