Series 1: Primary sources, 1698-1896, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Unless otherwise specified, these are all modern copies of the original sources. Some folders contain Coleman's related notes or correspondence.
Processing Information
For simplicity, the archivist sorted pre-1900 publications as primary, and post-1900 sources as secondary.
Sub-series 1.1: Books and articles, 1824-circa 1870s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
The American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge, for the Year 1853. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1853, pp. 130, 132, 135, and 137.
The American Colonization Society. "List of Life Members" (p. 23), "List of Emigrants by the Liberia Packet" (p. 24), "Brazilian Law Against the Slave Trade" and "Sketches of Liberia" (p. 25), "Character of the Emigrants by the Liberia Packet" (pp. 42-43), "Annual Report of the Am. Col. Society" (pp. 78-80), "Emigration to Liberia" (pp. 149-150). In The African Repository 27, 1851.
American Lloyd's Register of American and Foreign Shipping, 1859, 1861, 1862.
Appleton, D. & Co., ed. "Habeas Corpus" to "Houston, Sam." In The (Appleton's) American Annual Cyclopedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1861. New York, NY: D. Appleton & Company, 1867, pp. 354-366.
Baker, George E., ed. The Works of William H. Seward, Vol. I. New York, NY: Redfield, 1853, pp. lxii-lxviii.
Baker, George E., ed. "The Virginia Controversy" and "The Georgia Controversy." In The Works of William H. Seward, Vol. II. Boston, MA: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1884, pp. 449-546.
Barrett, Walker. The Old Merchants of New York City. New York, NY: Carleton, 1864, pp. 223-224.
Bergen, Teunis G. Register in Alphabetical Order, of the Early Settlers of Kings County…New York, NY: S.W. Green's Son, 1881, select pages.
Broadway Tabernacle Anti-slavery Society. Proceedings of the Session of Broadway Tabernacle, against Lewis Tappan, with the action of the Presbytery and General Assembly. New York, NY: The Society, 1839.
Browne, Junius Henri. The Great Metropolis: A Mirror of New York. Hartford, CT: American Publishing Co., 1869, pp.637-638.
Carey, Henry Charles. The Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign: Why it Exists, and How it May Be Extinguished. Philadelphia, PA: 1853.
De Peyster, Frederic. Memoir of Rip Van Dam. New York, NY: Press of Edmund Jones & Co., 1865. [original pamphlet]
Derby, J.C. Fifty Years Among Authors--Books and Publishers. New York, NY: G.W. Carleton & Co., 1884. Sections on Alice and Phoebe Cary, Elizabeth Oakes Smith, and Richard Henry Stoddard.
Fernow, Berthold, ed. The Records of New Amsterdam from 1653-1674. Volume I: Minutes of the Court of Burgomasters and Schepens, 1653-1655. Published under the authority of the City of New York. New York, NY: The Knickerbocker Press, 1897.
Foote, Andrew H. Africa and the American Flag. New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company, 1862, pp. 344-347. Gelston, David. [Papers], 1802-1803.
Great Union Meeting Committee of Arrangements. Official Report of the Great Union Meeting, Held at the Academy of Music, New York, December 19, 1859. Published by Order of the Committee of Arrangements. New York, NY: Davis & Kent, 1859.
Green, Duff. "Commercial Importance and Future of the South." De Bow's Review 32, February 1862, pp. 120-134.
Griswold, Rufus Wilmot. Passages from the Correspondence and Other Papers of Rufus W. Griswold. W.M. Griswold, 1898, pp. 129-133.
Hunt, Freeman (conducted by). "Art. I - Duties on Portuguese Wines." The Merchants' Magazine, and Commercial Review. New York, NY: Volume 11, November 1844.
Lossing, Benson John. The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution. New York, NY: Harper & Bros., 1851-1852, pp. 210-211.
"[Announcement of formation of the] Maine Anti-Slavery Society." The Liberator. May 18, 1833.
