Collection search - Daniel Claus and family fonds [textual record, graphic material, philatelic record]
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Daniel Claus and family fonds [textual record, graphic material, philatelic record]
Hierarchical level:FondsContext of this record:Fonds includes:594 lower level description(s)View lower level description(s) -
Finding aid Textual records (Paper) Finding Aid 41 provides an item-level listing for the contents of volumes 1-26. For volumes 1-20 and 23-26, the listing for each volume presents two sequences, the first identifying the author and date of each letter, in alphabetic order, then chronologically; the second identifying other documents by the title or a summary description, in chronological order. The listing of diaries and memoranda books (volumes 21-22) offers a summary description of content and extent for each item. Except for the diaries and notebooks (volumes 21-22) MSS FA 41 identifies ONLY the first page of each document. The portion of FA 41 entered in a database and up-loaded into the current catalogue repeats the very limited descriptions provided by MSS FA 41 for documents in volumes 1-6 and part of volume 7. A copy of the relevant listing prefaces each volume on the microfilm. Introductory notes to MSS FA 41 (available only in paper format) include commentary on the arrangement of the fonds and its custodial history, plus a shelf list (pages viii-ix) which outlines the arrangement of the volumes and correlates the volume numbers with the microfilm reel numbers. MSS FA 2163 provides a correlation of old and new volume numbers for oversize items redesignated as volumes 29-35. MSS0041 (90: Open)Paintings (Electronic) On-line item level descriptions (90: Open)Silhouttes (Other) Additional details on the identification of the shilhouttes retained withe the Documentary Art accession file. (Restrictions not set)Philatelic record (Electronic) The finding aid for the philatelic records is described at the series level. (90: Open)(Electronic) All or some of the documents described have been digitized and are available at the following address: (90: Open)
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_103767(Electronic) Les documents décrits ont été complètement ou en partie numérisés et sont disponibles à l'adresse suivante : (90: Open)
http://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_103767?usrlang=fr -
Record information Daniel Claus and family fonds [textual record, graphic material, philatelic record]
Date:1755-1886.Reference:R5236-0-7-E, MG19-F1Type of material:Textual material, Art, Stamps and stamp productsFound in:Archives / Collections and FondsItem ID number:103767Date(s):1755-1886.Place of creation:Various placesExtent:1.58 m of textual records.
10 silhouttes cut out paper.
8 paintings miniatures, watercolours on ivory.
179 postal covers.Language of material:EnglishAdded language of material:English, French, German, Iroquoian (Other), MohawkScope and content:The Claus family fonds brings together a wide range of textual and graphic records created or accumulated by Christian Daniel Claus, his son William Claus, and other members of the family between 1755 and 1886, through both their private and their public activities.
Official and personal correspondence, diaries and notebooks, and estate records form the bulk of the fonds (volumes 1-28). The official correspondence and associated documents illustrate the work of Christian Daniel Claus and William Claus as subordinates of Sir William Johnson and his successors in the office of Superintendent General of Indian Affairs in the Northern District of North America. The personal correspondence, diaries, estate records and genealogical notes illustrate their private lives and family activities. Sketches, maps and even embroidery may be found amongst the correspondence, journals and common-place books. While the bulk of the documents were written in English, the fonds includes texts in German, French, Mohawk, Oneida and other Aboriginal languages.
The correspondence includes myriad integral postal covers, 179 of which, dating between 1767 and 1878, have been noted in a philatellic finding aid. They illustrate the postal services connecting Germany, Great Britain, New York and Quebec, Upper and Lower Canada.
