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 | 3.0 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 2500 items) |
Abstract | William Page of Retreat Plantation, St. Simons Island (Glynn Co.), Ga., grew rice and Sea Island cotton. Page also owned Colonel's Island, Ga. The collection is primarily business papers related to ownership of land; purchase of articles for plantation and personal use; purchase and hire of slaves; settlement of the estates of John Timmons, Thomas Cater, and Joseph Dopson; the upbringing of Thomas Cater's son, Benjamin; shipment and marketing of cotton; and accounts of commission merchant Hugh Ross in Savannah, other merchants in Savannah, Darien, and Brunswick, Ga., and the firms of B. & I. Gray & Co. and William Christie in Liverpool, England. |
Creator | Page, William, 1764-1827. |
Curatorial Unit | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection. |
Language | English |
The 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.
Major William Page was a native of South Carolina. His title came from service with General Frances Marion in the American Revolution. Page and his wife, Hannah Timmons Page, moved to Georgia in the 1790s. They lived first in Bryan County, and then moved to St. Simons Island. Page managed plantations belonging to Pierce Butler until 1802, when Butler found a replacement in Roswell King. The Pages then bought and began development of James Spalding's plantation on the southern end of St. Simons. This plantation, which they named "Retreat," was eventually passed on to Page's only child, Anna Matilda Page, d. 1859, who in 1824 married Thomas Butler King. Page also bought other land in Georgia, including Colonel's Island.
Back to TopThis collection consists primarily of business papers of William Page. The bulk of the papers deals with the business of shipping and marketing Page's cotton. There are letters, accounts, bills, and receipts of commission merchants in Savannah, Georgia, and Liverpool, England. Additional papers concern the affairs, especially the shipping and marketing of cotton, of estates for which Page was executor, particularly the estate of Thomas Cater. Only a few items in this collection document Page's family and personal life, the actual cultivation of crops on his plantation, or the lives or work of slaves or overseers on the plantation.
Back to TopArrangement: chronological.
Chiefly business correspondence of William Page from merchants, neighbors, and relatives. The earliest letters are letters in 1786 and 1787 of James Belcher, Savannah, to John Scott, Charleston, about ownership of Colonel's Island. In the 1790s there are letters of Joseph R. Dopson and Thomas Cater to William Page. Page later became executor of the estates of both men.
The major correspondents in the years before 1813 were Hugh Ross, commission merchant of Savannah, who wrote about the sale of Page's crops and purchase of supplies for Page; Joseph Clark of Sapelo Island, who wrote about the estate of Thomas Cater; and William Timmons of Charleston, South Carolina, a cousin of Page's wife, who wrote to Page about business in South Carolina.
Beginning in 1809, there is considerable correspondence about shipping and marketing cotton. Much of this correspondence deals with the embargo law and the difficulty of trade between England and the United States. A letter from Harrison and Latham Co. of Liverpool dated 1 May 1809, for example, expresses the hope that the non-intercourse bill would be repealed and direct trade between the United States and Great Britain would be reopened. During the years 1809, 1810, and 1811, there is correspondence indicating that Page shipped his cotton to England by way of Amelia Island, Florida. Letters from Harrison and Latham and from B.& I. Gray Co. of Liverpool advised Page of the prices of cotton and other American produce in Great Britain. A letter from Rudolphus Bogert, a New York merchant from whom Page purchased goods, advised Page in December 1811 that New York was not a good market for Sea Island cotton.
Letters from Joseph Clark to William Page in 1804 concern the estate of Thomas Cater. In 1805, Page agreed to manage the plantation belonging to the estate of Cater. There are a few letters in 1810-1812 concerning the education of Benjamin F. Cater, for whom Page was appointed guardian late in 1811.
