Collection Description

The earliest Savage family papers consist of receipts, accounts, and correspondence regarding sales of consigned cargoes on shipping ventures and a record of Boston land owned by Captain Arthur Savage, 1724-1733, as well as documents relating to the administration of his estate in 1735. Also included are papers pertaining to the estate of his wife's relative Henry Phillips, for which Savage served as an administrator.

Papers of Samuel Phillips Savage, 1742-1791, contain receipts, notes and bonds, correspondence, agreements, English merchandise invoices, and accounts related to his business as import merchant and insurance broker in Boston, 1742-1759. Also included are receipts and accounts for personal expenditures of silversmith William Homes for repair of household pieces, 1760, as well as fully itemized listings of carpentry done by Story Dawes in the renovation of buildings, 1759.

Among papers related to Savage's public positions is a detailed statement of the Massachusetts Bay treasury for June 1753. Also included is an unsigned letter transmitting informal minutes of a Boston meeting held 13 Sep. 1768 to establish a committee to investigate British abuses and coordinate local organization, as well as other papers pertaining to Savage's activities on behalf of the patriot cause. Correspondents who wrote to him as chairman of the Board of War from 1776 to 1781 include Samuel A. Otis and Caleb Hopkins concerning war supplies, 1777, and Jonathan Williams about supplies and the frigate Dean's arrival at Nantes, 10 Feb. 1778. Official papers include treasurer's statements and accounts of cash and drafts on the treasury for the Board of War, 1777-1779, as well as receipts for food supplies and ammunition. The collection also contains personal receipts and accounts for Savage's board and lodging at the Boston home of John Scollay. Papers of 1780-1797 include copies of writs and other documents issued during his tenure as judge of the Middlesex Inferior Court from 1775 to 1782 and of the Middlesex Court of Common Pleas from 1782 to 1797.

Extensive correspondence between family members of Dr. Samuel Savage, a physician at Barnstable, Mass., concerns business interests in the West Indies and Central America. Letters from his son Samuel, 1798-1799, describe his activities as commission agent at Martinique and Jamaica, capture by privateers, and detention at St. Pierre, June 1798. Letters from William Henry Savage discuss arrangements for shipping consignments from Jamaica.

The collection contains a large segment of papers, 1837-1887, concerning the efforts of Henry Savage to obtain government reimbursement for his services as acting charge d'affaires at Guatemala, 1830-1833, including papers related to negotiations with the State Department over an extended period. Samuel Hay Savage assumed responsibility for pursuing the claim, and the various attorneys representing the case were Judge Lemuel Shaw, Lemuel Shaw, Jr., and John Sidney Webb, a Washington lawyer. Correspondents include William Appleton, William Learned Marcy, Charles Sumner, and Daniel Webster.

Further papers of Samuel Hay Savage include letters written to his family and relatives from Guatemala, 1848-1887, describing his travels and conditions in Central America, 1849-1850, and his cattle ranch, 1851. Letters from Herman Melville's brother Allan date from 1849 to 1854 and relate to his occupation in New York. Included are papers concerning real estate speculation in oil lands at Allegheny, Pa., 1865-1886, and claims against the Costa Rican government for destruction by General Barrio's insurrection, 1882-1885, as well as deeds for lands in Iowa, 1895-1899, and papers related to the settlement of his estate, 1901.

Papers of Charles Savage, 1828-1835, consist of many letters to his sister Hope and brother-in-law Lemuel Shaw describing living conditions, travel, and his business activities in Central America and various parts of the South.

Letters of Lemuel Shaw include an early letter to his mother about his education at Braintree, Mass., 1796, and a note from Boston, 1813, concerning a shipment of lime. In addition to correspondence with various Washington officials about the Henry Savage claim, Shaw's correspondence of 1854-1855 also discusses claims of Savage family members related to the seizure of the ship Homer by San Salvador. Subsequent papers document the involvement of Lemuel Shaw, Jr. in the case, 1864-1876.

Hayward family papers, 1759-1847, include John Hayward's letter to his father about shipping out as a seaman, 1759; many letters to Susanna Hayward Shaw from her brother Caleb at Braintree, Mass. about his leather goods manufacture, 1771-1808; and a detailed letter from Thomas Hayward from West Point, 6 Dec. 1778, describing military action to hold the fort. The collection also contains a letter from George Hayward resigning membership in the Saturday Club, 29 July 1836, and a Hayward genealogy sent by Nahum Mitchell to Lemuel Shaw, 12 July 1847.