Mars, James. Life of James Mars, A Slave Born and Sold in Connecticut. Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Lockwood & Company, 1864.
Moore, John Bassett. A Treatise on Extradition and Interstate Rendition, Vol. II. Boston, MA: The Boston Book Company, 1891, pp. 846-858.
New York Committee of Vigilance. The First Annual Report...for the Year 1837. Published by direction of the committee, [1837].
Nichols, Clarina Irene Howard. To the Women of the State of New York [circular], circa 1856.
Niles, H., ed. Niles' Weekly Register. Baltimore, MD: Printed for the editor by William Ogden Niles, 1819-1822. Selections including "Chronicle," "Editorial Articles," "Slave Trade," "Law Intelligence," and "Congress."
Onderdonk, Henry Jr. Farming in Olden Times in Queens County, circa 1868. Reprinted in Journal of Long Island History 5.1, 1965.
Onderdonk, Henry Jr. Suffolk County in Olden Times Parts II and III, circa 1860s-1870s. Reprinted in Journal of Long Island History 6.1 and 6.2, 1966.
Onderdonk, Henry Jr. Notes on the History of Queens County Parts I and II, 1864. Reprinted in Journal of Long Island History 7.1 and 7.2, 1967.
Religious Society of Friends. The Present State of the African Slave Trade. Published by direction of a meeting representing the Religious Society of Friends in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, &c. Philadelphia, PA: William Brown, 1824.
San Francisco Committee of Vigilance. Constitution, 1851. Edited by Porter Garnett and printed in the Publications of the Academy of Pacific Coast History 1.7, 1910.
San Francisco Committee of Vigilance. List of Names, 1851. Edited by Porter Garnett and printed in the Publications of the Academy of Pacific Coast History 2.2, 1911.
Seabury, Samuel. American Slavery Distinguished from the Slavery of the English Theorists, and Justified by the Law of Nature. New York, NY: Mason Brothers, 1861.
Thompson, Mary W. Sketches of the History, Character and Dying Testimony, of Beneficiaries of the Colored Home, in the City of New-York. New York, NY: John F. Trow, 1851.
Truth, Sojourner. Narrative of Sojourner Truth. Edited by Olive Gilbert. Battle Creek, MI: Review and Herald Office, 1884.
Unknown author. [Review of] Fifteenth Report of the American Colonization Society, Washington, 1832 and Letters on the Colonization Society; with a View of its Probable Results; addressed to the Hon. C.F. Mercer by M. Carey, 1832. The North American Review 35.76, July 1832, pp. 118-165.
Unknown author. "The Slave-trade in 1858." The Edinburgh Review 108, 1858, pp. 541-586.
Unknown author. "A Slave Trader's Letter-Book." The North American Review 143.360, November 1886, pp. 447-462.
Van Rensselaer, Mrs. John King. The Goede Vrouw of Mana-ha-ta at Home and in Society 1609-1760. New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1898, pp. 238-243.
Weeden, William B. "The Early African Slave-Trade in New England." American Antiquarian Society Journal, October 1887, pp. 107-128.
Whitman, Walt. Ode by Walt Whitman to be sung on Fort Greene, 4th of July, 1846. Reprinted in Journal of Long Island History 1.2, 1939.
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by author name.
Sub-series 1.2: Sermons and addresses, 1833-1866, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Degrauw, John W. An Address Delivered Before the Brooklyn Horticultural Society December 7th, 1854; also the report of the treasurer, W.S. Dunham; with the report of the executive committee. Brooklyn, NY: J.W. Heighway & Co., 1855. [catalog record only]
Otis, James F. A Sketch of the Character, and Defence of the Principles of William Lloyd Garrison. Being an address, delivered before the board of managers of the "Maine Anti-Slavery Society," in Portland, Me. on...1st November. 1833, by one of the board. New York, NY: Henry R. Piercy, 1833.
