John Steele papers, 1790-1845.

ArchivalResource

Steele, John, 1764-1815. John Steele papers, 1790-1845.

John Steele papers, 1790-1845.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/40693228

Transcriptions of correspondence of the family of John Steele, including wife Mary (Polly); daughters Ann (Nancy), Margaret (Polly), and Elizabeth (Eliza); and Margaret's daughters Mary and Ann Ferrand. Other correspondents include Elisa Gilpin, niece of Mary Steele; Maxwell Chambers, overseer of the Steele family plantation at Salisbury, N.C.; and Christina Beard, a friend of the Steele daughters. Letters chiefly addressed to Salisbury, N.C.; correspondence from John Steele date from his terms in Congress and include letters from New York, 1790, Philadelphia, 1791-1799, and Washington, D.C., 1800-1802; other locations represented include Bethlehem, Pa., where daughter Ann attended boarding school; Columbia, S.C., where daughter Elizabeth and granddaughter Ann lived after their marriages; Hillsborough, N.C., where daughter Margaret lived; and Trenton, N.J., where the family fled in 1799 to escape a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia. Steele's letters to his wife and children express devotion to his family; letters, 28 Nov. 1792 - 31 Jan. 1793, indicate that Mary was pregnant and note Steele's longing for a son. Several documents relate to the construction and furnishing of a house, among them a contract between Maxwell Chambers, on behalf of John Steele, and carpenter Elem Sharpe. Other letters discuss Steele's attitude toward slavery; including letter to Mary, 1 Mar. 1792, re his affection and sense of responsibility for "these black people"; and postscript, 4 Mar. 1792, re discipline for a slave named Dan, to be administered by the overseer. Letters, 1791-1801, re diplomatic mission to Europe undertaken by James Madison, John Adams, and Albert Gallatin to negotiate with the British government; John Adams' defeat in the presidential election, and rumors about his sanity; letters, 1830s-1840s, written by Mary Steele's grandchildren concern their education and families; also including genealogies of the Lynch and Steele families which were connected by the marriage in 1842 of John Lynch to Elizabeth Steele Macnamara, granddaughter of John and Mary Steele.

88 items (1 box)

University of South Carolina, System Library Service, University Libraries