Catalog Record:
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
The papers of the Amory Family were given to the Library of Congress by Copley Amory in 1934. Additions were purchased from 1936 to 1943.
A petition of John Amory previously cataloged separately was combined with the collection and a finding aid prepared in 2000. The finding aid was revised in 2009.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of the Amory Family is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.).
The papers of the Amory Family are open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these items for research use.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Amory Family Papers, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The papers of the Amory Family span the years 1697-1882 and consist of correspondence, letterbooks, wills, a petition, financial material, printed matter, and miscellaneous items. The papers are primarily those of Thomas Amory (1682-1728), and his grandson, Thomas Amory (1762-1823), of Boston.
Thomas Amory the elder was born in the West of England but was brought up in Limerick, Ireland. He lived variously in the Azores, Charleston, South Carolina, and finally in Boston. Amory’s letterbooks, 1711-1728, chronicle his career as a transatlantic trader. His correspondence, nearly half of which is in Portugese, also relates to the early history of trade in the Americas and to the status of the Amory estate. It includes correspondence between various members of the family of his wife, Rebekah Holmes Amory, as well as from various Amory family members, including James and Ann Ramsey and Alan Mullin. Also included is a scrapbook of financial material which was kept by Rebekah Holmes Amory after her husband’s death.
The papers of Thomas Amory (1762-1823) consist primarily of commercial correspondence, 1802-1804, and of a business letterbook, 1798-1799, relating chiefly to Amory commercial activities, importing, shipbuilding, and distilleries.
Also included in the papers is correspondence of the firm of Jonathan & John Amory, letters and drafts of the firm of Amory's & Taylor of Boston, Massachusetts, and several letters from Rufus Greene Amory. Other correspondents include Jonathan Belcher, Samuel Eliot, Nicholas Oursel, and Samuel Penhallow.
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material and therein chronologically.