Collection Scope and Content Note

Legal documents, 1791-1897, include articles of agreement, deeds, mortgages, and property titles in and around Ithaca, New York, drawn up by Horace Mack, Sr. and Jr., Benjamin G. Ferris, and Joshua Ferris. Also included are affidavits of application for military land grants by Revolutionary War soldiers, 1818; maps of Tioga County (New York) township divisions, surveyed, 1808; will of Thomas Hathway bequeathing a portion of land to the Publick Universal Friend (Jemima Wilkinson), 1795; expense account, probably of Benjamin Ferris, for a trip to Albany, 1827; and correspondence between Mack and Ferris family members about banking, legal favors, and property interests. Personal papers include bills and receipts, 1804-1902; a deed for land in Montgomery County, New York for John Shelly signed by Governor George Clinton; a well water analysis, Ithaca, New York, 1895; manuscripts on local history, 1901, 1975; and miscellaneous correspondence. Also, material concerning the Riley and Kephart families. Correspondence of Horace Kephart and printed material pertaining to his work as a naturalist and early advocate for establishing the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.