The portraits within the fonds include oil paintings and miniatures, watercolours on ivory and silhouettes of family members, and some as-yet unidentified persons. The identified portraits include Colonel Christian Daniel Claus (1727-1787) and his wife Ann or Nancy (d. 1801), the daughter of Sir William Johnson; their son Colonel William Claus (1765-1826), at age ten and in 1792, as well as his wife Catherine (nee Jordan) Claus (d. 1840) and their sons Lieutenant Daniel Claus (d. 1813), and Warren Claus; plus Sir William Johnson (1715-1774). Of the ten silhouettes, only one has been identified: Ann Jordin Willard, ca. 1807-1814. The remainder are asssumed to portray various members of the Claus family.Provenance:Additional name(s):Biography/Administrative history:Claus (family), fl. 1727-1886 : Christian Daniel Claus (1727-1787), scion of a prominent family of southwestern Germany, emigrated to Philadelphia in the autumn of 1749. Becoming tutor to the son of Johann Conrad Weiser, Indian Agent for Pennsylvania, introduced Claus to the Six Nations and stimulated his interest in their languages and association with the management of relations with native peoples. Nominated a Lieutenant and deputy Secretary when Sir William Johnson became Colonel and Superintendent of the Six Nations in 1755, Claus participated in numerous conferences as interpreter and diplomat. In 1760 he took up the duties of Deputy Superintendent for the St Lawrence Valley and environs, residing at Montreal. In 1762 he married Ann (Nancy), daughter of Sir William Johnson. With the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, he suffered confiscation of his properties in New York, and replacement in office by John Campbell, who held the governor's favor. Out of office for scarcely two years, he soon received appointment as Deputy Agent for the Six Nations under Col. Guy Johnson (son-in-law and successor to Sir William), Claus took responsibility for the region soon to be renamed Upper Canada, fostering the Six Nations settlements at the Bay of Quinte and on the Grand River. He died in Great Britain while pursing claims for compensation for his lossess as a Loyalist.
William Claus (1763-1826), eldest son of Christian Daniel Claus and Ann Johnson, was born at Williamsburg, New York. His formal education curtailed by the outbreak of war, young William enlisted in the King's Royal Regiment of New York, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. In 1787 he obtained a lieutenancy in the 60th Regiment and was promoted captain in 1795. He married Catherine Jordan, daughter of Jacob Jordan, in 1791.
After several attempts to obtain an appointment under his uncle Sir John Johnson, in 1796 he was named Deputy Superintendent of the Six Nations, headquartered at Niagara while responsible for the Grand River and other communities. Four years later, in 1800 he succeeded Alexander McKee as Deputy Superintendent General for Upper Canada, serving in this post until his death. His work was frustrated by acrimonious relationships with the chiefs Joseph Brant and John Norton. Following the War of 1812 (during which Claus had served actively with the militia), his responsibilities as Superintendent altered as policy toward the native peoples shifted toward the extinguishment of land titles, the reservation of specific lands for Indians and the encouragement of acculturation. At the same time, William Claus took up other civic offices, being named a Justice of the Peace in 1803, a member of the Legislative Council in 1812, of the Executive Council in 1816; serving as commissioner of customs at Niagara and on the commission for the division of customs revenues between Upper and Lower Canada.
Three sons and two daughters of William Claus survived to adulthood. Daniel Claus died in 1813. John Claus (d. 1812) served briefly with the 84th Regiment. William Claus junior (d. 1824) served with the 54th Regiment in Europe, Jamaica, South Aftrica and India. .Additional information:Custodial history:The bulk of the Claus family fonds was acquired from the family in 1883. The current arrangement of the fonds essentially preserves the order in which the materials were received - notably the overlapping chronological sequences of correspondence and associated documents in volumes 1-12 and 13-19, and the segregation of some documents by type or subject-matter in volumes 20-26. Hand-written page numbers suggest previous efforts at reorganization. (Note that MSS Finding Aid 41 identifies documents by the archival stamped page numbers - their current arrangement.)
Until 1966, the Claus-Haldimand correspondence in volumes 25-26 were kept segregated and not available for research, the rationale for and history of which is recorded in documents prefacing volume 25.
Certain military records received with the Claus family fonds, deemed of official nature, were placed in RG 8, series I, as volumes C 1700 to C 1703 and C 1203½A to C1203½AA, and have been microfilmed with that series.
