Mathusalem Wurtz Family Papers (1802-1913)

Finding Aid Completed by Eric Roth, April 1, 1999
Last revised June 8, 2001
Volume: 0.2 cu. ft.
Acquisition: The papers were donated to the Huguenot Historical Society by Helen E. Whipple on April 18, 1978.
Access: Unrestricted.
Copyright: Request for permission to publish materials from these records should be discussed with the Archivist and Director of the Huguenot Historical Society.

Biographical Note
 

Born at New Paltz on November 7, 1806, Mathusalem Wurtz was one of eight children born to Jacob Wurtz, a doctor in New Paltz, and his wife Catherine DuBois. Mathusalem married Catherine DuBois and died in Savannah, NY on April 12, 1887. [1]

Collection Description
 

Records include letters, wills, deeds, articles of agreement, photographs, daguerreotypes, receipts and death notices concerning the Wurtz and DuBois families of New Paltz and Rosendale in Ulster County, New York. Property records mainly concern land sales Ulster County, but some deal with real estate in Wayne and Chemung Counties as well.

Correspondents include Mathusalem Wurtz, Jacob Wurtz, Alexander Elting, Anna DuBois, Margaret DuBois, David Wurtz, Catharine Ann Hasbrouck, L.L. DuBois, George Wurtz, Maurice Wurtz, John S. Wurtz, and Anna Wurtz. The letters mainly discuss family issues (births, deaths, marriages, illnesses, visits, etc.); school life; farming; politics; and family history. Of interest are letters written by Catharine Anne Hasbrouck and Margaret DuBois discussing student life at the New Paltz Academy and other area schools in the 1840's and 1850's. Several of the letters are fragile, showing damage from folding, mishandling, tearing and fading.

Also in this collection are two cased daguerreotype photographic images dating from the mid-19th century of David Wurtz and Maurice Wurtz, and two late 19th-century albumen prints of Mathusalem and Catherine Maria DuBois Wurtz.

Folder/Item List

Correspondence (1834-1913)
Estate and Legal Papers (1802-1873)
Miscellaneous (1841-1913)
Photographs; receipts; death notices; Corner Stone Laying
Ceremony Brochure for the Zion Reformed Church, York, Pennsylvania.

Notes
 

[1] A Genealogical Record of the Wurts Family: The descendants of Reverend Johannes Conrad Wirz who came to America from Zurich, Switzerland, in 1734. (1889) Further publication information unknown.