Amory Family Papers 1697-1894 Guide to the Collection

Table of Contents Collection Summary Biographical Sketches Collection Description Acquisition Information Organization Detailed Description of the Collection Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Biographical Sketches

Arranged by generation

Thomas Amory (1682-1728)
Thomas Amory was born in Ireland in 1682, the son of Jonathan and Rebecca Houston Amory. His parents removed to Barbados and then to South Carolina after Rebecca's death around 1685. In 1696, Thomas and his sister Anne were sent to England to be educated. Upon the death of his father, Thomas was placed under the care of his uncle Thomas Amory. He entered Nicholas Oursel's counting house and was sent to the Azores as a supercargo. In 1719 he moved to Boston and married Rebecca Holmes (1701-1770), daughter of Francis and Rebecca Holmes in 1721. He bought lands in the south end of Boston, built warehouses and wharves, bought tracks of land in Carolina, the Azores, and Maine. He died in 1728 leaving his widow, two daughters, and three sons.

Thomas Amory (1722-1784)
Thomas Amory was born 23 April 1722, the eldest son of Thomas and Rebecca (Holmes) Amory. He entered the Boston Latin School in 1735 and graduated from Harvard in 1741. He was a merchant by trade, but also ran a distillery inherited from his father and grandfather. Thomas married his cousin Elizabeth Coffin, whose family was Loyalist, in 1764, and they had nine children. During the siege of Boston, Thomas was first moved to Waltham for two months, but then returned to Boston and continued in trade with his brothers until his death in 1784.

Elizabeth Coffin Amory (1743-1823)
Elizabeth Coffin Amory was the daughter of John Coffin, Loyalist and distiller of Boston who removed to Quebec during the evacuation of Boston in 1776. She married Thomas Amory in 1764; they had nine children.

Jonathan Amory (1726-1797)
The second oldest son of Thomas and Rebecca Holmes, Jonathan was born on 19 December 1726 in Boston. He married Abigail Taylor, brother of future business partner and Loyalist Joseph Taylor, but did not have any children. He was a merchant by trade and was a partner with his brother, John Amory in the merchant house J. & J. Amory, which in 1769 became Amory's and Taylor, and then Amory, Taylor and Rogers in 1772. He built a house at the corner of Temple and Washington Streets and when he died in 1797 he his entire estate was left to his younger brother John.

John Amory (1728-1803)
The third oldest son of Thomas and Rebecca Holmes, John was born 1728 in Boston. He married Catherine Greene, daughter of Katharine Stanbridge and Rufus Greene, and they had nine children. He was a merchant by trade and was a partner with his brother Jonathan Amory in the merchant house J. & J. Amory (later Amory's and Taylor, and Amory, Taylor and Rogers). He also owned a distillery and a wharf. In May of 1775, John and his wife Catherine Greene left for England, leaving Jonathan in charge of the business. His children were under the care of both his brother Jonathan and sister Elizabeth Amory Payne. While in England his wife died. His name was placed on the banishment act list and he was not permitted to return to Boston after the war. He lived in England and Brussels during the war, Providence, R.I. for a period of time after the war, and was eventually allowed to return to Boston. He lived in Rufus Greene's house until his death in 1803.

John Amory (1759-1832)
The eldest son of John and Catherine (Greene) Amory, John Amory, Jr. was born in 1759 in Boston, Mass. He was a store keeper by trade in partnership with his brother Thomas in the merchant firm John and Thomas Amory at 41 Marlboro Street. He married Catherine Willard in 1792 and had one child. He was referred to as "Newbury-Street John." He died in Boston in 1832.

Thomas Amory (1762-1823)
The third oldest son of John and Catherine (Greene) Amory, Thomas Amory was born in 1762. He was a store-keeper and in partnership with his brother John Amory in the firm John and Thomas Amory at 41 Marlboro Street. He married Elizabeth Bowen in 1799 and they had eight children. He was referred to as "English Tom." He died in Roxbury in 1823.

