This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held in the Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in our reading room, and not digitally available through the World Wide Web. See the Duplication Policy section for more information.
Size | 5.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2300 items) |
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. |
Creator | Jackson (Family : Jackson, Howell Edmunds, 1832-1895)
Stiles (Family : Savannah, Ga.) |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
Processed by: Carolyn Wallace, May 1964; Shonra Newman, June 1990
Encoded by: ByteManagers Inc., 2008
Updated by: Nancy Kaiser, July 2015 and November 2020
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
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.
Back to TopThis 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.
Back to TopSee original finding aid filed in folder 1a.
Folder 1a |
Original finding aid |
Folder 1b |
1743-1796 |
Folder 2 |
1797-1798 |
Folder 3-4
Folder 3Folder 4 |
1799 |
Folder 5 |
1800-1802 |
Folder 6 |
1803-1804 |
Folder 7 |
1805 |
Folder 8 |
circa 1806-1810 |
Folder 9 |
1806 |
Folder 10 |
1807 |
Folder 11 |
1808 |
Folder 12-13
Folder 12Folder 13 |
1809 |
Folder 14 |
1810 |
Folder 15 |
1811 |
Folder 16 |
1812 |
Folder 17 |
1813 |
Folder 18 |
1814-1815 |
Folder 19 |
1816-1818 |
Folder 20 |
1819-1820 |
Folder 21 |
1821-1824 |
Folder 22 |
1825 |
Folder 23 |
1826 |
Folder 24 |
1827 |
Folder 25 |
1828-1829 |
Folder 26 |
1830-1831 |
Folder 27 |
1832-1833 |
Folder 28 |
1834 |
Folder 29-31
Folder 29Folder 30Folder 31 |
1835 |
Folder 32 |
1836 |
Folder 33 |
1837 |
Folder 34-35
Folder 34Folder 35 |
1838 |
Folder 36 |
1839-1840 |
Folder 37 |
1841-1844 |
Folder 38 |
1845-1846 |
Folder 39-41
Folder 39Folder 40Folder 41 |
1847 |
Folder 42 |
1848-1849 |
Folder 43 |
1850-1853 |
Folder 44 |
1854-1856 |
Folder 45 |
1857 |
Folder 46 |
1858-1859 |
Folder 47 |
1860 |
Folder 48 |
1861 and circa 1861-1865 |
Folder 49 |
1862 |
Folder 50 |
1863-1864 |
Folder 51 |
1865-1869 |
Folder 52 |
1870-1899 |
Folder 53 |
1900-1915 |
Folder 54-69
Folder 54Folder 55Folder 56Folder 57Folder 58Folder 59Folder 60Folder 61Folder 62Folder 63Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67Folder 68Folder 69 |
Undated |
See original finding aid filed in folder 1a.
Folder 70 |
John Mackay papers |
See original finding aid filed in folder 1a.
Folder 71-76
Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73Folder 74Folder 75Folder 76 |
William Henry Stiles papers |
See original finding aid filed in folder 1a.
Reel M-470/1-5
M-470/1M-470/2M-470/3M-470/4M-470/5 |
Robert Mackay papersCorrespondence and other materials available only on microfilm, but also includes copies of volumes 32-33 and 44. |
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
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.
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 |
Folder not used |
Oversize Volume SV-470/32 |
1814-1847 |
Folder 107 |
Volume 33. 1848-1860 |
Oversize Volume SV-470/34 |
Volume 34. 1859-1861Formerly folder 108. |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 |
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 as of September 2002) |
Folder 120 |
Volume 47. 1886-1890 |
Folder 121 |
Volume 48. 1975 [1756-1975] |
Oversize Paper Folder OPF-470/1 |
Oversize papers |