Fontaine-Maury Papers: Part 1(1710–1874)

MS 1968.3
Microfilm: M-1556 and M-1557
Transcript: Transcripts (TR/67)
1 vol. (366 pp.) and 30 items

Journal (1710–1719) of John Fontaine (1693–1767), soldier, traveler, and clockmaker, including his military service in Portugal and Spain, 1710–1711; travels in England, 1713; an attempted trip to Virginia turned back by bad weather; and his trip to Virginia, 1715, to purchase land for his family. While in Virginia, Fontaine traveled to Germanna and Ft. Christanna; participated in and described Governor Spotswood’s Trans-Montane Expedition; and journeyed to New York City, returning through New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The journal was seemingly written after John’s return to England in 1719, and was copied by Miss Ann Maury in 1840. At that time the original was in the possession of descendants in England, but it has since disappeared.

Into the journal, Miss Maury also copied letters from John Fontaine’s brother, the Rev. Peter Fontaine (1691–1757), John’s sister, Mary Ann Fontaine Maury (1690–1755), and John’s nephews, Peter Fontaine (b. 1721) and the Rev. James Maury (1717–1769), to John and Moses Fontaine and Daniel Tobin in England. The letters relate family news and occasionally touch on conditions in Virginia.

Also, a few original 18th-century letters and 19th-century copies of other Fontaine and Maury letters to and from Virginia, and 19th-century letters of Ann Maury and her brother James regarding James Fontaine’s memoir and family news.

Persons mentioned in the journal and letters include Mr. Baylor, Mr. Beverley, Mr. Clayton, Philip Ludwell, Austin Moor, Andrew Freneau, Col. Morris, William Fontaine Alexander, Edmund Fontaine, Matthew Maury, and William A. Maury.

The journal and most of the eighteenth-century letters were published in Ann Maury, Memoirs of a Huguenot Family (New York, 1853), and later editions.

Inventory: Loose Items

Date	Description
Folder 1
February 1720	Remarks taken out of the Sieur de Medici’s History of Spain by John Fontaine in August and September, 1719, with note made by John Fontaine in Dublin in February, 1720. PROBABLY LATER COPY, NOT IN MAURY.
15 June 1756	[Rev.] James Maury, Louisa Co., VA, to John Fontaine [Cwn Castle, Wales]. ORIGINAL, MAURY 400–408.
15 June 1756	19th-century copy, same as above.
15 June 1756	19th-century copy, same as above.
30 June 1757	Rev. Peter Fontaine’s will, 7 pp. 19th-century. COPY WITH LIST of CORRECTIONS, MAURY 354–355.
9 June 1760	Peter Fontaine, [Jr.], Hanover Co., VA, to Moses Fontaine, near Carmethen, South Wales. ORIGINAL, IN JOURNAL 241–244, Maury 369–371.
19 June 1760	[Rev.] James Maury, Louisa Co., to Moses Fontaine. ORIGINAL, MAURY 413–418.
19 June 1760	19th-century copy, same as above.
20 January 1762	Peter Fontaine, [Jr.], Hanover, to [John and Moses Fontaine and Daniel Torin]. CONTEMPORARY COPY & 19th-century COPY, NOT IN MAURY.
17 February 1762	[Rev. James Maury] to James Maury, [Jr.]. Fredericksburg. ORIGINAL, NOT IN MAURY.
30 June 1762	Cwm. Castle. John & Moses Fontaine to Peter [Fontaine, Jr.]. DRAFT, NOT IN MAURY.
7 August 1763	Peter Fontaine, [Jr.], Hanover Co., VA, to Moses and John Fontaine and Daniel Torin. CONTEMPORARY COPY, IN JOURNAL 245–247, MAURY 371–373.
2 January 1764	John Fontaine to [Rev. James] Maury. 19th-century COPY, MAURY 442–443.
17 February 1766	John Fontaine to [Daniel] Torin. 19th-century COPY, NOT IN MAURY.
Folder 2
15 November 1829	Barrock. Ann Maury to James [Maury III], Charlottesville, VA. ORIGINAL & [TYPED EXTRACT (not in folder)].
4 April 1830	Ann Maury, Seacombe, to James Maury [III], near Charlottesville, VA. ORIGINAL & TYPED COPY (not in folder).
13 April 1830	Ann Maury, Seacombe, to James Maury [III], near Charlottesville, VA. ORIGINAL.
28 September 1830	Edmund Fontaine, Richmond, to James Maury [III], Charlottesville. ORIGINAL & TYPED COPY.
29 March 1838	Edmund Fontaine, Richmond, to Ann Maury, c/o M. and R. Maury, New York City. ORIGINAL & TYPED COPY.
3 August 1838	Edmund Fontaine, Hanover, to Ann Maury, c/o Messrs. Maury, New York City. ORIGINAL.
24 October 1838	Edmund Fontaine, Hanover, to Ann Maury, c/o Messrs. Maury, New York City. ORIGINAL.
14 June 1839	E. Fontaine to Mrs. Maury [Ann Maury?] [Mrs. William Maury?], Liverpool. ORIGINAL.
29 December 1840	Matt[hew] Maury, New York, to Ann [Maury], Leicestershire. ORIGINAL & TYPED EXTRACT.
6 May 1856	William Fontaine Alexander to “Cousin.” ORIGINAL.
13 April 1857	N.Y. Editors of Harper’s Magazine to Ann Maury. ORIGINAL.
2 May 1857	John Esten Cooke, Jefferson Co., VA, to Mrs. Ann Maury. ORIGINAL.
25 February 1874	William A. Maury, Richmond, to [Ann] Maury, New York City. ORIGINAL.
June 1716	ENCLOSURE: COPY of June 1716, [Gov. Spotswood?] to [James] Fontaine.
n.d.	Ann to Mother, Mrs. Ann F. [?] Hite.
n.d.	G. Johnson to Mrs. E. Fontain.
Folder 3
1752 Addition I	Description of land around Cym Castle, Wales, and list of children of William Fontaine.

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