Inventory of the Mackay and Stiles Family Papers, 1743-1975

Collection Number 470


Manuscripts Department, University Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Collection Information
Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Online Catalog Headings
Biographical/Historical Note
Collection Overview
Items Separated
Contact Information:
Manuscripts Department
CB#3926, Wilson Library
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC 27514-8890
Phone: 919/962-1345
Fax: 919/962-3594
Email: mss@email.unc.edu
URL: http://www.lib.unc.edu/mss/
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Descriptive Summary

Repository
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.
Creator
Mackay family. Stiles family.
Title
Mackay and Stiles Family Papers, 1743-1975
Call Number
470
Language of Materials
Materials in English
Extent
Items: About 2300
Linear Feet: 5.0
Abstract
The Mackay and Stiles families were merchants of Savannah, Ga. Prominent family members include Robert Mackay (1772-1816); his wife, Eliza McQueen Mackay (1778-1862); their children, William Mein Mackay (1804-1865), John Mackay (1805-1849), Mary Anne Mackay (1803-1865), and Elizabeth Anne Mackay (1809-1867); Mary Anne Mackay's husband, Benjamin Edward Stiles (fl. 1819-1852); and Elizabeth Anne Mackay's husband, William Henry Stiles (1810-1867).
The collection consists of correspondence, account books, plantation and slave records, memoranda books, financial papers, and legal papers. The papers document the family's business, political, and social life in England (1806-1811), Austria (where William Henry Stiles was U.S. charge d'affaires, 1845-1849), and Georgia. Topics include activities at the Savannah Poor House and Hospital, the care and treatment of a mental patient, work of the United States Army Corps of Engineers on the Savannah River, the Second Seminole War, plantation life, trips to the Virginia springs, the education of women, and the impact of the Civil War. Volumes are chiefly mercantile and plantation records. There is also microfilm containing a brief Civil War diary of Robert Mackay Stiles (1836-1865) and genealogical information on the related Couper and Maxwell families.

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Administrative Information

Restrictions to Access
No restrictions.
Alternate Form of Material
All or part of this collection is available on microfilm from University Publications of America as part of the Records of antebellum southern plantations from the Revolution through the Civil War, Series J, and as part of Southern women and their families in the 19th century, Series A.
Acquisitions Information
Gift of Phoebe Elliot through Mrs. F.B. Screven of Savannah, Georgia in 1937-1939. Additions received from Mrs. W.D. Screven in 1944, Mr. Robert Stiles (William Henry Stiles papers) in 1945, and Mr. John Stiles in 1947. Typed transcriptions of the John Mackay papers were made from originals lent by Mrs. Clinton Lockwood and Mrs. Clifford Carlton in 1939. Microfilm of the Robert Mackay papers was made from originals lent by the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames through Mrs. F.B. Screven in 1940. Microfilm of two volumes was made from originals lent by Mrs. W.S. Lovell in 1942. Photocopy made from a manuscript lent by Fort Pulaski National Monument of Savannah Beach, Georgia, in December 1962. Further addition received from the Department of Natural Resources, Office of Planning and Research, Historical Preservation Section of Atlanta, Georgia, in September 1975.
Processing Information
Processed by: Carolyn Wallace, May 1964; Shonra Newman, June 1990
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], in the Mackay and Stiles Family Papers #470, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Copyright Notice
Retained by the authors of items in these papers or their descendants as stipulated by United States copyright law.
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Online Catalog Headings

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Account books.
Austria--Foreign relations--United States.
Cooper family.
Diaries (Blank-books)
England--Social life and customs.
Family--Georgia--Social life and customs.
Genealogy.
Health resorts--Virginia.
Mackay family.
Mackay, John, 1805-1849.
Mackay, Mary Anne, 1803-1862.
Mackay, Robert, 1772-1816.
Mackay, William Mein, 1804-1865.
Maxwell family.
Mental illness--Treatment--History--19th century.
Merchants--Georgia.
Plantation life--Georgia.
Savannah (Ga.)--History.
Savannah Poor House and Hospital (Savannah, Ga.)
Slave-trade--Georgia.
Slavery--Georgia.
Stiles family.
Stiles, Benjamin Edward, 1794-1855.
Stiles, Eliza Mackay.
Stiles, Elizabeth Anne Mackay, 1809-1867.
Stiles, Robert, 1836-1905.
Stiles, William H. (William Henry), 1809-1865.
United States--Foreign relations--Austria.
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives, Confederate.
United States. Army. Corps of Engineers.
Women--Education--Georgia.
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Biographical/Historical Note

