Scope and Content Note
The papers of Henry Mason Morfit (1793-1865) span the years 1819-1858, with the bulk of the collection dating from 1844 to 1855. Virtually all of the material consists of incoming correspondence and financial records that relate to Morfit’s career as a Washington claims lawyer and politician. The collection is organized into three sets of correspondence arranged chronologically and a miscellany file.
While the majority of the letters were written from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Richmond, and Norfolk, Morfit’s correspondents lived in almost every section of the United States and in Europe. Primarily, the letters relate to business matters such as the development of the West, new commercial enterprises, the loan of money, damages to goods, maritime questions, and, most frequently, the collection of claims. Some political correspondence is present, particularly during presidential election years.
Some of the claims handled by Morfit had their origin in the colonial period, while others relate to the American Revolution and the years thereafter. Included are claims of soldiers and officers of the American Revolution, those relating to French loans and French spoliation, other maritime claims in which the United States was a party, and individual and corporate claims. Both American and European were among Morfit’s clients.
Other letters deal with slave transactions, testamentary dispositions, land speculation in the South and West, and the question of patents. The aftermath of the Panic of 1837 is documented in letters that discuss the hardships of ordinary people and members of the business community. Prominent correspondents from the business and legal profession are Philip Baltzel, Thomas Baltzel, Earl Douglas, Hugh Gelston, Alney McLean, Thomas William Ludlow, and Eustis Prescott.
Morfit also dabbled in politics and held minor legal positions in the Jackson administration. Although this aspect of his life is not reflected very prominently in the papers, there is some correspondence dealing with presidential election campaigns. Occasional letters from Congressmen John Armstrong, George Washington Campbell, John Henry Eaton, Henry Jared Ingersoll, and Levi Woodbury appear, as do letters from newspapermen William W. Eaton, Joseph Giles, Duff Green, and William H. Rhind.