Stevens, John Austin, 1795-1874. Papers, 1811-1885.
Title:
Papers, 1811-1885.
Correspondence and papers, 1811-1885, related to the various interests and occupations of John Austin Stevens, Sr., businessman, president of the Bank of Commerce, the Merchants' Exchange Company, etc., and of his son, John Austin Stevens, Jr., financier, author, and secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, the National War Committee, the 1862 Treasury Note Committee, the Republican Committee, etc. There are groups of letters dealing with the constuction of Clinton Hall in 1829, construction of the Merchants' Exchange in 1837-1838, the 1837 economic depression and efforts to relieve it, banking legislation, and the financial affairs of Baring Brothers & Co., London, England, in late 1837 and early 1838, when Stevens went to New Orleans and Mobile to attend to their cotton and tobacco business there. This latter group includes an extensive correspondence with Thomas W. Ward of Boston, agent for Baring Brothers & Co., and with several other merchants, including Edward Austin and John E. Lodge, New Orleans; A. Battré, Mobile; Prime, Ward & King, New York; Ebenezer Stevens Sons, New York; Shaw, Dorman, & Horn, Mobile; and others. A volume of letters to Samuel B. Ruggles covers the dates 1834-1851. There are also letters, accounts, lists, etc., pertaining to a testimonial dinner in honor of William L. Marcy in 1857. Other important subjects in the correspondence include: the Buffalo, New York and Erie Rail Road Co. , throughout 1853-1863; a monument to James Fenimore Cooper, in 1859; and the New York City Republican Party campaigns of 1860 and 1864. There are many letters about state and national politics throughout the Civil War. George Gibbs, in Washington, writes frequently about the conduct of the war, the defense of Washington, the army and many other matters before and after the war. In 1861 the correspondence of the younger John Austin Stevens becomes more prominent, with many letters written by him to his father discussing politics in Washington, particularly the friction between Salmon Portland Chase and William Henry Seward over appointments. There are many letters to him from William Alexander, who writes on military and political events in Texas, Mexico, and New Orleans in 1863-1864. Other important subjects in his correspondence include the Treasury Note Committee; support of the Union; General Boulanger; patriotic organizations, such as the Loyal National League; historical organizations, such as the Loyal Publication Society, and patriotic celebrations, such as the centennial of Evacuation Day. There are also several volumes of correspondence related to the Magazine of American History, which he edited. A number of notebooks relate to his researches on New York City taverns, coffee-houses, horse racing, etc. There are also manuscripts of the following addresses read by Stevens before the New-York Historical Society: The Physical development of New York in the 19th century; The Merchants of New York in 1789; The Physical development of New York on the plan of the Commisioners, a centennial contrast, 1807-1907; The Merchants of New York, 1765-1775; George Gibbs; The Progress of New York in a century, 1776-1876; and The New York delegation to the Continental Congress, 1774-1776. Other people whose letters appear frequently include: Benjamin Vaughan, Samuel Ward of Newport (R.I.), J.B. Plumb of Albany, S.A. Mercer of Philadelphia, William Appleton, John V.N.L. Pruyn, Charles A. Heckscher, James A. Hamilton, Salmon Portland Chase, Pelatiah Perit, Robert Bowne Minturn, Hiram Barney, Henry F. Vail, H.R. Low, George Opdyke, Francis Lieber, Andrew Jackson Hamilton, Thomas B. Carroll, Charles W. Le Gendre, Captain Emeric Szabad, George Stoneman, E.L. Plumb, Roscoe Conkling, Gilbert R. Lindsay, Jr., Charles Sumner, Edgar Conkling, Henry Winter Davis, Whitelaw Reid, Sydney Howard Gay, A.A. Low, Benjamin D. Silliman, John Jay (1817-1894), John W. Forney, and Victor Faides.
ArchivalResource:
21.5 linear feet.
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