Manuscript Group 633, Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819) Family Papers, 1775-1953 (Bulkdates: 1802-1817)

Archive Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs

Manuscript Group 633, Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819) Family
Papers, 1775-1953 (Bulk dates: 1802-1817), 0.25 linear feet / 1/2 box
Call Number: MG 633

Summary

• Biographical Note
• Provenance Note
• Scope and Content Note
• Related Collections
• Folder List
• Boudinot Family Tree

Summary:

Correspondence and other materials relating to the Boudinot family, including letters of Elisha Boudinot and his daughter, Catherine Boudinot Atterbury.

Gift of Mrs. William F. Dominick, 1965.

Biographical Note:

The Boudinot family were French Huguenots who fled France and then England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes.  They settled in America in the 1680s.

Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819)

Elisha Boudinot, the youngest child of Catharine Williams (b. 1714) and Elias Boudinot III (1706-1770), was born on January 2, 1749 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He studied law under his brother Elias Boudinot IV (1740-1821), and after being accepted to the bar, moved to Newark, New Jersey and set up a practice there.  He was called to be a counselor in 1773 and to the position of sergeant-at-law in 1792.  He became an associate judge of the New Jersey Supreme Court in 1798 and held that position until 1804.

Elisha and his brother Elias were both early supporters of the Revolution.  In 1755, when the patriots of Newark created the General Committee of Newark to organize their efforts, Elisha was made its clerk.  He also held the office of Secretary of the Council of Safety in 1778.  Boudinot was involved with many important personages of the time and entertained such men as George Washington and Alexander Hamilton at his Newark home.

In addition to his other activities, Boudinot was a trustee for the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) and the president of the Newark Banking and Insurance Co., Newark’s first bank.  Elisha Boudinot was also an active member of the First Presbyterian Church of Newark.

Elisha Boudinot married Catherine Smith (1750-1797), the daughter of Mary Bryant (1720-1811) and William Peartree Smith (1723-1801), with whom he had eleven children: Anna Maria, Catharine, Eliza, Susan, Julia, Eliza Emelia Stockton, William, Anna Emelia, Elias E., Eliza Pintard, and William Alexander Hamilton.

Catherine Smith died in 1797 and Elisha remarried in 1798.  His second wife was Rachel Bradford (d. 1804), to whom he was married for six years before her death.  A year later, he remarried again, this time to Catherine Beekman.  Elisha Boudinot died in Newark on October 17, 1819.

Catharine Boudinot Atterbury (1781-1877)

Catherine and Elisha Boudinot’s eldest surviving daughter, Catharine, was born on December 2, 1781.  While still living at her parent’s house in Newark, she was the secretary for the Newark Female Charitable Society, the second oldest private charitable organization in the country.

From her writing, she seems to have been very affected by the religious revival of the time period. She married Lewis Atterbury (1779-1872), a merchant, on September 12, 1803 and had nine children with him: Mary S., Lewis, John, Edward, Elisha Boudinot, Benjamin Bakewell, Julia Maria, William Wallace and Francis.

The Atterburys lived in Baltimore, Maryland shortly after they were married, but later letters from Catharine Boudinot Atterbury place her in Whitestone, Long Island and New York.

Mary S. (Atterbury) Coit (ca.1806-1840)

Mary S. Atterbury was the daughter of Catharine Boudinot and Lewis Atterbury.  She was born sometime in 1805 or 1806 and attended the Brier Cliff School and Miss Marriot’s Boarding School around 1816. (It is unclear whether the two are the same institution.)  She married George Coit and the couple settled in Buffalo, New York.  She died on February 14, 1840.  It is not known whether she had any surviving children.

See Boudinot Family Tree.

Provenance Note:

This collection was the gift of Mrs. William F. Dominick in 1965.

Scope and Content Note:

The Elisha Boudinot Family Papers consist mostly of the personal correspondence of Elisha Boudinot, Catharine Boudinot Atterbury, and Mary S. (Atterbury) Coit.  The papers span the years 1775-1953 with most of the materials dating from 1802-1817.

The correspondence covers such topics as family matters, the religious beliefs and attitudes of the Boudinot Family, and a Newark religious revival led by the Reverends Alexander MacWhorter and Edward Dorr Griffin.  There are also letters between Mary S. (Atterbury) Coit and her mother, Catharine Boudinot Atterbury, discussing Mary’s pregnancy and approaching labor.

In addition to the correspondence, there are other Boudinot family documents, including a copy of the will (in French) of Elie (Elias I) Boudinot, summaries of the estate of Elisha Boudinot, and various silhouettes and clippings.  There are also a few miscellaneous documents dealing with people who have no obvious relation to the Boudinot Family.

Related Collections:

Manuscript Group 636, John Colt (1786-1883) Letters
Manuscript Group 1221, Annis Boudinot Stockton (1736-1801) Copybook
Manuscript Group1363, New Jersey People: Individuals, Families, and Group Photographs
Manuscript Group 1411, Elias Boudinot Stockton (d. 1918) Genealogy Collection

See manuscript card index for other collections containing miscellaneous letters of the Boudinot family.

Folder List:

Boudinot Family Tree: (Individuals in the collection are in bold.)

Elie (Elias) Boudinot (I) (d. 1702) (came to America in the 1680s)
|
Elias Boudinot (II) (1674-1719)
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Elias Boudinot (III) (1706-1770) = Catharine Williams (b. 1714)
|
John Boudinot (b. 1734)
Mary Catharine Boudinot
Annis Boudinot (1736-1801) = Richard Stockton (1730-1781)
Elias Boudinot (IV) (1740-1821)
Mary Boudinot (b. 1742)
David Boudinot (b. 1744)
Susanna Boudinot (b. 1746)
Elisha Boudinot (1749-1819) =
1) Catherine Smith (1750-1797)
|
2) Rachel Bradford (d. 1804)
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3) Catherine Beekman
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Anna Maria Boudinot
*Catharine Boudinot (1781-1877) = Lewis Atterbury (1779-1872)
Eliza Boudinot
Susan Boudinot
Julia Boudinot
Eliza Emelia Stockton Boudinot
William Boudinot
Anna Emelia Boudinot
Elias E. Boudinot
Eliza Pintard Boudinot
William Alexander Hamilton Boudinot
*Catharine Boudinot (1781-1877) = Lewis Atterbury (1779-1872)
|
Mary S. Atterbury (ca. 1806-1840) = George Coit
Lewis Atterbury
John Atterbury
Edward Atterbury
Elisha Boudinot Atterbury
Benjamin Bakewell Atterbury
Julia Maria Atterbury
William Wallace Atterbury
Francis Atterbury

Processed by Kim Charlton, October 1999 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.