Thomas C. Amory, Jr. (1767-1812)
The eldest son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Coffin) Amory, Thomas was born in 1767 in Boston. He married Hannah R. Linzee, daughter of ¬¬Captain John Linzee commander of the British sloop of war Falcon during the Battle of Bunker Hill. While his father was abroad during the Revolution, he worked with his cousin William Payne in the merchant house Payne and Amory. After 1800 he was in partnership with his brother Jonathan in the successful merchant house Jonathan and Thomas Amory and Company.

Jonathan Amory tertius (1770-1828)
The second eldest son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Coffin) Amory, Jonathan tertius was born in 1770. His first marriage was to Ann Wyer, but she died rather young. He remarried Mehitable (Sullivan) Cutler, the widow of his business partner James Cutler in 1801. She was the daughter of Mehitable and Gov. James Sullivan. After graduating from Harvard in 1778, Jonathan entered J & J Amory, the counting house of his uncle Jonathan (1726-1797). He then was in partnership with James Cutler in Cutler and Amory until Cutler's death in 1799. Afterward, he was in partnership with his brother Thomas C. Amory, Jr. in the merchant house Jonathan and Thomas Amory and Company. He was sometimes referred to as "good Jonathan."

Thomas Coffin Amory (1812-1889)
The youngest son of Jonathan and Mehitable Sullivan Cutler Amory, Thomas Coffin Amory was born in 1812. He graduated from Harvard in 1830 and became a member of the Boston bar in 1834 and served in the municipal government of Boston as an alderman. He was a lawyer, historian, and genealogist who wrote numerous works on subjects including Irish history, the poor of Boston, topics related to the Revolution, and a biography of his grandfather, James Sullivan, entitled The Life of Gov. Sullivan (1859). His family research and writings make up the bulk on this collection.

James Cutler (1767-1799)
James Cutler was born in Boston in 1767 to John and Mary Clark Cutler. He married Mehitable Sullivan, the daughter of Gov. James Sullivan in 1793. He was in business with Jonathan Amory tertius in the merchant house of Cutler and Amory until his death in 1799.

Samuel Rogers (1746-1804)
Samuel Rogers was born in Littleton, Mass., to the Rev. Daniel and Elizabeth Ruggles Dummer Rogers in 1746. After graduating from Harvard in 1765, he moved to Boston and became a commission merchant but didn't fare very well. In 1772, be became a partner in the merchant house Amory, Taylor & Rogers. A Loyalist, he evacuated to Nova Scotia in 1776. He lived in London and acted as a Loyalist claims agent before returning to Boston in 1803. He died there in 1804.

Joseph Taylor (1746-1816)
The fourth son of Colonel William and Faith Winslow Taylor, Joseph Taylor was born in Boston in 1746. He graduated from Harvard in 1765 and kept the Latin School at Westborough until January 1770 when he removed to Boston and became a partner in Amory, Taylor & Rogers. His sister Abigail Taylor married business partner Jonathan Amory. He sailed for England as an agent in 1772 and remained there through the Revolution. He died in Boston in 1816.

Merchant house lineage

J. & J. Amory
J. & J. Amory was the merchant firm of brothers Jonathan (1726-1797) and John Amory (1728-1803), sons of Thomas Amory (1682-1728). The firm is believed to be opened before 1757 and was located in Dock Square before it was removed to King Street, below the townhouse.

Amory's and Taylor
Amory's and Taylor was the merchant firm of brothers Jonathan and John Amory and Joseph Taylor, which began in 1769. The firm was originally J. & J. Amory.

Amory, Taylor & Rogers
The merchant firm of Amory, Taylor, and Rogers began in 1770 when Samuel Rogers became a partner with Jonathan and John Amory. When the Revolution began, John Amory, Joseph Taylor, and Samuel Rogers fled the country leaving Jonathan Amory in charge. John Amory returned upon the conclusion of the war at which time the firm name changed to Jonathan and John Amory.

