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                               Elbridge Gerry

            A Register of His Papers in the Library of Congress


                         Prepared by Audrey Walker
                 Revised and expanded by Margaret McAleer

                                    1996

                            Manuscript Division
                            Library of Congress

                             Washington, D.C.

                Finding aid encoded by Library of Congress
                         Manuscript Division, 2000

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Table of Contents for Elbridge Gerry
Collection Summary
Selected Search Terms

   * Names:
   * Subjects:
   * Occupations:

Administrative Information

   * Provenance:
   * Processing History:
   * Copyright Status:
   * Microfilm:
   * Preferred Citation:

Biographical Note

Scope and Content Note
Description of Series

   * Correspondence, 1774- 1814.
   * Miscellany, 1798- 1901, n.d.
   * Reproductions, 1772- 1836, n.d.
   * 1996 Addition, 1774- 1814.

Container List

   * CORRESPONDENCE, 1774- 1814
   * MISCELLANY, 1798- 1901, n.d.
   * REPRODUCTIONS, 1772- 1836, n.d.
   * 1996 ADDITION, 1774- 1814

  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

Collection Summary

Creator: Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814
Title: Papers of Elbridge Gerry 1772-1901 (bulk 1776-1814)
Size: 500 items; 4 containers; 1.4 linear feet; 2 microfilm reels
Repository: Manuscript Division, Library of Congress
Abstract: U.S vice president, delegate to the Continental Congress, and
U.S. representative from and governor of Massachusetts. Chiefly
correspondence (1776-1814) relating to various aspects of Gerry's public
career, including his memberships in the Massachusetts General Court and
Provincial Congress (where he was active on committees of correspondence,
safety, and supply during the Revolution), service in the Continental
Congress and the U.S. House of Representatives, governorship of
Massachusetts, term as vice president of the United States (1813-1814), and
especially his role in the 1797-1798 mission to France, known as the XYZ
Affair.

Selected Search Terms

Names:

Adams, John, 1735-1826--Correspondence
Adams, Samuel, 1722-1803--Correspondence
Bourne, Sylvanus, 1761-1817--Correspondence
Dana, Francis, 1743-1811--Correspondence
Humphreys, Clement, 1777-1803--Correspondence
King, Rufus, 1755-1827--Correspondence
Madison, James, 1751-1836--Correspondence
Murray, William Vans, 1760-1803--Correspondence
Otis, Samuel Allyne, 1740-1814--Correspondence
Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 1746-1825--Correspondence
Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de, prince de Bénévent,
1754-1838--Correspondence
Warren, James, 1726-1808--Correspondence
Warren, Mercy Otis, 1728-1814--Correspondence
Wendell, John, 1731-1808--Correspondence
Austin, James Trecothick, 1784-1870. Papers
Massachusetts. General Court
Massachusetts. Provincial Congress
United States. Continental Congress
United States. Congress. House

Subjects:

XYZ Affair, 1797-1798
France--Foreign relations--United States
Massachusetts--History--Revolution, 1775-1783
Massachusetts--Politics and government--1775-1865
United States--Foreign relations--France
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Committees of correspondence

United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Committees of safety
United States--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Equipment and supplies
United States--Politics and government--1789-1815

Occupations:

Delegates, U.S. Continental Congress--Massachusetts
Governors--Massachusetts
Representatives, U.S. Congress--Massachusetts
Vice-Presidents--United States

Administrative Information

Provenance:

The papers of Elbridge Gerry, statesman, were acquired by the Library
through gift and purchase from 1903 to 1996.

Processing History:

The papers of Elbridge Gerry were arranged and described in 1983.
Additional material received was incorporated into the collection in 1996.

Copyright Status:

The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Elbridge Gerry is
governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).

Microfilm:

A microfilm edition of part of these papers on two reels is available from
the Library's Photoduplication Service for purchase subject to the
Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.). This microfilm
edition may also be requested on interlibrary loan through the Library's
Loan Division for a loan period of one month.

Preferred Citation:

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following
information: container number, Elbridge Gerry Papers, Manuscript Division,
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Biographical Note

 Date          Event

 1744 , July
 17            Born, Marblehead, Mass.

 1758 - 1762   Attended Harvard College, Cambridge, Mass.

 1772 - 1773   Representative, Massachusetts General Court

 1774 - 1775   Member, Massachusetts Provincial Congress

 1776 - 1780   Delegate, Continental Congress

 1778          Delegate, price-fixing convention, New Haven, Conn.

 1783 - 1785   Delegate, Continental Congress

 1785 - 1786   Member, Massachusetts House of Representatives

 1786          Married Ann Thompson

 1787          Delegate, Constitutional Convention, Philadelphia, Pa.

 1789 - 1793   Member, United States House of Representatives

 1797 - 1798   Member, XYZ mission to France

 1810 - 1812   Governor of Massachusetts

 1813 - 1814   Vice president of the United States

 1814 , Nov.
 23            Died, Washington, D.C.