The chief figures in these papers are Robert Mackay (1772-1816), a prominent merchant of Savannah and Liverpool, his wife, Eliza McQueen Mackay (1778-1862), and their children. The Mackay family lived for a few years in England, 1806-1811, but generally the papers are concerned with life in Savannah, and with Mrs. Mackay and the Mackay children after the death of Robert Mackay. Among the Mackay children were William Mein Mackay (1804-1859), merchant of Savannah; John Mackay (1805-1849), officer in the United States Engineer Corps; Mary Anne Mackay (1803-1862), who in 1825 married Benjamin Edward Stiles (fl. 1819-1852), merchant of Savannah; and Elizabeth Mackay (1809-1867), who in 1832 married William Henry Stiles (1810-1865), United States congressman, 1843-1845, charge d'affaires in Austria, 1845-1849, and planter in upper Georgia. Benjamin Edward Stiles and William Henry Stiles were brothers and many of the later papers relate to their families.

Eliza McQueen Mackay was the granddaughter of John Smith, a prominent South Carolina planter, and the daughter of John McQueen (1751-1807) of Georgia and east Florida. Her aunt, Mary Smith (fl. 1700s), married Basil Cowper who lived in Jamaica after the American Revolution. The Cowpers had two daughters, Mary Anne (1776-1856), and Margaret (born 1777) who married John McQueen Junior (1773-1822).

The Couper family is connected through Margaret Couper, the daughter of James Hamilton Couper (1794-1866), who married Robert Mackay Stiles (1836-1874), son of Elizabeth Mackay and William Henry Stiles.

For more information on the people involved in these papers see Walter C. Hartridge, The Letters of Don Juan McQueen to His Family, and The Letters of Robert Mackay to His Wife. The letters edited by Mr. Hartridge were chosen chiefly from papers owned by the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames and deposited with the Georgia Historical Society. Other Stiles letters are at the University of Georgia.

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Collection Overview

This collection chiefly consists of correspondence, financial, and legal documents of Robert and Eliza McQueen Mackay, their children, and eventually their children's families. The papers document the family's business, political, and social life in England (1806-1811) and, more extensively, in Georgia, chiefly Savannah. The majority of the papers are found in the first series, Family Papers. Series B, C, and D contain documents on specific individuals, but information can be found on them in the other series as well. The majority of the volumes in Series E are account books for the Mackay family's business interests in Savannah, Georgia.

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Arrangement of Collection

Series A. Family Papers (see finding aid at repository)
Series B. John Mackay Papers (see finding aid at repository)
Series C. William Henry Stiles Papers (see finding aid at repository)
Series D. Robert Mackay Papers (see finding aid at repository)
Series E. Volumes
Subseries E.1 Account Books
Subseries E.2 Plantation and Slave Records
Subseries E.3 Lettercopy Books
Subseries E.4 Memoranda Books
Subseries E.5 Commonplace Book
Subseries E.6 Estate Records
Subseries E.7 Other Volumes
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Items Separated

S-470/15, 16, 25, 26, 27, 32, 34.
M-470/1-5 Series D (including Volumes 32-33 and 44-46 (volumes M-45 and M-46 missing 9/2002)).

