Papers of the New York State lawyer, U.S. Congressman (1859-1863), abolitionist, born near Pompey, N.Y. Correspondence (1847-1891); genealogical material; legal and financial records (1814-1879); writings (1837-1884), including essays, speeches, and published letters; and memorabilia. Largely family correspondence with additional letters of Louis Agassiz, Samuel Bowles, Salmon P. Chase, F.J. Child, James Freeman Clarke, Roscoe Conkling, George W. Curtis, John A. Dahlgren, Richard H. Dana, H.L. Dawes, Daniel S. Dickinson, J.T. Fields, John M. Forbes, John C. Frémont, William Lloyd Garrison, George W. Geddes, George F. Hoar, John Jay, Thomas Starr King, Samuel J. May, Robert B. Minturn, Levi P. Morton, Charles Eliot Norton, Elizabeth P. Peabody, Wendell Phillips, William H. Seward, Gerrit Smith, Israel Washburn, R.S. Watson, Andrew D. White, and others.

Papers of Charles Van Devander, former journalist and Executive Assistant to Governor Averell Harriman. Contains press releases from the New York State Governor's Office, and some correspondence.

Approximately 45 letters to and from the American author and Secretary of the Navy.