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A Guide to the John Graves Simcoe Papers, ca. 1776-1806 Simcoe, John Graves, Papers, ca. 1776-1806 MS 30.6

A Guide to the John Graves Simcoe Papers, ca. 1776-1806

A Collection in
the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library
Manuscript Number MS 30.6


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John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
P.O. Box 1776
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187
USA
Phone: (757) 565-8520
Fax: (757) 565-8528
Email: speccoll@cwf.org
URL: http://www.history.org

© 2003 By the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. All rights reserved.

Processed by: Special Collections staff

Repository
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Manuscript number
MS 30.6
Title
John Graves Simcoe Papers, ca. 1776-1806.
Extent
49 items.
Creator
John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806.
Language
English

Administrative Information

Access

There are no restrictions.

Publication Rights/ Restrictions on Use

Before publishing quotations or excerpts from any materials, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Librarian/ Associate Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the holder of the copyright, if not the Rockefeller Library at Colonial Williamsburg.

Preferred Citation

John Graves Simcoe Papers, Manuscript MS 30.6, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Acquisition Information

Purchase, 1930.

Alternative Form

Also available on microfilm M-1552.

Biographical/Historical Information

Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe (1752-1806) was commander of the Queen's Rangers in America during the Revolutionary War. Later, he served as the first lieutenant governor of Upper Canada.

Scope and Content Information

Papers of Lt. Col. John Graves Simcoe. Included are eighteen manuscript maps, many executed in watercolors, of military actions in Virginia; printed maps like those that also appear in Simcoe's book, A Journal of the Operation of the Queen's Rangers, (Exeter, 1787); diagram of the principal streets and buildings of Williamsburg, Va; a watercolor view of Yorktown, Va., during the siege; copies of letters regarding the book and political and military affairs; reminiscences and memorabilia on Simcoe and his father; and two watercolors of soldiers of the Queen's Rangers. The manuscript maps and drawings were probably made by a soldier under Simcoe's command.

Organization

These papers have been organized into 2 series. Series 1 contains correspondence, memoirs, watercolors, etc.; Series 2 consists of manuscript and printed maps.

Index Terms

    Persons:

  • Amherst, Jeffery Amherst, Baron, 1717-1797.
  • Clinton, Henry, Sir, 1738?- 1795.
  • Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, Marquis, 1738-1805.
  • Falladon, Charles Grey.
  • Howe, William Howe, Viscount, 1729-1814.
  • Simcoe, Elizabeth, 1762- 1850.
  • Simcoe, John Graves, 1752-1806.
  • St. Vincent, John Jervis, Viscount, 1735- 1823.

    • Genre and Form Terms:

  • Manuscript Maps--Virginia--18th century.
  • Military Maps--Virginia--18th century.

    • Geographical Names:

  • Virginia--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Maps.
  • Virginia--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
  • United States-- History--Revolution, 1775- 1783-- Maps.
  • United States-- History--Revolution, 1775-1783--British forces.
  • Williamsburg (Va.)--Buildings, structures, etc.
  • Williamsburg (Va.)--Description and travel--Early works to 1800.
  • Yorktown (Va.)--History--Siege, 1781.

Significant Persons Associated With the Collection

  • Amherst, Jeffery Amherst, Baron, 1717-1797.
  • Clinton, Henry, Sir, 1738?- 1795.
  • Cornwallis, Charles Cornwallis, Marquis, 1738-1805.
  • Falladon, Charles Grey.
  • Howe, William Howe, Viscount, 1729-1814.
  • John Graves Simcoe, 1752-1806.
  • Simcoe, Elizabeth, 1762- 1850.
  • Simcoe, John Graves, 1752-1806.
  • St. Vincent, John Jervis, Viscount, 1735- 1823.
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Significant Places Associated With the Collection

  • Virginia--History--Revolution, 1775-1783--Maps.
  • Virginia--History--Revolution, 1775-1783.
  • United States-- History--Revolution, 1775- 1783-- Maps.
  • United States-- History--Revolution, 1775-1783--British forces.
  • Williamsburg (Va.)--Buildings, structures, etc.
  • Williamsburg (Va.)--Description and travel--Early works to 1800.
  • Yorktown (Va.)--History--Siege, 1781.
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Contents List

Series 1: Correspondence and Papers, 1781-1806.
Folder Box-folder: 1-3
3 folders (25 items)

Includes correspondence, memoirs, watercolors, etc.

Chronologically arranged.

