Jorgen Norden Olsen's Journey

My father is also researching family history. He recorded his father (my grandfather, obviously) and started posting information he's gathered. You can see some photos and listen to some audio of my grandfather on his new page.

Letter from John Jay to John Adams delivered by Unknown Kissam

When I first found the letter from John Jay to John Adams about a Kissam family member (original at Columbia University, text version below) I wishfully thought it was related to Dr. Benjamin Kissam, Benjamin Kissam's son, and my direct ancestor. After reviewing the timeline I doubt it is (though it could be!). Dr. Kissam was already in New York City with a practice in 1788 [pg. 28, Kissam Family in America]. The other four other candidates are:

• Peter Rutgers Kissam - at 32 I'm not sure he qualifies as a "young gentleman" so I think we can rule him out.
• Samuel Kissam - had a practice in Suriname in the Caribbean I realized this was wrong shortly after I posted but thanks to Toby for reminding me. so i guess he's a candidate
• Richard Sharpe Kissam - was in Edinburgh completing his medical degree
• and Adrian Kissam - the youngest

So for me, the leading candidate would be Adrian based on age and the possible interpretation of the letter. Benjamin is still possible though I find it odd he'd be referred to as "Mr." as opposed to "Dr." So some background to the letter...

In February 1788 John Adams found himself trying to come back home from England where he had been serving as both United States' Minister to the Netherlands and it's Minister to Great Britain. John Jay as United States Secretary for Foreign Affairs was working to provide him the proper letters of recall so he could return with the appropriate decorum. On Feb. 14 1788 we have a letter from Jay to Adams about the situation [cite]:

Dear Sir,—New York, 14 February, 1788.

As this letter will go by the way of Ireland, and may be exposed to accidents in the course of its route, I decline entering into particulars; but, as the long recess of congress, who are now again convened, makes it necessary that the inclosed letters of recall should be transmitted without delay, I think it best to send one set by this conveyance, and to forward duplicates by another vessel, which will sail about the last of the month for Bristol. Your letters by the packet are come to hand, and shall be particularly noticed in my next, which will go under cover to a friend, with directions to him what to do with it in case you should have left England before its arrival. Massachusetts has adopted the proposed constitution by a majority of nineteen.

I am, dear sir, &c.

John Jay.

I haven't found a text version of the letter John Jay sent to John Adams introducing this unknown Kissam online yet but here is my take. The first few lines of the letter are fairly straightforward but I had a tough time deciphering the last few lines.

Dear Sir,—New York 16 Feb. 1788

Permit me to introduce to you Mr. [???] Kissam who will have the honor of delivering this letter to you. He is the son of a late eminent Lawyer of this city, who I really think was one of the best men I have ever known as well as one of the best friends I have ever had. That and considerations interest me in whatever may concern the amiable family he has left and induce me to request your friendly attention to this young gentleman, whose good character and manners unite with my esteem and affection for his father in recommending him to my best wishes and success[?].

With great and sincere esteem and regard of I have the honor to be
John Jay
your ...

So was a Kissam the "friend" that acted as "cover" for John Jay when he sent another letter to John Adams? Or was it simply a benefactor introducing the young son of a much loved mentor to another American in London? The timing is interesting...

Benjamin's Bookplate

This is Benjamin Kissam's bookplate by Henry Dawkins. It can be found on page 51 of the bookplate reference book, American Book-plates. The description of the bookplate follows:

Armorial. Chippendale. Motto, Honestum Praetulit util [Ed. note: He has preferred honesty before profit.] Signed, H. Dawkins. Invt. et Sculp. This is in the happiest vein of this engraver. At the left a young lady in the low-necked, hooped dress of the period, carrying a shepherd's crook, and at the right the shepherd himself, but having his crook, is seated. By his side a very docile, even weakly appearing lamb, listens while he plays the flageolet. A prominent lawyer in New York in the middle of the last century. (desc. from pg. 234, ibid. translation from pg. 329)

I believe the coat of arms it that of the Whiteheads. It closely matches this one and another bookplate book notes that the coat of arms are taken from an ancestress. I'll have to dig up that reference.

More info on the particular Chippendale style:

Dawkins used three distinct varies of the Chippendale style. The plates of Benjamin Kissam, the Ludlow and Roome plates, the Whitehead Hicks and the James Duane are examples of the debased Chippendale. pg. 129, ibid.

This is one of my favorite finds so far. You can also see a bigger version of the image.

ILL Overload

A number of books arrived via inter-library loan yesterday. Unfortunately not all at the same time so I had to make several trips but it's nice to get my hands on some more research material. The following books arrived:

• Colonial Flushing : a brief history of the town of Flushing - fragile so it'll be the first one going back. A short history produced for a bank.


• John Jay, colonial lawyer - details of his early apprenticeship with Benjamin


• Denizations, naturalizations, and oaths of allegiance in colonial New York - haven't peeked at this one yet

Along with that I had a meeting at the Law School so I popped down to their library and picked up:

• Essays on New York Colonial Legal History - same author as the John Jay book with a short essay on John Jay but it provides more of a background into colonial law in NY (obviously)

Very interesting library.

