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The Parish Rosseel Collection THE PARISH-ROSSEEL COLLECTION Mss. Coll. No. 5 38 linear ft. BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE David Parish (1778-1826) arrived in America in late 1805. The owner of a successful banking and commission house in Antwerp, he came to this country as the American based partner in a profitable enterprise of shipping bullion from Spanish America to Europe. He directed this business from Philadelphia where he made a fortune estimated at one million dollars. Upon his arrival in America, David Parish visited Gouverneur Morris who had been a friend of David's father when Morris was United States Minister to France. In the spring of 1807, Morris visited Parish and told him of vast lands in northern New York and suggested that they would be a good investment. In the spring of 1808, with Joseph Rosseel as his land agent, David Parish began purchasing land in the North Country. One of his first purchases was 72,000 acres at one dollar and fifty cents per acre. He later added to this by purchasing large tracts of Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties. In 1804 there were only four families living in Ogdensburg. In 1809 David Parish bought the unsold portion (only thirty eight lots had been sold) of the village from Samuel Ogden for eight thousand dollars. Parish saw the possibility of turning Ogdensburg into a main forwarding station on the St. Lawrence River and he made efforts to create a large commercial center there. As a result of hard work on the part of Parish and Rosseel, the town grew considerably in the years before the War of 1812. In 1811 there were fifty houses in Ogdensburg and three new ones under construction. The war suspended the growth of Ogendsburg as many fled during the siege of the village. Most returned after the war and growth continued. By 1834 there were two hundred fifty houses and a population of 2,000. David Parish, through Joseph Rosseel, cleared lands, built sawmills and gristmills and provided loans to help set up farmers and businesses in the area. In Rossee he developed the iron industry, which made that town the "Pittsburg of the North" in the mid nineteenth century. Parish returned to Europe in 1816 and embarked upon extensive financial undertakings including loans to the Austrian Government. In the midst of a financial panic, Parish lost his fortune. On April 27, 1826, David Parish drowned himself in the Danube. His brother George took over his estate in Northern New York and later a second George Parish, son of David's brother Richard, ran the Parish interests in the North Country. Joseph Rosseel (1782-1863) was born in Ghent, Belgium and came to America in 1807, a refugee of the war in Europe, with a letter of recommendation which he presented to David Parish. Parish was beginning to purchase land in northern New York at the time and Rosseel was employed as a land agent. He was sent to explore the area and to report to Parish on its possibilities. Rosseel settled in Ogdensburg and conducted business for Parish who remained in Philadelphia. The importance of Joseph Rosseel in the settling of the North Country can not be overlooked. David Parish spent his time in Philadelphia while Rosseel was responsible for purchasing and developing Parish's lands in northern New York. Rosseel kept in touch with Parish through correspondence and Parish and Rosseel conducted business through the mails. Joseph Rosseel had full Power of Attorney for Parish's affairs in the area and it is he, with the use of Parish's money, who is responsible for the development of large parts of Jefferson and St. Lawrence Counties. When David Parish left America in 1816 and his brother George took over his interests, Rosseel again was appointed as agent and again had full Power of Attorney. After the death of the first George Parish, a second George Parish, the son of David's brother Richard, became owner of the Parish estate. Joseph Rosseel, once again, was given Power of Attorney and conducted business until his retirement in 1859 when his son took over the Parish affairs. Sources: Lahey, William C. The Influence of David Parish on the Development of Trade and Settlement in Northern New York, 1808-1822. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms [1959] F127.S2 P17 L13 Rosseel, Frank R. First Fortunes in the American Republic… Correspondence of David Parish and Joseph Rosseel. Hartford, Conn.: Associated Publishers of American Records, 1907 F127.S2 O54 R SCOPE AND CONTENT The Parish-Rosseel collection, numbering approximately 1600 items,(38 linear feet) includes correspondence, financial papers, legal documents, prints, photos, maps, and memoranda. Covering more than a century, the collection extends from 1807, with the correspondence of the first Parishes and Rosseels in America, to the present, with the correspondence of the living descendents of both of the families. The bulk of the material falls within the period 1807 to 1816. The Parish family was largely responsible for the settlement and development of the North Country. As the first industrialists in this area, they opened iron and lead mines, and trade along the St. Lawrence River. The Parish papers are also valuable as a rich source of information about the War of 1812 as it took place along the St. Lawrence River. The Parishes corresponded with many of the leading figures of the time, both in this country and abroad. The files of correspondence which include letters between the Parish family, friends, and business associates provide readers with information on the social and financial activities of that period. Legal documents, account books, and numerous business letters are also invaluable sources for researchers. PROVENANCE Much of the collection was discovered by Frank Rosseel in 1906, stored away in the attic of the library building in Ogdensburg. Donations have also been made by descendants of the Parish family. Of particular interest is a large leatherbound album of photographs of the Parish family, the Parish estate in Europe, and the St. Lawrence property once owned by the Parishes as it appeared in the early 1800's. This valuable addition to the collection was given to St. Lawrence University Library by Charles Parish, a direct descendant of the Parish family. This collection was first made available for public perusal through the efforts of Richard C. Ellsworth, then secretary of St. Lawrence University and trustee of the New York Historical Association. Through his correspondence with Frank Rosseel, he made way for its eventual donation to this Library. As Mr. Ellsworth said of the collection,"This gift of Mr. Rosseel's marks an important milestone in the effort of St. Lawrence University to gather, preserve, and collect for future historians, in writing, the history of northern New York." ABBREVIATIONS D.P. David Parish J.R. Joseph Rosseel a.l. Autograph letter a.l.s. Autograph letter signed p.c. Post card p.c.s. Post card signed a.d. Autograph document a.d.s. Autograph document signed a.n.s. Autograph note signed t.l. Typed letter t.l.s. Typed letter signed a.m. Autograph manuscript a.m.s. Autograph manuscript signed NOTE: Items marked "copies", indicate a duplicate or a triplicate of that letter written by the sender. Photo copies are indicated as such. CONTENTS Box / FOLDER Series I. Parish-Rosseel 1-40 1-1552c A. Correspondence. (Box 1-39, 1789-1834) Contains correspondence & legal papers ofthe Parish &Rosseel families. 1. Individual Items Arranged Chronologically. 2. Letterbooks. 41-42 1553-1567a B. Biographical. (Arranged chronologically) 1. Parish family. 2. Rosseel family. 43 1567b-1570 C. Miscellany Series II. Frank Rosseel 44 1570a-1578 A. Manuscripts. Contains stories & articles written by Frank Rosseel about the Parish & Rosseel families. 44 1579 B. Drawings. Contains drawings and sketches done by Frank Rosseel. 44 1580-1582 C. Miscellany. Contains miscellaneous items by Frank Rosseel. Series III. Oscar Parish 45-46 1583-1601 Correspondence of Oscar Parish. (in German) Arranged chronologically. Series IV. Books & Ledgers from the St. Lawrence Co. Hist. Assoc. 47-50 1602-1629 51-107 Bound numbered volumes Series V. Additional materials 108 A. Rosseel Family Correspondence 1813-1862 109 B. Other Rosseel Correspondence 1825-1931 C. McKean Family Correspondence 1995 110 Books from Joseph Rosseel’s personal library Indexes A Partial Directory of Names Found in the Parish-Rosseel Collection By John Austin Gregoire Agie—Parish’s partner in his Antwerp, Belgium commercial house Dr. Frederic Aigster—a French chemistry professor at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania and was in Pittsburgh by 1815 Russell Attwater – early large landowner and NYS Assemblyman during the War of 1812. Owned the Town of Russell and supervised the construction of the St. Lawrence Turnpike (now called the Russell Turnpike). Loren Baley—early settler of Hammond. He is buried in Old Hammond Cemetery Henry Bammann – a former employee of John Parish Sr. in Hamburg, emigrated to Utica and began his own hotel, The York House, which was patronized by Parish and his associates Alexander Baring – along with his brothers Thomas and Henry took over the operations of London’s Baring Brothers trading house in 1804, one of the largest commercial brokerages in the world at the time. He helped orchestrate the transfer of Spanish bullion from Mexico to Europe, the operation that made David Parish a millionaire. Baring Brothers and Co.—see entry above Francis Baring—founded Barings Bank along with his brother John in 1762. The firm evolved into Baring Brothers (see above) Dr. Jean Baptiste Baudry—French doctor sent by Leray de Chaumont as an agent to find a suitable site for Leray’s mansion on what is now Ft.
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