A Guide to the Heloise H. Cruzat Papers
Finding aid created by Roger Smith (Original description written by Elizabeth Howard West)
University of Florida Smathers Libraries - Special and Area Studies Collections
April 2008
|
|
|
|
|
|
Title: |
Heloise H. Cruzat Papers |
|
Dates: |
1788-1848 |
|
Abstract: |
Personal letters and business correspondence pertaining to the Panton, Leslie, and Company, and their successors John Forbes
and Company, by entrepreneur John Innerarity.
|
|
Extent: |
2.5 linear feet. (6 Boxes) |
|
Identification: |
MS 19 |
Heloise H. Cruzat, a native of New Orleans, is a descendent of John Innerarity, an associate in the Panton, Leslie, and Company,
as well as the successors, John Forbes and Company.
The Cruzat Papers are comprised of some six hundred individual pieces. The collection includes business papers (accounts,
correspondence, business ledgers, etc.) primarily of Panton, Leslie and Co., and their successors, John Forbes and Co. Also
included are court records such as lawsuits to recover moneys due, property in slaves, etc., and documents regarding land
and property ownership, deeds, and titles (with particular respect to Pensacola and southern Alabama). Other materials include
ship's papers, market reports, powers-of-attorney, and documents pertaining to Panton's estate.
The correspondence from Panton, Leslie and Co., and John Forbes and Co. forms an especially interesting part of the collection.
It primarily consists of letters between their various business concerns in Pensacola, St. Augustine, Nassau (Bahamas), London;
their business associates in Havana, New York, Vera Cruz, etc.; and their branches in Mobile, New Orleans, etc. Several of
the letters are to or from John Innerarity, or he is mentioned by the authors. Additionally there is correspondence with the
traders Daniel McGillvary, another person only identified by the initials "E.G."; and with Spanish and American government
officials, Indian (Native American tribes) chiefs, etc.
Though much of the collection is in the nature of routine business material, taken as a whole it does form an interesting
and valuable part of the material on the history of Florida and the southern United States frontier from 1788 to 1848 (the
extreme chronological limit of the collection). As much as half of the collection is in Spanish, and the bulk of the collection
has been duplicated (photocopies are included).
Access
Collection is open for research.
For additional information on this topic, see the Marie Taylor Greenslade Papers held by the P.K. Yonge Library of Florida History.
[Identification of item], Heloise H. Cruzat Papers, Special and Area Studies Collections, George A. Smathers Libraries, University
of Florida, Gainesville, Florida.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cruzat Papers
|
| Box |
Folder |
| 1 |
1 |
(1788-1792) 5 letters (one concerns the company's relationship with the Royal Navy). |
|
2 |
(1793) 2 letters |
|
3 |
(1794) 9 letters (one concerns a runaway slave) |
|
4 |
(1795-1796) 10 letters (one from Daniel McGillivray) |
|
5 |
(1797) 17 letters (multiple letters from Daniel McGillivray and one concerning piracy near St. Augustine). |
|
6 |
(1798) 23 letters (one letter from Daniel McGillivray) |
|
7 |
(1799) 43 letters (some correspondence in Spanish). Letters from Lord Liverpool and Daniel McGillivray; also a petition to
the Spanish court concerning business practices of the day.
|
|
8 |
(1800) 28 letters. Business correspondence from Mr. Fawkener, the Earl of Liverpool, and Daniel McGillivray. Some are in
Spanish. One letter involves Royal Trading Licenses and the details involved in official sanctions for operating a business
of this nature.
|
|
9 |
(1801) 10 letters. Business correspondence from Benjamin Hawkins and Daniel McGillivray. Includes a petition before the King
of Spain by John Forbes, and a statement of insurance for a ship named the "Resolution." (Possibly Cpt. Cook's ship?)
|
|
10 |
(1802) 11 letters. Includes a notice to the Indian nations of Mr. Panton's death and Mr. Forbes rise to the head of the company.
Approx. 40% of the letters are in Spanish.
|
|
11 |
(1803) 25 letters. Includes a letter from William C.C. Claiborne to Gen. Wilkenson concerning the Louisiana Purchase. Interesting
note: Claiborne does not mention President Jefferson, but states, "Mr. Monroe's success has made us very happy in this question."
|
| Box |
Folder |
| 2 |
1 |
(1804-1805) 30 documents. Includes 27 letters, a bill of lading, a store inventory, and ship's papers. Many of the letters
are in Spanish. Includes one letter from David Clark to William Simpson concerning a runaway slave and the purchase of a slave
woman.
|
|
2 |
(1806) 9 letters (four of the nine letters are in Spanish). |
|
3 |
(1807-1808) 9 letters. Several are hand written copies dating July 7, 1943. These involve the case of Miller v. Norwood, August
10, 1807. Most of the letters are in Spanish.
