Scope and Content Note
The papers of Andrew Stevenson (1785-1857) and his son, John White Stevenson (1812-1886), span the years 1756-1882, with the bulk of the material from 1833 to 1876. The period most fully represented is Andrew Stevenson’s service as American minister to Great Britain (1836-1841). Some early papers relate to lawsuits in the Virginia courts, and there is correspondence pertinent to Andrew Stevenson’s service in the U.S. House of Representatives, particularly while speaker. There is no correspondence for 1826-1830. The collection is organized into four series: General Correspondence , Diplomatic Correspondence of Andrew Stevenson , Account Books , and Miscellany .
The diplomatic correspondence in the Andrew Stevenson papers is for the years 1836-1841. Subjects include the slave trade and searches by British officers of vessels displaying the American flag, the Caroline crisis of 1837-1838, and settlement of the northeastern boundary between the United States and Canada. Included in the diplomatic correspondence are copies of letters to and from Viscount Henry John Temple Palmerston, Daniel Webster, and John Forsyth, as well as secretarial copies of a broad range of Stevenson’s outgoing correspondence.
King William IV died during Stevenson’s residency in England and was succeeded by his niece, Victoria, whose coronation as queen and wedding the Stevensons attended. Social affairs occupied much of the minister’s time, and his papers reflect these activities. Correspondents represented in Andrew Stevenson papers include James Buchanan, John C. Calhoun, Churchill Caldum Cambreleng, Lewis Cass, Edward Everett, John Forsyth, Francis Scott Key, William L. Marcy, Philip Norborne Nicholas, Viscount Henry John Temple Palmerston, Joel Roberts Poinsett, James K. Polk, Thomas Ritchie, William C. Rives, Benjamin Rush, Richard Rush, Earl John Russell Russell, John Rutherfoord, Sarah Coles Stevenson, Charles Sumner, Roger Brooke Taney, George Tucker, Martin Van Buren, Alexander Van Rensselaer, and Daniel Webster.
Among noteworthy individual items in the General Correspondence of Andrew Stevenson are a poem of William Wordsworth (1770-1850), autographed for a Stevenson family member and dated December 24, 1838, from Rydal Mount; a poem of 1834 by Thomas Moore; and a letter of Robert Southey to John Kenyon, January 29, 1827, transmitting verses 27-46 as a conclusion to his poem “The Devil’s Visit.”
The papers of J. W. Stevenson account for a smaller portion of the collection. They consist principally of correspondence while governor of Kentucky and United States senator from that state. Correspondents include John C. Breckinridge, John Griffin Carlisle, Leslie Combs, C. M. Ingersoll, and Richard Vaux.