Manuscript Group 59, Jacob Spicer (1716-1765), New Jersey Provincial Assembly Member Papers, 1737-1846

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Manuscript Group 59, Jacob Spicer (1716-1765), New Jersey Provincial Assembly Member Papers, 1737-1846 (Bulk
dates: 1744-1765), 0.8 linear feet / 8 folders

Call Number: MG 59

Summary

• Biographical
  Note

• Provenance
  Note

• Scope
  and Content Note

• Related Collections

• Folder List

Summary:

Correspondence, diary,
1755-1756; diary extracts, 1756-1762; last will and testament; manuscript copy
of a military map of the city and harbor of Louisburg, Nova Scotia, ca. 1745;
documents relating to Spicer’s service as a member of the New Jersey Provincial
Assembly, 1744-1765.  Many of the letters and documents concern military
matters during the French and Indian War, including campaigns of General Edward
Braddock and William Shirley in 1755.  Included are letters of:

The diary is printed in The
New Jersey Historical Society Proceedings, ser. 1, 3 (1848-1849), pgs. 103-104,
192-198; 67 (1945), pgs. 37-50, 82-117, 175-188.

Gift (in part) of Mrs. J.
McKesson, 1936.

Biographical
Note:

Jacob Spicer, the only child of Sarah (d.
1742) and Jacob Spicer (1668-1741), was born in Cold Spring Inlet, Cape May
County, New Jersey in 1717.  Jacob married Judith Hughes (d. 1747), the
daughter of Humphrey Hughes, and together they had four children: Jacob, Sylvia,
Sarah, and Judith.  After his wife’s death, Spicer married Deborah
Leaming (d. 1787), the widow of Christopher Leaming.

Jacob Spicer owned lands in Cape May and
Cumberland Counties, New Jersey; New York; and North Carolina.  Like his
father before him, Jacob represented Cape May County in the New Jersey House of
Assembly from 1744 until his death in 1765.  He was also a prominent
merchant and farmer who traded with settlers, most often in Philadelphia, but
also in New York, Long Island, Rhode Island, Nantucket, and North Carolina.

Provenance
Note:

This collection was the gift, in part, of
Mrs. J. McKesson in 1936.

Scope
and Content Note:

This collection consists of 8 folders of
Jacob Spicer’s papers including his diary, copy letters, receipts, will, and
estate papers.  The collection measures 0.8 linear feet and dates from
1737-1846, with bulk dates of 1744-1765.

The diary, written by Jacob Spicer from
1755 to 1756, discusses his business and political affairs.  A handwritten
and typescript copy of selected passages of a different Spicer diary
(ca.1758-1762) is included in this collection.  During the period covered
in the diary, Spicer spent 29 days in Philadelphia printing the proprietary laws
of New Jersey.  Other notations indicate the sale of land by locals and
types and values of goods Spicer sold.  Spicer sold steer and cows;
raccoon, muskrat, and otter skins; rum and a number of dry goods.

The correspondence includes copy letters
written by Spicer, a letterbook kept in his hand, and typescript copies of the
letters in the book from October 1764 to July 1765.

The correspondence deals mainly with the
British and colonials’ attack on the fortress of Louisbourg on Cape Breton
Island, Nova Scotia, Canada in 1745.  There are also many letters relating
to other political matters and some from and to some very notable figures
including King George II of England (1683-1760), William Pitt (1708-1778), and
William Shirley (1693-1771), Governor of Massachusetts.  The topic of
discussion in these letters revolves around the attack on Louisbourg.
There is also some correspondence regarding fighting with the French near the
Monaghela River in Pennsylvania in 1755.  The copies of the correspondence
include family histories that were written in 1846.

The acts, accounts, and sketch folder
contains an account for the New Jersey contingent of the forces planning an
attack on Canada in 1746.  There is also a sketch made by Jacob Spicer
titled “A Plan of the City and Harbour (sic) of Louisbourg on the Island of
Breton in America.”  An 1807 power of attorney from Samuel Jones,
Jacob Spicer’s son-in-law, appointing David Pugh to be his attorney is also in
this folder.

Related
Collections:

For more information on Jacob
Spicer and his affairs with the New Jersey Assembly see:

Manuscript
Group 41, Samuel Smith (1720-1776) Papers

Folder
List:

Processed by James Lewis, June 2001 as part of the “Farm to City”
project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records
Commission.

Submit a request to copy part of this collection

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