What's probably the best parts of these books beyond family history info? The bibliographies! Tons of pointers to more information. Especially the two John Jay books. One of the more interesting notes in the books is that Benjamin's ledger was lost. Which, as we now know, is untrue. Can't wait to get to Charlottesville, VA. Probably in the summer.

Still waiting on two items from ILL:

• Lists of inhabitants of colonial New York : excerpted from the Documentary history of the State of New-York


• The final sale of the relics of General Washington owned by Lawrence Washington, esq., Bushrod C. Washington, esq., Thos. B. Washington, esq., and J.R.C. Lewis, esq., embracing the most important collection ever brought together, of letters, deeds, leases

Notes from "Genealogical Data From Colonial New York Newspapers"

My first book from my latest batch of inter-library loan books came in. It's entitled Genealogical Data From Colonial New York Newspapers by Kenneth Scott. Came so fast because it had a short trip up I-79 from Fairmont State University. Most of the book can be read online but it's nice to have a physical copy. Ok, so to the info we find in the book...

For Benjamin Kissam, Esq. (whom we're in search of) we have two entries. The first entry is:

Rutgers, Petrus, dec'd--three houses at North River to be sold by Adrian Rutgers, Richard Sharpe, John Morin Scott and Benjamin Kissam (from New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury on Jan. 10, 1774) pg. 182, ibid.

Benjamin was married to Catherine Rutgers. Petrus and Adrian were her brothers. Richard Sharpe and John Morin Scott, a lawyer in New York City and who worked with Benjamin on a number of cases, were her brother-in-laws married to Anna and Helena Rutgers respectively. It appears that another book by Kenneth Scott, Rivington's New York Newspaper, has similar information.

The second entry is:

Kissam, Benjamin, Esq., of NYC, attorney--died Oct. 25 in NYC and was buried Oct. 26 in the family vault in the New Dutch Church Yard (from New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury on Oct. 28, 1782) pg. 238, ibid.

Trinity Church, where Benjamin served as a vestryman, has a record of his death in their burial records. The disease listed is "mortification" which, for the time, generally refers to death via gangrene of necrotic tissues. Catherine died in 1772 and was buried in the New Dutch Church Yard. Possibly in the Rutgers family vault and hence why Benjamin is buried there as well?

The other Kissam with an entry in this book is Daniel.

Kissam, Daniel, Esq., Judge of Court of Common Pleas, Representative for many years in General Assembly--died, as result of a fall from his horse, on Aug. 4 at his seat at Cow Neck, Long Island (from New-York Gazette and Weekly Mercury on August 19, 1782) pg. 237, ibid.

Unfortunately I can't provide much info on Daniel as I really don't know a whole lot about him.

Update from Toby K.: The Daniel who fell off his horse is a cousin, Daniel Kissam III. He had a 400 acre farm on the Cow Neck Peninsula (now Port Washington) on Long Island and was a loyalist. His son John was actually a major in the British army. Daniel's farm was one of two confiscated after the war and sold at auction. His widow bought it. I do have more info on that branch of the family, but I'll have to dig it out.

It's getting late so I'll stop for now. A lot of other family lines are listed and I'll post their entries though, like Daniel, with almost no extra information.

Finding Books: WorldCat, Google Books & Inter-library Loan

When trying to find information on your family, especially when looking for information from the colonial period, you'll most likely have to resort to finding books. So how do you go about this? You have two options: WorldCat & Google Books.

WorldCat
WorldCat is the world's largest network of library content and services. WorldCat.org lets you search the collections of libraries in your community and thousands more around the world. Not only can you find books but you may also find article citations with links to their full text; authoritative research materials, such as documents and photos of local or historic significance; and digital versions of rare items that aren't available to the public. WorldCat.org lets you find an item of interest and then locate a library near you that owns it. WorldCat has provided me with pointers to family letters as well as a ledger and court docket of Benjamin. You can check out my WorldCat Kissam genealogy list of books.

Google Books
Google Books provides full indexed versions of a large number of books. It allows you to search for a term within a book giving much more accurate results. In out of copyright books the full text may even be available for both review online and as a downloadable book. You can check out my Google Books library.

Inter-library Loan
And once you find the books you want you should check with your local library to see if they're part of an inter-library loan program. Many books can be requested from other libraries and delivered free to your local library. Don't let geography and the location of a book you want deter you from getting your hands on it. One thing to note with inter-library loan though, a book may be delivered in it's micro-fiche format as opposed to a real book. So you may need a refresher if, like me, you hadn't used a micro-fiche machine since high school :)

In Search of Benjamin Kissam

I'm hoping through this blog I can share information I uncover as I pursue my family research. Much of my time has been and will be focused on one man, Benjamin Kissam. Benjamin was a lawyer in colonial New York and seems to be best known as the lawyer John Jay was apprenticed too. But Benjamin was involved in much more. He was a member of the first and second New York Provincial Congresses. He was also a vestryman in Trinity Church for almost twenty years. It's rumored he was a member of the Sons of Liberty. He is also my great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.

Hopefully this post will help me to start sharing the information I've uncovered about both this man and his family. We'll see :)