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George J. Skivington collection

 Collection
Identifier: A.S62

Scope and Contents

The George J. Skivington Collection consists of business papers of John Greig of Canandaigua, agent for William Hornby and other landowners in western and central New York. The land papers include deeds, contracts, surveys, maps, depositions in chancery case regarding title of Pulteney Estate, 1820-21, schedules of debtors, 1841-42, and Greig estate inventories and papers. There is also correspondence, including letters from Oliver Phelps, Israel Chapin, Robert Troup, William H. Adam, Joseph Fellows, Alexander Duncan, Alonzo Frost, Nathaniel W. Howell, Thomas Morris, John Rankine, William Jeffrey, John Tryon, Francis H. Beckwith, Josephine Greig Chappell, Lockwood R. Doty, and D.D.S. Brown, a paymaster in the U.S. Army, Civil War. Topics in the correspondence include lands in the Chenango Triangle, Military Tract, Cottringer Tract, Greig Tract at Rochester; Morrisville Tract at Philadelphia; and the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. There is also information about early Rochester railroads, the Sodus Canal Association, Sodus Land Company, the Shaker colony and Fourierite Phalanx at Sodus Bay, and the Ontario Glass Manufacturing Company at Geneva.

Creator

Dates

  • Creation: 1753-1961
  • Creation: Majority of material found within circa 1780-1880

Language of Materials

English

Extent

23 box(es) (23 boxes, 1 volume)

Access

The George J. Skivington Collection is open for research use. Researchers are advised to contact the Rare Books, Special Collections & Preservation Department prior to visiting. Upon arrival, researchers will also be asked to fill out a registration form and provide photo identification.

Use

In consultation with a curator, reproductions may be made upon request. Permission to publish materials from the collection must be requested from a curator. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The collection was the gift of George J. Skivington, Jr. of Scottsville, New York; Mrs. Mary S. O'Connell of Camillus, New York; and Mrs. Gertrude C. Farrell of Manchester, Connecticut on June 22, 1966.

Preferred Citation

[Item title, item date], George J. Skivington Collection, A.S62, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester

Arrangement

Includes originals, transcripts, photostats. The collection was arranged with WPA assistance in the 1930's and was rearranged in 1969. The library has a microfilm in 15 reels of the collection as it existed before it was rearranged and also a card index to the collection as it was then arranged. This index may be used, to some extent, as an approach to the collection, as it is now arranged. Cornell University, which has a copy of the microfilm, has reported the collection to the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (entry MS64-873)

Box 1 - 9: Correspondence Box 9 - 13: Land Papers by Geographical Area Box 14 - 16: Land Papers by Personal Name Box 17 - 18: Land Papers: Connecticut Tract Survey Box 19: Land Papers: Field Books Box 19 - 21: Land., Financial, etc., Papers Box 21 - 23: Material by Subject

Subject

Title
George J. Skivington collection
Author
Finding aid prepared by Rare Books and Special Collections staff
Date
undated
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Revision Statements

  • December 19, 2011: This finding aid has been revised by Lori Birrell.

Library Details

Part of the Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation Library

Contact:
Rochester NY 14627-0055 USA