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COLLECTION Identifier: MS Am 800.1

James Prince papers

Overview

Papers of James Prince (1758-1821) who served as United States Marshal at Boston (1807-1821) during the War of 1812, as well as Prince family papers.

Dates

  • Creation: 1784-1849

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English; some in French.

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions on physical access to this material. Collection is open for research.

Extent

1 linear feet (2 boxes)

Includes official papers of James Prince in his position as United States Marshal in Massachusetts, during the War of 1812, including correspondence on prisoners of war in Massachusetts, especially letters from John Mason to Prince. Also includes: James Prince and Agnes Prince personal correspondence, especially with his son James Prince Jr.; Prince family business and legal papers including household bills, deeds, insurance policies, estate papers, and leases; a few political letters and addresses; and other miscellaneous family papers. Letters are from Thomas Melvill [Thomas Melville, Jr.], Ezra Ripley, and Daniel Webster, among many others.

Some documents are appended with manuscript notes made at a later time and concern possible editing and future publishing of these items.

Biographical / Historical

James Prince (1758-1821) was the United States Marshal at Boston (1807-1821) during the War of 1812. He was the son of Job Prince and Elizabeth Allen Prince and was married to Agnes Gordon Prince.

Brief family genealogy:

  1. Job Prince (1724-1790), father; Elizabeth Allen Prince (1724-1786), mother
  2. ___Abigail Prince
  3. ___Job Prince (1751-1798)
  4. ___Thomas Prince (1754-1790)
  5. ___Hezekiah Blanchard Prince
  6. ___Samuel Prince
  7. ___Elizabeth Prince (1753-1812)
  8. ___Sarah Henshaw Prince (1755-1822)
  9. ___James Prince (1758-1821); married in 1789, Agnes Gordon Prince (1760-)
  10. ______James Prince Jr. (1790-)
  11. ______Caroline Prince (1791-)
  12. ______William Gordon Prince (1803-1897; Harvard AB 1823); married Amelia Langdon Prince
  13. _________W. G. Prince
  14. _________Rebecca Langdon Lamson (née Prince) (donor)
  15. _________Miss Agnes G. Prince

Arrangement

Arranged into the following series:

  1. I. James Prince War of 1812 United States Marshal papers relating to prisoners of war in Massachusetts
  2. ___A. Letters from John Mason to James Prince
  3. ___B. Other letters and documents concerning prisoners of war
  4. II. James Prince additional United States Marshal papers
  5. III. Prince family financial records, legal documents, and insurance policies
  6. IV. Prince family correspondence and miscellany

Papers were received already sorted into rough groups; these series were mostly retained. Though an attempt has been made to sort fully, it is likely that some letters and legal papers have been retained in the wrong groupings, i.e. family financial papers and/or letters may actually include documents that concern Prince's duties as Marshal, and vice versa.

Physical Location

b

Immediate Source of Acquisition

No accession number. Gift of Mrs. A. Ward Lamson, River Place, Dedham, Massachusetts; received: 1917 January 19.

This collection included a note dated 1917 January 19, from Thomas P. Martin, the archivist of the Harvard Commission on Western History. This note described the contents of the collection as well as the donor information. The note has been removed to the Curatorial file.

Processing Information

Processed by: Bonnie B. Salt

Title
Prince, James, 1758-1821. James Prince papers, 1784-1849: Guide.
Author
Houghton Library, Harvard College Library
Description rules
dacs
Language of description
und
EAD ID
hou02548

Repository Details

Part of the Houghton Library Repository

Houghton Library is Harvard College's principal repository for rare books and manuscripts, archives, and more. Houghton Library's collections represent the scope of human experience from ancient Egypt to twenty-first century Cambridge. With strengths primarily in North American and European history, literature, and culture, collections range in media from printed books and handwritten manuscripts to maps, drawings and paintings, prints, posters, photographs, film and audio recordings, and digital media, as well as costumes, theater props, and a wide range of other objects. Houghton Library has historically focused on collecting the written record of European and Eurocentric North American culture, yet it holds a large and diverse number of primary sources valuable for research on the languages, culture and history of indigenous peoples of the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Houghton Library’s Reading Room is free and open to all who wish to use the library’s collections.

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