Guide to the Irish family papers, 1755-1991
(bulk 1755-1815)
Redwood Library and Athenaeum
50 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: (401) 847-0292
Fax: (401) 841-5680
email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org
Published in 2013
Collection Overview
| Title: |
Irish family papers |
| Date range: |
1755-1991, (bulk 1755-1815) |
| Creator: |
Irish family |
| Extent: |
1.04 linear feet
(1 document cases, 3 volumes)
|
| Abstract: |
This collection consists of financial accounts, legal documents and correspondence relating primarily to George Irish (1729-1801) and his immediate family. Records from the Bailey, MacKaye, Goodwin, and Atwood families, all descendants of George Irish, are also included. |
| Language of materials: |
English |
| Repository: |
Redwood Library and Athenaeum
|
| Collection number: |
RLC.Ms.016 |
Scope & content
This collection consists of financial accounts, legal documents and correspondence relating primarily to George Irish (1729-1801) and his immediate family. Records from the Bailey, MacKaye, Goodwin, and Atwood families, all descendants of George Irish, are also included. Materials are arranged in alphabetical order by family name and then by document type, when applicable.
The papers of George Irish are comprised of accounts, legal documents, and receipts documenting his business activities with members of the Newport community and in Stonington, Connecticut. Legal documents typically include bills of sale, certificates, court warrants, deeds, depositions, and settlements either relating to Irish’s businesses or properties. Of particular note are two bills of sale for slaves purchased by George Irish, one on December 19, 1755, and the other on August 23, 1797. Both of these bills of sale can be found in the folders with George Irish’s legal documents (Box 1, Folders 11-12). Also present is his copybook with his written transcriptions of various Bible passages and an inventory of his estate following his death in 1801. The papers for his sons, George Irish, Jr. (1761-1849) and John Irish (1768-1815), who were also merchants, consist of their legal and financial documents representing their business activities.
Papers for the Bailey family include deeds relating to George Irish Bailey, grandson of George Irish, and the will of William Bailey (d. 1908). Also present is an ink drawing of the residence of William Bailey, also referred to as the Irish Homestead or the Banister House.
Goodwin and MacKaye family papers consist mainly of a family bible and two scrapbooks. The Goodwin family bible was printed in 1765 and includes a handwritten family register documenting the birth, marriage and death dates of Goodwin and Robbins family members from 1724-1833. One scrapbook belonged to Juliet Hunter Goodwin (b. 1831) and included newspapers clippings and poems, and the other was kept by Henry Goodwin MacKaye (1856-1913) with memorabilia from his days at Harvard University and social life in Newport. Also included are letters concerning their ancestor, Asher Robbins, one of which was written by Juliet Goodwin to Ernest Sprague, a former Secretary of State in Rhode Island. An undated postcard addressed to Dorothy MacKaye is also present.
Atwood family records consist of wedding portraits, Mary MacKaye Atwood’s agreement with the Winterthur Museum to deed them the Banister House, and copies concerning William Bailey Atwood’s genealogy. The wedding portraits appear to be reproductions of the originals and were most likely from one of the donors of the collection. Portraits are of Ellen Ida Bailey (1861-1949), Mary MacKaye Atwood (1892-1986), and Mary Goodwin Atwood Sharp (b. 1924).
Access Points
Subject Names
Subject Topics
Subject Topics
Document Types
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in alphabetical order by last name and then by document type, when necessary.
Biographical note
George Irish (1729-1801) was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island, and was one of the eleven children of Jedediah (1658-1758) and Mary Irish. On September 25, 1757, he married Sarah Babcock (1732-1816) and they lived in a farmhouse in Middletown, Rhode Island. Together the couple had 11 children, Martha (1758-1833), Rebecca (1760-1838), George (1761-1849), Mary E. (dates unknown), James (1766-1813), Sarah (1766-1804), John (1768-1815), Patience (b. 1770), Joseph (1772-1818), Jedediah (1776-1823) and Phoebe (1781-1818).
Irish established himself as a trader, farmer, horse dealer, and had served as a colonel for the Rhode Island Militia. He conducted business throughout southern Rhode Island and neighboring Connecticut, often acting as a middleman for prominent figures of the Newport community by finding goods and collecting and delivering payments for others. Irish’s business matters often led to his involvement in various court and legal proceedings. Irish died on October 11, 1801, and was buried in a family burial ground in Middletown.
His daughter, Mary, married Easton Bailey in 1788 and their son, George Irish Bailey (b. 1797) and grandson William Bailey (1823-1908) continued their family’s farming tradition and kept residence at George Irish’s Middletown home which was commonly known as the John Banister House or the Irish Homestead. According to one of the donors, this estate was built in 1756 and became Irish’s property through nonpayment of a loan held by Irish to John Banister. It continued to be the home of Irish descendants including the MacKaye and Atwood families. The house was later dismantled and deeded to the Winterthur Museum in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1957 by Mary Goodwin MacKaye. The façade of the house was installed at the museum.