Sloan, J.R.W. Review of Rev. Henry J. Van Dyke's Discouse on 'The Character and Influence of Abolitionism,' a Sermon Preached in the Third Reformed Presbyterian Church…New York, on…December 23, 1860…Also, by Special Request, in the Church of the Puritans (Rev. Dr. Cheever's), on...January 6, 1861. New York, NY: William Erving, 1861.
Van Dyke, Henry Jackson:
The Commandment with Promise: a sermon preached in the First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn, on…No. 24th, 1859. New York, NY: George W. Wood, 1859. [original pamphlet]
The Character and Influence of Abolitionism: a sermon preached in the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, on...Dec. 9th, 1860. New York, NY: George F. Nesbitt & Co., 1860. [original pamphlet]
The Character and Influence of Abolitionism: a sermon preached in the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, on...Dec. 9th, 1860. New York, NY: D. Appleton and Company., 1860. [original pamphlet]
Memorial of George L. Sampson: an address delivered at this funeral in the First Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn, Jan. 5, 1866. New York, NY: John F. Trow & Co., 1866. [catalog record only]
Arrangement
Arranged alphabetically by author name.
Sub-series 1.3: Legal and government documents, 1698-1879, inclusive
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Kings County census documents, 1698-1820, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Censuses for 1698, 1738, 1786, 1800, 1810, and 1820 as well as 1755 census of slaves.
Legal cases, 1735-1867, inclusive
Scope and Contents
[Libel] Trial of John Peter Zenger. August 4, 1735.
Skinner v. May. Circuit Court District Maine 1792. Jay C. Justice. Civil action for fines for slaving in violation of Maine slaving law.
Libel of forfeiture against the brig Francis F. Johnson for alleged violation of the laws relating to the slave trade. April 6, 1821.
Polydore v. Prince. 19 F. Cas. 550. District Court Maine (1837). Photocopies from NARA Northeast Region.
Report of the Committee Appointed by the Government of the "Board of Trade," to take into consideration the communication of Messrs. Sampson and Tappan, dated April 24th, 1856. Boston, MA: J.H. Eastburn's Press, 1856. [original pamphlet]
In the Supreme Court of the United States, December Sessions, 1858. No. 188. The Ship Sarah, Sampson & Tappan, Claimants and Appellants, vs. S. & W. Welsh. Appeal from the Circuit Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania...Philadelphia, PA: Crissy & Markley, [1858]. [original pamphlet]
United States vs. Samuel Skinner. District Court…for the District of Massachusetts. Slaver Margaret Scott. 1861.
Opinion in the matter of the claims of G.B. Lamar and others: to certain cotton held by the Treasury Department as captured and confiscable property. 1867.
Nathaniel Gordon case, 1861
Scope and Contents
Case documents, chronology of case, and Lincoln correspondence from the National Archives.
Congressional documents, 1774-1872, inclusive
General
The listings of these documents are preceded with the notation that was on Coleman's files: [nth Congress]-[nth session]-[document number].
[Acts of Congress and Messages of the Presidents], 1774-1858, inclusive
1800-1820, inclusive
Scope and Contents
8-1-171 (8th Congress, 1st session, No. 171). Application to prohibit the import of slaves into the territory of Louisiana. January 23, 1804.
8-1-173. Slavery, Elective Franchise, and Public Land in Indiana Territory. February 17, 1804.
8-1-177. Importation of slaves into Louisiana. March 8, 1804.
9-1-202, 203. Slave Trade [letter from the American Convention for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery]; Extension of the Right of Suffrage, and the Admission of Slavery, for a Limited Time, in the Indiana Territory, and the Division Thereof. February 13-14, 1806.
9-2-214, 215, 216. Slave Trade; Colonization of People of Color from Virginia; Slavery in the Indiana Territory. January 16, 1807.
10-1-244. Slave Trade [constitutional amendment prohibiting import of slaves]. February 23, 1808.
