Skip to main content

Archives at Cornell

William Pierrepont White and family collection

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: 399

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

Correspondence, diaries, deeds, accounts, maps, surveys, pamphlets, statements, registers, bills, land contracts, inventories, cashbooks, indentures, minutes, and other records and papers reflecting the westward and southward movement of members of the White and related families, concerning their activities in the development of land, canals, railroads, cotton manufacturing, mining, banking, and highways, chiefly in New York State. The early papers relate to the White family of Middletown, Connecticut, and the development after 1783 of Whitestown, New York, and include the town books (1807-1823) for Richland, New York, church records, early election returns, deeds, documents on the Brothertown Indians, grist mills, civil and criminal cases, slave sales, the War of 1812, the Bank of Utica, and the Pierrepont Land Office. Includes the diary of William Pierrepont White. One group of papers relates to the disposal of the Constable lands and the development of Pierrepont Manor, and contains statements of land contracts (1801-1810) given by William Constable, an inventory of the Constable estate (1829), a memorandum of journeys made by William Constable Pierrepont to the Constable tract, lists of bonds for Ellisburgh, New York (1834-1841), and a series of letters from Franklin B. Hough relating to life boats for Ellisburgh and Oswego, and to other matters.

Also, correspondence, accounts, and other documents of Hugh White, son of the Whitestown proprietor and early concrete manufacturer; his son Hugh White, and William Mansfield White. Also, material pertaining to the related Axtell, Duston, Lawrence, Mansfield, Mills, Niles, Porter, Van Wagenen, and Young families. Another subject is the 19th century spread of a family across the continent, with material reflecting American life and history of the period. White family papers include material on White's grandfather and grandson, also both named Hugh White. Major correspondents include William Constable, Hezekiah Beers Pierrepont, and William Constable Pierrepont (pertaining to New York State land patents) and James Buchanan, Washington Hunt, T. Batter King, William L. Marcy, William E. Seward, and Benjamin Wright

William Pierrepont White family papers pertain to affairs in Utica, New York and Oneida County. William Mansfield White papers pertain to his legal activities as an executor of the estates of William Constable Pierrepont and William C. White, his career as a bank president, and Hamilton College alumni affairs. Also includes a diary (1867) and White family genealogical data. Hugh White's papers concern his legal activities as agent, attorney, and executor for White family interests in Ann Arbor, Michigan. William Constable Pierrepont papers include leases and other legal papers, his will, and estate papers for which Gerritt H. Van Wagenen was executor.

Other papers concern Canvass White, an engineer for the Erie Canal, construction superintendent for the Union Canal of Pennsylvania, the Delaware and Raritan Canal of New Jersey, and the New York Water Works Company, and promoter of the Cohoes Company. Includes the papers of William N. White, vice-president of the Utica Pipe Foundry Company, director of the Utica and Mohawk Railroad Company, of the Jefferson County National Bank, the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg Railroad Company, and other companies; he was the manager of the estate of his father-in-law, William Constable Pierrepont, and an active figure in political, church, and educational affairs. Also the papers of William Pierrepont White, lawyer and businessman of New York and Utica, president of the Oneida Historical Society, and a pioneer in the development of modern highways. Includes papers of the Wheeler, Constable, and Van Wagenen papers, as well as other families; also, Walcott family correspondence beginning with a series of letters (1825-1827) from Walnut Hills, Mississippi, and other series relating to real estate speculation in Kansas, Missouri, Indiana, and Nebraska, to banking in North Dakota, to the management of cotton mills in Georgia and New York, and to oil and mining interests.

Correspondents include Jesse C. Bowen, Mary Hill, Henry Hilton, John Muir, Anna P. Van Wagenen, Anna M. White, C. Carroll White, DeLancey P. White, Evelyn White, Ruth White, Benjamin Wright, and many others; also, the Fort Schuyler Club, the New York State Agricultural Society, and several New York State railroads and utilities.

Dates

  • 1728-1939.

Creator

Language of Materials

Collection material in English

Extent

63.6 cubic feet. (63.6 cubic feet.)

Additional Description

Abstract

Correspondence, diaries, deeds, accounts, maps, surveys, pamphlets, statements, registers, bills, land contracts, inventories, cashbooks, indentures, minutes, and other records and papers reflecting the westward and southward movement of members of the White and related families.

Related Materials

See also the following collections of White/Pierrepont/Constable family members: #609, Canvass White papers #608, William Constable papers #1094, William Constable Pierrepont diaries #601, Maria Mansfield White papers

Physical Description

Correspondence, diaries, financial and legal documents.

NOTES

Consists of collections #399, #565, #586, #610, #654, #944, #1830, and #1831.

Processing Information

The collection was completely reprocessed in 2026. Collections #1831 and #610, which contained White family papers, were combined and added to this collection.

Subjects

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Status
Completed
Author
Compiled by RMC Staff
Date
March 2016
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script

Revision Statements

  • 12/07/2018: This resource was modified by the ArchivesSpace Preprocessor developed by the Harvard Library (https://github.com/harvard-library/archivesspace-preprocessor)

Physical Storage Information

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections Repository

https://rare.library.cornell.edu/
Contact:
2B Carl A. Kroch Library
Cornell University
Ithaca NY 14853
607-255-3530
607-255-9524 (Fax)

Staff Interface | Visit ArchivesSpace.org | v3.3.1 | Send Feedback or Report a Problem