The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
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]