Folder 1 |
1786-1802 |
Folder 2 |
1803-1804 |
Folder 3 |
1805 |
Folder 4 |
1806 |
Folder 5-6
Folder 5Folder 6 |
1807 |
Folder 7-8
Folder 7Folder 8 |
1808 |
Folder 9-13
Folder 9Folder 10Folder 11Folder 12Folder 13 |
1809 |
Folder 14-18
Folder 14Folder 15Folder 16Folder 17Folder 18 |
1810 |
Folder 19-21
Folder 19Folder 20Folder 21 |
1811 |
Folder 22-25
Folder 22Folder 23Folder 24Folder 25 |
1812 |
Primarily letters from, to, or about William Page's ward, Benjamin F. Cater. Cater had been sent to school in New Jersey in 1810, first at Bordenton, then at Morristown. Before 1813, a few letters about Cater were mixed in with Page's business correspondence. During the years 1813, 1814, and 1815, there is little business correspondence and much correspondence concerning the education, expenses, and problems of Benjamin Cater. In one notable letter dated 12 May 1813, William Page advised Cater of the importance of education to his future and advised him on the course of his career. Letters in 1814 and 1815 document the difficulty of finding a position in a mercantile business during these war years. From September 1814 through 1815, the majority of the letters deal with Benjamin Cater's problems arising from a paternity case against him.
Folder 26-27
Folder 26Folder 27 |
1813 |
Folder 28-29
Folder 28Folder 29 |
1814 |
Folder 30-35
Folder 30Folder 31Folder 32Folder 33Folder 34Folder 35 |
1815 |
Chiefly business correspondence, along with limited personal correspondence, of William Page. Following the end of the War of 1812, Page's business correspondence resumed. The major correspondents are John McNish, merchant of Savannah, and William Christie of Liverpool, England. The main subjects of the correspondence are the purchase of supplies and the price and shipping of cotton from Georgia to England.
Three notable letters dated 19 June, 1 August, and 14 August 1817 from Samuel Boyd, Page's overseer on Colonel's Island, to Page in New York report on the weather, the health of the slaves, and the crops at Colonel's Island and at St. Simons.
Letters and a copy of an advertisement of a reward in 1818 and 1819 document Page's efforts to recover two runaway slaves.
Correspondence between Anna Matilda Page and B. King and Co. of Darien, Georgia, in 1822 and 1823 about lumber and other supplies for the plantation is also included. At the time these letters were written William Page was apparently in New York and Newport, Rhode Island. Additional correspondence of Anna Matilda Page King and letters of William Page to her from New York and Newport may be found in the Thomas Butler King Papers (#1252), Series 1. Additional correspondence of William Page is in the William Audley Couper Papers (#3687).
Folder 36-40
Folder 36Folder 37Folder 38Folder 39Folder 40 |
1816 |
Folder 41-43
Folder 41Folder 42Folder 43 |
1817 |
Folder 44-45
Folder 44Folder 45 |
1818 |
Folder 46 |
1819 |
Folder 47 |
1820-1821 |
Folder 48 |
1822 |
Folder 49 |
1823 |
Folder 50 |
1824-1825 |
Undated letters and fragments. One is a short letter from Anna Matilda Page to her mother. The others concern purchases of a coat and a machine, and problems with mail service to and from St. Simons and Jekyll Island.
Folder 51 |
Undated letters and fragments |
Arrangement: chronological.
Accounts, invoices, bills, receipts, other financial papers, and legal papers of William Page and of the estates which he administered. These papers are filed chronologically by the latest date on them. Business correspondence, including correspondence with accounts or other financial material enclosed, is filed in Series 1, Correspondence.
Nearly all of the papers for the period 1790 1800 are papers of the estate of Joseph R. Dopson in the Beaufort District of South Carolina. These include accounts for sales of rice in Charleston, an inventory of the estate dated 8 July 1796, a bill for jailing a runaway slave, tax receipts, and other papers. A few papers of the Dopson estate may be found in later years.
In files for the late 1790s are a few papers of the estate of John Timmons, including an "appraisement of Negroes belonging to the estate of John Timmons at the request of William Page, one of the executors," dated 19 April 1798.
In files for the late 1790s are a few papers of the estate of John Timmons, including an "appraisement of Negroes belonging to the estate of John Timmons at the request of William Page, one of the executors," dated 19 April 1798.
Financial and legal papers relating to the estate of Thomas Cater and to Page's guardianship of Benjamin Cater begin in 1804 and continue until 1818. Benjamin Cater's release to Page as executor and administrator of the estate is dated 23 March 1818. Page's dismissal from executorship is dated 1 May 1818.
