Weeks, David, 1786-1834. David Weeks and family papers, 1782-1957 (bulk 1830-1957).
Title:
David Weeks and family papers, 1782-1957 (bulk 1830-1957).
Papers of David Weeks and family consist of personal and business papers of the Weeks, Moore, Conrad, and Gibson families of New Iberia, La., and southern Louisiana. A sizable portion of the papers document the life and work of William Weeks Hall, David Weeks' great-grandson, an artist, preservationist, and horticulturist who restored Shadows on the Teche and its gardens. Early papers in the collection, largely consisting of business papers and personal correspondence of the Weeks and Conrad families dating from the 1820s and 1830s, concern the operation of sugar and cotton plantations, relations with merchants and cotton factors, the sale of slaves, and the education of the Weeks children, many of whose letters are included. The papers also include a number of letters written from Evergreen Plantation near St. Francisville by Rachel Weeks O'Connor, David Weeks' sister. They concern business and family affairs, local news, slave conditions, and difficulties with overseers. Among the other papers from this period are letters by U.S. Senator Charles M. Conrad and by John Merriman, overseer of Grand Côte Plantation; reports of New Orleans factors John Linton and Lambeth and Thompson; and the will of David Weeks, dated 1834, which indicates the disposition of his property among his children. Numerous letters and documents dating from the period following Mary Clara Conrad Weeks' marriage to John Moore trace Moore's political activities as a congressman in the 1840s and 1850s. Included are petitions, letters of introduction, congratulatory messages from friends and colleagues, and letters from A.B. Roman, Joseph Walker, Thomas Curry, W.B. Prescott, W.M. Prescott, John Ray, and others. Another set of personal letters documents the education of Mary Weeks' children in Washington, D.C., and Virginia schools. Among the commercial papers dating from the 1850s are reports of factors Hall and Rodd, Miles Adams and Co., and Darby and Tremoulet. Many of Moore's letters concern the organization and construction of the New Orleans, Opelousas, and Great Western Railroad in 1851, on whose board of directors Moore served. Papers dating from the Civil War, during which several members of the Moore and Weeks families relocated to Texas, include military exemptions of overseers William Lourd and Lewis Moore, petitions for compensation of slaves who were lost or died while serving in the army, and political correspondence of Moore, who served as a member of the Louisiana State Legislature during the period. Among the post-Civil War documents are labor contracts with freedman, letters relating to the destruction of various Louisiana estates, and letters that describe the tribulations and upheavals of the Reconstruction period in Louisiana. Papers of William Weeks Hall consist largely of correspondence with friends and relations in Louisiana and colleagues in the arts. A sizable group of letters are written by Hall's aunt Harriet Weeks Torian ("Aunt Pattie"), who describes social life and family affairs in New Orleans. Another large set of correspondence consists of notes of thanks from friends and relatives for gifts of flowers, paintings, and other items and for Hall's hospitality during their visits to Shadows on the Teche. Other letters concern Hall's finances and investments, inquiries from scholars and sightseers about visiting Shadows on the Teche, painting, the performing arts, and horticulture. Notable correspondents include Henry Miller and James Laughlin, whose letters concern a profile that Miller wrote about Hall; Francis Biddle, attorney general under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt; director D.W. Griffith, who filmed The white rose at Shadows on the Teche in 1923; author and playwright Julian Street; Emily Post; Paul Froelich; Joseph Grégoire de Roulhac Hamilton; and Franklin C. Watkins. Much of the later correspondence concerns Hall's efforts to induce a government agency to assume custodianship of Shadows on the Teche. Also included is a receipt for payment of a sum collected at the presidential election polls at New Iberia to aid in the construction of the Washington Monument. The papers additionally include bank statements, canceled checks, and receipts for purchases of building supplies, furniture, groceries, flowers, and other goods; magazines and advertising circulars; greeting cards; numerous photographs of family members, friends, and Shadows on the Teche and its gardens; daybooks, ledgers, and bankbooks; and letters of condolence following Harriet Weeks Torian's death in 1945.
ArchivalResource:
24,660 items.
http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/369178827 View
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