Inventory of the John Bouvier Collection, ca. 1783-1895
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Inventory of the John Bouvier Collection, ca. 1783-1895
The Huntington LibrarySan Marino, California
- Manuscripts Department
- The Huntington Library
- 1151 Oxford Road
- San Marino, California 91108
- Phone: (626) 405-2203
- Fax: (626) 449-5720
- Email: lgarcia@huntington.org
- URL: http://www.huntington.org/huntingtonlibrary.aspx?id=554
- Processed by:
- The Huntington Library staff
© 2000 The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Title: John Bouvier Collection,
Date (inclusive): ca. 1783-1895
Creator:
Bouvier, John
Extent: 233 pieces
Repository: The Huntington Library
San Marino, California 91108
Language:
English.
The collection was a gift of David Blankerhorn in January, 1956.
Collection is open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information
please go to following
URL .
In order to quote from, publish, or reproduce any of the manuscripts or visual materials, researchers must obtain formal permission
from the office of the Library Director. In most instances, permission is given by the Huntington as owner of the physical
property rights only, and researchers must also obtain permission from the holder of the literary rights. In some instances,
the Huntington owns the literary rights, as well as the physical property rights. Researchers may contact the appropriate
curator for further information.
[Identification of item], John Bouvier Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
John Bouvier (1787-1851) was born of Quaker parents in 1787 in the small French village of Codognan, department du Gard. Of
his life before the age of fifteen little is known, except that he attended school in Nimes. His father, Jean (1760-1803)
was a man of considerable means, having inherited property from his uncle and money from his grandfather. Bouvier's mother,
Marie Benezet (1760-1823), also brought a respectable dowry into her marriage with Jean. Husband and wife farmed for a living,
adding to this income money earned from a distillery and from a farm products and manufacturing exchange enterprise. As a
result of his fortune, Jean Bouvier was one of the principal men of his village, occupying at one time or another almost all
of the village offices. However, when he attempted to feed his friends and finance relief from the distress occasioned by
the French Revolution (with which he sympathized), a series of misfortunes crushed the family. Thus circumstanced, Jean and
Marie applied for passports to America in 1800, finally making the voyage in 1802 with their two sons, John and Daniel (c.
1795-1825). John's father died less than a year later, while his mother returned to France and died in 1823.
Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia, John Bouvier was apprenticed to Benjamin Johnson, printer and bookseller, until he
was twenty-one. He seems to have read voraciously during this period. In 1808 friends helped him to establish his own business
in Philadelphia. Two years later he married Elizabeth Middifield (1787?-1840?), daughter of James and Hannah Middifield, prominent
Philadelphia Quakers. The union issued one child, Hannah Mary (1811-1870), who grew to become an accomplished astronomer and
author of
FAMILIAR ASTROW: OR An Introduction to the Study of the Heavens.
About 1814 Bouvier moved to Brownsville to publish the
American Telegraph, moving again in 1818 to Uniontown, where he established the
Genius of American Liberty with John M. Austin. That same year he was admitted to the bar, and four years later he was permitted to practice before the
Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Returning to Philadelphia in 1823, Bouvier published an abridgement of Blackstone. Sometime later
he became active with the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of the Abolition of Capital Punishment, the Apprentices Library
of Philadelphia, and the temperance movement. It seems that he was also interested, if not active, in Pennsylvania Democratic-Republican
politics, for between 1820 and 1824 he received regular correspondence from James Todd, a member of the Pennsylvania legislature,
about legislative proceedings and politics. A letter from former-governor Joseph Ritner is also suggestive.
But the highest offices which Bouvier himself attained were City Recorder and associate judge of the court of criminal sessions
(1838). A year later his famous
Law Dictionary appeared, going through numerous editions. Between 1841 and his death in November, 1851, he managed to publish two more works:
a new edition of
Mathew Bacon's Abridgement of the Law (1841-1845) and
Institutes of American Law (1851).
- A. Family history
- B. Personal affairs
- C. Charges of corruption against Governor William Findlay of Pennsylvania (1817-1820)
- D. Democratic-Republican politics in Pennsylvania, 1820-1824
- E. Business affairs of Robert Evans Peterson
Persons Represented by Fifteen or More Pieces
- John Bouvier, 29 pieces
- James Todd, 30 pieces
Interesting or Important Items
- Bouvier, John. Entry regarding the War of 1812 in his journal. June 1, 1813.
- Dallas, Alexander James. Letter to John Irvine giving professional opinion about a legal document.
- Todd, James. Letter to John Bouvier defending Governor William Findlay against the charges of corruption. Feb. 2, 1820.
Brigham, Clarence.
History and Bibliography of American Newspapers. Vol. 2. pp. 978-979.
Dictionary of American Biography. Vol 2. pp. 490-491.
National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Vol. 8, 1. 99; Vol. 16, p. 34
North American Review; July, 1861. pp. 71-82
Simpson, Henry.
The Lives of Eminent Philadelphians. pp. 111-123.
Identification of Bouvier's Relatives (for wife, parents, brother, see biographical sketch)
- ANTOINE BENEZET
- 1st cousin, son of François
- BELLAMY BENEZET
- son of Jean, Husband of Fanny Majolier (the daughter of Louis)
- FRANÇOIS BENEZET
- uncle
- JEAN BENEZET
- uncle
- JEANNE BENEZET
- 1st cousin, daughter of François, wife of Pierre Clavel
- ETIENNE BOUVIER
- cousin (probable)
- GUILLAME BOUVIER
- uncle
- a JEAN BOUVIER
- father of John (John occasionally signed as "Jean")
- b JEAN BOUVIER
- 1st cousin, son of Guillame
- PIERRE BOUVIER
- uncle
- PIERRE BOUVIER
- Cousin, son of above
- "SANIER" ANDRE GUILLAME BOUVIER
- 1st cousin, son of Guillame
- ANTOINE CLAVEL
- husband of Madalein Bouvier (the daughter of Pierre Bouvier a)
- ETIENNE CLAVEL
- cousin (probable)
- PIERRE CLAVEL
- cousin
- LOUIS ANTOINE MAJOLIER
- 2nd cousin
- JUSTIN PARADON
- cousin (probable)
- EMMA PETERSON
- granddaughter, daughter of Robert Evans Peterson
- GEORGE PETERSON
- father of Robert Evans Peterson
- HANNAH MARY PETERSON
- daughter, wife of Robert Evans Peterson
- JANE EVANS PETERSON
- mother of Robert Evans Peterson
- a ROBERT EVANS PETERSON
- son-in-law, born Nov. 12, 1815, brother of Henry Peterson, author and publisher; partner in law firm with John Bouvier; went into insurance after the Civil War
- b ROBERT ("ROB") EVANS PETERSON
- grandson; son of [UNK].
The additional material totals 114 pieces and falls within the dates of the original collection. The materials were a gift
of Maurice Wells, 1973.
- 1. One box of photographs of military figures, primarily American, and Presidents.
- 2. One box containing letters and documents pertaining to personal affairs of George William Childs, principally, but also John Bouvier.
- 3. One scrapebook containing letters to or about Hannah Mary (Bouvier) Peterson and her text on astronomy from people eminent in the field. Some of the letters contain corrections of information found in the book.