Richard Varick Papers
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Abstract
Richard Varick, born in New Jersey, 1753, served as Captain, deputy muster-master-general, and George Washington's secretary during the Revolutionary war. He was appointed one of the first mayors of New York and served from 1789-1801. He died in 1831. His papers contain items resulting from his military, legal, and political careers, as well as personal and familial correspondence and accounts--including letters received, drafts of letters sent, accounts, receipts, military orders, inventories, muster and pay rolls, military pay accounts, indentures, court-martial papers and civil court papers.
The Richard Varick papers are digitized and available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.
Biographical Note
Missing Title
Richard Varick was married to Maria Roosevelt, daughter of Isaac Roosevelt who was the son of James Roosevelt.
Arrangement
The Richard Varick Papers have been arranged into the following six series.
The materials within each folder are arranged chronologically.
Missing Title
- Series I. Correspondence
- Series II. Military Documents
- Series III. Legal Documents
- Series IV. Accounts, Bills, Receipts
- Series V. Appointments to Various Offices
- Series VI. Genealogies
Scope and Content Note
This collection of Richard Varick's papers contains items resulting from his military, legal, and political careers, as well as personal and family papers such as correspondence and accounts. The majority of the collection dates from the Revolutionary War, and over half of the collection consists of correspondence.
The collection includes letters received, drafts of letters sent, accounts, receipts, military orders, inventories, muster and pay rolls, military pay accounts, indentures, court-martial papers and civil court papers. Also contained within the collection are papers about veterans' claims to military lands in New York State, including some maps; papers relating to the settlement of the estate of Derick Dey, Varick's maternal grandfather, and the affairs of other members of the Dey family; personal and family correspondence and accounts; and a few documents signed by Varick in his capacity as mayor of New York.
The papers in the collection pertain to a variety of subjects, including Varick's command of a company in Alexander McDougall's battalion at Ticonderoga and in Canada during 1775; his service on courts-martial in 1775; problems of the bateau service in northern New York State in 1776; his position as secretary to Gen. Philip Schuyler in 1775-1776; his work as deputy muster master general, inspector general at West Point, first aide-de-camp to Benedict Arnold (including papers about Arnold's defection and subsequent investigations), and as recording secretary for George Washington (including papers about the transcription of Washington's letters); and suits handled by him as an attorney practicing in Poughkeepsie in 1782-1783, and in New York City after the war.
Subjects
Organizations
Families
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Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff.
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.
Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Richard Varick Papers, MS 655, The New-York Historical Society.
Location of Materials
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital copies are available in the Shelby White and Leon Levy Digital Library.
About this Guide
Edition of this Guide
Repository
Series I: Correspondence
Scope and Contents note
This series, making up over half of the collection, contains correspondence received by or written by Varick. Some of his more frequent correspondents were: Lt. Daniel Gano, Cornelius Cuyler, Philip John Schuyler, Gen. Horatio Gates, Col. Joseph Ward, James Lamb, John Varick, Jr., Richard Lush, John Lansing, Jr., Henry Rutgers, Jr., Jacob John Lansing, Henry Sewall, Lewis Woodruff, William Bradford, Jr., John Morin Scott, Daniel Carthy, Dirck Romeyn, Henry Glen, Matthew Visscher, Peter W. Yates, John Laurance, Peter Elting, Philip Van Rensselaer, Col. Jonathan Trumbull, John V.B. Varick, John Sanders, and Simeon De Witt.
Subseries 1: Letters received.
Scope and Contents note
This subseries contains letters written to Varick. It begins with letters where the author of the letter could not be indentified. Following are single letters or small groups of letters that are alphabetized by author. Following these, each folder is dedicated to one author, and each contains four or more letters. These are alphabetized by last name.
unidentified correspondents, 1776-1798
A - B, single letters or small groups, 1779-1830
C, single letters or small groups, 1775-1821
D - F, single letters or small groups, 1776-1804
G, single letters or small groups, 1776-1791
H, single letters or small groups, 1776-1794
J - L, single letters or small groups, 1776-1798
M - O, single letters or small groups, 1776-1798
P - R, single letters or small groups, 1776-1821
S, single letters or small groups, 1776-1825
T, single letters or small groups, 1779-1798
V - Z, single letters or small groups, 1776-1821
French correspondents written in French, 1793-1811
Theodorus Bailey, 1784-1787
William Bradford, 1778-1779
Daniel Carthy, 1780
[Capt. W.] Colfax, 1781-1782
Cornelius Cuyler, 1776
Simeon DeWitt, 1797, 1814-1815
Dey Family, 1780-1781, 1821
James Duane, 1784-1789
Peter Elting, 1776-1783
Daniel Gano, 1775-1778
[Major C.] Gibbs, 1780
Nic Gilman, 1780
Oliver Glean, 1781-1783
Henry Glen, 1776-1783
Frank Green, 1779
John Hancock, 1821
Udney Hay, 1775-1784
Hugh Hughes, 1781-1782
Charles Knight, 1782-1791
James Lamb, 1777-1780
Jacob J. Lansing, 1770-1771
John Lansing, 1776-1777
John Lansing, 1778-1783
John Laurance, 1782-1783
Henry B. Livingston, 1776-1782
Zach Lukels, 1781-1783
Richard Lush, 1777-1782
Alexander McDougall, 1775-1782
James Morrell, 1782-1783
Isaac Nicoll, 1778-1789
Dirck Romeyn, 1780-1782
Isaac Roosevelt, 1788
Henry Rutgers, 1778-1779
Phillip John Schuyler, 1776-1796
John Morin Scott, 1775-1784
Henry Sewell, 1770-1781
Jonathan Trumbull, 1781-1794
Pierre Van Cortlandt, 1783-1796
Peter L. Van Rensselaer, 1779-1783
Varick family, 1776-1782
Matthew Visscher, 1781-1783
Joseph Ward, 1777-1780
Peter Wilson, 1778-1785
[W.] Wilson, 1801
Lewis Woodruff, 1778-1779
Anna [Yale], 1776-1777
Peter Yates, 1781-1790
Subseries 2: Drafts and copies of letters sent
Scope and Contents note
This subseries contains drafts and copies of letters written by Varick. It begins with letters where the intended recipient could not be indentified. Following are single letters or small groups of letters that are alphabetized by recipient. Following these, each folder is dedicated to one recipient, and each contains four or more letters. These are alphabetized by last name.
