Virginia Historical Society
Department of Manuscripts and Archives

Stewart Family Papers, 1802-1938
Mss1 St495 a FA2

Description & Guide

Abstract
Main Entry: Stewart family.
Title: Papers, 1802-1938.
Size: 2,500 (ca.) items (38 manuscript boxes).
Biographical Note: John Stewart (1806-1885) and his brother Daniel Kerr Stewart (1809-1889) emigrated from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in Scotland in the 1820s and joined their uncle, Norman Stewart (d. 1856), in Richmond, Va., in business as tobacco merchants. The brothers formed a partnership under the name J. & D. K. Stewart before the Civil War. They also invested heavily in the railroads in Virginia and the South and in municipal bonds. After the war, investments continued as their primary financial enterprise. Their papers comprise the bulk of this collection.
Summary:

Include letterbooks, correspondence, financial, business and land records of John Stewart (of "Brook Hill," Henrico County, Va.); materials concerning Stewart's investments, especially in Virginia railroads; and records concerning Emmanuel Church, Henrico County, Va.

Also, include letterbooks, correspondence and financial records of Daniel Kerr Stewart (of "Brook Hill," Henrico County, Va.); and materials concerning his activities as treasurer of St. Thomas' Organized Mission, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.

Also, concern Norman Stewart (d. 1856); John Stewart's wife, Mary Amanda (Williams) Stewart, and father-in-law, Robert Carter Williamson; the Stewart daughters and their husbands, including Isobel Lamont (Stewart) Bryan and Joseph Bryan, Mary (Stewart) Pinckney and Thomas Pinckney, Marion McIntosh (Stewart) Peterkin, Lucy Williamson Stewart, Annie Carter Stewart, Norma Stewart, and Elizabeth Hope Stewart; the Bryan's son, Jonathan Bryan (1874-1933); and Bryce Stewart (1757-1827) of Scotland, father of John and Daniel Kerr Stewart.

Provenance: Deposited by the estate of Miss Annie Carter Stewart in 1966 and 1968; accessioned 31 March 1982. Gift of the trustees (i.e., J. Stewart Bryan, Richmond, Va., and Jonathan Bryan, III, Richmond, Va.) of the estate of Miss Annie Carter Stewart, 28 December 1991.
Restrictions: None.

Collection Description

John Stewart (1806-1885) and his brother Daniel Kerr Stewart (1809-1889) emigrated from Rothesay on the Isle of Bute in Scotland in the 1820s and joined their uncle Norman Stewart (d. 1856) in Richmond in business as tobacco merchants. The brothers formed a partnership under the name J. & D. K. Stewart before the Civil War. They also invested heavily in railroads in Virginia and the South and in municipal bonds. After the war, investments continued as their primary financial enterprise. Their papers comprise the bulk of this collection, a guide to which follows this summary description.

The first items in the collection concern Bryce Stewart (1757-1827), father of John and Daniel, and include the earliest piece, an account book kept in Rothesay for the period 1802-1827. Next follow materials of Norman Stewart, including those relating to the establishment in 1883 of the Norman Stewart Institute in Rothesay, funded by Norman Stewart’s estate, to promote temperance among the “mechanics and other members of the working class.” Norman Stewart’s letterbook, 1824-1856, was kept in Richmond and contains much information on John and Daniel Stewart’s early years in Virginia. Several items concerning John Stewart’s father-in-law, Robert Carter Williamson, also appear early in the collection.

Researchers are cautioned that, as the activities of John and Daniel Stewart were so closely intertwined, many items grouped among John Stewart’s personal papers actually relate to both men. This is especially true of letterbooks, account books, and materials concerning railroad and bond investments.

Among John Stewart’s correspondence are many letters written by or to members of his immediate family, as well as such notable individuals as Joseph Bryan (1845-1908), William Mahone (1826-1895), Matthew Fontaine Maury (1849-1886), Bishop William Meade (1789-1862), and Bp. Richard Hooker Wilmer (1816-1900). Stewart was very active in the Protestant Episcopal Church, as is revealed in his correspondence and in his prominence in the founding of Emmanuel Church in Henrico County, Virginia, near his estate, “Brook Hill.” Materials concerning “Brook Hill,” both the land and the house itself, are located in Box 20.

The Stewart brothers were interested in railroads and other internal improvement companies. They invested heavily in the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Co., C&O Railroad, Petersburg Railroad, Richmond & Danville Railroad, Richmond & West Point Terminal Railway and Warehouse Co., and Virginia Central Railroad. Some of the bonds purchased through these investments were lost or stolen during the Richmond Evacuation in 1865, and the brothers took great pains to recover them after the war (see Box 20).

Daniel Kerr Stewart’s papers include letterbooks kept in New York City during the Civil War while his brother remained in Virginia; correspondence with family members and such associates as Joseph Bryan, Frank Wood Christian (1851-1908; concerning the Norman Stewart Institute), Daniel Macbeth (concerning the Norman Stewart Institute), Jeremiah Morton (1799-1878; concerning the Episcopal Church [St. Thomas’ Organized Mission] at White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.), Bp. George William Peterkin (1841-1916), Thomas Pinckney (1829-1915)k, and Bp. Richard Hooker Wilmer; and other financial, personal, and land records. Also represented in the collection is Bryce Stewart (1811?-1894) of Clarksville, Tennessee, covering his involvement in his brothers’ mercantile and financial dealings.

Papers of John Stewart’s married daughters and their husbands, and of his four unmarried daughters at “Brook Hill” complete the collection.

Guide

Box 1

Series 1. Bryce Stewart (1757-1827), Rothesay, Scotland

Correspondence; accounts; account book, 1802-1827

Series 2. Norman Stewart ( -1856), Richmond, Va.

