Scope and Content Note
The papers of Benjamin Tappan (1773-1857) span the years 1795-1900, with the bulk of the material from 1795 to 1866. The collection consists of correspondence, notes, speeches, financial and legal papers, and miscellaneous items organized in five series: Correspondence, Subject File, Speeches, Financial and Legal Papers, and Miscellany.
Correspondence constitutes the largest series and relates mainly to Tappan’s law practice, his activities in the antislavery movement, and to Ohio and national politics, especially during the Jacksonian period. An extensive family correspondence includes letters from his several brothers, Arthur, Charles, John, Lewis, and William, from his father, Benjamin Tappan (died 1790), first wife, Nancy Wright Tappan, and brother-in-law, John C. Wright.
Benjamin Tappan’s interest in conchology and mineralogy is also well documented. A partial index to the correspondence is contained in the Miscellany series. Included among the principal correspondents are William Allen, John Gould Anthony, Mathew Birchard, Ethan Allen Brown, John C. Bryan, William H. Cabell, David Clendenin, DeWitt Cinton, James D. Dana, David T. Disney, Joseph Drayton, Ogden Edwards, George H. Flood, Augustus A. Gould, Charles Hammond, John Hastings, Elijah Hayward, Joshua Leavitt, S. Medary, William Medill, Marcus Morton, Francis Joseph Nicholas Neef, Lucy W. Say, John Sloane, Edwin McMasters Stanton, and Elisha Whittlesey.
A small Subject File consists of additional correspondence, and notes, petitions, and printed matter relating to slavery, conchology, and other matters. The remainder of the papers includes printed speeches, bills, and receipts, indentures, plats, briefs, acts, a certificate, newspaper clippings, notes, and miscellaneous items.