Descriptive Summary |
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| Creator: | Delaplaine and related families | |
| Title: | Delaplaine Family Papers | |
| Dates: | 1762-1966 (bulk 1762-1879) | |
| Abstract: | A collection of correspondence; wills and estate papers; land and real estate transactions; financial papers; genealogical materials; and personal items such as diaries, poetry, religious writings, recipes, school documents, calling cards and invitations, and book recommendations. The Delaplaine family members were New York residents from approximately 1657 although some individuals represented in the collection left the area and established themselves in Pennsylvania, Maryland and West Virginia. | |
| Quantity: | .75 linear feet (2 boxes) | |
| Call Phrase: | Delaplaine Family Papers | |
| 1658 | Marriage of Nicholas De la Plaine (1633-1712) and Susanna Cresson (b. 1642)
in New York. De la Plaine was a Huguenot who fled France and was known to be in New York as early as 1657. Nicholas and
Susanna were the parents of at least twelve children, two of whom, along with their descendents, figure prominently in this
collection - James (1659-1750) and Joshua (b. 1683).
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| 1692 | Marriage of James Delaplaine (1659-1750) and Hannah Cock. Of their seven
children, son James (1695-1780) moved to Philadelphia and established a branch of the family there.
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| 1716 | Marriage of Joshua Delaplaine (b. 1683) and Esther Zane. Three children were
born of this union - Joseph, Joshua (1721-1771) and Elizabeth (b. 1718).
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| 1745 | Marriage of Joshua Delaplaine (1721-1771) and Mary Bustill (d.1792). Of their
five children, two married sisters from the Pell family of Westchester County, New York. Joshua (d. 1797) married Euphemia
Pell (b. 1750) and Samuel (1750-1809) married Phila Pell (1752-1832).
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| 1752 | Birth of Phila Pell (1752-1832) at the Manor of Pelham, granddaughter of Thomas
Pell "first lord of Pelham Manor, an English gentleman and rank royalist (formerly Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Charles
I.)" Phila Pell became the wife of Samuel Delaplaine (1750-1809). Many of the items in the collection relate to Samuel and
Phila's descendents.
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| 1784 | Birth of Phila Pell Delaplaine who married Collin Reed (d. [1846].) Their one
child was Charlotte Reed (1822-1834).
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| 1804 | Marriage of Samuel Bustill Delaplaine (1776-1857) to Catharine Fink (1788-
1829). This union produced ten children including Phila Amelia Delaplaine (1816-1892).
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| 1843 | Marriage of Phila Amelia Delaplaine (1816-1892) to David Sage Williams (1819-
1867).
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Information derived from wills and other genealogical information within the collection. (Delaplaine family trees are available in the repository.)
This collection reflects the life and times of a relatively large family living in the northeastern United States in the late eighteenth - early nineteenth centuries. Among its varied contents are two folders of correspondence (1797-1879). There are 49 letters relating business activity, family news, health concerns and reports, religious messages and romantic feelings (Box 1, Folders 1 and 2). Prominent among the correspondents are Phila Delaplaine Reed and her son-in-law David Sage Williams. A group of letters between Charlotte ("Lottie") and Nathaniel ("Nat") reveal their somewhat clandestine relationship. In one letter "Cousin Elizabeth Briggs," who is in financial distress, writes to Phila Reed asking that she take over the care of her daughter, Mary. Most of the letters are easily legible although, in a few cases, the ink is very faded.
Materials dealing with estates and their disposition (32 items) are found in Box 1, Folders 3 and 4. In the first of these, there are wills, notices, releases, assignments, agreements and court actions involving the estates of Samuel Delaplaine, Joshua Delaplaine, Phila Delaplaine, Elijah P. and Charlotte Delaplaine (siblings who died in the same year, intestate), Phila Delaplaine Reed and Samuel B. Delaplaine. Folder 4 contains items pertaining to Collin Reed. He made many wills and this collection contains five of them, as well as an inventory of his estate and a number of documents related to the distribution of his property.
There are also two folders of land and real estate transactions (Box 1, Folders 5 and 6). With only two exceptions, all properties mentioned are located in New York City. The exceptions are a 1794 document referring to land in Georgia and a deed, dated 1838, for property in Flushing, Queens County. The 21 items include deeds, indentures, notes, leases, agreements, quit claims, a tenant's agreement and a title search.