Letterbook; 1824-1856

Box 2

Series 2. Norman Stewart ( -1856), Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Materials concerning: Richmond & Charlottesville Turnpike Co.; houses and lots in Richmond, Va.; cabin at White Sulphur Springs, Va.; estate; Norman Stewart Institute, Rothesay, Scotland

Series 3. Robert Carter Williamson (1796-1873), Petersburg, Va.

Letters to Mrs. Ann W. Chamberlayne, 1822-1823; estate materials

Boxes 3-7

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va.

Letterbooks: 1854-1855; 1858-1863; 1861-1866; 1866-1873; 1872-1875; 1866, 1875-1877; 1877-1880; 1880-1882

Boxes 7-10

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Correspondence with individuals, 1839-1885 (arranged alphabetically)

Boxes 10-12

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Correspondence with firms, institutions and organizations (arranged alphabetically)

Boxes 13-15 (part.)

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Account books: 1840-1858; 1847-1853; 1853-1866; 1865-1866; 1868-1870; 1873-1876; 1879-1882; bank book, 1883-1885

Boxes 15 (cont.)-16

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Check stub books, 1874-1885

Boxes 17-19

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Accounts (loose), 1835-1885

Box 20

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Agreements; personal bonds; land records (including “Brook Hill”); Emmanuel Church, Henrico co., Va.; investment bonds

Box 21

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Chesapeake & Ohio Canal Co., investments; railroad investments: Chesapeake & Ohio, North Carolina

Box 22

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Railroad investments: Orange & Alexandria, Petersburg, Richmond & Alleghany, Richmond & Danville, Richmond & West Point Terminal Railway & Warehouse Co., Virginia & Tennessee

Box 23

Series 4. John Stewart (1806-1885), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Virginia Central Railroad Co.; other railroads; miscellany; materials concerning the estate of John Stewart

Series 5. Mary Amanda (Williamson) Stewart (1822-1910), “Brook Hill,” Va.

Correspondence, 1875-1910

Box 24

Series 5. Mary Amanda (Williamson) Stewart (1822-1910), “Brook Hill,” Va. (cont.)

Accounts, 1884-1910

Box 25

Series 5. Mary Amanda (Williamson) Stewart (1822-1910), “Brook Hill,” Va. (cont.)

Miscellany

Series 6. Daniel Kerr Stewart (1809-1889), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va.

Letterbooks: 1863-1864, 1864-1868

Boxes 26-28 (part.)

Series 6. Daniel Kerr Stewart (1809-1889), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Correspondence, 1845-1889 (arranged alphabetically by individuals and firms)

Boxes 28 (cont.)-29

Series 6. Daniel Kerr Stewart (1809-1889), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Accounts (loose), 1840-1889; land records

Box 30

Series 6. Daniel Kerr Stewart (1809-1889), “Brook Hill” and Richmond, Va. (cont.)

Materials concerning: Burlington & Missouri River Railroad Co.; North Birmingham Land Co., Birmingham, Ala; St. Thomas’ Organized Mission, White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.: miscellany; estate

Series 7. Bryce Stewart (1811?-1894), Clarksville, Tenn.

Accounts; land records; executor’s petition

Box 31

Series 8. Joseph Bryan (1845-1908), Richmond, Va.

Correspondence; miscellany

Series 9. Isobel Lamont (Stewart) Bryan (1847-1910), Richmond, Va.

Correspondence; accounts; resolutions of respect

Series 10. Thomas Pinckney (1829-1915)

Correspondence; accounts

Series 11. Mary (Stewart) Pinckney (1844-1889)

Correspondence; accounts

Series 12. Marion McIntosh (Stewart) Peterkin (1849-1942)

Correspondence; accounts

Box 32

Series 13. Lucy Williamson Stewart (1851-1947), “Brook Hill,” Va.

Correspondence, 1871-1937

Box 33

Series 13. Lucy Williamson Stewart (1851-1947), “Brook Hill,” Va. (cont.)

Accounts

Boxes 33 (cont.)-34

Series 14. Annie Carter Stewart (1853-1957), “Brook Hill,” Va.

Correspondence, 1870-1938

Box 35

Series 14. Annie Carter Stewart (1853-1957), “Brook Hill,” Va. (cont.)

Account book, ca. 1930; accounts (loose), 1884-1938

Box 36

Series 15. Norma Stewart (1858-1938), “Brook Hill,” Va.

Correspondence, 1871-1936; accounts, 1883-1913

Series 16. Elizabeth Hope Stewart (1862-1936), “Brook Hill,” Va.

Letters to, 1887-1936; accounts; miscellany

Series 17. Family miscellany

Letters; land records (of David Norvell Walker and others); obituary notices of Jonathan Bryan (1874-1933)

Boxes 37-38

Series 17. Family miscellany (cont.)/p>

Printed ephemera, photographs, news clippings, etc.



Chronological Index to The Correspondence of John Stewart (Boxes 7-12)

Undated

1838

1839

1844

1846

1850

1855

1857

1858

1860

1861

1862

1863

1865

1867

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

1873

1874

1875

1876

1877

1878

1879

1880

1881

1882

1883

1884

1885

1886

1889

1890



Chronological Index to The Correspondence of Daniel Kerr Stewart (Boxes 26-28)

Undated

1846

1850

1855

1857

1858

1859-1861

1865

1866

1867

1868

1869

1870

1871

1872

1873

1874

1876

1877

1878-1880

1881

1882

1883

1884

1885

1886

1887

1888

1889


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Last updated: April 25, 2003

For further information, please contact: Eileen Parris, Archivist
email: eparris@vahistorical.org