Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

The Stewart Family Papers, Accession # 7786-t, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was the gift of Mr. Bruce Engster of Charlottesville, Virginia on 8 August 1978.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of ca. 900 items (two Hollinger boxes, ca. ten linear shelf inches), principally correspondence dating from 1829 to 1841, documenting the Richmond, Virginia-based tobacco business of Daniel, John, and Bryce Stewart and their uncle, Norma Stewart. Bryce Stewart acted as a field agent for his brothers and later managed the family crop and warehouse in Clarksville, Tennessee, which had been set up by John in the early 1830s. At the Clarksville factory the Stewart brothers purchased tobacco leaves and stem from area planters, dried and processed them and then shipped the crop via the Cumberland and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans. The company also dealt in New York and abroad.

These papers document the tobacco business and factors which influenced it such as weather and health conditions, the price of slaves, banking policies, currency fluctuations, and shipping. There is also material regarding insurance policies, insurance claims, and law suits. Of particular interest are offical price lists for the port of New Orlenas including the "New Orleans Price Current and Commerical Intelligencer--Letter Sheet "and "Merchants Transcript of New Orleans Price Current ", which were sent with covering letters to the Stewarts by their agents.

Also of note is a letter dated 25 December 1835 from one of their agents, Charles Oxley, to Norman Stewart. Oxley reports on the life of a tobacco agent in New Orleans, detailing everything from his uncomfortable journey, which included wading twenty miles through the Chattahoochee Swamp in Georgia, to the difficulty that the tobacco people encounter in finding adequate shelter in New Orleans. The high cost of lodging and board are of particular concern, as he remarks that the "increase in strangers both here and in Mobile is so great that the rents have risen at least five and twenty percent "and how he now must pay $100 for a room that used to cost him $80. He observes that "tobacco must be more profitable than it is at the present to stand such extravagant rates. "Account sheets and bills of lading are also included.

Besides business correspondence there are also personal letters from family members such as Eliza J. Stewart, wife of Bryce Stewart (11 Jul 1841 and 12 Oct 1841) and Isabella Stewart (28 May 1835) writing to her brother Daniel from the family's home in Rothesay, Scotland. In addition there are several letters which describe the travels of John Walker, a cousin of the Stewarts and agent for the family company. His letter of 28 August 1934 is an account of his trip by horseback from Rishmond to Lynchburg where he describes his stops, the condition of the roads, and the state of the tobacco crop along the way. He comments that he was less fatigued traveling by horseback than by coach and that except for the rain, it is "a most agreeable way of traveling. "

In another letter dated 30 August 1833 he describes his first visit to New York City and upstate New York remarking on the concourse of strangers, the difficulty in obtaining comfortable quarters, and the bargain transportation; one could take an omnibus from Wall Street to the upper end of Broadway for fifteen cents. He also reported on his travels to the Shaker Community in Lebannon, New York where he observed their practice of dance as an act of divine worship. He describes this as one of the "most remarkable sights to be seen in this quarter of the United States, "likening its beauty to the falls of Niagara and the fortifications at Quebec.

Arrangement

The Stewart papers are arranged chronologically.