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William George Stewart papers

Call Number

MS 594

Date

1827-1931 (bulk 1838-1859), inclusive

Creator

Stewart, William George

Extent

4.58 Linear feet in 11 boxes and 1 oversize folder

Language of Materials

A substantive portion of the collection--perhaps about two-thirds of it--is in Spanish.

Abstract

Correspondence, business and legal papers, invoices, accounts, and shipping records belonging to New York merchant William George Stewart during the mid-1800s. Much of the material relates to Stewart's position as Vice-Consul of Mexico in New York. The correspondence also concerns several of Stewart's business dealings such as the construction of the first telegraph line in Mexico and the printing of several materials for distribution throughout Latin America. There are also documents detailing his finances as well as shipping exports to Mexico. Also present are several letters written to and by Mexican Consul Juan de la Granja.

Biographical / Historical

William George Stewart (born about 1822, based on travel passports within the collection) was a New York merchant and the Mexican Vice-Consul in New York from 1848 to 1852. Stewart worked with B. M. Picabia in the sale of printing equipment during the late 1840s. Around this time period, Estevan Mestre hired Stewart in order to assist him with the construction of paper mill machinery in Cuba. Along with the help of Juan de la Granja, the men acquired the equipment for the project from Smith, Winchester & Co. and William Kemble from West Point Foundry.

One of Stewart's most significant relationships was that with Juan de la Granja. According to Stewart, he had known De la Granja since 1836 and they had worked together on many business ventures including that of Estevan Mestre. In 1849, De la Granja acquired a 10-year privilege from the Mexican government to build the first telegraph line in the region. However, according to Stewart, he had been the one to come up with the idea and the two men were supposed to share the privilege (Box 6, Folder 9). As the construction of the telegraph line from Veracruz to Mexico progressed, Stewart and De la Granja ran into disputes over finances and the fact that Stewart had no legal right to the privilege. When De la Granja died in 1853, the privilege for the telegraph went to Hermenegildo de Villa y Cosío. Over the course of the next few years, Stewart went to court in order to receive the right to the privilege which he eventually did win back in 1855. By this period, he wanted to expand from the existing telegraph lines from Veracruz to Mexico and Mexico to Leon. Stewart also indicated that he had plans to eventually construct an inter-oceanic line from the United States to Europe. Throughout 1855 and 1856, he sought to achieve his goals by writing to several government officials in Mexico asking for permission and financial backing for the telegraph. However, it appears as though Stewart halted the project amid a lack of funds in 1856.

Stewart was also involved in other businesses such as that of printing. He played a part in the printing of several documents in the United States and Latin America. In Mexico, he had the rights to print the newspaper "Courrier des États-Unis" and he also facilitated the printing of "El semanario mayagüezano" in Puerto Rico. In addition, he printed and distributed "Los cuatro postrimerias del hombre" and "Ensayo histórico de Cuba." Stewart also shipped printed matter to Latin America including documents requested by the Mexican government.

Following the end of the Mexican-American War in 1848, Stewart was appointed Mexican Vice-Consul in New York, a post that he remained in until 1852. Furthermore, Stewart also played a part in the sale of medicine including that of Dr. Townsend's Sarsaparilla in Mexico.

Arrangement

The collection has been organized into the following series:

Series I. Correspondence, 1827-1860

Series II. Financial documents, 1836-1859

Series III. Later materials, 1878-1931

Scope and Contents

The William George Stewart papers include correspondence, business and legal papers, pressed copies of letters sent, accounts, invoices, and shipping papers related to Stewart's many business ventures during the mid-nineteenth century.

The majority of the collection is comprised of both incoming and outgoing correspondence regarding Stewart's trade dealings in the United States and Latin America. There are numerous letters that concern the construction of a telegraph line in Mexico. These usually concern Juan de la Granja, the original owner of the privilege to the telegraph and a long-time business colleague of Stewart's. There are also several letters addressed to Mexican government officials regarding permission to build the telegraph as well as financial backing for the project. In addition, the collection includes agreements made between Stewart and manufacturers for the construction of the telegraph line as well as Stewart's drawings of the trajectory of the line.

Also present are correspondence with Saturnino Carrias, a Cuban merchant, and Spanish Ambassador Ángel Calderón de la Barca y Belgrano which discuss the "Amistad" ship. These concern the fact that Carrias' nephew, who owned the "Amistad," had not been compensated by the United States government for it. The correspondence also concerns the printing industry in which Stewart played a part. These include letters regarding the printing of several newspapers and small books for distribution in Latin American regions such as Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Mexico. There are also materials related to the construction of the actual printing machinery, including the setting up of a plant for the manufacture and printing of letter paper in Cuba (with equipment furnished by William Kemble and the West Point Foundry, and by Smith, Winchester & Co. of Windham, Conn.). The rest of the correspondence addresses other projects of Stewart's, such as his search for opal in Mexico and the sale of medicine.

