Missouri Territory Collection of Early Documents, Including Map of New Madrid, Plus

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American History: Premier Auction

By Cowan's Auctions

Nov 16, 2018

Set Reminder 2018-11-16 10:00:00 2018-11-16 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : American History: Premier Auction https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/cowans/american-history-premier-auction-3577
Cowan’s Fall American History: Premier Auction features over 200 lots including early photographs, documents, manuscripts, broadsides, flags, and more dating from the Revolutionary War period to the mid-20th Century, many representing important landmark moments in American history. Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com

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• Lot Description
  Large lot containing historical manuscripts, personal correspondence, 3 photo albums, and miscellaneous ephemera from Andrew Wilson (ca 1750- ca 1820) and his descendants. Andrew Wilson served as Recorder, Probate Judge, and Notary Public for the District of New Madrid, Missouri Territory. The archive is highlighted by an early map of New Madrid and documents from the early years of the Louisiana/Missouri Territory following its transfer to the United States as part of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.
  
  In a transitional period following the American Revolution and leading up to the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, the area known today as New Madrid, Missouri, was alternately under Spanish, French, and ultimately American rule. Andrew Wilson is believed to have been a Scottish-born Presbyterian minister who ventured to New Madrid from Pennsylvania ca 1789. Led by Colonel George Morgan, a Revolutionary War veteran and Indian agent enticed by the Spanish to help settle the area, Andrew Wilson went west with a large group of settlers predominantly from the Pennsylvania and Maryland areas. These men joined Morgan on the promise of receiving a land grant of 320 acres conditional upon building a permanent home before May 1790, taking an oath to the King of Spain, and paying Morgan 48 Mexican dollars. On a bend in the Mississippi River which had previously been the site of a French trading post, Andrew Wilson and the men from Morgan's expedition established a town in 1789. Morgan named it New Madrid, after Madrid, Spain. It is not known exactly when Andrew Wilson left New Madrid. However, 6 letters in the collection from Andrew Wilson to his son John Wilson of Washington, Pennsylvania, indicate that Andrew Wilson likely departed New Madrid ca 1813 and removed to Virginia where he resided until at least 1817.
  
  Original documents from the early days of the Louisiana Purchase in Missouri are uncommon. This fascinating collection contains 10 documents ranging from 1794-1806 which illuminate some of the difficulties and opportunities associated with the massive land transfer from one government to another. Topics referenced include religious freedom, proving Spanish land grants, and establishing government. The documents, several of which are in Spanish, include the following:
  
  Land grant to Andrew Wilson for 200 Arpents dated November 27, 1794.
  
  Memorial & Petition of the Subscribers of different religious persuasions Inhabitants of the village district of New Madrid, written "To the Governor of Louisiana," March 1804. Petition describes an incident in which Reverend Andrew Wilson was refused the ability to preach in a New Madrid church by Commandant John Lavalles despite the fact that "memorialists of different religious persuasions possessing property in said village & neighborhood believed it most consonant to the genius of the American constitution to allow all regularly licensed preachers the use of said church - a practice which is followed in the Mississippi territory."
  
  Letter dated April 30, 1804, from Andrew Wilson in New Madrid to his wife Sarah back home in Washington, Pennsylvania. Wilson writes in part: "My Dear What a door of usefulness is now opened here - Civil & religious liberty unenjoyed before....I do what I can both teaching & preaching. God may bless it. Have I been brought thro' so many dangers & difficulties & sufferings to no purpose. I cannot think it."
  
  Documentation submitted by Andrew Wilson to substantiate his ownership of land in New Madrid, including a document dated May 1804 stating in small part, "In obedience to the desire of Governor Stoddard in a proclamation of March last the Subscriber states that he hath been in possession of plantation No. 4 on the Mississippi since the year 1794 which was granted to him for what he petitioned on which he raised a number of crops having cleared sixteen acres and upwards and of which the following is a copy of the survey plott & surveyors account & receipt for his fees."
  
  Map, ca 1804, New Madrid in 1794 and 1803. With the explanation next to the title: "Note in 1804 The Fort Celeste & the houses & land nearby as far back as streets St. Antoine St. Marguerite St. [Simon?] nearly from 1794 has fallen into the Mississippi. - This taken from an old plan begun in 1794 on no certain scale."
  
  Document dated June 1804 likely sent to Captain Amos Stoddard, Commandant of the Military District of Upper Louisiana, regarding the appointment of "Mr. Laforge," likely Pierre Antoine LaForge, and the apparent dissatisfaction of the yeomanry of New Madrid with this appointment.
  
  Accompanying the Andrew Wilson documents are manuscripts related to his son, John Wilson, a carpenter and later Sheriff in Washington County, PA, as well as to his grandson, Dr. John Russell Wilson (1822-1873), a Pennsylvania physician. A large group of personal correspondence related to Dr. John Wilson and his children rounds out the manuscript portion of the collection.
  
  Three photo albums containing more than 125 photographs accompany the documents (predominantly CDVs and cabinet cards with a few tintypes and albumen prints). The subjects in the photographs are typically unidentified men, women, and children. Photographers credited on verso of images are in many cases from Pennsylvania indicating a high possibility that the subjects are members of the extended Wilson family.
  

  Condition

  Andrew Wilson documents related to his time in New Madrid are generally in good condition given age with expected folds and toning. Some are torn along fold lines but remain intact. All documents are legible. The New Madrid map is worn along edge lines with toning particularly along edges. Some minor soil. Several tears including one of nearly 4 inches on middle right side along fold. Middle of map has small losses in three places along center fold. Map text remains clear and easily legible.
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