John and Jonathan Amory and Company
In 1783, Jonathan and John Amory dissolved their partnership with Samuel Rogers and Joseph Taylor and resumed their importing merchant business in Boston. It is believed this firm as dissolved upon the death of Jonathan Amory (1728-1797).

John and Thomas Amory
John and Thomas Amory was the merchant firm of brothers John (1759-1832) and Thomas (1762-1823), sons of John Amory (1728-1803). While their father was in exile in England during the Revolution, their uncle Jonathan (1726-1797) set them up in business. Their firm dissolved in 1797. The store was located at 41 Marlboro Street in Boston. John Amory was sometimes referred to as "Newbury Street John" and Thomas was sometimes referred to as "English Tom."

Cutler and Amory
Jonathan Amory tertius (1770-1828) and James Cutler (1767-1799) were principles in the importing and merchant dry goods firm Cutler and Amory, which began sometime after the Revolution in 1783 and was dissolved upon the early death of James Cutler in 1799. Amory conducted business out of the Boston office, while Cutler acquired goods abroad and shipped them back to Boston to be sold.

Jonathan and Thomas Amory and Company
After the death of James Cutler, Jonathan Amory tertius (1770-1828) and his brother Thomas C. Amory, Jr. (1767-1812) were principles in the merchant firm Jonathan and Thomas Amory and Company, which began sometime after 1800. The shop was located on India Wharf.

Collection Description

The Amory family papers, 1697-1894, consist of business, estate, and personal papers of the Amory family and related Coffin and Sullivan families of Boston, Mass. Business papers pertain to the multi-generational family merchant establishments John and Jonathan Amory; Amory, Taylor, and Rogers; Cutler and Amory; and Jonathan and Thomas Amory and Company. Included in the collection are correspondence, shipping papers, estate inventories, wastebooks, account books, cash books, invoices, letterbooks, bills, and receipts.

Personal family papers pertain to Thomas Amory (1682-1728), Thomas Amory (1722-1784), Rebekah Holmes Amory, Elizabeth Coffin Amory; Jonathan Amory (1726-1797), John Amory (1728-1803), Jonathan Amory tertius (1770-1828), Thomas C. Amory, Jr. (1767-1812), James Cutler, Mehitible Sullivan Cutler Amory, Thomas Coffin Amory (1812-1889), and members of the Amory, Coffin, Sullivan, Austin, and Deblois families. The collection includes extensive papers detailing family trusts and the division of estates; descriptions of family real estate holdings; wills and deeds; account books; commonplace-books; and newspaper clippings; and diaries of Mehitible Sullivan Cutler Amory and Thomas Coffin Amory. Family correspondence includes letters written from John Coffin to his daughter Elizabeth Coffin Amory; James Sullivan to his daughter Mehitable Sullivan Cutler Amory; and Civil War letters written by Thomas J.C. Amory and Charles B. Amory to their father Jonathan Amory and uncle James S. Amory. The writings of Thomas Coffin Amory (1812-1889) make up the bulk of the collection. His writings include poetry, rough drafts of his books, and lectures given on various topics. Some of these topics include Irish history, the poor of Boston, old houses and architecture in New England, specific persons including George Washington Warren, Sir Isaac Coffin, John Winthrop, Gov. James Sullivan, and Gen. John Sullivan.

Also included are copied transcriptions of materials, of which the location is unknown, including letters of Amory family descendants, John and Jonathan Amory, Gen. John Sullivan, Gov. James Sullivan. Also includes extensive genealogy of the Amory family, including 19th century transcriptions of early family papers and correspondence; material gathered in Europe in 1871; genealogical notes; a biography of Amory, Sullivan, and Coffin family members; and a diagram of the Amory family tree (in Box OS 5).

Acquisition Information

Gift of the descendants of Hugh Amory, in memory of Thomas Coffin Amory, December 1902.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Amory family papers, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.