1727-1858
Guide to the Collection
Abstract
This collection consists of papers of merchant and loyalist Charles Ward Apthorp and other Apthorp family members, as well as the firm of Charles Apthorp & Son, including correspondence, financial papers, land papers, and volumes.
Biographical Sketches
Charles Apthorp (1698-1758)
Charles Apthorp was a prosperous British-born merchant and loyalist living in Boston, Mass. who served as paymaster and agent for the Royal Army and Navy, furnishing supplies and money to British forces in Nova Scotia and Boston. He was also a land speculator and one-time business partner of Thomas Hancock. His firm of Charles Apthorp & Son imported and sold many kinds of goods, as well as enslaved people. He married Grizzell Eastwick, and they had 18 children.
Charles Ward Apthorp (1729-1797)
Charles Ward Apthorp was the oldest son of Charles Apthorp and the administrator of his father's estate. Also a loyalist merchant, he continued his father's work for and support of the British forces in Canada. In 1755, he married Mary McEvers, and the couple settled in New York, where Apthorp served as a member of the Governor's Council of New York from 1763-1783. He owned lands in Maine and property in Boston, Brookline, and Roxbury, Mass., all of which was confiscated during the American Revolution.
Hugh Williamson (1735-1819)
Hugh Williamson was the son-in-law of Charles Ward Apthorp and general agent for the Apthorp family heirs. Originally from Pennsylvania, he studied the ministry and medicine and worked in many diverse fields. He was a teacher, a doctor, a merchant, the surgeon general of North Carolina during the Revolution, a member of the N.C. House of Commons and the U.S. Continental Congress (and signatory to the Constitution), and an author. In 1789, he married Charles Ward Apthorp's daughter Maria.
Collection Description
The Charles Ward Apthorp papers consist of correspondence, financial papers, land papers, volumes, and other papers of Charles Ward Apthorp and Apthorp family members, as well as the firm of Charles Apthorp & Son. Included are letters to Apthorp on financial, business, and shipping matters; family correspondence; correspondence of his son-in-law and family agent Hugh Williamson; papers related to Apthorp's support of British forces in Quebec and the confiscation of his property during the Revolution; accounts of Charles Apthorp & Son, the Charles Apthorp estate, and Charles Ward Apthorp, including military accounts; documents related to the case of Apthorp vs. Bayard, a suit brought by Apthorp to recover a debt; grants, deeds, plats, letters, and other papers related to Apthorp family land in Kennebec (Me.), New York, and New England; and account and memoranda books. Accounts, estate papers, and land papers were primarily kept by Hugh Williamson.
Acquisition Information
Gift of Carolyn S. Parlato, February 2014.
Custodial History
In January 1980, this collection was loaned to the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, N.C. by William H. Swan of New York. Carolyn S. Parlato, the residuary legatee of William H. Swan, transferred the papers to the Massachusetts Historical Society in February 2014.
Detailed Description of the Collection
I. Family and business correspondence, 1727-1819
Arranged chronologically.
This series consists primarily of letters to Charles Ward Apthorp in New York on financial, business, and shipping matters, and after his death, papers of his son-in-law and agent Hugh Williamson. The series also contains family correspondence, including letters from Apthorp's mother Grizzell (Eastwick) Apthorp; brothers East, Stephen, George, and Thomas Apthorp; son James Apthorp; and other members of the Apthorp and related families. Also among the correspondents are John Amiel (in French), Robert Bayard, William Bayard, Thomas Bulfinch, Isaac Hart, and many others. Included are letters about Apthorp's support of British forces in Quebec; papers related to the confiscation of his property during the Revolution; and a statement on his conduct and allegiance by Samuel B. Webb (1784). Papers of Hugh Williamson include two letters from Benjamin Rush about Apthorp's health (1796), correspondence with William Sullivan, and other documents related to Apthorp's estate.
1727-1777
Mass. property confiscated, 1782
1783
Political conduct in wartime New York, 1784
1786-1789
Apthorp-Williamson marriage certificate, 1789
Suit for British payment, 1789-1791
1790-1794
Apthorp-Van den Heuvel marriage contract, 1794
1796-1813
Hamilton-Van den Heuvel marriage settlement, 1814
1814-1819
Apthorp-Richards marriage certificate, 1819
II. Financial papers, 1747-1831
A. Personal and business accounts, 1747-1831
This subseries contains accounts of Charles Apthorp & Son, the Charles Apthorp estate, and Charles Ward Apthorp with various individuals and companies. The accounts are arranged in two sequences: alphabetical and chronological. Included are military accounts, receipts, agreements, and inventories.