10-2-269. Violation of the Act Prohibiting the Importation of Slaves [New Orleans--domestic slaves (children)]. December 22, 1809.
11-1-5,7,8. [Slave trade; act for remission of certain penalties and forfeitures--relations with France]. June 24, 1809.
15-1-290. Suppression of Piratical Establishments. January 10, 1818.
15-1-441. Slaves Brought into the United States from Amelia Island. January 10, 1818.
1820-1840, inclusive
Scope and Contents
16-2-342, 343, 344, 345, 346. Correspondence Respecting Suppression of the Slave Trade; Foreign Vessels Engaged in Smuggling Through Florida; British West India and North America Colonial Trade; Suppression of the Slave Trade--Conference of Foreign Governments on the Subject. January 4-February 9, 1821.
17-1-351. Suppression of the Slave Trade. April 12, 1822.
17-1-529. Slaves Imported by an Indian Agent Contrary to Law. May 6, 1822.
18-1-371. Suppression of Slave Trade. 1824.
18-2-403. Suppression of the African Slave Trade. February 16, 1825.
19-1-319. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Navy, Showing the Condition of the Navy in the Year 1826. December 5, 1826.
19-1-414. Correspondence with Great Britain Relative to the Suppression of the Slave Trade. December 27, 1825.
20-1-193. Information…in relation to…the United States' Agency for Recaptured Africans... March 12, 1828.
21-2-435. On the Capture...of the Spanish Ship Fenix, with African Slaves on Board and Under Suspicion of Piratical Intent. January 18, 1831.
1840s, inclusive
Scope and Contents
27-1-34. Seizure of American Vessels--Slave Trade. July 14, 1841.
28-1-217.…information in relation to the abuse of the flag of the United States in subservience to the African slave trade…March 1844.
29-1-43. African Slave Trade. December 22, 1845.
30-1-23. …correspondence of Mr. Wise, late United States Minister to Brazil, in relation to the slave trade. March 3, 1848.
1850-1861, inclusive
Scope and Contents
31-2- 6. …documents relating to the African slave trade. December 17, 1850.
33-1-47. …correspondence between Mr. Schenck, United States Minister to Brazil, and the Secretary of State, in relation to the African slave trade. March 14, 1854.
33-1-88. …correspondence between Ferdinand Cox, late charge d'affaires of the United States at Brazil, and the Brazilian government... August 2, 1854.
34-1-99. A resolution of the Senate of April 24, calling for information relative to the coolie trade. 1856.
34-1-105. Information in regard to the slave and coolie trade. May 19, 1856.
35-1-49. …reports of the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Navy…in relation to the African slave trade. April 23, 1858.
35-1-59. In answer to a resolution of the Senate, information concerning the recent search or seizure of American vessels...in the Gulf of Mexico. May 19, 1858.
35-1-61. …papers in regard to the seizure of the American barque Panchita on the Coast of Africa. May 29, 1858.
35.2. Central America--Slave Trade--Cuba. Speech of Hon. James B. Clay of Kentucky in the House of Representatives. February 7, 1859.
36th Congress. [Various documents relating to the slave trade]. 1859-61.
1862-1873, inclusive
Scope and Contents
37-2-53. …information in relation to persons who have been arrested in the southern district of New York, from…May, 1852, to…May, 1862, charged with being engaged in the slave trade… May 30, 1862.
37-2-57. A copy of the treaty between the United States and her Britannic Majesty for the suppression of the African slave trade. June 10, 1862.
40-2-260. Information relating to the imprisonment and destruction of the property of Antonio Pelletier by the people and authorities of Hayti. April 3, 1868.
42.2-30, 31, 32, 33, 34. [Various documents relating to Brazil and Figaniere]. 1871-1872.
44-1-420. Appleton Oaksmith [Amelia and Magnolia]. 1873.
