Manuscript Group 314, Richard Smith Denton (1790-1864), Merchant and postmaster Papers,1807-1863 (Bulk dates: 1820-1838)

Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs

Manuscript Group 314, Richard Smith Denton
(1790-1864), Merchant and postmaster

Papers,
1807-1863 (Bulk dates: 1820-1838), 3 linear feet / 6 boxes

Call Number: MG 314 + Box and folder
number

• Summary

• Biographical
  Note

• Provenance
  Note

• Scope
  and Content Note

• Related
  Collections

• Box/Folder
  List

Summary:

Letters and routine business records of
Richard Smith Denton (1790-1864) and Hezekiah Denton, who managed successive
general stores in Snufftown (now in Hardyston Township), Seward Farm, and Vernon
Township in Sussex County for William Smith and Company of New York City – the
owner of and purveyor for a series of some twenty general stores in New York and
New Jersey.  Richard S. Denton’s business interests extended to an iron
forge and a sawmill, and he served as postmaster and overseer of the roads of
Vernon Township.  There is an undated, typescript history of “The
Dentons of Vernon Valley” by Vernon B. Hampton.

Gift of Mrs. Edward P. Uptegrove, 1948.

Biographical
Note:

Richard Smith Denton (1790-1864), the son
of Mr. and Mrs. John Denton (III) (b. 1762) was descended from Rev. Richard
Denton (1586-1662) who arrived in Massachusetts in 1630.  Richard Smith
Denton was a farmer in Goshen, New York and married Julia Gale (1792-1835) in
1812.  The couple had eight children: Mary (1813-1895); John Gale
(1816-1817); Richard Smith, Jr.; Sarah (1821-1825); Ira (1823-1825); Julia (b.
1826); Theodore (1830-1863); and Francis (1833-1833).

In 1821, the Dentons moved to Snufftown
(now Hardyston Township, Sussex County), New Jersey where Richard replaced
Hezekiah Denton in the management of a general store owned by Richard’s uncle,
William Smith (d. 1825).  The store was one of twenty owned by William
Smith’s wholesale goods company, Smith & Company, based at 104 Pearl
Street in New York City.

In 1823, Richard S. Denton persuaded
William Smith to move the store first to nearby Seward Farms (Sussex County),
New Jersey and then, in 1825, to Vernon Township (Sussex County).  After
the death of William Smith in 1825, Denton continued purchasing much of his
inventory from Smith’s sons, Coe and Ira.  Denton eventually owned his
own store in Vernon Township, and in 1827, he moved his family into the Winans
Inn homestead across the road from his store.  That same year he became the
postmaster of Vernon Township, and later, in 1831, was appointed overseer of the
roads.  At the time of his death in 1864, Richard Smith Denton passed
ownership of the store to his son Richard S. Denton, Jr., who also assumed the
office of postmaster.  The Denton family were members of the Methodist
Church of Vernon.

Sources:

Hampton, Vernon Boyce, The Dentons of
Vernon Valley, with Webb and Boyce Genealogies, Unpublished typescript in
this collection, undated.

Provenance
Note:

This collection was the gift of Mrs. Edith
Denton Uptegrove, 1948.

Scope
and Content Note:

This collection contains the papers of
Richard Smith Denton largely consisting of correspondence and financial
documents, and dating from 1807-1863, with bulk dates of 1820-1838.  The
papers have been arranged into six series: Correspondence, Legal documents, Post
office documents, Financial documents, The estate of William D. Crampton (fl.
1807-1828), and a Denton family history.

The Correspondence series dates from
1820-1840, consists of ten folders, and is arranged alphabetically by the last
name of the author, and then if necessary by date.  The first three folders
contain correspondence to Hezekiah Denton, the first manager of William Smith’s
store in Snufftown, New Jersey.  The letters date from 1822-1823 and deals
with the management and maintenance of stock.  The remainder of the
correspondence to Richard S. Denton is from William Smith, his sons Coe and Ira,
and Priscilla Lee, a New York resident that wrote to him concerning rents Denton
collected for her.  The majority of these letters deal with store business.

The series of legal documents, dating from
1815-1859, occupies one folder and primarily consists of property agreements,
land sale contracts, handwritten trial transcripts, and lease contracts.
These documents are arranged chronologically.

The series of post office documents dates
from 1827-1837, occupies two folders, and is arranged chronologically.
These items consist of semi-annual accounting documents from the headquarters of
the Post Office Department and lists of mail that remains in the Vernon post
office.

The series of financial documents dates
from 1807-1863 and occupies thirty folders.  Document types include bills
for schooling, promissory notes, an undated account book of Richard Smith
Denton, and bills and accounts that are arranged chronologically.  There
are also six folders of receipts regarding rent and loan payments, land
purchases, and the sale of livestock and lumber.  Next in this series is a
daybook of Denton’s from 1822-1824, and then ten folders of lists of wholesale
goods sent to Denton or requests for credit, which are arranged alphabetically.

The next series consists of two folders of
documents dating from 1815-1828 pertaining to the estate of William D. Crampton
from 1815-1828, of which Richard S. Denton was the apparent executor.  The
documents are mostly receipts for payments made and received by the
estate.  The last series occupies one folder containing an unpublished
typescript entitled The Dentons of Vernon Valley, with Webb and Boyce
Genealogies, by Vernon Boyce Hampton.  This family history is 112
pages, unbound, and undated.

Related
Collections:

Manuscript Group 739, William D. Crampton
(fl. 1807-1828) Account book

See other merchants’
records/papers.

Box/Folder
List:

Not
Dated

Processed by Luis Delfino, February 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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