George Irish’s great-great granddaughter, Ellen Ida Bailey (1861-1949), married Henry Goodwin MacKaye (1856-1913), who attended Harvard University and later practiced medicine in Newport. His aunt, Juliet Hunter Goodwin (b. 1831) also resided in Newport and they were the ancestors of Asher Robbins (1761-1845), a former Rhode Island Senator. MacKaye’s daughter, Mary Goodwin MacKaye (1892-1986) married Roy Silas Atwood (1887-1953) on November 20, 1920. The couple had three children, Roy MacKaye Atwood (1921-2003), Mary Goodwin Atwood Sharp (b. 1924), and Bradford Bailey Atwood (1931-1994). This family would be the last to live in the Banister House in Middletown before it was deeded to the Winterthur Museum.
Access & Use
| Access to the collection: |
Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. |
| Use of the materials: |
This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. |
| Preferred citation: |
Irish family papers, RLC.Ms.016, Redwood Library and Athenaeum. |
| Contact information: |
Redwood Library and Athenaeum
50 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: (401) 847-0292
Fax: (401) 841-5680
email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org
|
Administrative Information
| ABOUT THE COLLECTION |
| Acquisition: |
Donated by Reverend Roy MacKaye Atwood, September 12, 1997 and January 5, 1999; Elizabeth Bradford (Atwood) Rollo, September 12, 1997; and Mary Atwood Sharpe, February 15, 2000. |
| Processing information: |
This collection was initially processed in 2000. |
|
|
|
|
| ABOUT THE FINDING AID |
| Author: |
Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Delmage, 2013 July |
| Encoding: |
Finding aid encoded by Elizabeth Delmage,
2013 July 26 |
| Descriptive rules: |
Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) |
| Sponsor: |
Funding for processing and cataloging this collection was provided by the van Beuren Charitable Foundation. |
Additional Information
| Related material: |
Papers of the MacKaye family, 1751-1990, ML-5, Rauner Special Collection Library, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH. |
| Bibliography: |
Irish, WIllis Luther and Stella Bertha Irish. Descendants of John Irish: the immigrant, 1629-1963, and allied families. The Dingley Press: Freeport, Me., 1964. |
Inventory
| Box 1, Folder 1 |
|
Atwood family: Wedding portraits
|
|
undated |
| Box 1, Folder 2 |
|
Atwood, Mary MacKaye: Agreement with Winterthur Museum
|
|
1957 May |
| Box 1, Folder 3 |
|
Atwood, William Bailey: Copies of an application and a letter
|
|
1985, 1991 |
| Box 1, Folder 4 |
|
Irish family: Drawing of the Irish Homestead (Banister House)
|
|
undated |
| Box 1, Folder 5 |
|
Bailey, George Irish: Deeds, 1835, 1845
|
|
1835, 1845 |
| Box 1, Folder 6 |
|
Bailey, William: Will, 1908 Apr 25
|
|
1908 Apr 25 |
| Box 1, Folder 7 |
|
Goodwin, Juliet: Letter to Ernest L. Sprague
|
|
1933 Nov 29 |
| Box 1, Folder 8 |
|
Irish, George: Accounts
|
|
1780-1787 |
| Box 1, Folder 9 |
|
Irish, George: Copybook
|
|
1782 |
| Box 1, Folder 10 |
|
Irish, George: Estate inventory
|
|
1801 Nov |
| Box 1, Folder 11 |
|
Irish, George: Legal documents
|
|
1755 Dec 19-1786 Sep 28 |
| Box 1, Folder 12 |
|
Irish, George: Legal documents
|
|
1787 May 23-1797 Aug 17 |
| Box 1, Folder 13 |
|
Irish, George: Receipts
|
|
1758, 1768-1780 |
| Box 1, Folder 14 |
|
Irish, George: Receipts
|
|
1781-1785 |
| Box 1, Folder 15 |
|
Irish, George: Receipts
|
|
1786-1790 |
| Box 1, Folder 16 |
|
Irish, George: Receipts
|
|
1791-1795 |
| Box 1, Folder 17 |
|
Irish, George: Receipts
|
|
1796-1801 |
| Box 1, Folder 18 |
|
Irish, George: Receipts
|
|
undated |
| Box 1, Folder 19 |
|
Irish, Jr., George: Correspondence, legal documents, receipts, will
|
|
1784-1815 |
| Box 1, Folder 20 |
|
Irish, John: Direct tax and warrant
|
|
1808, 1818 |
| Box 1, Folder 21 |
|
MacKaye, Dorothy: Postcard
|
|
undated |
| Box 1, Folder 22 |
|
Robbins, Asher: Letter from John Clayton
|
|
1839 Jul 6 |
| Box 2, Vol. 1 |
|
Goodwin family: Bible with family register
|
|
1765 |
| Box 2, Vol. 2 |
|
Goodwin, Juliet: Scrapbook
|
|
1873-1889 |
| Box 2, Vol. 3 |
|
MacKaye, Henry Goodwin: Scrapbook
|
|
1877-1886 |