Manuscript Group 674, Anthony Walton White (1750-1803), Cavalry officer Papers, 1740-1868

Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs

Manuscript Group 674, Anthony Walton White (1750-1803), Cavalry officer

Papers, 1740-1868, 0.15 linear feet / 7 folders

Call Number: MG 674 + folder number

Summary

• Biographical Note
• Provenance Note
• Scope and Content Note
• Related Collections
• Container List

Summary:

Correspondence and legal documents of White and several members of the White and Evans families of New Brunswick and vicinity.  Included are letters of:

White was an officer in the Revolutionary War and General of Cavalry during the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794.

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. Donald Jordan, 1966.

Biographical Note:

Anthony Walton White, the son of Elizabeth Morris (1712-ca.1784) and Anthony White (1717-1787), was born at his parent’s estate near New Brunswick, New Jersey on July 7, 1750.  He was well-educated and tended to the family estate until the outbreak of the Revolution when he was appointed a major in the army and aide-de-camp to General George Washington in October of 1775. By December 1779, he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the Third New Jersey Continental Dragoons, and by 1780 was appointed lieutenant-colonel commandant of the First Regiment of Cavalry.  He fought in both the northern and southern battles zones, including battles in Savannah, Georgia and Charleston, South Carolina.  During a period of pay and ration shortages for the soldiers, White privately funded his men, and later acted as security on their loans.  When the loans came due White was forced to cover the debts losing large amounts of money in the process.  He later attempted to recover the losses through an appeal to Congress, but the effort was unsuccessful.

In the spring of 1783, he married Margaret Ellis (ca. 1768-1850), and after the war ended the couple settled in New York and had a daughter, Eliza Mary (1794-1861).  Due to a number of bad investments, White lost his personal inheritance and in 1793, moved back to New Brunswick, New Jersey.  The following year, however, President Washington appointed him general of the Cavalry in the expedition to put down the Whiskey Rebellion. Four years later, on July 19, 1798, he was commissioned a brigadier-general of the United States Army.  Anthony Walton White died on February 10, 1803.

Sources:

Woodhull, Ann M.W. “Memoir of Brig. Gen. Anthony Walton White of the Continental Army,” Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, Series II, Vol. VII, pgs. 106-115.

Provenance Note:

These papers were donated by Mr. and Mrs. J. Donald Jordan in 1966.

Scope and Content Note:

The papers, dating from 1740-1868, consist of correspondence to or about Anthony Walton White, and a small number of land indentures and receipts.  The documents have been arranged by record type.

Correspondents in the collection include John Bayard, Joseph Bloomfield, William R. Boote, Eliza M. Evans, N. Gouverneur, Joseph Howell, Robert Morris (1734-1806), Staats Morris, John Rutherfurd (1760-1840), John Shippen, Samuel L. Southard, Philip Van Horne, George Washington, Anthony White, and Margaret (Ellis) White.  The correspondence generally covers the financial affairs of Anthony Walton White before and after his death, but also touches on the Revolution and military experiences.

In addition to two land indentures and a few receipts, the collection contains a 1794 true copy of the copyright given to White for his “The Military System for the New Jersey Cavalry” and a list of the papers of Margaret (Ellis) White.

Collections:

Manuscript Group 16, Lewis Morris (1671-1746) Papers

Manuscript Group 129, William Leddel (1747-1828) Papers

Container List:

Processed by Kim Charlton, October 2000 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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