James J. Wilmer – Letter to his Children, 1813

The collection is broken down into 11 series.

Series I: Hoffmans contains documents pertaining to the Hoffman family such as family and business records, a personal scrapbook, wills, and genealogical notes. Also included are two partial family trees, one of which has been copied from a family Bible that is part of Mr. Robert Deford’s private collection.

Series II: Wilmer consists of documents relating to James P Wilmer and his family. It is made up of a Wilmer family history; a letter from Wilmer’s father, James J Wilmer, to his children; and then letters to Wilmer from friends; his Naval Orders; his personal finances; and notices of financial support for Elizabeth Rymard by the crew of the USS Essex, one of the ships on which Wilmer served.

Series III: Long Green consists of documents pertaining to registering Long Green House as an historic landmark. The bulk of the series are pages copied from history books, letters from family members and historians, and maps of the Long Green Valley, however there are also newspaper clippings about the house and family, as well as information about touring Long Green House and Valley.

Series IV: Bells contains Bell family documents as well as letters written about the Bell family’s ancestry and their connection to the Defords.

Series V: Dallams holds family histories about the Dallam family and several of their ancestors, as well as some of the Dallam family’s personal accounts and papers.

Series VI: Emily Spencer contains four letters sent to her, one from her brother and three from Julia Gittings.

Series VII: Clynmalira primarily contains a short story written by Harriett Sterrett Winchester Sparhawk-Jones about her childhood at her aunt’s country house, Clynmalira. It also contains a poem by Robert Liddell Lowe which was sent with the story.

Series VIII: Phillips – Magee is comprised of the family history of Sarah Magee (first wife of James J Wilmer) and the Phillips family.

Series IX: Curzons contains the unbound pages of a book on the Curzon family lineage in both Britain and America; original correspondence between RC Hoffman and the Earl Curzon of Keddleston in Britain; shipping manifestos from Richard Curson’s mercantile business; and a two page, handwritten family history.

Series X: Letter Box Miscellaneous contains miscellaneous manuscripts such as pictures, letters, family histories, the baptismal certificate for Curzon Hoffman Deford, and various newspaper clippings (1806 – 1835).

Series XI: Miscellaneous is divided between 19th century documents, among which are John Hoffman’s French Foreign Legion passport and letters about property value; and newspaper clippings (1814 – 1974).