Among the 34 financial items in Box 1, Folders 7 and 8, are calculations, obligations, accounts, tax assessments and many receipts. There are a bound receipt book (1801-1823) and two booklets primarily used for receipts but which also contain brief genealogical notes. Two 1762 insurance policies (Box 1, Folder 9) cover shipments of goods from New York to Philadelphia. Both policies are in poor condition.
Box 1, Folder 10 contains two personal diaries, for the years 1844 and 1845, belonging to Phila Delaplaine. The entries deal with weather, family issues and the condition of her health. At page 9/16 of the 1845 diary is a valentine poem. Of interest is the supplemental material in the 1844 diary. Included at the beginning are such things as a list of sheriffs and clerks for the various counties; public notaries and commissioners of deeds in New York City; rates of postage; foreign consuls; banks and insurance companies in New York and Brooklyn; and a list of Sundays in the year 1843. In Box 2, Folder 2 are more than 50 recipes for dishes such as pickled walnuts, ground rice pudding, gingerbread, jumbles, syllabub and fried oysters. Most are contained in a booklet that also has other personal notes such as comments on sermons and charitable activities. One page contains Phila's thoughts on the death of her daughter Charlotte in 1834.
The collection contains poetry (12 items in Box 1, Folder 11) and religious papers such as hymns, religious cards, a booklet listing members of the Brick Presbyterian Church of New York (1833) and "The Prayer of an American Citizen " written by B. Delaplaine, Jr. in 1793 (Box 2 Folder 1.) Many of the Delaplaines were Quakers although membership in other denominations, such as Presbyterian, is also seen in the collection.
Among the school papers in Box 2, Folder 3 are five compositions written by David Sage Williams while he was a student at Renssalear Oswego Academy.
Box 2, Folder 5 contains three health-related items - a remedy for cholera, another for dropsy, and a medical certificate stating that Samuel B. Delaplaine is unfit for military duty (1814).
Specifications for the construction of a residence for Phila Delaplaine at 136 Bowery in New York City are included in Box 2, Folder 6. They require that the house be very similar to that on the adjoining lot belonging to Collin Reed. Box 2, Folder 8 contains a list of book recommendations by Phila Amelia Delaplaine (1842) and an inventory of books in an unidentified library.
Phila Reed was for many years associated with the New York Asylum for Lying-in Women. References to meetings and prospective 'patients' are intermingled with the recipes in Box 2 Folder 2 and there are several items such as a meeting invitation and a patient recommendation in Box 2 Folder 7.
A significant amount of genealogical information is contained in this collection (Box 2, Folder 9), from births and deaths written on scraps of paper to a 42-page typescript containing transcribed documents and citations focused on the Delaplaines. There is an account of Thomas Pell, Sr., a Williams family genealogy going back to 1647 and a list of houses in New York owned by the Delaplaines and the Pells. Many of the scraps of paper are barely legible but other items are in good condition.
Arrangement |
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| All materials are arranged chronologically with the exception of "Wills, Estate Papers and Distribution of Estates" (Box 1, Folders 5 and 6) which are chronological within individual. | ||
Open to qualified researchers.
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. (Researchers may not accrue unused copy amounts from previous days.)
Permission
to quote from this collection in a publication must be requested and granted in writing. Send
permission requests, citing the name of the collection from which you wish to quote, to
Library Director
The New-York Historical Society
Two West 77th Street
New York, NY 10024
The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder.
Within the Manuscript Department can be found the following:
Samuel Delaplaine Papers
Joshua Delaplaine Papers
One of the Delaplaine family members mentioned in the Philadelphia area is Joseph Delaplaine. The Library has several related items such as the following:
Delaplaine, Joseph. Delaplaine's Repository of the Lives and Portraits of Distinguished Americans. Philadelphia: [s.n.], 1815-[1816]. (Call Number: Y-q 1815.Del) Delaplaine's Repository of the Lives and Portraits of Distinguished Americans
The Library also has genealogical information concerning families related to the Delaplaines. Examples include:
Van Name, Elmer Garfield. Pierre Cresson: the Huguenot of Staten Island, Pennsylvania and New Jersey Progeny Including (De la Plaine and Demarest Lines). Woodbury, N.J.: Van Name for the Benefit of Gloucester County, 1968. (Call Number: CS71.C9253 no.1)
Barr, Lockwood. Genealogical Charts & Biographical Notes on the Pell Family with Special Reference to the Lords of the Manor of Pelham, Westchester County, New York. Pelham Manor, N.Y.: 1946. (Call Number: CS71.P385)
Donation, [1966].
This collection should be cited as Delaplaine Family Papers, The New-York Historical Society.