Alphabetical accounts, 1750-1831
Abbot, Samuel, 1758-1759
Adams, Peter, 1753-1760
Amory, John & Jonathan, 1758-1759
Apthorp & Son (military, gold and silver shipments, postage), 1755-1768
Apthorp, Charles (division of estate), ca. 1759
Apthorp, Charles (miscellaneous estate), 1756-1767
Apthorp heirs, 1809
Apthorp, Robert, 1761-1770
Apthorp, Stephen, 1759-1765
Apthorp, Thomas, 1762-1770
Apthorp, William, 1766-1770
Barclay Street house, 1817-1819
Bayard, William, 1755-1756
Bayard, William (military litigation), 1759-1761
Belcher, Samuel, 1757-1758
Blackburn, Joseph, 1759
Box & Austin, 1756-1759
Boyd, James, 1758-1759
Boylston, John, 1757-1758
Brinley, Francis, 1757
Bromfield, Henry, 1754-1759
Chamberlaine, Alexander, 1754-1759
Chandler, John, Jr., 1757-1759
Clarke, William (military), 1759
Copley, John Singleton, 1765
Deblois, Lewis (Apthorp family clothing, household goods), 1758-1759
Dowse, Joseph, 1757-1759
Drowne, Thomas, 1755-1758
Forsyth, John, 1755-1759
French, Robert, 1754-1759
Gardiner, Silvester (Apthorp family medical care and medicines), 1757-1759
Gardner, James, 1757-1759
Grant, Samuel, 1758-1759
Hall, Robert, undated
Hall, Stephen, 1757-1759
Hancock, Thomas, 1758-1759
Hodgdon, Benjamin, 1758-1759
Holloway, Mary Ann and Moses, 1821-1831
Hooton, John, 1758-1759
Hutchinson & Brinley, 1757-1759
Ivers, James & Thomas, 1755-1759
Jeffries, David, 1753-1759
Jenckes, Daniel, 1750-1759
Lamb, James (tailor to the Apthorp family), 1758-1759
Langdon, Edward & John, 1758-1759
Laughton, Henry, 1756-1759
Lewis, Ezek, 1755-1759
Lloyd, Henry, 1758-1759
Lloyd, John, 1755-1762
Loring, Nathaniel, 1755-1759
Lowell, Michael, 1756-1762
Mann, Edward, 1759
Marriott, Powers, 1757-1759
Martyn, Richard, 1756-1759
McEvers, Charles, 1763-1775
McIntosh, William, 1767
McLaine, John, 1754-1759
McLary, John, 1757-1759
Mecom, Edward, 1757-1759
Miller, Eben S., Jr., 1752-1759
Miller, Stephen, 1752-1769
Morss, Moses, 1758-1759
Noyes, Belcher, 1755-1759
Pattin, William, 1756-1759
Phillips & Apthorp, 1758-1759
Pierpont, Robert, 1757-1758
Province of New Hampshire, 1756-1759
Rand, Thomas, 1757-1762
Rand, William, 1758-1765
Rivington, James, 1761-1763
Rotch, Joseph & William, 1757-1759
Russell, Joseph (photocopy), 1756-1759
Saul, Thomas, 1758-1759
Sheaffe, Edward, 1753-1759
Smith, William (Halifax agent, military), 1758-1766
Stanbridge, Henry, 1758-1759
Stedman, Leonard (house painting), 1757-1759
Storer, Ebenezer & and Son, 1758-1759
Tate, George, 1758-1759
Temple, Robert, 1754-1764
Treat, Samuel, 1758-1763
Tucker, John, 1758
Union College, 1817-1819
Van den Heuvel, 1811
Vesey, William, 1757-1759
Wentworth, Mark H. J. (Portsmouth), 1758-1759
Wheelwright, Nathaniel, 1765
Wiggins, Stephen, 1789
Winslow, John, 1755-1763
Chronological accounts, 1747-1830
B. Apthorp vs. Bayard papers, 1767-1770
This subseries consists of papers related to the case of Apthorp vs. Bayard, a suit brought by Charles Ward Apthorp against William Bayard, his wife's brother-in-law, to recover a debt. Papers include the affidavit and interrogatory of Charles Ward Apthorp, extracts of correspondence, and an opinion on the case by Whitehead Hicks (1767).