Bills from Hugh Ross for household and plantation supplies are found in files from 1801 through 1816. Page purchased tools, blankets, gunpowder, medicine, toys, brandy, shoes, boots, and other goods through Ross. Although Page did business primarily with Hugh Ross, there are also bills for supplies bought from other merchants, including George Harral in Darien, Andrew Low in Savannah, George Abbott in Frederica, Alexander Habersham in Savannah, Isaac Abrahams in Brunswick, Small & McNish in Savannaah, Andrew Manson in Brunswick, and Rudolphus Bogert in New York. After 1816, Page did business primarily with John McNish of Savannah.
Ross's account of 4 May 1803 shows that he sold cotton in Liverpool and rice in London for Page. The majority of Ross's accounts with Page show sales of cotton on Page's behalf or on behalf of the estate of Thomas Cater, which Page administered. There are also some accounts of British firms for cotton sold for Page & Ross. There are accounts with Harrison Nephew & Co. in Manchester, England in 1805 and 1806, and with various merchants in Liverpool, including Harrison & Latham, B. & I. Gray, Gray and Wilson, and William Christie, for sales of cotton. Receipts for cotton from masters of ships sailing to England are also filed with financial and legal papers.
Throughout the financial and legal papers are bills, receipts, and accounts of Page as treasurer of the Academy of Glynn County.
Page's tax returns for 1804-5-6 filed in 1806 and for 1809, and his return for himself and those for whom he acted as agent in 1811 indicate the amount and value of the property Page owned and managed.
Page's purchase of Colonel's Island and his payments are documented by a memorandum of agreement between Page and Leighton Wilson dated 31 May 1811 and by receipts for payments to Wilson in later years. Also included is a memorandum of agreement between Page and Samuel Boyd in 1812 in which Boyd agreed to manage Page's Colonel's Island planting concerns.
An advertisement of 17 November 1818 offered a reward of $350 for return of a runaway slave.
Undated financial and legal papers include bills, receipts, and accounts, legal papers related to the Cater estate, a few bills of Miss Page and Mrs. Page, a list of house expenses and Negro expenses, and a paper titled "Estimated Value of Hampton & Butlers Island."
Folder 52 |
1790-1794 |
Folder 53 |
1795-1796 |
Folder 54 |
1797-1798 |
Folder 55 |
1799-1800 |
Folder 56 |
1801-1802 |
Folder 57 |
1803-1804 |
Folder 58 |
1805 |
Folder 59-60
Folder 59Folder 60 |
1806 |
Folder 61 |
1807 |
Folder 62 |
1808 |
Folder 63-69
Folder 63Folder 64Folder 65Folder 66Folder 67Folder 68Folder 69 |
1809 |
Folder 70-75
Folder 70Folder 71Folder 72Folder 73Folder 74Folder 75 |
1810 |
Folder 76-80
Folder 76Folder 77Folder 78Folder 79Folder 80 |
1811 |
Folder 81-87
Folder 81Folder 82Folder 83Folder 84Folder 85Folder 86Folder 87 |
1812 |
Folder 88-91
Folder 88Folder 89Folder 90Folder 91 |
1813 |
Folder 92-95
Folder 92Folder 93Folder 94Folder 95 |
1814 |
Folder 96-101
Folder 96Folder 97Folder 98Folder 99Folder 100Folder 101 |
1815 |
Folder 102-104
Folder 102Folder 103Folder 104 |
1816 |
Folder 105-106
Folder 105Folder 106 |
1817 |
Folder 107-111
Folder 107Folder 108Folder 109Folder 110Folder 111 |
1818 |
Folder 112 |
1819 |
Folder 113-114
Folder 113Folder 114 |
1820 |
Folder 115 |
1821 |
Folder 116-118
Folder 116Folder 117Folder 118 |
1822 |
Folder 119 |
1823 |
Folder 120 |
1824-1825 |
Folder 121-122
Folder 121Folder 122 |
Undated |
Folder 123 |
Description of boats' sprit sails, instructions for painting the roofs of houses, and list of stops on the northern route to Milledgeville |
XOPF-1254/1 |
Oversize papers |