Detailed Description of the Collection

E. Volumes, 1790-1975.

48 items.
Arrangement: by type, then chronological.
Bound volumes used for various purposes, arranged as follows:
Subseries E.1. Account Books. Volumes 1-31
E.2. Plantation and Slave Records. Volumes 32-34
E.3. Lettercopy Books. Volumes 35-37
E.4. Memoranda Books. Volumes 38-41
E.5. Commonplace Book. Volume 42
E.6. Estate Records. Volumes 43-44
E.7. Other Volumes. Volumes 45-48
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E. 1 Account Books, 1790-1865.
31 items.
Account books, day books, rice books, ledgers, inventories of stock, shipping accounts, and personal accounts of Robert Mackay, William Mackay, and Benjamin E. Stiles, merchants in Savannah, Georgia, and of Eliza McQueen Mackay. Also included are day books of Charles Roberts & Co. regarding sales of general merchandise. The relationship of Charles Roberts & Co. to the Mackays and Stiles families is not known.
Volumes 1-20, dated 1790-1795, are chiefly for Robert Mackay's businesses in Savannah. Included are ledger and day books on sales of general merchandise, rice books, inventories of stock, and general accounts. Also included during this period are the day books on sales of general merchandise for Charles Roberts and Co.
Volumes 21-24, from 1807-1818, also belong chiefly to Robert Mackay. They include personal, miscellaneous, and shipping accounts, as well as an invoice book. Volume 22 is an invoice book for Robert Mackay's business in Savannah. Volumes 23 and 24 include Robert Mackay's shipping accounts for his West Indies trade.
Volumes 25-31, dated 1828-1865, belonged chiefly to William Mackay. Included are personal cash account books. Also included are ledgers and balance sheets between William Mackay and his agents, P. Minis and A. A. Solomons, for his businesses in Savannah. Volume 26 is an account book, dated 1828-1865, which belonged to Eliza McQueen Mackay, of accounts of money handled for soldiers' families. Volume 27 is a ledger, dated 1838-1852, which belonged to Benjamin E. Stiles and was used for his business in Savannah.
Folder 77
Volume 1. May 1790-Dec 1794
Folder 78
Volume 2. Oct 1792-Jan 1793
Folder 79
Volume 3. Oct 1792-April 1793
Folder 80
Volume 4. Oct 1792-Dec 1795
Folder 81
Volume 5. Oct 1792-1795
Folder 82
Volume 6. Oct 1792-1799
Folder 83
Volume 7. Nov 1792-March 1795
Folder 84
Volume 8. 1792-1795
Folder 85
Volume 9. Jan 1793-1803
Folder 86
Volume 10. May 1793-Sept 1793
Folder 87
Volume 11. Oct-Dec 1793
Folder 88
Volume 12. Dec 1793-June 1797
Folder 89
Volume 13. Jan 1794
Folder 90
Volume 14. Jan-April 1794
Folder 91
Volumes S-15 and S-16. Jan 1794-June 1798
Folder 92
Volume 17. April-Sept 1794
Folder 93
Volume 18. Oct 1794-Feb 1795
Folder 94
Volume 19. Dec 1794-May 1795
Folder 95
Volume 20. Feb-July 1795
Folder 96
Volume 21. 1807-1812
Folder 97-98
Volumes 22-23. 1815-1816
Folder 99
Volume 24. 1815-1818
Folder 100
Volumes S-25 and S-26. 1828-1865
Folder 101
Volume S-27. 1838-1852
Folder 102
Volume 28. 1839-1841
Folder 103
Volume 29. 1843-1847
Folder 104
Volume 30. 1844-1852
Folder 105
Volume 31. 1849-1850
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E. 2 Plantation and Slave Records, 1814-1861.
3 items.
Chiefly records of slaves at Grange Plantation and Sedgebank Plantation. It is not known to whom these plantations belonged, but it is believed that they were owned by the Mackay family. Volume S-32 is a record for Grange Plantation which contains lists of clothes and other supplies given to slaves, and lists of births and deaths of slaves. Also included in this volume is a plantation journal for 1814 and 1815, lists of crops and livestock produced by the plantation, and several pages written on sugar planting.
Volume 33 is a record for Sedgebank Plantation which contains lists of births and deaths of slaves, and lists of clothing and supplies given to them. Volume S-34 is a record for Sedgebank Plantation. It contains notations on rice taken to the mill, and records of the planting, flowering, and drying of an unknown crop.
Folder 106
Volume S-32. 1814-1847
Folder 107
Volume 33. 1848-1860
Folder 108
Volume S-34. 1859-1861
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E. 3 Lettercopy Books, 1797-1855.
3 items.
Lettercopy books of Robert Mackay, John Mackay, and William Mackay. Volume 35, dated 1797-1817, contains copies of letters written by Robert Mackay. A section in the beginning of the volume appears to be an account of money paid or owed to various individuals.
Volume 36 is a lettercopy book, dated 1835-1836, which belonged to Lieutenant J.(John) Mackay during the period he spent overseeing improvements to the Savannah River. The letters are directed to Lieutenant J.K.F. Mansfield of the U.S. Corps of Engineers who was apparently Mackay's supervisor. The letters concern activities such as receiving and discharging ballast, and operating a dredge boat.
Volume 37 is a lettercopy book, dated 1851-1855, of William Mackay containing letters to friends and family.
Folder 109
Volume 35. 1797-1817