Other legal and government documents, 1807-1879, inclusive
Scope and Contents
The Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts from November 28, 1780 to February 28, 1807…Published by order of the general court. Volume I. Boston, MA: Printed by J.T. Buckingham, for Thomas & Andrews and Manning & Loring, 1807.
Foreign Slave Trade. Abstract of the information recently laid on the table of the House of Commons on the subject of the slave trade; being a report made…to the Directors of the African Institution… London, UK: Ellerton and Henderson, 1821.
Potter, Henry, ed. Laws of the State of North Carolina… Raleigh, NC: J. Gales, 1821.
Prince, Oliver H. A Digest of the Laws of the State of Georgia: containing all statutes and the substance of all resolutions...which have been passed in this state previous to the session of the General Assembly of December, 1820. Milledgeville, GA: Grantland & Orme, 1822.
Toulmin, Harry. A Digest of the Laws of the State of Alabama: containing the statutes and resolutions in force at the end of the General Assembly in January, 1823. Cahawba, AL: Ginn & Curtis, 1828.
Private and Special Acts of the State of Maine, passed by the sixteenth legislature. Augusta, ME: Smith and Robinson, 1836.
Peters, Richard, ed. "Treaties Between the United States of America and Foreign Nations, from [1776]…to 1845." "The Late Cuba State Trials." United States Democratic Review 30.166, April 1852.
Rapalje, Stewart. A digest of NY decisions, from the earliest period to July, 1878… Jersey City, NJ: F.D. Linn, 1879.
British government documents, 1821-1854, inclusive
Sub-series 1.4: Clippings, 1729-1885, inclusive
Arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Shipping and trade news, 1729-1862, inclusive
Runaway slave advertisements, 1730-1835, inclusive
Slave sale advertisements, 1730-1839, inclusive
Legal and legislative news, 1758-1863, inclusive
Other clippings, 1760-1885, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes, among others:
"The Pirates." Connecticut Courant, September 8 1834. [Coleman notes: Discussion of Spanish-Cuban Pirates and Salem vessel the "Mexican." Note-Spanish that were slavers and pirates.]
"The Slave Trade.--Our Late Consul at Rio, Mr. Gordon." Daily Atlas, Boston, August 27 1846.
"North American Slavery: Practical Difficulties in the Way of Emancipation." From the London "Household Words," edited by Charles Dickens. New York Times, November 10 1852, p. 3.
"Enslavement of a British Subject." New York Times, July 10 1857, p. 1.
"The Slave-Trade. 'Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark.'" [letter to the editor]. New York Times, January 17 1861.
"Parson Beecher and the Fugitive Slave Law." Brooklyn Eagle, June 27 1861.
"Hon. Moses F. Odell." Harper's Weekly, June 14 1862, p. 381.
"Greeley's Scout. Confession Made by the Notorious Blumenberg." New York Times, August 7 1872, p. 3.
Nathaniel Gordon case, 1846-1849, inclusive
Gazaway Bugg Lamar, 1851-1876, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Some of these articles relate to Rev. Henry Van Dyke, but were filed by Coleman under the folder heading indicated here and have been kept as such.
Slave trade from Asia, 1851-1878, inclusive
Scope and Contents
In addition to clippings, this file includes printouts of 1850s-60s register entries for the ships Norway, Wm. M. Groton, Flora Temple, and Sunny South, arranged alphabetically by ship name. There is also a page of Coleman's notes as well as printouts about Amoy, China and the ship Sea Witch.
Processing Information
The original files that make up this folder all had "coolie" in the title. The archivist renamed this file.
Harrison S. Vining New York Times articles, 1855-1867, inclusive
Sub-series 1.5: Oaksmith family, 1846-1896, inclusive
Arrangement
Within each section, documents are arranged roughly chronologically.
Clippings, 1857-1870, inclusive
Scope and Contents
"Is the Thomas Watson A Slaver." New York Times, November 30 1857.
"The Capture of the Schooner Lydia Gibbs." New York Herald 23.304, November 2 1858.
