(NEW YORK) Family papers of Congressmen Micah Sterling and I

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(NEW YORK.) Family papers of Congressmen Micah Sterling and Isaac H. Bronson of Watertown. Approximately 270 manuscript letters and documents (0.4 linear feet) in one box; condition generally strong. Various places, 1802-1907

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Micah Sterling (1784-1844), from Watertown in the northern part of upstate New York, served one term in the United States House of Representatives from 1821 to 1823, in addition to years of service in state and local politics and civic affairs. His wife's brother Isaac Hopkins Bronson (1802-1855), also of Watertown, served his term in the House from 1837 to 1839. This archive includes:

39 letters to Micah Sterling, 1802-1839 and undated. Only one was received during his time in Congress; the majority are dated 1839. Includes a letter received from his brother while a Yale student in 1802. 4 letters are from brother-in-law Isaac Bronson, 1836-1839, 2 of them written from Washington as a Congressman, discussing canal projects: "You say you are in favor of a canal from Carthage to Sacketts Harbor. Did it ever occur to you where Watertown would be when such a canal was completed?"

A folder of Sterling's political speeches and ephemera, including at least one stump speech in support of Van Buren, 1840; a broadside titled "Rules and Orders" detailing the rules of the New York Legislature, as set forth by James Van Ingen, clerk; and an untitled printed set of extracts of controversial letters from General Brown to Major Brown from 1822 to 1827.

Miscellaneous business and legal manuscripts, including his 1817 engraved membership certificate in the Jefferson County Society for Promoting Agriculture and Domestic Manufactures; 3 membership certificates issued to various parties in the Watertown Fire Company, 1817-1820; a manuscript map of mining claims near Morristown, NY; 3 elaborate share certificates in the Wilson Lead Mine Company of Watertown, 1837; undated minutes of a meeting to support extension of the Black River Canal; one-page budget and specifications for the Camden Canal, circa 1827; subscription list for a new steamboat to provide service from Brownville, NY (contemporary manuscript transcript) naming 12 supporters, 1830; and Sterling's 1842 last will and testament.

A thick packet of more that 80 letters between Isaac H. Bronson and William H. Harrison of New York (not the president) regarding legal and investment matters including the Antwerp Company, which owned large tracts of land in Jefferson County, 1835-1837.

11 letters dated 1831-1832 to Bronson from Ann Cary Randolph Morris (1774-1837), the somewhat controversial widow of New York founding father Gouverneur Morris of the Bronx. The letters discuss her northern New York land holdings, financial difficulties, and her Morrisania estate. Her 14 November 1831 letter asks him to "procure . . . about two dozen Indian dressed buck skins." On 2 April 1832 she notes the publication of the 3-volume "Life of Gouverneur Morris": "My husband's biography is out, and the will is inserted--for that, I waited a while."

Folder of other Isaac Bronson letters received and documents, including a printed subscription appeal by the Democratic Standard newspaper bearing 39 signatures including Bronson's, April 1834; a 30-inch vellum scroll in which dozens of local lawyers including Bronson swear to observe to prohibitions again dueling, 1823-1829.

4 letters to Emma Sterling Wardwell (1814-1895), from family members including her father Micah Sterling, dated 1831-1841.

Papers of Micah Sterling's son John Calhoun Sterling (1820-1903). In 1848, he launched a bookstore which was partly destroyed in Watertown's great fire of 1849. Included here is a 36-page "inventory of books on hand and in good condition after the fire," 16 May 1849. He rebuilt the bookstore and it remained a Watertown fixture for many decades. Also included is a packet of 66 receipts and specifications for the construction of his brick residence, 1856-1857.

Finally, a folder of paper from John C. Sterling's son John Sterling (1851-1946), including daily sales summaries from the bookstore from 1906.