Guide to the Papers of Richard Varick
1743-1871 (Bulk 1775-1830)
MS 655
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
Phone: (212) 873-3400
@ 2011 New-York Historical Society
Collection processed by Shannon Yule
This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit
on November 04, 2011
Description is in
English.
Descriptive Summary
| Title: | Richard Varick Papers |
|---|---|
| Dates: | 1743-1871 (bulk 1775-1830) |
| 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. |
| Quantity: | 2.5 Linear feet (5 boxes) |
| Location note: | Manuscript cage |
| Call Phrase: | MS 655 |
Biographical Note
| 1753 Mar. 23 | Born in Hackensack, NJ. Son of John Varick. |
| 1775 | Captain in Alexander McDougall's regiment |
| 1775 July 1 | Appointment by General Phillip Schuyler as his secretary |
| 1776 Sept. 25 | Appointed by Congress as Deputy muster-master-general |
| 1777 Apr. 10 | Lieutenant-colonel |
| 1780 | Inspector-general at West Point, and first aide-de-camp to General Benedict Arnold |
| 1781 | Recording secretary for General Washington |
| 1784-1789 | Recorder of New York City |
| 1787-1788 | Speaker of the New York State Assembly |
| 1787-1816 | Trustee of Columbia College |
| 1788-1789 | Attorney-general of the State of New York |
| 1789 | Varick and Samuel Jones appointed revisers of New York States laws (codified state statutes) |
| 1789-1801 | Mayor of New York |
| [1803]-1820 | President of Merchants Bank |
| 1816-1831 | Founder and benefactor of American Bible Society |
| 1828-1831 | President of American Bible Society |
| 1831 July 30 | Died in Jersey City, NJ |
Richard Varick was married to Maria Roosevelt, daughter of Isaac Roosevelt who was the son of James Roosevelt.
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.
Arrangement
The Richard Varick Papers have been arranged into the following six series.
The materials within each folder are arranged chronologically.
- 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
Access Points
Subject Names
- Arnold, Benedict, --1741-1801
- Bradford, William, 1755-1795
- Carthy, Daniel
- Cuyler, Cornelius
- De Witt, Simeon, 1756-1834
- Dey, Derick --Estate
- Elting, Peter
- Gano, Daniel, 1758-1849
- Gates, Horatio, 1728-1806
- Glen, Henry, 1739-1814
- Lamb, John, 1735-1800
- Lansing, Jacob John
- Lansing, John, 1754-1829
- Laurance, John, 1750-1810
- Lush, Richard
- Romeyn, Dirck
- Rutgers, Henry, 1745-1830
- Sanders, John, 1756-1841
- Schuyler, Philip John, 1733-1804
- Schuyler, Phillip John, --1733-1804
- Scott, John Morin, 1730-1784
- Sewell, Henry, 1753-1845
- Trumbull, Jonathan, 1740-1809
- Van Rensselaer, Philip, 1747-1798
- Varick, John V.B.
- Varick, John
- Varick, Richard, --1753-1831
- Visscher, Matthew
- Ward, Joseph, 1737-1812
- Washington, George, --1732-1799
- Woodruff, Lewis, 1754-1816
- Yates, Peter W. (Peter Waldron)1747-1826
Document Type
- Accounts
- Correspondence
- Inventories
- Muster rolls
- Orders (military records)
- Receipts
Subject Topics
- Courts-martial and courts of inquiry
- Dey, Derick --Estate
- Land grants -- New York (State)
- Mayors -- New York (State) -- New York
- New York (State) -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
- United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783
- United States, --Continental Army, --Pay, allowances, etc.
Family Name(s)
- Day family
- Varick family
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
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.)
Use Restrictions
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:
Manuscripts Curator
The New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Richard Varick Papers, MS 655, The New-York Historical Society.
Container List
Series I: Correspondence
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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Subseries 1: Letters received.
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Box: 1 | Folder : 1 | unidentified correspondents |
1776-1798 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 2 | A - B, single letters or small groups |
1779-1830 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 3 | C, single letters or small groups |
1775-1821 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 4 | D - F, single letters or small groups |
1776-1804 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 5 | G, single letters or small groups |
1776-1791 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 6 | H, single letters or small groups |
1776-1794 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 7 | J - L, single letters or small groups |
1776-1798 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 8 | M - O, single letters or small groups |
1776-1798 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 9 | P - R, single letters or small groups |
1776-1821 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 10 | S, single letters or small groups |
1776-1825 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 11 | T, single letters or small groups |
1779-1798 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 12 | V - Z, single letters or small groups |
1776-1821 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 13 | French correspondents written in French |
1793-1811 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 14 | Theodorus Bailey |
1784-1787 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 15 | William Bradford |
1778-1779 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 16 | Daniel Carthy |
1780 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 17 | [Capt. W.] Colfax |
1781-1782 | |
| Box: 1 | Folder : 18 | Cornelius Cuyler |
1776 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 1 | Simeon DeWitt |
1797, 1814-1815 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 2 | Dey Family |
1780-1781, 1821 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 3 | James Duane |
1784-1789 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 4 | Peter Elting |
1776-1783 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 5 | Daniel Gano |
1775-1778 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 6 | [Major C.] Gibbs |
1780 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 7 | Nic Gilman |
1780 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 8 | Oliver Glean |
1781-1783 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 9 | Henry Glen |
1776-1783 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 10 | Frank Green |
1779 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 11 | John Hancock |
1821 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 12 | Udney Hay |
1775-1784 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 13 | Hugh Hughes |
1781-1782 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 14 | Charles Knight |
1782-1791 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 15 | James Lamb |
1777-1780 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 16 | Jacob J. Lansing |
1770-1771 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 17 | John Lansing |
1776-1777 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 18 | John Lansing |
1778-1783 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 19 | John Laurance |
1782-1783 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 20 | Henry B. Livingston |
1776-1782 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 21 | Zach Lukels |
1781-1783 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 22 | Richard Lush |
1777-1782 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 23 | Alexander McDougall |
1775-1782 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 24 | James Morrell |
1782-1783 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 25 | Isaac Nicoll |
1778-1789 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 26 | Dirck Romeyn |
