Scope and Content Note
The Causten-Pickett Papers span the years 1765-1916, with the bulk of the material dating from 1797 to 1900. The papers are organized into ten series: History and Settlement of French Spoliation Claims , Fulwar Skipwith Papers , Joshua Gilpin and Edward Dunant Papers , Records of Insurance Companies , Case Files on Ships , James H. Causten Papers , John T. Pickett and Causten Agency Papers , Theodore John Pickett and Causten Agency Papers , Miscellany , and Addition .
The papers deal primarily with the history and settlement of French spoliation claims dating from 1793 to 1916. The greater part of the material consists of the correspondence and insurance records, 1765-1916, of James H. Causten and his associates John T. Pickett, Theodore John Pickett, Fulwar Skipwith, numerous lawyers including William T. S. Curtis, William E. Earle, Leonard Myers, Luther H. Pike, David Stewart, John Stewart, and officials of marine insurance companies such as Peter Chardon Brooks, John Hollins, Robert Hollins, Thomas Hollins, Alexander McKim and others. The insurance records include about 1,200 case files and consist of insurance policies, powers of attorney, promissory notes, bills of lading, bills for ship repairs, bills of exchange, American and French court records, admiralty registries, financial records, applications for insurance, and memorials to Congress. They include not only the French spoliation claims material but records relating to a wide variety of claims handled by the Baltimore Insurance Company, the Maryland Insurance Company, Peter Chardon Brooks Insurance Agency, and other agents and companies. Letters from many eminent men appear in the collection: Charles Francis Adams, John Adams, Robert R. Livingston, James Madison, John Mason, James Monroe, Timothy Pickering, William Henry Seward, Charles Sumner, and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord.
The Addition consists of two microfilm reels of documents relating to French spoliation claims, most likely the additional Causten-Pickett papers filmed for possible sale by the Harris family heirs in 1960 that are not included in these papers.