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3. Provenance 5. Inventory 6. Subjects |
Daniel Lyman Papers Soldier and jurist, Newport, R.I. Family papers, 1778-1832 Size: .5 linear feet Catalog number: MSS 546 Processed by: Harold Kemble, 1986. Finding aid, Rick Stattler, 1996. USE MICROFILM E275 .A2 L96©Rhode Island Historical Society Manuscripts Division |
Historical note:
Daniel Lyman (1756-1830) was born in Durham, Connecticut, the son of Thomas Lyman. While enrolled at Yale College, he was commissioned as a captain in the Continental Army, serving in the battles of Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and St. Johns. After his graduation in 1776, he was commissioned as a major, served at the battle of White Plains, and from 1778 until the close of the war was an aide to General William Heath. He married Mary "Polly" Wanton (b.1762) of Newport in 1782, and had 13 children. After the war, he settled in the Wanton family home in Newport, Rhode Island, was a member of the Hartford Convention, acted as surveyor for the port of Newport, and served as president of the state chapter of the Society of the Cincinnati. He also practiced law, and served as the Chief Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from 1802 to 1816. He retired to a country seat north of Providence in 1808, and became a partner in the Lyman Cotton Manufacturing Company.
Lyman's thirteen children, most of whom appear in this collection, were: Anna M. Randolph, b. 1782; Harriet Hazard, 1784-1875; Margaret Arnold, 1786-1865; Mary Dunwell, b. 1788; Eliza, b. 1790, never married; Thomas, 1790-1832, never married; John W., b. 1793; Daniel Jr., b. 1793; Henry B. b. 1795; Louisa Tillinghast, b. 1797; Sally Arnold, b. 1799; Julia M. Easton, b. 1801; and Emily, 1804-1805. Harriet Hazard inherited the family home in Newport, which has since been known as the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House.
Bibliography:
Bibliographic Cyclopedia of Rhode Island (1881), p. 208.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography, volume X, p. 119.
Coleman, Lyman. Genealogy of the Lyman Family in Great Britain and North America (Albany, N.Y.: J, Munsell, 1872), p. 207.
Scope and content:
This collection includes personal correspondence of Daniel Lyman and his family, as well as a diary kept by Maj. Lyman in 1780. The correspondence is mostly addressed by Maj. Lyman to his future wife, and to Abraham Barker, a personal friend who lived with the Wantons; the dates are primarily 1780 through 1783. Three letters are between military officers, though all are mostly personal in nature: a letter from Col. Alexander Scammell that discusses the difficulty of recruiting troops in Massachusetts, and two from Maj. Thomas Cartwright. Also included are several letters addressed among Maj. Lyman's family between 1802 and 1832, mostly addressed to his children Anna M. Randolph of Richmond, Va., and Thomas Lyman at Yale.
The diary includes entries from January 1 through July 20, 1780, while Lyman was senior aide to General Heath and adjutant-general of the army's Eastern Department. As this was an administrative position, there is little in the diary pertaining to the battles of the Revolution. However, Lyman was the first to greet the Comte de Rochambeau and his French troops upon their arrival in Newport on July 11, 1780, which is discussed. The diary was later used by one of Lyman's sons as a notebook at Yale in 1808, which uses more pages than the diary did.
Provenance:
The diary was donated to the Society in 1891 by Jesse Metcalf. The large bulk of the correspondence was purchased in 1986 by David Keith. The 1819 letter from John W. Lyman was donated by Lewis Balch in 1937, and both the 1810 receipt and 1827 partnership notice were purchased in 1938 as part of the Shepley Library. The miscellaneous material at the end of the collection, though not listed in the purchase list of 1986, probably arrived with that accession as well.
Processing note:
The letters are arranged chronologically. One letter from the 1986 purchase, from Benjamin Hazard to his son Peyton Hazard dated 1838, was removed to the Peyton Hazard Papers.
