Gansevoort-Lansing collection, 1650-1919, bulk (1800-1899)

Links

• View catalog record
• View PDF finding aid (4.59 MB)

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division

Extent

• 212 linear feet (357 boxes).

Access Restrictions

Restricted access; Manuscripts and Archives Division; Permit must be requested at the division indicated.

Microfilm must be used in lieu of originals when available.

Scope/Contents Notes

Collection consists chiefly of papers of the Gansevoort, Lansing and Melville families and reflects the social, business and political interaction between family members and friends and associates of the families. Also included are some papers of members of the Sanford, Van Schaick andother related families. Gansevoort-Lansing papers containcorrespondence, land deeds, financial documents, maps and surveys, notebooks, cookbooks, diaries, architectural drawings, photographs, and artifacts. The social, economicand political life of upstate New York over a period of more than 250 years is covered in the collection. Also, materials pertaining to military service in the American Revolution and the U.S. Civil War. Gansevoort family members represented in the collection include Peter Gansevoort (1749-1812), military leader in the American Revolution, Peter Gansevoort (1788-1876), New York political figure, Henry Sanford Gansevoort (1835-1871), Union officer in the Civil War, and Catherine Gansevoort Lansing (1839-1918), benefactress. Photographs (tintypes, daguerreotypes, cyanotypes, and black and white prints) show individuals, family portraits, house interiors and exteriors, historic occasions, and family holdings. Among Lansing family members represented in the collection are Barent Bleecker Lansing (1801-1876) attorney and landowner,and Abraham Lansing (1835-1899).

Subjects include business and financial matters, social events, family news, and current events. Melville family papers document the family of Herman Melville (1819-1891),author of Moby Dick and other works. The bulk of these papers consists of correspondence among three generations of both Melville and Gansevoort family members detailing the lives and daily activities of the writers who include Herman Melville and his father, Allan Melvill (1782-1835).Some manuscripts of Melville's writings also are in the collection.

Biographical/Historical Note

The Gansevoorts and the Lansings were two of the original Dutch families to settle in the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys of New York State. Other families who intermarried with the Gansevoorts and the Lansings were the Melvilles, Sanfords and Van Schaicks. Members of these families were prominent in politics, the military, literature, law, politics, medicine, and economics.

Controlled Access Terms

• Gansevoort family.
• Lansing family.
• Melville family.
• Sanford family.
• Van Scoyoc family.
• New York (State). Supreme Court.
• Dutch Americans -- New York (State)
• Land tenure -- New York (State)
• Women -- Social conditions.
• United States -- History -- Revolution, 1775-1783.
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.
• New York (State) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775.
• New York (State) -- History -- 1775-1865.
• New York (State) -- History -- 1865-
• New York (State) -- Social life and customs.
• New York (State) -- Politics and government -- To 1775.
• New York (State) -- Politics and government -- 1775-1865.
• Maps.
• Diaries.
• Photoprints.
• Blueprints.
• Landowners.
• Authors.
• Soldiers.
• Politicians.
• Architectural drawings.

Additional Creator Names

• Gansevoort, Catherine Van Schaick, 1751-1830.
• Gansevoort, Henry Sanford, 1835-1871.
• Gansevoort, Herman, 1779-1862.
• Gansevoort, Peter, 1749-1812.
• Gansevoort, Peter, 1789-1876.
• Gansevoort, Susan Lansing, 1843-1874.
• Gansevoort, Mary Sanford, 1814-1841.
• Lansing, Abraham, 1835-1899.
• Lansing, Abraham Gerrit, 1754-1844.
• Lansing, Barent Bleecker, 1801-1876.
• Lansing, Catherine Gansevoort, 1838-1918.
• Lansing, Christopher Yates, 1796-1872.
• Lansing, Gerrit Yates, 1783-1862.
• Melvill, Allan, 1782-1835.
• Melvill, Maria Gansevoort, 1791-1872.
• Melvill, Augusta, 1821-1876.
• Melville, Herman, 1819-1891.