For the past four years, the East Hampton Library Long Island Collection has given serious, dedicated attention to one of its important collections, the Townsend Family Papers. Comprised of numerous manuscript letters, deeds, and the voluminous business records of this prosperous Oyster Bay, N.Y. merchant family, it’s the latter material, specifically the business records of son Robert Townsend, that are best known to researchers of the famed Culper Spy Ring, George Washington’s professional, secret intelligence gathering operation in New York during the British Occupation in the American Revolutionary War.

Raynham Hall Museum has worked with the East Hampton Library to digitize and make accessible ledgers related to the East Hampton Library collection. You can find the digitized ledgers by clicking here.