Folder 110
Volume 36. 1835-1836
Folder 111
Volume 37. 1851-1855
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E. 4 Memoranda Books, 1802-1810.
4 items.
Volumes containing memoranda of voyages, purchases, travel, and daily activities. Volume 38 is a memoranda book, dated 1802-1804, containing several accounts of ship voyages. It also contains what appear to be notations of requests for slaves from various trading ships. Other notations for purchases of miscellaneous goods are included. Volume 39 also contains accounts of ship voyages and memoranda on purchases of goods.
Included in Volume 40 are entries, beginning August 1806, recording daily activities during a visit to London, Manchester, and Liverpool. The entries continue after the owner returned to the United States. Volume 41 is a daily calendar, dated 1810, which belonged to Robert Mackay.
Folder 112
Volume 38. 1802-1804
Folder 113
Volume 39. 1804-1806
Folder 114
Volume 40. 1806-1808
Folder 115
Volume 41. 1810
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E. 5 Commonplace Book, 1847-1868.
1 item.
Commonplace book which belonged to Kitty Stiles containing poems copied from newspapers and other sources in several different hands. Some of the poems appear to be original compositions.
Folder 116
Volume 42. 1847-1868
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E. 6 Estate Records, 1816-1850.
2 items.
Estate records of Basil Cowper. Volume 43 and the first part of volume 44 list accounts of the estate of Basil Cowper of Jamaica. His wife, Mary Cowper, was executrix with her son-in-law, John McQueen. There are accounts of bills, debts, shipments of sugar, lumber, etc.
The second part of volume 44 contains the accounts of Mary Anne Cowper beginning in 1847. Included are entries such as money received and paid out, sums from slaves who hired their own time, and personal and household transactions. Also included are entries noting visitors, and letters received and sent.
Folder 117
Volume 43. 1816-1819
Folder 118
Volume 44. 1817-1850
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E. 7 Other Volumes, 1775-1975.
4 items.
Volumes of family history and other volumes. Two volumes, volumes M-45 and M-46, on microfilm, compiled by Mrs. W.S. Lovell of Birmingham, Alabama, relate to her ancestry and family history. Mrs. Lovell was the daughter of Robert Mackay Stiles and Margaret Couper Stiles. Volume M-45 contains family history, genealogy, and biographical information on John McQueen, Robert Mackay I, Robert Mackay II and his wife Eliza McQueen, the Stiles family of Savannah, the John Smith family of South Carolina and Georgia, and the Malbone family of Rhode Island, from which Robert Mackay was descended. Also included are original and typed copies of letters from 1770 of Robert Mackay I, Robert Mackay II, his children, and the Malbones. These include copies of letters from Robert E. Lee to his West Point classmate, John Mackay, and to others. Other letters were written by John Mackay to his family from Army posts, and family letters written from Savannah and Cass County during and after the Civil War. Also included in this volume is a diary, dated December 1864 to 9 September 1865, of Robert Mackay Stiles, Captain, Company E, 2nd Regiment Engineers, Confederate States of America It contains brief entries dealing with the evacuation of Savannah, and Mackay's travels under orders until the end of the war. He was in Augusta, Charleston, Columbia, and Charlotte. After the war he was at Tebauville, Thomasville, Albany, Macon, Atlanta, and Savannah. His entries were so brief that at times his purpose in going to these places is not at all clear, and he wrote very little about his activities.
The second volume on microfilm, volume M-46, contains the family history and genealogy of the Couper, Wylly, and Maxwell families of Georgia. Included are letters written by members of the Couper family: James Hamilton Couper from school in New Haven, Connecticut, James Hamilton, John Couper of Cannon's Point on St. Simons, and John Hamilton Couper of Hopeton Plantation.
Volume 47 is a scrapbook which belonged to Phoebe Elliot. The book contains verses and other items cut from newspapers and magazines, the majority of which do not relate to family history. Most of the items are not dated, but some are from the period 1886-1890.
Also included in this series is a binder, volume 48, containing A History of the White House Tract, Richmond County, Georgia, 1756-1975, by Martha F. Norwood. The "White House tract" was originally a 500 acre tract including modern Augusta, the old village of Harrisburg, and various historic structures, the majority of which are no longer standing. It includes a house which stands today at 1822 Broad Street, Augusta, Georgia, formerly known as the "Mackay House" and now known as the "Harris-Pearson-Walker-House".
Folder 119
Volumes M-45 and M-46. 1775-1926 (missing 9/2002)
Folder 120
Volume 47. 1886-1890
Folder 121
Volume 48. 1975 [1756-1975]

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