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Country
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US
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Language of name of institution
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eng
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Contact information: postal address
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Earl Gregg Swem Library, William & Mary, 400 Landrum Drive, Williamsburg, VA 23186
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Contact information: phone number
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001 (757) 221-3090
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Contact information: email
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spcoll@wm.edu
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Reference number
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Mss. 78 G13
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Type of reference number
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Archival reference number
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Title (official language of the state)
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Galt Papers (I)
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Language of title
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eng
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Creator / accumulator
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Galt family
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Date(s)
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1745/1892
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Language(s)
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eng
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Extent
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39.32 linear metres
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Type of material
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Textual Material
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Scope and content
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This collection comprises professional and personal papers of the Galt family of Williamsburg, Virginia. Papers primarily concern the Galt family's work at the Eastern State Hospital, including apothecary shop daybooks, account books, medical daybooks, clinical notebooks, weather diaries, commonplace books, reports, medical notes, lecture notes, correspondence, and others. The personal papers consist of diaries, letters, scrapbooks, school notes, financial papers, memoirs, and other material.
The collection includes two manuscript accounts entitled "Notes on Diseases in Virginia" (Box Series 3, Box 26, MsV 164 and MsV165) written by Dr John de Sequeyra, a Portuguese physician of Jewish origins who settled in Williamsburg, Virginia, around 1745 and became the first visiting physician of the Eastern State Hospital. From 1745, Sequeyra began to report the prevailing diseases in Virginia each year, whose account he continued until 1781. Later, he summarized the diseases more common in Virginia, their symptoms and therapies. Harold Gill (1972) and Sarah McEntee (1998) published these accounts.
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Archival history
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Anne G. K. Black donated part of this collection (ca. 10,000 items) in March 1978; other items were purchased between 1979 and 1983. The collection was completed in 1989 when 27 items were transferred to the Swem Library.
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Administrative / Biographical history
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The Galt family of Williamsburg, Virginia, operated the Eastern State Hospital. Members of the Galt family include John Minson Galt II, A. D. Galt, Jr., Sarah Maria Galt, Elizabeth J. Galt, and others.
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System of arrangement
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The collection is organised into three series: 1) Medical Papers, 1756-1869; 2) Personal Papers, 1755-1904; and 3) Manuscript Volumes, 1749-1892.
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Author of the description
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Carla Vieira, 2023
