Rufus King Papers: Finding Aid mssRK
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Note
Finding aid last updated on July 21, 2022, by Melissa Haley.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Rufus King papers
Creator:
King, Rufus, 1755-1827
Identifier/Call Number: mssRK
Physical Description:
10.53 Linear Feet
(9 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1782-1830
Abstract: This collection contains correspondence of American statesman and diplomat Rufus King (1755-1827), dating from 1782 until
1830, related to United States Department of State communications including negotiations with Great Britain; intelligence
bearing on the tension between the United States and France; financial transactions with English and Dutch banking houses;
and confidential letters written by American diplomatic representatives.
Language of Material: English.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
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[Identification of item]. Rufus King papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased from George D. Smith Book Company, 1927.
The Huntington Library has no record of the provenance of these papers, other than the immediate source: the George D. Smith
Book Company (1927). This collection is not to be confused with the published correspondence of Rufus King, edited by Charles
R. King, 1894-1900.
Rufus King (1755-1827) American statesman and diplomatist, was born in Scarborough, Massachusetts (now Maine). He attended
Harvard College, graduating in 1777; after a short interval of military service, he devoted himself to the study of law, and
was admitted to the bar in 1780.
Entering public life in 1783, as a delegate from Newburyport in the Massachusetts general court, King rose rapidly to a position
of prominence in the Federalist party. He was a member of the Federal Convention, and later U. S. senator from New York.
In 1796 Rufus King was called to succeed Thomas Pinckney as minister plenipotentiary to Great Britain, where he remained
for eight years. Again, in 1825, just as he was about to retire from public life, King was called once more to the Court of
St. James, but illness forced him to return a year later, and his death occurred on April 29, 1827.
This collection contains originals and contemporary copies of correspondence of American statesman and diplomat Rufus King
(1755-1827), dating from 1782 until 1830, related to United States Department of State communications including negotiations
with Great Britain; intelligence bearing on the tension between the United States and France; financial transactions with
English and Dutch banking houses; and confidential letters written by American diplomatic representatives.
Correspondence includes letters and dispatches received by King during his tenure as American minister in London reflecting
on United States foreign relations. The letters document negotiations with Great Britain related to claims and protests having
to do with violations of the sovereignty of the United States (e.g. confiscation of ships and cargoes; unlawful use of American
waters; impressment of American seamen); the claim of the state of Maryland to sequestered bank stock; and the execution of
the 6th and 7th articles of the treaty of 1794.
The correspondence also includes intelligence reflecting tensions between the United States and France related to complaints
of the directory in connection with the commercial treaties of the United States; the failure of the American commission (Pinckney,
Marshall and Gerry) to France; hostilities in the West Indies: and overtures of Toussaint L'Ouverture. As well, the letters
document financial transactions with English and Dutch banking houses in connection with expenditures for diplomatic purposes,
claims, salaries etc. There are also confidential letters written from the Hague, Berlin, Lisbon, and Paris by American diplomatic
representatives related to war intelligence, American foreign policy, politics at home and abroad, the Gerry-Tallyrand fiasco,
and private and personal matters.
Materials created by US presidents in this collection include: John Quincy Adams letters to Rufus King, 1782-1830 (RK 1-RK
52; items are listed individually in the manuscript card catalog); James Madison letters to Rufus King, 1801 June 30 (RK 316),
1801 July 23 (RK 317), 1801 July 27 (RK 318), 1801 July 28 (RK 319), 1801 October 27 (RK 320), 1802 February 25 (RK 321);
James Monroe letter to Rufus King, 1796 August 28 (RK 499); John Adams, Traduction d'un Extrait du Discours du President des
Etats Unis de L'Amerique aux... Chambre du Congres... Relations politiques avec la France, 1798 December 8 (RK 53, contemporary
copy in French in hand of James C. Mountflorence).
Correspondents include John Quincy Adams (52 pieces), John Dawson (9 items), Oliver Ellsworth (6 items), Elbridge Gerry (20
pieces), George Hammond (5 pieces), James Madison (6 pieces) James C. Mountflorence (39 pieces), William Vans Murray (156
pieces), Timothy Pickering (94 pieces), Charles Cotesworth Pinckney (21 items), Edmund Randolph (16 items), William Loughton
Smith (47 items), Charles-Périgord Talleyrand (10 items), Oliver Wolcott (7 items), and others.
Some notable groups of letters include:
- Murray, William Vans, to Rufus King. Letters written from 1797 to 1801, in Murray's characteristic conversational style, giving news of the shifting rulers and governments in France and the Batavian Republic.
- Adams, John Quincy. Letters to Rufus King, giving Intelligence regarding the German states, and conditions generally in the north of Europe, 1796-1801.
- Smith, William Loughton. Letters to Rufus King, giving Reports of disturbances along the Mediterranean, 1797-1802
This finding aid was updated in 2022 by Melissa Haley as part of the American Presidential Papers Project with enhanced description
of the presidential material present.
Individual call numbers in the collection: mssRK 1-607.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Diplomats -- United States -- Archives
United States -- Foreign relations -- 19th century -- Sources
United States -- History -- 1783-1865 -- Sources
United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865.
West Indies -- History -- Sources
Dispatches -- United States
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Professional papers -- United States
Adams, John Quincy, 1767-1848
Gerry, Elbridge, 1744-1814
King, Rufus, 1755-1827 -- Archives
Madison, James, 1751-1836
Monroe, James, 1758-1831
Mountflorence, James C.
Murray, Willam Vans, 1760-1803
Pickering, Timothy, 1745-1829
Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth, 1746-1825
Smith, William Loughton, 1758-1812
Talleyrand-Périgord, Charles Maurice de, prince de Bénévent, 1754-1838
United States. Department of State
Box 1
1782 April 15-1797 March 24
Box 2
1797 April 2-1798 March 9
Box 3
1798 March 10-1798 June 6
Box 4
1798 July 1-1798 September 22
Box 5
1798 September 25-1799 May 9
Box 6
1799 May 11-1799 November 6
Box 7
1799 November 7-1800 November 25
Box 8
1800 December 4-1801 July 16
Box 9
1830 July 21-1830 November 3