This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Personal, business, and legal letters; manuscripts including prose, poetry, and diaries; and documents including deeds, receipts, invoices, and account books. The 18th century materials focus on the personal and business correspondence of Calvin, Jotham, and Martin Gay, sons of Ebenezer Gay who were engaged in shipping between New England and the Maritime Provinces. There are occasional letters of Jotham and Martin referring to the American Revolution. The Otis family correspondence of the 18th century, likewise, is of a purely routine and personal nature. There are only four letters of Col. James Otis, and only two of his son, James. Gay and Otis family interests intertwine during the 19th century with the marriage of Mary Allyne Otis to Ebenezer Gay, who are among the chief correspondents of this century, along with their children including Sidney Howard Gay and Winckworth Allan Gay. The Otis correspondence centers around business, real estate, and personal interests of Mary A. Otis Gay's brothers John, Joseph, and William Otis.
This collection is arranged into four series.
You will need to make an appointment in advance to use this collection material in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room. You can schedule an appointment once you've submitted your request through your Special Collections Research Account.
This collection is located on-site.
This collection has no restrictions.
Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.
Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Gay-Otis family papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.
Method of acquisition--Purchase; Date of acquisition--07/01/53. Accession number--M-53-07-01.
Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Cataloged Christina Hilton Fenn 06/--/89.
2009-07-07 File created.
2014-06-13 XML document instance created by Catherine C. Ricciardi
2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.
Two important New England families whose British ancestors settled in Massachusetts during the second quarter of the 17th century. Members of the two families include John Gay, a founder of Dedham, Mass., 1635; John Otis, a founder of Hingham, Mass, 1636; Rev. Ebenezer Gay (1696-1787), his sons Calvin, Jotham, and Martin; Col. James Otis (1702-1778), his son James, the patriot (1725-1783); Ebenezer Gay (1771-1842), his wife Mary Allyne Otis Gay, and their children who include Sidney Howard Gay, the journalist and author, and Winckworth Allan Gay, the landscape painter; and Mary A. Otis Gay's brothers John, Joseph, and William Otis.
The subject headings listed below are found in this collection. Links below allow searches for other collections at Columbia University, through CLIO, the catalog for Columbia University Libraries, and through ArchiveGRID, a catalog that allows users to search the holdings of multiple research libraries and archives.
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