William Clements purchased the papers of General Thomas Gage (British Commanding General for North America from 1763-1775) in January 1930, and director Randolph Adams went to collect them in March. Mr. Clements concluded his negotiations with Lord Gage quite swiftly. After the sale was completed, Gage remarked that he was “impressed by the promptness” of the library. The papers were brought to Mr. Clements’ house in Bay City; like the Clinton and Greene Papers, they would not become part of the Clements Library collections until 1937, when they would become one of the largest and most important collections related to the Revolutionary War at the library. The Deputy-Keeper opined that William Clements now owned the “greatest and most important manuscript collection that has ever left that has ever left England at one time.” Lord Gage requested that he be allowed to keep one map of New York dedicated to General Gage, a wish that was granted by Adams on Clements’ behalf.