III. Land papers, 1751-1838
A. Kennebec lands, 1756-1832
This subseries contains papers related to Apthorp ownership of lands in Kennebec, Me., including grants to Charles Apthorp, Charles Ward Apthorp, and the heirs of Charles Ward Apthorp from the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase (printed documents filled out in manuscript); deeds to members of the Apthorp and related families; plats of various lots; and correspondence, legal papers, and financial papers, primarily of Hugh Williamson, agent for the Apthorp family.
Grants, 1756-1815
Deeds, 1802-1832
Plats, undated, 1804-1818
Lot #7 (Bowdoinham), undated, 1805-1818
Lot #12 (Litchfield), undated, 1809
Lot #80 (Sidney), undated
Lot #D1 (Fairfield), undated, 1804-1818
Lots #7, 44, 80, undated
Rough draft for watercolor of plats, undated
Watercolor of plats, undated
Miscellaneous, undated
Correspondence and other papers, 1781-1832
Included are letters, legal papers, accounts, receipts, deeds, memoranda, and other papers related to Kennebec lands owned by the Apthorp family, primarily papers of Hugh Williamson, agent for the Apthorps. Among the correspondents are Joseph E. Foxcroft, John C. Hamilton, Joseph Langdon, Dan Read, James Sullivan, William Sullivan, and Charles Vaughan. Also included is one folder of letters from Samuel Stewart to Hugh Williamson related to Waterford, Me. property.
1781-Mar. 1817
Apr. 1817-1832
Waterford, Me., 1803-1819
B. Connecticut lands, 1781-1821
This subseries contains accounts, receipts, bonds, legal papers, letters to Charles Ward Apthorp from James and William Hillhouse, and correspondence of Hugh Williamson with James Lanman, William Perkins, Benjamin Reed, and others.
James Hillhouse, agent, 1782-1796
Mansfield Farm, 1781-1821
Granby, 1804-1816
Waterbury, 1806-1818
C. New York lands, 1762-1838
This subseries consists of papers related to Apthorp property in Kingsbury, N.Y., including indentures, deeds, bonds, and letters to Charles Ward Apthorp from Patrick Smyth and others.
D. Vermont and New Hampshire lands, 1751-1813
This subseries contains letters from Asa Porter to Hugh Williamson, legal documents, inventories, and other papers.
Asa Porter, agent, 1799-1813
Woodstock, Vt., 1774-1792
Grantham, N.H., 1751-1787
Lancaster, N.H., 1793-1807
IV. Volumes, 1768-1819
This series consists of eight volumes kept by Hugh Williamson as agent for the Apthorp family, including four account books, one receipt book, and three memoranda books.
A. Account and receipt books, 1793-1819
Accounts of the Apthorp family with Hugh Williamson and Robert Troup, 1793-1818
Accounts of the Apthorp family with Hugh Williamson and Robert Troup, 1793-1813 (duplicate of above up to 1813)
"Journal of Accounts with the Estate of the late Charles Ward Apthorp Esq. and with the Heirs of that Estate," 1797-1819
"Accounts with the Estate of Chas. Wd. Apthorp Esq.," "Accounts with Robert Troup Esq. Adm.," and "Accounts with Hugh Williamson," 1797-1819
"Receipts, cash paid for estate of Miss Rebecca & Miss Ann Apthorp," 1808-1812
B. Memoranda books, 1768-1802
Notes on Apthorp lands, 1768-1798 (6 pp.)
Notes on Apthorp lands, 1801-1802 (4 pp.)
"Memoriae Gratia: Political commercial and economical Information," undated
Included are memoranda on demographics in various U.S. states and nations, public debt, currency, agriculture, exports, and many other subjects, as well as aphorisms and recipes.
V. Printed matter, 1796-1858
This series consists of two newspapers: The London Times, 9 Nov. 1796, with the first part of George Washington's resignation address; and the Boston Daily Courier, 30 Jan. 1858, containing a letter to the editor about John C. Hamilton's claim in his A History of the Republic that his father Alexander Hamilton wrote many of Washington's letters.
VI. Oversize material
This series contains oversize material removed from other series in the collection.
Preferred Citation
Charles Ward Apthorp 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.