MSS 0461 - Torbert-Ellegood collection
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The Torbert-Ellegood collection, spanning 1759-1889, with the bulk of the papers dating 1820-1840, consists of 1.3 linear feet of legal papers, land records, accounts, receipts, correspondence, and other documents, many of which relate to the Torbert and Ellegood families of Delaware. It is unclear, however, how these two families relate to each other and how this collection of papers was assembled. John Torbert (1775-1842) and Joshua A. Ellegood (1789-1845), the central figures in each group of family papers, were both active in Delaware business and civic life. John Torbert served as a Justice of the Peace in New Castle County from 1812 to 1814, and Joshua A. Ellegood was appointed Justice of the Peace in Sussex County in 1827. Through their business transactions and public offices, it is possible that both men came in contact with many individuals and families represented in this collection. The collection documents the personal and professional lives of John Torbert and Joshua A. Ellegood, but the overall research value may be in its broad representation of early nineteenth-century economic and legal affairs in Delaware.