John Steele (1764-1815) Papers, PC.5
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- John Steele (1764-1815) Papers
- Call Number
- PC.5
- Creator
- Steele, John, 1764-1815
- Date
- 1777-1831
- Extent
- 0.2 cubic feet
- Repository
- State Archives of North Carolina
Collection Overview
Papers of John Steele, Rowan Co. Federalist, legislator, and congressman (1790-1792), including letters from his mother, especially about the British in Salisbury, Feb., 1781. Other letters describe work on Cherokee boundary as commissioner of Indian affairs, 1788-1789, and activities as major general in militia, 1794. Many documents concern Steele as comptroller of the U.S. treasury (1796-1802), including draft opinions on fiscal policies and his correspondence with Albert Gallatin and Thomas Jefferson. Other material relates to his work on the North Carolina boundaries with South Carolina and Georgia (1805-1813) and work as agent for Bank of Cape Fear in Salisbury (1808-1810). Political correspondence concerns Jefferson's measures for economy in government, Jay's treaty, Madison's foreign policies, and in 1812 the prospects of the peace party in the state and effect of party spirit on the electoral college. Nonpolitical items include land grants (1782, 1799); papers from lawsuit in which Steele represented Richard Dobbs Spaight, Sr. (1790-1796); letters concerning plantation, slaves, horse breeding, racing, Salisbury Jockey Club (1811); and estate papers (1817) and his widow's accounts. Also in collection is copy by clerk of court of Camden Co. inventories of estates, 1777-1780. Correspondents include William Blount, William Boylan, William R. Davie, Jesse Franklin, John Haywood, James Iredell, James Madison, Francis X. Martin, Alfred Moore, William Polk, Benjamin Smith, Montfort Stokes, and David Stone. The letters mounted in volumes have been published in H. M. Wagstaff (ed.), The Papers of John Steele, 2 vols. (Raleigh, 1924). Other John Steele papers are in the Southern Historical Collection, UNC.