The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Payson, Samuel, 1777-1861  

Title:               Papers

Dates:             1805-1813.

Call No.:         Col. 419         

Acc. No.:        60x12

Quantity:        9 items

Location:        34 J 2

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Samuel Payson was a cabinetmaker in Massachusetts. He was born in East Sudbury, Mass. in 1777, the son of Abigail Pierpont and Joseph Payson.  He apparently lived in Richmond, Virginia, for a while, apparently leaving there in late 1805 or early 1806.  He then moved to Boston, where he leased a cabinetmaker's shop from William Fiske.  In the 1850 census, Payson was listed as living in Roxbury, and was working in a piano factory.  He died in Roxbury in 1861.

 

David White was listed as a cabinetmaker in Boston city directories of 1809-1820.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

This collection contains six letters, a bill for taxes (1813), an indenture, and the passport (1805) of cabinetmaker Samuel Payson.  The letters are from friends in Richmond, Virginia, two from Robert M. Pulliam, one from Oakley Philpotts, and three from Samuel White.  Several mention Payson's misfortune of losing personal belongings on his voyage from Richmond to Boston.  One letter mentions sending woodworking tools and patterns to Payson.  Philpotts orders furniture from him.  Various members of the White family are mentioned in Samuel White’s letters, including David White, who went to Boston with Payson.  A couple of letters mention the difficulties of keeping good workers.  The indenture is for Payson's lease of a cabinetmaker's shop from William Fiske of Boston.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The items are in chronological order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from Avis and Rockwell Gardiner.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

                        Fiske, William, 1770-1844.

                        Philpotts, Oakley.

                        Pulliam, Robert M.

                        White family.

 

Topics:

            Cabinetwork - Massachusetts - Boston - 19th century.

            Furniture making - Massachusetts - Boston - 19th century.

            Workshops - Massachusetts - Boston - 19th century.

            Letters.

            Indentures.

            Passports.

            Cabinetmakers.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 34 J 2

 

 

All accession numbers begin with 60x12:

 

 

.1         passport: issued by Commonwealth of Massachusetts for United States of America: Nov. 8, 1805: issued to Samuel Payson, about 27 years old, born in East Sudbury, Mass.; issued by John Gardner, notary public and justice of the peace for Boston and Suffolk County, Mass.; signed by both Gardner and Payson;

                        Paper is watermarked with figure of Britannia inside a circle topped with a crown;

                        Printed form

 

.2         letter, Robert M. Pulliam, Richmond, [Va.], March 27, 1806, to Payson, Boston: sorry to hear that Payson was cast away on Long Island; times are dull in Richmond [i.e. business is slow]; “tell David [White] I have not heard any of the girls crying about him since he left this place”;

                        Paper watermarked: IPING 1802

 

.3         letter, Oakley Philpotts, Richmond, [Va.], March 28, 1806, to Payson, Boston: orders furniture to be shipped to him:

bedstead and bureau (with satinwood veneer) like those of Isaac White;

pair of card tables;

a wash stand;

pair of dining tables, common size; and

a sideboard;

if Payson does not have these on hand, please purchase them or ask Thomas White to do so;

 

.4         letter, Samuel White, Richmond, April [illegible], 1806, to Brother Payson, Boston, care of Asa Page: sorry to hear of his loss; wasn’t able to write sooner because Mr. Finch left and had to do all the work himself; has sent money for him to Asa Page, as well as money for gravestones; things are dull - “the money seems to be all gone out of the place”; Mrs. White sends love; Glynn’s girls are sorry to hear of his misfortunes; have boxed and sent his saw, bench screw, and patterns; the [lottery] tickets have not come out yet;

 

.5         letter, Samuel White, Richmond, [Va.], June 5, 1806, to Brother Payson, i.e. Samuel Payson, cabinetmaker, Boston: Capt. Lewis[?] Scott gave me receipt for the gravestone and then White wrote Page to send him money – “I wonder that he did not git it”; recommends Payson stay in Boston a while longer because things are dull in Richmond; does not recommend that he go to North Carolina either – probably as dull there; Mrs. White and all acquaintances send love to Payson and David; all White’s [lottery] tickets have drawn blanks

 

.6         letter, Samuel White, Richmond,[Va.],  Aug. 31, 1806, to Samuel Payson, Boston: had to turn out his last young man back in June because he was a grand rogue, “but I found him out before he could do too much damage”; have been working alone since then; things have been dull this summer; David wrote that Payson had a good chance to set up in business;

                        With a note: one letter for David White, one do. do. Thos.[?] Redman;

                        Paper watermarked with initials A K

 

.7         letter, R. [Robert] M. Pulliam, Richmond, [Va.], Dec. 15, 1806, to Payson, Boston: write Payson and David White last spring and have not received a reply from either; “our friend Mr. McAlister has conducted things badly … he has failed and has been sometime in prison”; is now out after declaring insolvency; Miss Glynn was with McAlister at the play recently; Isaac White and John Shelton have joined in partnership; Samuel White has another son; Pulliam still with Thomas White; please ask David White to write;

 

.8         indenture: Sept. 1, 1809: William Fiske of Boston, cabinetmaker, rents to Samuel Payson: the cabinetmaker’s shop, the cellar under the shop, and the adjacent land, located between Fiske’s dwelling house and that of Aaron Willard; also a barn behind the shop, said barn now occupied by Samuel Hoston, to be used as a chair maker’s shop, also the adjoining house;

            Lease is for one year, rent $200 a year; lease can be renewed;

            Witnessed by James Williams; the signatures of Fiske and Payson have been torn off;

                        [printed form]

 

.9         tax receipt: Samuel Payson paid commonwealth, town and county, and parish tax, Roxbury, August 1813, signed by John H. Hawes, collector

                        [printed form]