The letters of 1779 and 1811 in volume 27 were received in 1956 and 1988, respectively. The 3 August 1826 deed in volume 28 was received in 1980 from the Minnesota Historical Society. Details of acquisition for documentary art works has been preserved in administrative files.
Certain items were assigned new volume numbers following conservation treatment: volume 11 pages 185-186 as volume 29; vol. 13, pp 502-502a as vol. 30; vol. 20, pages 49-50, 65-80, and 82-84 as vol.31; vol. 20, pp 41-43 and vol. 23, pp 31-34 and 39-42 as vol. 32; vol. 28 as vol. 33; vol. 5, pp 99-100 as vol. 34 and vol. 8, pp 1-2 as vol. 35.Exhibitions note:Exhibition Title: Treasured Memories 1: A National Archives of Canada Exhibition [125th Anniversary of the National Archives]. Curator: Martin Tétreault, National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; 1997.05.14-1998.01.31 (Manuscript - Sale of a Black person MG19-F1 vol.23)Subject heading:- Mohawk Indians
- Mohawk (Indiens)
- Daniel Claus - Correspondence, 1755-1787 William Claus (jr.), [18-]
- Daniel Claus - Finance, Personal, 1755-1787 John Claus, [between 1727 and 1886]
- Daniel Claus - Archives, 1755-1787 Alexander McKee, 1794-1799
- William Claus - Correspondence, [1787]-1826 Great Britain. Deputy Superintendent of Indian Affairs, 1794-1799
- William Claus - Finance, Personal, [1787]-1826 Prideaux Selby, 1797-1809
- William Claus - Archives, [1787]-1826 Haldimand County (Ont.), 1826
- Warren Claus - Correspondence, [1826-1886]
- Warren Claus - Finance, Personal, [1826-1886]
- Warren Claus - Archives, [1826-1886]
- Claus family - Archives, 1755-1886
- Commissions, [18-]
- Land records, [18-]
- Indians of North America as soldiers, 1779
- Canada. Militia - Records and correspondence, [1755-1886]
- Great Britain. Army - Troops, 1779
- Great Britain. Army - Foreign service, 1779
- Great Britain - Politics and government, [1755-1886]
- Armies - Canada, [1755-1886]
- Alexander McKee - Archives, [1794-1799]
- Claus family - Genealogy, 1755-1886
- Indians of North America - Government relations, 1797-1826
- Great Britain - Officials and employees, 1797-[1826]
- Quebec (Province). Govenor (1778-1784 : Haldimand) - Records and correspondence, 1779
- Indians of North America - Land transfers, 1826
- Indians of North America - Property, 1826
- Indians of North America - Politics and government, 1826
- John Claus - Archives, [18-]
- Indians of North America - Reservations, 1811
- Indians of North America - Councils, 1826
- Mohawk language
- Great Britain
Source:PrivateFormer archival reference no.:MG19-F1 -
Ordering and viewing options Conditions of access:Textual records[Consultation Open]Volume [MG19 F 1] 1--35[Consultation Open]Finding aid box [FA 41] 6[Consultation Closed]Microfilm reel C-1481[Consultation Open]Graphic (art)[Consultation Restrictions vary]Philatelic records[Consultation Open]Terms of use:Textual records: volumes 1-26 were microfilmed in 1960 on reels C-1478 to C-1485, each volume prefaced by the relevant listing from MSS Finding Aid 41. As a protective conservation measure, the originals were withdrawn from circulation in 1983. Following conservation treatment, certain oversize items were re-designated volumes 29-35. Researchers MUST use the microfilm for volumes 1-26 and 29-32 and 34-35, A substitution photocopy for volume 33 occupies volume 28.
Please note that the copy of Volume 1 found on microfilm reel C-1478 is incomplete and is missing the document found on folios 249-256 (noted by Reference Services on August 8, 2016.) Reference to this latter document had not initially been listed in the finding aid but has now been added to the copy found in the Reference Room at 395 Wellington Street, Ottawa.
Silhouttes: No restrictions. Copyright expired. Credit the National Archives of Canada.
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