Postlethwaite family papers, approximately 1778-1938, bulk 1806-1838

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Summary

Abstract:
Papers belonging to the Postlethwaite family, a wealthy family in 19th century Natchez, Mississippi.
Extent:
.02 Linear Feet (2 folders)
Language:
Materials are in English and French.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Postlethwaite family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Correspondence and papers of the Postlethwaite family, chiefly letters to William Dunbar Postlethwaite from his friends and family in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Kentucky, including 27 letters from his father. The correspondence deals primarily with family affairs and the family's social life. Included are papers of Samuel Postlethwaite, including a book used to register enslaved persons' duties, from 1806 to 1807, the journals of his travels to Louisiana in 1810, 1811, and 1813, and two political articles on the Mississippi and Louisiana boundaries from 1817. Also included are genealogical notes on the Dunbar and Postlethwaite families, by Ellen Shields, 1938, and an 18th century copy of the poem entitled "L'ame de Voltaire," addressed to "Monsieur De Voltaire dans son chateau a Geneve." Monsieur Mortet, a justice of the city Blérencourt, France, gave the poem to Helen Holcombe Greene as a token of appreciation, in 1924, for her work as a director of Anne Morgan's center of the American Committee for Devastated France.

Biographical / historical:

The founder of the Postlethwaite family was Samuel Postlethwaite (1774-1825), a native of Carlisle, Pennsylvania. By 1802, he settled in the Natchez district of Mississippi. In 1803, he married Ann Dunbar, daughter of William Dunbar, a wealthy local planter and enslaver. Postlethwaite managed business affairs of his ailing father-in-law, and upon his death in 1810, was the executor of his estate. In 1810, 1811, and 1813, he journeyed up the Red River to supervise the restoration of Dunbar's salt business there. In 1815, Samuel Postlethwaite was one of the incorporators and original stockholders of the Bank of Mississippi; he also was one of the owners of the Natchez Steamboat Company. William Dunbar Postlethwaite (1810-1863), son of Samuel Postlethwaite and Ann Dunbar Postlethwaite, attended school in Pennsylvania from 1821 to 1825, and then settled in Westmoreland, Louisiana.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Lenore Greene, February 1957.
Processing information:

Processed by Huntington Library staff in the 1970s. In March 2025, Brooke M. Black created a finding aid.

Arrangement:

Arranged chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Postlethwaite family papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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