Title: James Duane Doty Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1779-1879

Creator:

• Doty, James Duane, 1799-1865

Call Number: Wis Mss DD; Micro 81; Micro 82; Micro 83; Micro 84

Quantity: 1.2 c.f. (4 archives boxes and 1 oversize folder) and 4 reels of microfilm (35mm)

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Abstract:

Papers of James Doty, an early leader in public life in Wisconsin, touching on his work as territorial judge, delegate, governor, and congressional delegate, and on his land speculations and numerous other promotional activities. Included are original papers and transcribed, microfilmed, and photostats of papers held by other institutions that were used by Alice E. Smith for her research on Doty.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis000dd

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Original papers include correspondence and letterbooks, judicial records, journals, and notes. The letterbooks primarily cover the period 1822-1829, and consist of letters from Green Bay, Prairie du Chien, and other locations to various territorial and national officials. They primarily concern Indian affairs. There are transcriptions for most items. The loose correspondence primarily dates from the years 1839-1844, when Doty was the governor and territorial delegate. There are references to road building, the establishment of Wisconsin's territorial government and boundaries, the Menominee treaty of 1832, and immigration to the state. Among these letters are several from John Jacob Astor, William B. Astor, Lewis Cass, Henry Clay, Nathanial P. Tallmadge, Daniel Webster, James Wilson, Austin E. Wing, and William Woodbridge. Judicial records document decisions on cases heard before him in Wisconsin as an additional judge of the U.S. Circuit Court (Michigan Territory). There is a court clerk's record book covering a somewhat longer period. A handwritten journal documents Doty's 1820 trip to the upper Mississippi with Lewis Cass and Henry Schoolcraft. There are also notes and notebooks about other frontier travels, 1818-1822, Indian languages and culture, and also the establishment of Wisconsin's boundaries. The collection includes the articles of incorporation of the Fond du Lac Company, an 1837 Wisconsin imprint. A few papers pertain to Doty's sons, Charles and James, and his daughter, Mary Doty Fitzgerald.

The collection includes microfilmed copies of documents at the Henry E. Huntington Library, the Baker Library at Harvard (the John Jacob Astor Papers), Western Reserve Historical Collections, and the National Archives (also available as photostat copies). Transcriptions of documents come from the Solomon Sibley Papers, William Woodbridge Papers, and other holdings of the Burton Historical Collection. These copied materials overlap the original papers in subject matter. The Huntington papers (1820-1838) and Baker Library papers (1835-1856) both include information on affairs in Green Bay; the Huntington papers also concern matters involving Indians in Wisconsin and Mackinac. The Western Reserve items date 1777 and 1822-1843. The National Archives records (1836-1841) concern Doty's nomination as governor of Wisconsin Territory. Details on the microfilm contents may be found in Alice Smith's research correspondence.

In 2007, a container list was prepared for the Doty Papers and the inventories of the Rosenbach, Titus, and Hathaway accessions were compared to the contents. At this time the John Quincy Adams letter (1823), an 1840 Daniel Webster letter, and an inaugural ball invitation were missing from the original Rosenbach purchase. Doty's draft message to the Legislature, December 5, 1835, presented by Densmore Chapin, was also missing. See further notes in Box 1, Folder 1.

Acquisition Information

Presented by various individuals including W. A. Titus, February 1928; Ellen S. Kellogg, Sept. 1931; David Clark Everest, Wausau, Wis., September 1951; Laurence A. Johnson, Syracuse, N.Y., July 22, 1957; Mrs. William A. Moore, New Rochelle, N.Y., August 1963; by Mrs. Clarence Richards; by Jane Bailey Burdick; by Gene Sturtevant; by Charles Doty; by Densmore Chapin; by Webster Doty; by O. M. Conover; and by C. W. Woodle; purchased from Marjorie Doty, Fort Worth, Texas, through Charles Van Geem, July 28, 1969; and from other sources, April 28, 1943; April 3, 1951; October 28, 1963; and no date.

Processing Information

Reprocessed by Carolyn J. Mattern, 2007.

Wis Mss DD	Series: Original Papers
Box   1 Folder   1	Inventory of papers from Rosenbach, Titus, & Hathaway
Box   1 Folder   2	Inventory of Doty library sale, 1861
	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   3-9	Loose papers, 1787-1861, undated
	Letterbooks
Box   1 Folder   10	1822-1829, and transcript (Jane Bailey Burdick & Gene Sturtevant)
Box   1 Folder   11	, 1824-1829 & 1825-1831 and transcript
Box   1 Folder   12	Hathaway receipts and accounts (Boyd and Lawe)
Box   1 Folder   13	Titus manuscripts donation
Box   1 Folder   14	Invitations and calling cards
Box   1 Folder   15	Journal, 1820, with Cass and Schoolcraft
	Judicial records, U.S. Circuit Court (Michigan Territory)
	Trials and decisions, 1823-1830
Box   1 Folder   16	Transcript
Box   2 Folder   1	Original volume
Box   2 Folder   2	Clerk's motion and order book, 1822-1838
Box   2 Folder   3	Judicial and legal miscellany
Box   2 Folder   4	Land records
	Notes
Box   3 Folder   1	Agriculture, trees, and meat preparation
Box   3 Folder   2	Indian languages
	Travel
Box   3 Folder   3	1818, from Martinsburg, New York to Ohio
	1820
Box   3 Folder   4	Memoranda and sketches
Box   3 Folder   5	“Notes on the Northwestern Part of Michigan,” and transcript
Box   3 Folder   6	1822, Northern Michigan and Wisconsin
Box   3 Folder   7	Wisconsin Territory boundaries, 1823-1832
	Miscellaneous papers
Box   3 Folder   8	Doty's sons
Box   3 Folder   9	Fond du Lac articles of incorporation, 1835
Box   3 Folder   10	Fitzgerald, Mary Doty
	Series: Copied Manuscripts for Alice Smith's Research	⇧
Box   4 Folder   1	Research correspondence, 1947-1952
	Papers
Micro 82	Astor, John Jacob and William B., 1835-1856, in Baker Library, Harvard
Wis Mss DD Box   4 Folder   2	Beloit College, one item, 1852
Box   4 Folder   3	Burton Historical Collections transcriptions, 1818-1840 (including Solomon Sibley, William Woodbridge, & others)
Box   4 Folder   4	Collins, Ela, Papers, 1824-1827 (New York State Library)
Box   4 Folder   5	Everest, D.C., Autograph collection (2 items)
Micro 81	Huntington Library Materials
Wis Mss DD Box   4 Folder   6	Iowa State Archives Materials, 1836-1837
Box   4 Folder   7	Johnson, Lawrence, Clapp Store daybook, Turin, New York, where Doty worked, 1816
	National Archives, papers re JDD nomination as territorial governor, 1836-1841
Box   4 Folder   8-11	Photostats
Micro 83	Microfilm
Wis Mss DD Box   4 Folder   12	Weed, Thurlow, Papers, 1854, 1860 (University of Rochester)
Micro 84	Western Reserve Historical Society papers re Northwest Territory, 1777, 1822-1843