The Denison-Rodgers Family Papers, comprising 40 Hollinger document boxes of manuscript material and 27 volumes, are organized into three major sections: (I) Gideon Denison Papers, (II) Henry Denison Papers and (III) Rodgers Family Papers.

Section I (22 boxes) contains the business and personal records of Gideon Denison, a merchant, businessman and land speculator, born at Saybrook, Connecticut, in 1753. He operated stores in Connecticut, Georgia and Tennessee, and did business in cities from New Orleans to Boston. He also traded at foreign ports in England, Europe and the West Indies.

An important research thread in these papers are the records of his speculation in America’s Western lands, an activity that caused him to lose nearly everything and perhaps hastened his death in 1799. This Section is further divided into two Series: (1) Business & family correspondence and (2) Business & family accounts + related papers.

Section II (13 boxes) includes the papers of Henry Denison, the oldest child and only son of Gideon and Jerusha Butler Denison. Born in 1792, Henry Denison was a Purser in the U.S. Navy, who became a prisoner of war after his ship was captured by the British during the War of 1812. A majority of the records in the Section detail his naval career and especially his time in England as a POW. He remained in the Navy following his release, but died a few years later in 1822.

The Section is organized into three Series: (1) Naval correspondence, (2) Naval papers and (3) Personal letters & papers.

Several members of the Rodgers family are represented in Section III (5 boxes), most notably Commodore John Rodgers (1772-1838) and his wife, Minerva Denison Rodgers, the oldest daughter of Gideon and Jerusha Denison. In addition, one will find papers relative to their sons Robert S. Rodgers (1810-1899), John Rodgers (1812-1882), William P. Rodgers (1821-1885) and Henry Rodgers (d. 1854). Other notables include Commodore Matthew C. Perry (father-in-law of Robert Rodgers), Brigadier General Montgomery Meigs (son-in-law of Commodore Rodgers) and Commodore David Porter. The records include letters to and from Commodore Rodgers, in addition to information about the careers of his sons. Family correspondence and related material, much of it written to or collected by Robert S. Rodgers, also appear in this Section. A letter written to his mother Minerva from Washington, D.C. following the assassination of President Lincoln is one of the many interesting pieces in these papers. The Section is divided into two Series: (1) Personal correspondence & papers and (2) Naval & military papers.

The 27 bound volumes in this collection relate to various members of the Denison and Rodgers families, and cover a broad span of years between 1784 and 1900. They are organized chronologically and can be found at the end of the 40 numbered manuscript boxes described above.