Inventory:
Diary: 1 volume, 1/1/1780 to 7/20/1780
Correspondence:
1. S. Cogswell to Daniel Lyman, 10/3/1778. 3 p.
2. Col. Alexander Scammell to DL, 5/2/1779. 2 p.
3. DL to Thomas Lyman, 6/3/1779. 3 p.
4. DL to Mary Wanton, 10/3/[1780]. 2 p.
5. DL to Abraham Barker, 10/5/1780. 2 p.
6. DL to Mary Wanton, 10/15/1780. 3 p.
7. DL to Alexander Barker, 10/22/1780. 4 p.
8. Alexander Barker to DL, 10/25/1780. 2 p.
9. DL to Mary Wanton, 10/30/1780. 2 p.
10. DL to Alexander Barker, 11/14/1780. 3 p.
11. DL to Alexander Barker, 11/15/1780. 3 p.
12. DL to Alexander Barker, 12/5/1780. 3 p.
13. DL to Mary Wanton, 12/7/1780. 3 p.
14. DL to Alexander Barker, 12/12/1780. 2 p.
15. Maj. Thomas Cartwright to DL, 12/21/1780. 3 p.
16. DL to Alexander Barker, 12/22/1780. 2 p.
17. DL to Alexander Barker, 12/30/1780. 3 p.
18. DL to John G. Wanton, 2/14/1781. 2 p., letter copy.
Requesting daughter's hand in marriage.
19. DL to Mary Wanton, 3/23/1781. 2 p.
20. DL to Alexander Barker, 3/24/1781. 2 p.
21. DL to Alexander Barker, 4/3/1781. 2 p.
22. DL to Mary Wanton, 4/2/1781. 2 p.
23. DL to Alexander Barker, 4/12/1781. 3 p.
24. DL to Mary Wanton, 4/24/1781. 2 p.
25. DL to Alexander Barker, 4/25/1781. 2 p.
26. DL to Mary Wanton, 5/1/1781. 3 p.
27. DL to Alexander Barker, 5/5/1781. 3 p.
28. DL to Mary Wanton, 5/18/1781. 4 p.
29. Alexander Barker to DL, 5/24/1781. 4 p.
30. DL to Alexander Barker, 5/25/1781. 4 p.
31. DL to Mary Wanton, 7/19/1781. 3 p.
32. Maj. Thomas Cartwright to DL, 7/31/1781. 4 p.
33. DL to Mary Wanton, 7/31/1781. 4 p.
34. DL to Alexander Barker, 8/8/1781. 3 p.
35. DL to Alexander Barker, 9/3/1781. 3 p.
36. DL to Mary Wanton, 9/15/1781. 3 p.
37. Alexander Barker to DL, 9/21/1781. 2 p.
38. DL to Mary Wanton, 10/2/1781. 2 p.
39. DL to Mary Wanton, 10/20/1781. 3 p.
40. DL to Alexander Barker, 10/21/1781. 3 p.
41. DL to Mary Wanton, 10/26/1781. 3 p.
42. DL to Mary Wanton, 11/11/1781. 2 p.
43. DL to Alexander Barker, 11/18/1781. 3 p.
44. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 3/31/1782 to 4/7/1782. 6 p.
45. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, [ca. 4/16/1782]. 4 p., fragment.
46. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 4/23/1782. 3 p.
47. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 4/30/1782. 4 p.
48. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 5/10/1782. 3 p.
49. DL to Alexander Barker, 5/11/1782. 3 p.
50. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 5/15/1782. 3 p.
51. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 6/10/1782. 4 p.
52. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 6/18/1782. 3 p.
53. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 6/23/1782. 3 p.
54. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 6/27/1782. 3 p.
55. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 7/2/1782. 2 p.
56. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 7/7/1782. 3 p.
57. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 7/10/1782. 2 p.
58. Mary (Wanton) Lyman to DL, 7/12/1781. 2 p.
59. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 7/15/1782. 3 p.
60. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 7/21/1782. 3 p.
61. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 7/28/1782. 3 p.
62. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 8/3/1782. 3 p.
63. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 8/12/1782. 3 p.
64. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 8/21/1782. 3 p.
65. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 8/21/1782. 3 p.
66. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 9/3/1782. 3 p.
67. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 9/10/1782. 3 p.
68. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, ca. 10/1782. 3 p.
69. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 10/3/1782. 3 p.
70. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 4/17/1783. 2 p.
71. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 4/23/1783. 3 p.
72. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 4/24/1783. 1 p.
73. Mary (Wanton) Lyman to DL, 5/5/1783. 2 p.
74. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 5/7/1783. 3 p.
75. Mary (Wanton) Lyman to DL, 5/12/1783. 3 p.
Discusses celebration of treaty with England and paintings by Samuel King.
76. DL to Mary (Wanton) Lyman, 12/20/1786. 3 p.
77. Thomas Lyman to Anna M. (Lyman) Randolph, 12/5/1802
78. Harriet and Margaret Lyman to Anna M. (Lyman) Randolph, 3/11/1804. 3 p.
79. Mary Lyman, Mary (Wanton) Lyman and Eliza Lyman to Thomas Lyman, 10/10/1807.
80. Harriet Lyman and Daniel Lyman Jr. to Thomas Lyman, 2/15/1807. 3 p.
81. Eliza and Harriet Lyman to Thomas Lyman, 6/14/1807. 3 p.
82. Mary Lyman and Daniel Lyman Sr. to Thomas Lyman, 11/8/1807. 3 p.
83. Mary (Wanton) Lyman and Eliza Lyman to Thomas Lyman, 2/14/1808. 2 p.
84. Harriet (Lyman) Hazard to Anna Maria (Lyman) Randolph, 4/16/1808. 1 p.
On reverse: Harriet to Dr. R.A. Randolph. 1 p.
85. [Thomas?] Lyman to Daniel Lyman Sr., 1/22/1809. 3 p.
86. Daniel Lyman Sr. to Thomas Lyman, 3/28/1813. 3 p.
87. Daniel Lyman Sr. to Thomas Lyman, 4/8/1814. 1 p.
88. Daniel Lyman Jr. to Daniel Lyman Sr., 5/19/1822. 2 p.
89. Samuel W. Bridgham to the family of Daniel Lyman, 10/18/1830. 1 p.
With enclosed memorial from minutes of the Providence County Bar, 10/18/1830. 1 p.
90. Henry B. Lyman to Thomas Lyman, 8/1/1831. 3 p.
91. Daniel Lyman Jr. to Daniel Lyman, 3/3/1832. 3 p.
92. Robert T. Walsh to Henry B. Lyman, 11/5/1832. 2 p.
93. John W. Lyman to Daniel Lyman, 7/21/1819. 3 p.
Receipt, Joseph S. Cooke to Daniel Lyman, 5/24/1810.
Lyman Cotton Manufacturing Company, notice of partnership, 1/16/1827.
94. Miscellaneous folder:
"Some Reminiscences of a Person Born in 1808", Newport, 1906. Two pages of typed anecdotes on the Lyman and Wanton families, almost certainly by Emily L. Hazard, granddaughter of Maj. Daniel Lyman.
Postcard of the Wanton-Lyman-Hazard House
Two sheets of uncredited, undated poetry, probably ca. 1800
Short historical note on early Newport
Undated fragment of a letter, probably from Harriet (Lyman) Hazard to her son Daniel.
Subjects:
Cartwright, Thomas
Cogswell, S.
Cooke, Joseph S.
Hazard, Emily L. (1808-1909)
Hazard, Harriet (Lyman) (1784-1875)
Heath, William (1737-1814)
King, Samuel (1748-1819)
Lyman, John W. (b. 1793)
Lyman, Thomas (1791-1832)
Lyman Cotton Manufacturing Company
Newport, R.I. - History - Revolution, 1775-1783
Randolph, Anna M. (Lyman) (1782- )
Rochambeau, Comte de Jean Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur (1725-1807)
Scammell, Alexander (1747-1781)
United States - History - Revolution, 1775-1783
Wanton, Mary (b. 1762)
Yale University
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RIHS1822