The collection also contains financial and legal documents belonging to Stewart. These materials detail his personal account information including purchases, debts owed, and balances. There are papers listing the goods that left from New York to Mexico as well as the ships they were in, the passengers aboard them, and the captains of each.

The collection includes documents from the 1880s to the early 1900s. These belong to a Mary and a Sarah Stewart which are likely descendents of William George Stewart. There is also a commonplace book with poetry and miscellaneous papers inside. Some later materials mention a R. McKean Jones.

A large portion of the collection is in Spanish. At times, William George Stewart is referred to as Guillermo Jorge Stewart which is the Spanish translation of his name. The same occurs with Juan de la Granja who is sometimes addressed as John Granja in English.

Among the more frequent correspondents in the papers are were: in Mexico City: Ignatio Cumplido, José Marroquin, Tomàs S. Gardida, David Macfadden, and Luis G. Bossero (also at Washington); in Vera Cruz: Eduardo Cabrera (also at New York and New Orleans), Markoe, Price & Co., Don Pedro Palhouzie, Joaquim de Muñoz y Muñoz, J. Modesto Muñoz; in Havana, Cuba: Servanda de la Huerta, Juan Diaz de Castro, Pedro Giol, Gregorio Iglésias y Pardo, Estevan Mestre, José Gomez y Gomez, Miguel Venancio Marco, Carlos Marti, and Jacobo de la Pezuela; in New York: Juan de la Granja (Mexican consul), William Hagar, A.B. Taylor & Co., B.M. Picabia, Vital Lepeyre, J.B.G. Ladeveze; and also Luis de la Rosa of Philadelphia and Washington; José M. Gonzalez de la Vega, Washington; Smith, Winchester & Co., Windham (Conn.); William Kemble, West Point Foundry; A.D. de Pascual, Philadelphia; Magdalena Parrott; Manuel Ponz y Ardil, Tabasco, Mexico; historian William H. Prescott, Boston; his father, William Stewart, of Liverpool (an iron and steel merchant); his brother, George Charles Stewart; José M. Caballero, New Orleans; Pedro Macia, Cartagena, Mexico; Fernando Matute, Poncé, Puerto Rico; David Bruce, Jr.; J.A. Garcia del Rio, Kingston, Jamaica; O.L. Dabelsteen, New Orleans; and Salvador Darqui, Tampico, Mexico.

Access Restrictions

Open to qualified researchers.

Use Restrictions

This collection is owned by the New-York Historical Society. The copyright law of the United States governs the making of photocopies and protects unpublished materials as well as published materials. Unpublished materials created before January 1, 1978 cannot be quoted in publication without permission of the copyright holder. Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to 20 exposures of stable, unbound material per day.

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: William George Stewart Papers, MS 594, New-York Historical Society.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased on August 15, 1939 from Joseph Atz who was the executer for the estate of Kate C. Jones.

Separated Materials

The Stewart papers were part of a larger purchase of documents from executor Joseph Atz on August 15, 1939. These other documents included maps, printed matter, and more. All of these other materials were not necessarily connected to William George Stewart, but it seems likely that at least some were. To see the entire list of documents acquired from Atz (and possibly to trace them into N-YHS's collections) refer to N-YHS's institutional archives, specifically:

N-YHS Collection Accession Registers (NYHS RG-15). Volume RG15.28 includes the relevant August 15, 1939 date.

N-YHS General Correspondence (NYHS-RG 2). See the folder labeled "Correspondence 1938-1942. An-Az" (Box 189, folder 8).

Collection processed by

Andy Latoni

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:36 -0400.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

At some point, likely in the mid-twentieth century, the collection was given a basic level of processing, with materials flattened and placed in paper slings in flat boxes. Many, but not all of these slinged documents, reflected an arrangement by correspondent. It is unknown to what degree, if any, this rough arrangement had to the original order of the documents.

In July 2019, intern Andy Latoni of the Princeton Internships in Civic Service program more fully processed the collection. Latoni rehoused the collection, but largely retained the order of the documents as found. A bilingual English-Spanish speaker, Latoni focused on enhancing the description of the collection's content and she wrote the finding aid.

Repository

New-York Historical Society
New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024