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The Taylor & Genet Letters

Call Number

MS 613

Date

1796 - 1882, inclusive

Creator

Extent

0.5 Linear feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

Correspondence involving members of several families who emigrated to America in the late eighteenth century -- Taylor and Gazzam, from England, and Genet, from France. The majority of letters are those of Joseph Gazzam Taylor and his wife, Elizabeth Tallmadge Taylor between 1834 and 1873. There are also a significant number of letters belonging to Joseph Taylor's parents, William Taylor, Jr. and Mary Alice Gazzam Taylor, dated from 1796 through 1842.

Biographical Note

Missing Title

1773 Birth of William Taylor, Jr. in Cambridge, England
1775 Birth of Mary Alice Gazzam in Cambridge, England
1794 Marriage of William Taylor, Jr. and Mary Alice Gazzam, Cambridge, England.
Soon after, they moved, along with Mr. Taylor's parents, to America, settling initially in New Castle, Delaware, and then in Philadelphia. Mr. Taylor,Jr. was an importing merchant in business with his brothers-in-law, William Gazzam and Edward Jones, and, later, with others. There were eleven children born of this union (listed below).
1795 Birth of William Gazzam Taylor (Lived only one day.)
1797 Birth of Thomas Davis Taylor (Lived only seven weeks.)
1798 Birth of Thomas William Taylor (d. 1858)
Became a farmer and lived in Iowa; married Hannah L. Dunn in 1821; twelve children born of this union.
1801 Birth of Benjamin Cook Taylor (d. 1881)
Became a physician in New Jersey; married Anna Romeyer in 1822; four children born of this union.
1803 Birth of Othniel Hart Taylor (d. 1869)
Became a physician and author of some renown in Philadelphia; married Eveline Constantia Burroughs in 1832. Four children born of this union.
1804 Birth of Mary Ann Taylor
Married Joseph Wilson, a minister, in 1822; five children born of this union.
1806 Birth of Sarah Fulford Taylor (Lived less than one year.)
1809 Birth of Martha Elizabeth Taylor
Married (1826) General Henry James Genet, the son of Count Edmond Charles Genet (first Minister of France to the United States) and grandson of Gov. George Clinton of New York. General Genet was one of the founders of the Democratic Party. Thirteen children were born of this union.
1810 Birth of William Rivers Taylor (d. 1826)
1812 Birth of Isaac Ebenezer Taylor
Became a physician in New York and was, at one time, Chief Physician at Bellevue Medical Hospital. Married twice. First marriage (1835) was to Eliza Mollen; four children were born of this union. Second wife was Elizabeth Courtny.
1815 Birth of Joseph Gazzam Taylor
1819 Birth of Elizabeth Matthias Tallmadge
1838 Marriage of Joseph Gazzam Taylor and Elizabeth Matthias Tallmadge
There were seven children born of this union -- A.Rivers, Elizabeth, Clinton T., William, Joseph, Theodora and Southerland.
1848 Death of William Taylor, Jr.
1853 Death of Joseph Gazzam Taylor

Arrangement

The letters are arranged chronologically by family member.

Scope and Content Note

With a few exceptions, this collection consists entirely of correspondence. There are more than 330 letters, almost all of a personal nature. The primary recipients are Joseph Gazzam Taylor; his wife, Elizabeth; his son, Rivers; his mother, Mary Alice Gazzam Taylor; and his father, William Taylor, Jr. There are nineteen letters (Folder 14) written to Phillip Burrows who appears to have been an agent for the family in its financial transactions. These letters, written in the 1840's, deal with land purchases and dealings in Iowa. Throughout the collection are descriptions of daily activities and events and topical references that offer a firsthand account of early and mid-nineteenth century family life.

Folder 1 contains many letters written to William Taylor, Jr. from members of his family in England. There are also a number of bankruptcy notices regarding individuals in debt to Mr. Taylor. Of particular interest is a letter written on January 24, 1845, from Lucius Q.C. Elmer who was, at that time, a New Jersey representative to the 28th U.S. Congress. Mr. Elmer comments about the possibility of statehood for Iowa and Texas.

The second folder consists primarily of letters written by William Taylor, Jr. to his wife Mary. He wrote from London and Dublin, while visiting there, and from New York, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Trenton and other U.S. cities. He also wrote to Mary while she was visiting in England in 1798. It was during that year that both their mothers were dying, and the letters refer to the sad, final days of each.

There are three folders of letters (Folders 3-5) written to Joseph Gazzam Taylor. Most of them were written by his brothers. Several are from a school friend, R.W. Tilson, and among these are a few of particular note. One, written in Philadelphia on August 16, 1834, gives a vivid first-person account of a serious race riot in the city. Subsequent letters discuss a murder committed on election day with probable political motives (October 6, 1834); Tilson's interest and focus on mathematics and science (February 16, 1835); and employment at the newly established Newark College (January 1, 1836, Newark, Delaware).

Joseph also received letters from his wife, his father, his brothers-in-law and other relatives and friends. One nephew, E.C. Genet, who served in the Navy, wrote a number of times. In 1843, Joseph and his family, along with Henry J. Genet and his family, moved to Iowa and attempted to set up homesteads there. Things apparently did not work out well. A letter from Henry Genet (September 10, 1843) reveals a serious rift between the two families and announces the departure of the Genets. Finances, a continuing concern, are referred to in many of the letters and a number of account sheets may be found within the correspondence.

Two folders (6 and 7) contain letters written to Elizabeth M. Tallmadge Taylor. Many are from her husband, Joseph. Letters describing his initial days in Iowa (1843) paint a clear picture of the primitive conditions in the territory. She eventually joined him there and received letters from friends and relatives in the East. After a relatively short time the family left Iowa and returned to New York, near Albany. After the death of her husband in 1853, most of the letters were from his brothers and sisters, her nieces and nephews and her children. Letters from Thomas William Taylor discuss the sale of the Iowa land. The final letter to Elizabeth in this collection, written by her son, Rivers, on August 20, 1874, describes his cousin Cornelia Genet's wedding and gives a humorous update on other family members.

Folders 8 through 11 contain a few letters sent to brothers of Joseph Taylor -- Thomas William, Benjamin Cook, Othniel Hart and Isaac Ebenezer. Folder 12 contains letters received by A. Rivers Taylor from his mother, siblings and cousins as well as a few letters that he wrote. One, for example, written on December 22, 1866, seeking a temporary position in New York and joking about how the Democrats will have to "act a little conservative."

Another son of Joseph and Elizabeth Taylor, Clinton T. Taylor, served in the Navy and a number of letters and orders related to his service are included in Folder 13.

Folder 14 contains the letters to Phillip Burrows who handled financial matters for William Taylor, Jr. and his son Joseph during their Iowa Territory episode. The letters contain detailed financial information and reveal many of the difficulties they faced.

The final folder (Folder 15) includes several letters , a March 15, 1842, receipt for board at the Pacific Hotel in New York City for General H.J. Genet, and a "Family Record" containing the birth, marriage and death dates of certain Taylor family members.

Most of the letters are in good condition. The ink has faded on some of them and there are those with handwriting that is difficult to decipher, in particular those with cross-writing.

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 Taylor & Genet Letters, The New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Related Material at The New-York Historical Society

Further information on the Taylor and Genet families can be found in History of the Gazzam and DeBeelen Families by Antoine DeBeelen Mackenzie, privately published in 1894. (Call Number: CS71.G291)

Collection processed by

Jan Hilley

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:49:54 -0400.
Language: Description is in English.

Edition of this Guide

This version was derivedfrom taylorgenet.xml

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024