|
|
4 |
(1809) 11 documents (almost all are powers of attorney or legal documents involving an inventory). |
|
5 |
(1810) 10 letters. Includes contracts with ship captains, seizure of cargo, a court judgment, and a letter from John Innerarity
to John Forbes discussing the gloomy financial picture in East Florida.
|
|
6 |
(1811) 10 letters. Includes a letter from Puckshunmubbia to Innerarity, and his business contacts. 3 letters are in Spanish. |
|
7 |
(1812) 30 letters (many are in Spanish). Trade with the Americans continues but correspondence shows concern for the war's
effort on business.
|
|
8 |
(1813) 32 letters. More than half are in Spanish. Shipments of cotton bales are listed. |
|
9 |
(1814) 28 letters (several in Spanish). An interesting letter between the Innerarity brothers mentions that President James
Madison will resign.
|
|
10 |
(1815) 25 letters. One document is for supplies to "Red Stick Allies." The only mention of the Battle of New Orleans is on
January 17, when it is noted that the British are about to enter New Orleans.
|
| Box |
Folder |
| 3 |
1 |
(1815) 33 letters (several written in Spanish). Includes complaints about Red Stick Creeks killing cattle, a file of witnesses
against Capt. Woodbine, and a letter from a doctor to Innerarity asking for a guarantee off $4,000 annually (see note from
his brother).
|
|
2 |
(1816) 34 letters. Includes indictment of William Augustus Vesy for perjury in the Woodbine case and the testimony of Dr.
Lisle. Almost all of the letters are in Spanish. The letters in English mention the Woodbine case. There is one letter concerning
a claim by Lizzy and Margaret McGillivray on their father's items. Could be a reference to Lochlan McGillivray as the letter
speaks of the old age of the daughters and refers to their father as General McGillivray.
|
|
3 |
(1817) 26 letters and 2 distinctly different maps of Pensacola drawn by Pintado in Havana on December 29, 1817. The maps and
many of the letters are in Spanish.
|
|
4 |
(1818) 17 letters. One letter concerns two slave women harboring the fugitive "Mulato Joe." |
|
5 |
(1819) 15 letters. An interesting case of pirares stealing two slaves off of a 16 man row boat. The two were recovered in
Mobile and the owners are making their legal claim.
|
|
6 |
(1820) 15 letters (13 of which are in Spanish). |
|
7 |
(1821) 8 letters. Includes land claims, a deposition, and one letter concerning "Northern" speculation in flower and grain. |
|
8 |
(1822-1823) 11 letters (most of which are land claims on lots in Pensacola). |
|
9 |
(1826) 2 letters (1 in Spanish). |
|
10 |
(1829) 2 letters. One is a liquidation of claims against England for slaves taken from the Spanish occupants of West Florida
prior to the Treaty of 1823. The other is a health inquiry concerning the overall health status of Pensacola.
|
|
11 |
(1830) 7 letters. Correspondence concerning Spanish claims, land claims and sales, and political back-slapping. |
|
12 |
(1831-1832) 2 letters (1 in Spanish). One is an incomplete deposition. |
|
13 |
(1839-1848) 5 letters (most are in Spanish; some are incomplete). |
| Box |
Folder |
| 4 |
1 |
Bowles documents. 12 letters pertaining to Williams Augustus Bowles' trial in the Bahamas (Richard Powers), or correspondence
between Panton and Associates concerning Bowles rumored army of Creek warriors. Refers to the Creek lands as the "State of
Muskogee."
|
|
2 |
Miscellaneous. 31 pages of letters, including one from Gov. William C. C. Claiborne of Louisiana, and page #3 of a letter
by Ashbel Smith, Secretary of State, 1845 concerning the Treaty between Texas and Mexico. Not dated.
|
|
3 |
Business ledgers (not in folders) from 1798-1820; 1805-1820. |
| Box |
Folder |
| 5 |
1 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 1 and 2. 1788-1798. |
|
2 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 1 and 2. 1799-1800. |
|
3 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 1 and 2. 1801-1803. |
|
4 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 1 and 2. 1804-1809. |
|
5 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 1 and 2. 1810-1812. |
|
6 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 1 and 2. 1813. |
|
7 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 1 and 2. 1814-1815. |
| Box |
Folder |
| 6 |
1 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 3 and 4. 1815. |
|
2 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 3 and 4. 1816-1817. |
|
3 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 3 and 4. 1819-1839. |
|
4 |
Duplicate documents from Boxes 3 and 4. Miscellaneous and business ledgers. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Forbes & Company. |
|
|
John Leslie and Company. |
|
|
Panton, Leslie & Company. |
For further information, please contact: Special Collections Access
Services.
