Scope and Content Note
The microfilm of the papers of William Sampson consists of reproductions of letters, 1806-1831, from Sampson to his wife, Grace Clarke Sampson, relating to his political exile from Ireland to the United States; his New York law practice with Thomas A. Emmet; social life and manners in Albany, Cohoes, and New York, New York, and in Massachusetts; the election of 1812; the trial of Aaron Burr; efforts to ban Irish immigration; the Hibernian Provident Society; and his role as defense counsel in an 1810 labor case. Also in the collection are family papers, 1816-1849, consisting chiefly of correspondence between Grace Sampson and her daughter, Catherine Ann Sampson Tone, wife of William Theobald Wolfe Tone, 1791-1828, relating to New York, Washington, D.C., and Georgetown society. Reproduced as well are letters from Peter Stephen Du Ponceau to William Sampson on matters including politics, legal matters, and the codification of the law.