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Charles and Elizabeth P. Stillman Letters

 Collection
Identifier: MS-2508

  • Staff Only

This collection consists primarily of two bound volumes of transcriptions of letters written between Charles and Elizabeth P. Stillman from 1849 to 1865. The volumes were compiled in 1936 and 1937. Six loose items found in the volumes (including photographs, articles from the 1940s, and a letter from 1959) have been moved to a folder at the end of the collection.

Dates

  • 1849-1959
  • Majority of material found within 1849-1865

Conditions Governing Access

Collections are stored offsite and must be requested in advance. See www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Conditions Governing Use

The UT Libraries claims only physical ownership of most material in the collections. Persons wishing to broadcast or publish this material must assume all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants on www.special.lib.utk.edu for detailed information. Collections must be requested through a registered Special Collections research account.

Extent

0.1 Linear Feet (3 folders)

Abstract

This collection consists primarily of two bound volumes of transcriptions of letters written between Charles and Elizabeth P. Stillman from 1849 to 1865. The volumes were compiled in 1936 and 1937.

Biographical/Historical Note

Charles Stillman (1810-1875) developed a network of mercantile and industrial enterprises, including cotton brokerage and real estate firms, a shipping company, and an off-loading, warehousing, and transportation company. Stillman established retailing outlets and co-founded one of the first textile factories at Monterrey. His mines produced more than $4 million in silver and lead during the 1850s, and he sold their stock on the New York Stock Exchange.

After the Mexican-American War, Stillman purchased massive properties north of Matamoros from the children of José Narciso Cavazos and started a town company to sell lots for as much as $1,500 each. He named the place Brownsville, Texas. In 1850 he built a home there (later known as the Stillman House) with his wife Elizabeth Pamela Goodrich of Wethersfield, Connecticut, but moved permanently in 1866 to New York, where he died in December 1875.

Arrangement

This collection consists of three folders.

Repository Details

Part of the Betsey B. Creekmore Special Collections and University Archives, University of Tennessee, Knoxville Repository

Contact:
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville TN 37996 USA
865-974-4480