"The African Slave Trade. Five New Slavers Under Way. Two Vessels Captured." Evening Post 59.293, December 14 1860.
"City Religious Press." New York Evangelist, June 26 1862.
"The Case of the People Against Mr. Woodford," "Greeley and Woodford," "New Evidence Against Gen. Woodford," "The Slave Trader Convicted to a Demonstration." Brooklyn Eagle, October 1870. (Stewart L. Woodford, scandal over escape of Oaksmith.)
Legal and government documents, 1851-1876, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Wm. Bourgoyne and John Plume vs. The Steam Ship Gold Hunter. United States District Court, San Francisco. August 18, 1851.
United States v. Appleton Oaksmith, U.S. D.C. Mass (1861). Margaret Scott
Bark Augusta--cargo seized and related documents. June 25, 1862.
44-1-123. Connection of Hon. Robert C. Schenck with the Emma Mine and Machado Claim. February 25, 1876. (Vessels Thomas Watson & Mary Varney.)
Appleton Oaksmith, circa 1850s-1873, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Appleton Oaksmith documents from East Carolina University, Special Collections Department, Joyner Library. circa 1850s-1880s.
Brig Mary Adeline and Brig Camargo documents, 1851.
Haitian shipping manifests, 1854.
Appleton Oaksmith journal [held at Duke]. 1855.
[Appleton Oaksmith writings], 1855-1874.
Goicouria and Avezzano letters, 1856.
Document regarding Oaksmith's appointment as a commissioner from NYC to the Southern states, 1861.
Dispatches from the United States Consul in Havana relating to Appleton Oaksmith [from vertical files at Rosenberg Library, Galveston, TX], 1864.
"Southern State Debts and the National Currency..." The Southern Magazine 8, 1873.
Elizabeth Oakes Smith, 1846-1896, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Letters to and from John Neal and Mary Neal Sherwood, 1846-1856.
May, Caroline. The American Female Poets: with biographical and critical notices. Philadelphia, PA: Lindsay & Blakiston, 1853.
Scrapbook pages with clippings. 1869-1880
Elizabeth Oakes Smith documents at New York Public Library. circa 1870s-1890s
A Human Life, Being the Autobiography of Elizabeth Oakes Smith. circa 1885
Cohen, Isabel E., compiler. Readings and Recitations for Jewish Homes and Schools. Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society of America, 1896, pp. 118-120, "The Jewish Captive" by Elizabeth Oakes Smith.
Seba Smith, 1851-1872, 2019, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Seba Smith-Jack Downing letter, 1851. [Coleman notes: "probably not real."]
Camp, David N., ed. The American year book and national register for 1869… p. 796. Entry for Seba Smith.
Griffin, Joseph, ed. History of the press of Maine, Bowdoin. 1872. pp. 54-55 re: The Courier, founded by Seba Smith.
Seba Smith family tree, 2019.
Other documents, 1852-1883, inclusive
Scope and Contents
[Naval correspondence], 1852-1853.
The Appeal of the Religious Society of Friends in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, etc., to their fellow-citizens of the United States on behalf of the Coloured Races. Philadelphia, PA: Friends' Book-store, 1858, pp. 18-21.
The Great Republic Monthly, July 1859. New York, NY: Oaksmith & Co. [original magazine]
Mix, Jacob. "The Biter Bit; or the Robert Macaire of Journalism. Being a Narrative of Some of the Black-mailing Operations of Charles A. Dana's 'Sun.'" Washington, DC: 1870, pp. 59-69.
[Selections from magazine] Old Times in North Yarmouth, Maine. Yarmouth, ME: Augustus W. Corliss, 1877-1884. [family history]
Betts, George F. "Memorial of Chancellor Erastus Cornelius Benedict." Proceedings of the Nineteenth Meeting of the University Convocation of the State of New York, held July 12-14, 1881. Albany, NY: Weed, Parsons and Company, 1883.