  • Folder 1
    [John Graves Simcoe] to [Sir William Howe], [1776-1777]
  • Folder 1
    Cornwallis, York, to Henry Clinton, 30 October 1781.
    Copy.
  • Folder 1
    J. G. Simcoe, Wolford Lodge, to General Grant, 2 December 1789.
  • Folder 1
    J. G. Simcoe, Wolford Lodge, to the Bishop of Lichfield, 2 December 1789.
  • Folder 1
    H. D. Vincent to [J. G. Simcoe], 12 August 1789.
  • Folder 1
    [Jeffery, Lord] Amherst, Montreal, to [J. G. Simcoe], 8 December 1789.
  • Folder 1
    C[harles] Grey, Falladon, to [J. G. Simcoe], 16 January 1790.
  • Folder 1
    List of names of people to whom Simcoe sent copies of his Journal of the Queen's Rangers, 1789-1790.
  • Folder 1
    Newspaper clipping, ca.3 September 1794.
  • Folder 1
    Mrs. [Elizabeth] Simcoe, York [Toronto], to Mrs. Hunt, 28 February 1796.
  • Folder 1
    J. G. Simcoe, Wolford Lodge, to Captain Mackham, Admiralty, 8 October 1800.
  • Folder 1
    J. G. Simcoe, Wolford Lodge, to William Walcot, 11 August 1804.
  • Folder 2
    Viscount Howick to Lord St. Vincent, 22 July 1806.
  • Folder 2
    Memorandum, 15-24 August 1806.

    Concerns Simcoe's voyage to Portugal. Page 1, covering 15-19 August 1806, is on the verso of a sketch of Simcoe as Governor of Canada (#10 piece in this folder).

  • Folder 2
    Memorandum re Simcoe's death, 1806.
  • Folder 2
    Lord Nelson to General Simcoe, 18 April 1803.
    Copy.
  • Folder 2
    Extract from the journal T. Bailey with an account of Simcoe's funeral, 1806.
  • Folder 2
    Reminiscences about Captain John Simcoe & Lieutenant General John Graves Simcoe by H. D. Simcoe, n.d.
    2 p.
  • Folder 2
    Statement of H. Caldwell about John Graves Simcoe, May, 1803.
    2 p.
  • Folder 2
    Extract from Mr. Redhead Yorkes weekly Political Review No. 23, n.d.
  • Folder 2
    Memoir of John Graves Simcoe, n.d.
    5 p.

    Similar to the published memoir in the back of Simcoe's Journal, printed in New York by Bartlett & Welford, 1844.

  • Folder 2
    Sketch of Simcoe as Governor of Canada, n.d.
    2 p.

    Verso of page one contains the first page of a memorandum re Simcoe's voyage to Portugal 15-19 August 1806.

  • Folder 2
    Memoir of John Graves Simcoe, n.d.
  • Folder 3
    Watercolor of the Queen's Rangers, by Captain Mundy, n.d.
    Mounted.
  • Folder 3
    Watercolor of a Rifleman of the Queen's Rangers, By Captain Mundy, n.d.
    Mounted.
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Series 2: Maps.
Physical Location: 2X Oversize
24 items.

Includes manuscript and printed maps of military actions engaged in by the Queen's Rangers. All of the maps are of Virginia locations.

  • Page I
    Maps and notes.
    3 items.
    • Map of New Kent County, Virginia.
    • Map of Gloucester County, Virginia.
    • List of locations on the New Kent County and Gloucester County maps.
  • Page II
    Map: "Action at Spencer's Ordinary."
    2 copies.
  • Page III
    Map: "Action at Spencer's Ordinary."
    Hand drawn map.
  • Page IV
    Map: "Action at Spencer's Plantation seven miles from Williamsburg ..."
    2 hand-drawn maps.
  • Page V
    Maps of Great Bridge Post.
    2 hand-drawn maps.
    • Map: "Great Bridge on Elizabeth River, Virginia."
    • Map: "Plan of the post at Great Bridge, on the south branch of the Elizabeth River in Virginia ..."
      Hand-drawn map.
  • Page VI
    Maps: "Skirmish at Richmond, 5 January, 1781."
    1 hand-drawn and 1 printed map.
  • Page VII
    Map of the skirmish at Richmond.

    A sketch of the previous map.

  • Page VIII
    Maps of Naval Action on the James River at Osburns.
    2 hand-drawn maps.
  • Page IX
    Map: "Affair at Osburns."
    Hand-drawn and colored map.
  • Page X
    Maps of the action at Williamsburg Landing.
    2 hand-drawn colored maps.
    • Map: "Rebels dislodged from Williamsburgh Landing."
    • Map of the action at Williamsburg Landing.
  • Page XI
    Map and sketch.
    • Map: "City of Williamsburg, Virginia."

      Sketch map of the principal buildings of Williamsburg.

    • Sketch showing a view of Yorktown from Gloucester.

      Shows several vessels at anchor.

  • Page XII
    Map: "Attack of the rebels under Gen'l at the Point of Fork."
    Hand-drawn map.

    Shows the military action at Point of Fork on the James River. This is near Columbia, Va. where the Rivanna River enters the James River.

  • Page XIII
    Map: "Point Fork, Virginia."

    This is a larger map of the one above.

  • Page XIV
    Map: "Sketch map of the Skirmish at Petersburg ..." 1784.
    Printed map.

    Map by I. Hills, Published in London by Wm. Faden.

  • Page XV
    Maps.
    9 maps mounted on one sheet.

    These maps illustrate the following battles: Osburn's, Kingsbridge, Burrell's, Spencer's Ordinary, Point of Fork, Richmond, North River, and Quintin's Bridge.

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