Guide to the Elias Boudinot Papers
Open for research.
Elias Boudinot was born in Philadelphia on May 2, 1740. He studied law under Richard Stockton and rose to distinction practicing law in New Jersey. Boudinot was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress and appointed Commissary General of Prisoners in 1777. In 1782 he was elected president of the Continental Congress, and in that capacity he put his signature to the treaty of peace. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1789 under the new constitution, and served for six years. In 1796, President Washington appointed Boudinot Director of the Mint.
Boudinot was elected a member of the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions in 1812. He also assisted in the establishment of the American Bible Society in 1816, and was chosen as its first president.
Elias Boudinot retired as Director of the Mint in 1805 and moved to Burlington, New Jersey, where he died in 1821.
The Elias Boudinot papers consists of correspondence and several legal agreements pertaining to land ownership. With the exception of one letter (dated June 14, 1810), all the letters are incoming. The correspondence spans the years 1777-1821.
The correspondence dating from 1777-1778 almost exclusively deals with the trading and releasing of prisoners. The remainder of the correspondence is mostly legal and professional in nature.
SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1777-1821
Researchers should also check the card catalog for additional materials referring to Elias Boudinot.
For documents concerning Boudinot's will and property see:
RG 33, Guide to the Second Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia, Pa.) Records
His name also appears periodically (1745-1752) in Second Presbyterian Church's Consistory Book.
Collection processed and finding aid prepared: August 1989
Susan W. Miller, Processing Archvist
| Box | Folder | Description | |
| 1 | 1 | Finding Aid to Record Group 256 | |
| SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, 1777-1821 | |||
| 1 | 2 | 1777-1778 | |
| 1 | 3 | 1781-1798 | |
| 1 | 4 | 1799-1821 |