Unidentified correspondents, 1776-1779
A - C, single letters or small groups, 1776-1819
D - F, single letters or small groups, 1776-1780
G - H, single letters or small groups, 1776-1780
J - L, single letters or small groups, 1775-1823
M - P, single letters or small groups, 1776-1782
R - T, single letters or small groups, 1776-1805
V - W, single letters or small groups, 1776-1826
William Bradford, 1778-1779
Continental Congress, 1777-1783
James Duane, 1777-1780
Daniel Gano, 1775-1776
Horatio Gates, 1776-1801
John Hancock, 1776-1777
[Gen.] Heath, 1780
Alexander McDougall, 1776-1777
Timothy Pickering, 1779
Phillip Schuyler, 1776-1780
Phillip L. Van Rensselaer, 1778-1829
Abraham Van Vechten, 1810-1819
John Varick, 1825-1830
Joseph Ward, 1777-1778
George Washington, 1776
Subseries 3: Other correspondence
Scope and Contents note
This subseries contains correspondence that is neither from nor to Varick, several invitations and RSVPs, and documents that list the contents of Varick's books of transcribed letters.
Other correspondents, 1775-1801
Invitations and RSVPs, 1786-1821
"Contents of books/letters transcribed", 1781
Series II: Military Documents
Scope and Contents note
This series contains documents that pertain to Varick's position as deputy muster master general and his service on courts-martial trials. Also included are various military orders and memoranda and several inventories that detail Captain Varick's clothing and possessions during his military service.
Muster rolls, payrolls, billeting rolls, military pay accounts, 1775-1782
Military orders and memoranda, 1775-1783
Court martials (proceedings, prisoners reports, orders), 1775-1776
Inventories of Captain Varick's military clothing and goods, 1776-1778
Series III: Legal Documents
Scope and Contents note
This series contains a variety of legal documents arising from Varick's military, legal, and political careers--including court papers; and documents from the investigation into Varick after Benedict Arnold's defection. The series also contains documents regarding his personal and family estate--including papers relating to the settlement of the estate of Derick Dey, Varick's maternal grandfather; the affairs of other members of the Dey family; and indentures, bonds, deeds, and mortgages held by Varick.
Papers relating to the estate of Derick Dey and the affairs of other members of the Dey family, 1743-1761
Papers relating to the estate of Derick Dey and the affairs of other members of the Dey family, 1762-1850
Last wills and testaments of Richard Varick, 1775, 1795, 1831
Last wills and testaments of Richard Van Varick and Abraham Varick, 1782, 1813
Congressional resolutions, 1776-1777
Documents from the Court of Inquiry for Varick's involvement with Benedict Arnold (deposition, affidavit, declaration), 1780
Papers about veterans' claims to military lands in New York State, including some maps, 1784-1815
State Supreme Court of NY papers, 1785-1805
Chancery case file with members of the Ludlow family as plaintiffs (large bound doc), 1810
Indentures, bonds, deeds, mortgages, 1817-1832
Other legal documents, [1786-1833]
Series IV: Accounts, Bills, Receipts
Scope and Contents note
This series contains a multitude of bills, receipts and accounts, the majority dating from and relating to Varick's time in military service during the Revolutionary War. In addition, there are a number of bills and receipts from New York tradesmen for property repairs.
Accounts, 1775-1783
Accounts, 1786-1830
Receipts (mainly for provisions or pay received), 1775-1823
Bills and receipts for work and equipment (mainly for property repairs) supplied by New York tradesmen, 1803-1808
US Internal Revenue income tax form for Abe Varick, 1871
Series V: Appointments to Various Offices
Scope and Contents note
This series contains documents that recognize Varick's appointments to various offices of honor, including his commission as Captain and his appointments as Mayor of New York.
Commission as Captain, 1776
Appointment as solicitor and counselor at law for New Jersey, 1779
Appointments as mayor of New York (one including large wax seal), 1790, 1794
Letter signifying election as director of Bank of New York, 1794
Acceptance letter of his resignation as President of the Merchant Bank of New York and praise of his service, 1820
Series VI: Genealogies
Scope and Contents note
This series contains one item, a genealogy of the Berthoff and Varick families.