Scope and Content Note

The papers of Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814) span the years 1772-1901 with the
bulk of the documents concentrated between the years 1776 and 1814. The
collection consists mainly of correspondence, but includes a few
miscellaneous items, most of which relate to his mission to France in
1797-1798. Approximately two-thirds of the documents are photostatic and
typewritten reproductions of original material held by others. Most of
these are from the Gerry Estates Collection in New York, New York,
comprising original and transcribed documents owned by members of the Gerry
family. Some of the photostatic copies are faded and difficult to read.

The collection is illustrative of all phases of Gerry's public career,
touching on his membership in the Massachusetts General Court and the
Provincial Congress where he was active with the committees of
correspondence and safety and chairman of the Committee of Supply, his
service in the Continental Congress and in the United States House of
Representatives, his governorship of Massachusetts, and his tenure as vice
president. However, the largest segment of the correspondence centers
around Gerry's mission to France. The collection contains correspondence
and memoranda relating to these negotiations, two letterbooks which were
apparently used interchangeably, two issues of Le Publiciste, 6-7 May 1798,
and the safe conduct pass issued to Gerry, 17 July 1798. Later
correspondence and papers also relate to Gerry's activities during the
mission.

Reproductions for the period 1817-1836 are typewritten copies of originals
in the Gerry Estates Collection transcribed for the biography of Gerry
written by his son-in-law, James Trecothick Austin..

A calendar prepared in 1960 listing Gerry's correspondence in his papers
and in those of some of his contemporaries is available in the Manuscript
Division . Additional Gerry papers are located in the New York Public
Library, Massachusetts Historical Society, and the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania. A microfilm edition of the Elbridge Gerry Papers at the
Massachusetts Historical Society is available for use in the Manuscript
Division's reading room. Official correspondence relating to the XYZ
mission to France can be found in the archives of the United States and
France. The Manuscript Division has in its collection of French
reproductions photocopies of the originals held by the Ministère des
Affaires Etrangères.

Correspondents in the Gerry Papers include John Adams, , Samuel Adams,
Sylvanus Bourne, Francis Dana, Clement Humphreys, Rufus King, James
Madison, William Vans Murray, Samuel Allyne Otis, Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, James Warren, Mercy Otis
Warren, and John Wendell .

Documents added to the collection in 1996 consist largely of letters,
including copies and drafts, written by Gerry between 1774 and 1814. They
cover a wide variety of subjects including partisan politics, patronage
appointments, commercial treaties, the War of 1812, and family matters.
There are several communications from Gerry while governor to the
Massachusetts legislature. The Addition also includes letters to Gerry from
Francis Dana , James Lovell , James Sullivan , and James Warren as well as
committee reports from the Continental Congress in 1779 and the
Massachusetts General Court in 1780.

Description of Series

 Box    Reel    Series

 BOX 1  Correspondence, 1774 - 1814 .
 REEL 1

        Letters received and copies of letters sent.

        Arranged chronologically.

 BOX 1  Miscellany, 1798 - 1901 , n.d.
 REEL 1

        Accounts, biographical data, correspondence, memoranda, and
        newspaper clippings.

        Arranged by type of material.

 BOX 2-3
 REEL   Reproductions, 1772 - 1836 , n.d.
 1-2

        Photostatic and typewritten copies of documents owned by others.
        Includes correspondence, certificates, committee reports, and
        notes.

        Arranged by location of originals and chronologically therein.

 BOX 4
 (NOT   1996 Addition, 1774 - 1814 .
 FILMED)

        Correspondence and related documents, some with typed
        transcripts.

        Arranged chronologically.

Container List

 Box    Reel   Contents

        CORRESPONDENCE, 1774 - 1814

 BOX 1 REEL 1  1774-1814
               (4 folders)
               Letterbook, 24 Sept. 1797-20 Nov. 1800
               Letters to John Adams, 8 July 1799, and William Short, 27
               July 1801

        MISCELLANY, 1798 - 1901 , n.d.

 BOX 1 REEL 1  Account of stores purchased at Gerry's request for the
               Sophia (Brig), 1799
               Biographical data, n.d.
               Correspondence regarding information in the Gerry Papers
               relating to a library for Congress, 1901
               Le Publiciste, 6-7 May 1798
               Remarks by Gerry on John Marshall's letter of 12 Nov. 1798
               and on Timothy Pickering's letter of 10 Dec. 1798
               Safe conduct pass issued to Gerry, 17 July 1798
               United States propositions relating to a commercial treaty
               with France, n.d.

        REPRODUCTIONS, 1772 - 1836 , n.d.

 BOX 2 REEL 1  Gerry Estates Collection, New York, N.Y.
                        1772-96
                        (12 folders)
 BOX 3 REEL 1-2         1797-1836
                        (7 folders)
                        Fragments, n.d.
               Photocopies from various sources, 1776-1813
               Letterbook, 1797-1801

        1996 ADDITION, 1774 - 1814

 BOX 4 (NOT    Correspondence and related documents, 1774-1814
 FILMED)       (4 folders)