Morgan J. Rhees papers, 1794-1968

Summary Information

At a Glance

Call No.:
MS#1066
Bib ID:
4079832 View CLIO record
Creator(s):
Rhees, Morgan J (Morgan John), 1760-1804
Repository:
Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Physical Description:
0.5 linear feet (1 box)
Language(s):
English .
Access:
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.

Description

Scope and Content

The collection includes two diaries of his American tour (one is made up of his rough travel notes, the other is in edited form for circulation), a memorial volume of manuscripts about his wife (Ann Loxley Rhees) prepared by his daughter Eliza (Mrs. Nicholas Murray), and 1851 passport of Nicholas Murray, a letter of Thomas Chalmers Murray to his sister Mary Jones Murray Butler (the mother of Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University), correspondence between Welsh historian Gwyn A. Williams and collection donor Mary Butler Brown, an essay entitled "Morgan John Rhees and Beula" by Gwyn A. Williams, Ann Loxley Rhees's valedictory oration on graduation from Philadelphia's Ladies Academy, an address on female education ca. 1789, family obituary clippings, poems, misc. items, and a photograph of Ann Loxley Rhees. An edited version of substantial sections of the diaries of M.J. Rhees was published in John Thomas Griffith's 1910 biography and miscellany of Rhees and his family, a copy of which is included in this collection. An edited version of a previously unpublished section of the diary, from May 2nd to July 9th 1795, was published in Northwest Ohio History (vol. 80, no. 2), but it is an unreliable transcription containing many inaccuracies, according to Dr E. Wyn James of Cardiff University, who is working on a new edition of the M.J. Rhees diaries.

Arrangement

Selected materials cataloged; remainder arranged.

Using the Collection

Restrictions on Access

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.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

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.

Preferred Citation

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Morgan J. Rhees papers; Box and Folder; Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Related Materials

See also: The Butler family papers in Ms Coll\Butler

Accruals

Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. Contact rbml@columbia.edu for more information.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Diaries and papers: Source of acquisition--Brown, Mary Murray. Method of acquisition--Gift; Date of acquisition--12/07/93. Accession number--M-93-12-7.

Gift of Mary Murray Brown, 1993.

About the Finding Aid / Processing Information

Columbia University Libraries, Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Processing Information

Diaries & papers Cataloged HR 06/28/94.

Finding aid written Andrew Edwards, Columbia University School of General Studies 01/05/2011.

Revision Description

2011-01-12 xml document instance created by Carrie Hintz

2019-05-20 EAD was imported spring 2019 as part of the ArchivesSpace Phase II migration.

Biographical / Historical

Abolitionist, Welsh republican radical, publisher, Baptist minister, pioneer and adventurer Morgan J. Rhees fled to the United States in 1794 faced with arrest for his political work in Wales. Between 1793 and 1794 Rhees published Cylchgrawn Cynmraeg, the first political magazine in the Welsh language. Rhees traveled throughout the United States and its western territories on horseback 1794-1795, preaching emancipation and republican ideals while searching for a suitable settlement for Welsh immigrants. In 1797 he and his wife Ann Loxley Rhees founded the town of Beula in western Pennsylvania with land purchased from Benjamin Rush. The settlement was a failure; the land was ceded back to Rush in 1802. Rhees remained active in republican politics and encouraged Welsh emigration. Rhees was the great grandfather of Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University.

Subject Headings

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.

All links open new windows.

Genre/Form
Albums (books) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Biographies (literary works) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Clippings (Information Artifacts) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Diaries CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Lists (document genres) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Notes (documents) CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Obituaries CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Pamphlets CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Passports CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Photographs CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Poems CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Visas CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Name
Butler, Mary Jones Murray, 1838-1912 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Butler, Nicholas Murray, 1862-1947 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Davis, J. C. Bancroft (John Chandler Bancroft), 1822-1907 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Griffith, John Thomas, 1845-1917 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Kinney, William B. (William Burnet), 1799-1880 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Murray, Eliza Jones Rhees, ca.1803-1871 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Murray, Nicholas, 1802-1861 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Rhees, Ann Loxley, 1775-1849 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Rhees, B. Rush (Benjamin Rush), 1798-1834 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Rhees, Morgan J (Morgan John), 1760-1804 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Rhees, William Jones, 1830-1907 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Webster, Daniel, 1782-1852 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Williams, Gwyn A CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Subject
Abolitionists -- United States CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
African Americans -- History -- To 1863 CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Antislavery movements -- United States CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Baptists -- Clergy -- United States CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Clergy CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Presbyterians -- Clergy -- New Jersey CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Republicanism -- United States -- History -- 18th century CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Slavery -- South Carolina -- History -- 18th century CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Slaves -- Religious life -- Georgia CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Slaves -- Religious life -- South Carolina CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID
Welsh Americans CLIO Catalog ArchiveGRID