Rittenhouse family papers, 1774-1932

Mss.B.R51f

Date: 1774-1932 | Size: 0.25 Linear feet, Ca. 40 items

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Abstract

These papers include letters, broadsides, and other documents pertaining to various branches of the Rittenhouse family, in particular, David Rittenhouse and his daughter Elizabeth "Betsey" Rittenhouse Sergeant. Included are references to Benjamin Smith Barton, and copies of documents concerning the Barton family, especially Thomas Barton, in Fanny Abbott's, "Family Records."

Background note

Ancestors of the Rittenhouse family were paper-makers, and William Rittenhouse built the first papermill in America in 1690 on the Wissahickon Creek in Roxborough, Pennsylvania. William's son Mathias married Elizabeth Williams in 1727, and they went on to have ten children. Their son David Rittenhouse was a famous clockmaker, astronomer, surveyor, inventor, and first director of the United States Mint.

David married Eleanor Coulston in 1766 and they had two daughters: Elizabeth "Betsey" (born 1767) and Esther (born 1769). Elizabeth married Philadelphia lawyer Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant in 1788. Ester married Philadelphia doctor Nicholas Baker Waters in 1790.

David's sister Esther Rittenhouse Barton married Reverend Thomas Barton in 1754. She died on June 18, 1774, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. One of their sons, Benjamin Smith Barton, was one of the first professors of natural history in the United States and wrote the first American botany textbook. Their other son, William, was a lawyer who designed the Great Seal of the United States.

David Rittenhouse was the treasurer of the state of Pennsylvania from 1777 to 1789. He was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1768 and, based on calculations which he made, the Society made plans to observe the transit of Venus which was calculated to take place in 1769. In 1792, he was appointed the first director of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia and held the position until 1795. He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of London in 1795 and served as president of the American Philosophical Society from 1791 until his death in 1796.

Collection Information

Physical description

Ca. 40 items.

Provenance

Purchased from Sessler, Freeman (no. 281; $350.00) and accessioned 03/01/1970 (1970 555ms).

Early American History Note

This small notebook contains copies of correspondence and other documents that someone in the Rittenhouse family transcribed in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. The earliest document copied appears to be dated from the 1750s in Lancaster. The documents pertain to the family's past.

Indexing Terms

Family Name(s)

Barton family
Rittenhouse family.

Genre(s)

Broadsides.
Family Correspondence
Genealogies.

Personal Name(s)

Abbott, Fanny D.
Barton, Benjamin Smith, 1766-1815
Barton, Thomas Pennant, 1803-1869
Rittenhouse, David, 1732-1796
Rittenhouse, H.
Sergeant, Elizabeth, 1767-1836

Subject(s)

Marriage and Family Life
Papermakers.

Detailed Inventory

Pennsylvania Gazette [extract]. On the death of Mrs. Esther Barton.	1774 June 29	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Rittenhouse, David to Simeon De Witt	1786 February 7	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Rittenhouse, David. Receipt to Reuben Haines, for taxes.	1787 April 16	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Rittenhouse, David to Elizabeth "Betsey" Rittenhouse	1789 July 8	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Sergeant, Jonathan D. to Margaret Spencer Sergeant	1789 September 16	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Dobson, Thomas. Receipt to David Rittenhouse for a set of Hopkinson's Works	1792 August 6	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Rittenhouse, David to Mrs. Elizabeth Rittenhouse Sergeant	1795 August 17	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
To the Memory of the late Dr. Rittenhouse... [Broadside]	1796	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Sussex Lodge, No. 7. Centenary of Freemasonry on the St. Croix... [Broadside]	1909 December 14	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
First Congregational Church, Stockbridge, Massachusetts. Program for service.	1916 August 13	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
David Rittenhouse Bicentennial materials		Request File for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this File
1. David Rittenhouse Bicentennial... Tour to the Rittenhouse Landmarks	1932	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
2. Preliminary Program, Rittenhouse Bicentennial Celebration	1932	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
3. The David Rittenhouse Bicentennial. Saturday, April 9, 1932.	1932 April 9	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
4. A card of invitation, a card for notifying that one will/will not attend, and a form letter from John H. Pitman, Chairman.		Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Rittenhouse, H. to "Dear Betsey"	September 22	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Concerning Benjamin Smith Barton	undated	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Rittenhouse family genealogy	undated	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item
Sergeant family genealogy	undated	Request Item for Reading Room Access Request a Copy of this Item