1780-1782 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 27 | Isaac Roosevelt |
1788 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 28 | Henry Rutgers |
1778-1779 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 29 | Phillip John Schuyler |
1776-1796 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 30 | John Morin Scott |
1775-1784 | |
| Box: 2 | Folder : 31 | Henry Sewell |
1770-1781 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 1 | Jonathan Trumbull |
1781-1794 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 2 | Pierre Van Cortlandt |
1783-1796 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 3 | Peter L. Van Rensselaer |
1779-1783 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 4 | Varick family |
1776-1782 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 5 | Matthew Visscher |
1781-1783 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 6 | Joseph Ward |
1777-1780 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 7 | Peter Wilson |
1778-1785 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 8 | [W.] Wilson |
1801 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 9 | Lewis Woodruff |
1778-1779 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 10 | Anna [Yale] |
1776-1777 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 11 | Peter Yates |
1781-1790 | |
Subseries 2: Drafts and copies of letters sent
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 12 | Unidentified correspondents |
1776-1779 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 13 | A - C, single letters or small groups |
1776-1819 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 14 | D - F, single letters or small groups |
1776-1780 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 15 | G - H, single letters or small groups |
1776-1780 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 16 | J - L, single letters or small groups |
1775-1823 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 17 | M - P, single letters or small groups |
1776-1782 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 18 | R - T, single letters or small groups |
1776-1805 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 19 | V - W, single letters or small groups |
1776-1826 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 20 | William Bradford |
1778-1779 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 21 | Continental Congress |
1777-1783 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 22 | James Duane |
1777-1780 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 23 | Daniel Gano |
1775-1776 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 24 | Horatio Gates |
1776-1801 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 25 | John Hancock |
1776-1777 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 26 | [Gen.] Heath |
1780 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 27 | Alexander McDougall |
1776-1777 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 28 | Timothy Pickering |
1779 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 29 | Phillip Schuyler |
1776-1780 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 30 | Phillip L. Van Rensselaer |
1778-1829 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 31 | Abraham Van Vechten |
1810-1819 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 32 | John Varick |
1825-1830 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 33 | Joseph Ward |
1777-1778 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 34 | George Washington |
1776 | |
Subseries 3: Other correspondence
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 35 | Other correspondents |
1775-1801 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 36 | Invitations and RSVPs |
1786-1821 | |
| Box: 3 | Folder : 37 | "Contents of books/letters transcribed" |
1781 | |
|
|
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Series II: Military Documents
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 1 | Muster rolls, payrolls, billeting rolls, military pay accounts |
1775-1782 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 2 | Military orders and memoranda |
1775-1783 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 3 | Court martials (proceedings, prisoners reports, orders) |
1775-1776 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 4 | Inventories of Captain Varick's military clothing and goods |
1776-1778 | |
|
|
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Series III: Legal Documents
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 5 | Papers relating to the estate of Derick Dey and the affairs of other members of the
Dey family |
1743-1761 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 6 | Papers relating to the estate of Derick Dey and the affairs of other members of the
Dey family |
1762-1850 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 7 | Last wills and testaments of Richard Varick |
1775, 1795, 1831 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 8 | Last wills and testaments of Richard Van Varick and Abraham Varick |
1782, 1813 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 9 | Congressional resolutions |
1776-1777 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 10 | Documents from the Court of Inquiry for Varick's involvement with Benedict Arnold
(deposition, affidavit, declaration) |
1780 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 11 | Papers about veterans' claims to military lands in New York State, including some
maps |
1784-1815 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 12 | State Supreme Court of NY papers |
1785-1805 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 13 | Chancery case file with members of the Ludlow family as plaintiffs (large bound doc) |
1810 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 14 | Indentures, bonds, deeds, mortgages |
1817-1832 | |
| Box: 4 | Folder : 15 | Other legal documents |
[1786-1833] | |
|
|
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Series IV: Accounts, Bills, Receipts
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 1 | Accounts |
1775-1783 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 2 | Accounts |
1786-1830 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 3 | Receipts (mainly for provisions or pay received) |
1775-1823 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 4 | Bills and receipts for work and equipment (mainly for property repairs) supplied by
New York tradesmen |
1803-1808 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 5 | US Internal Revenue income tax form for Abe Varick |
1871 | |
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Series V: Appointments to Various Offices
Scope and Contents noteThis 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. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 6 | Commission as Captain |
1776 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 7 | Appointment as solicitor and counselor at law for New Jersey |
1779 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 8 | Appointments as mayor of New York (one including large wax seal) |
1790, 1794 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 9 | Letter signifying election as director of Bank of New York |
1794 | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 10 | Acceptance letter of his resignation as President of the Merchant Bank of New York
and praise of his service |
1820 | |
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Series VI: Genealogies
Scope and Contents noteThis series contains one item, a genealogy of the Berthoff and Varick families. |
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| Container 1 | Container 2 | Title | Date | |
| Box: 5 | Folder : 11 | Genealogy of Berthoff and Varick families |
1780 | |
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