Scope and Content Note
The papers of Jonathan D. Meredith (1783-1872) cover the period 1795-1859, although the material begins to bulk largest in 1810. The papers consist of correspondence, legal and financial records, and South American subject files. The collection is organized into six series: Family Correspondence , General Correspondence , Legal Files , Financial Files , South American File , and Oversize .
The Family Correspondence describes the domestic life of a nineteenth-century Baltimore family that spent its summers in Saratoga, New York. Of special note are the letters of Meredith's son, Gilmor, who lived in Canton (Guangzhou), China, for several years as an employee of Baring Brothers & Co. of London. Gilmor Meredith's lengthy letters provide a wealth of information about China, describing in rich detail customs, landscapes, and products, with comments about British colonialism and the tensions between the British and the Chinese.
General Correspondence between Jonathan Meredith and his business associates and friends comprises approximately one-half the collection. As a legal consultant for the Bank of Baltimore and the local branch of the Bank of the United States, Meredith dealt with the gamut of legal questions involving banking and commerce in Maryland. He was a well respected lawyer, and consequently his advice was sought by banks, insurance companies, and private individuals. The majority of this correspondence deals with local Maryland issues, but many letters are from professional associates throughout the United States as well as a few from Europe.
Among the subjects discussed in the General Correspondence are foreign and domestic trade, the development of transportation systems in Maryland, and the exploitation of mineral resources in the state. The correspondence between John Graham and Meredith provides an account of the organization of a new coal company in Cumberland as well as other related enterprises.
The General Correspondence series also records the routine activities of banking such as the collection of debts, the settlement of accounts, and the sale of property, which, in many instances, led to court cases. Because the General Correspondence richly supplements materials in the Legal Files series, subjects within this correspondence may often be traced through consultation of the Legal Files. Also in the General Correspondence are numerous letters from defendants, plaintiffs, and their lawyers.
Among the more frequent of Meredith's correspondents are such personal friends as Robert Gilmor, a Baltimore merchant; Granville Sharp Pattison, an anatomist and professor at the University of Maryland; Granville's brother, John Pattison of Glasgow, Scotland; and R. D. Shepherd, a New Orleans and Boston shipping merchant. Shepherd's letters written in 1815 give firsthand accounts of the British attack on New Orleans.
In 1831, Meredith was junior counsel to William Wirt in the defense of Judge James Hawkins Peck in impeachment proceedings before the United States House of Representatives. Although there is no correspondence dealing directly with the case, letters of Arthur J. Stansbury, publisher of the proceedings, discuss the publication of the arguments by Wirt and Meredith and mention the trial's outcome in favor of Judge Peck.
Other notable correspondents in the General Correspondence include William Henry Aspinwall, Ángel Calderón de la Barca, Joseph Green Cogswell, William J. Duane, Alexander Contee Hanson, Robert Goodloe Harper, Philip Hone, Benjamin C. Howard, Gardiner Green Howland, Reverdy Johnson, John McDonogh, William M. Meredith, David Bayard Ogden, Alexander Randall, and William B. Wood.
Although Meredith's own letters do not constitute a complete file of responses to his correspondents, they give a clear impression of the variety of activities in which he was engaged.
The Legal Files cover the sundry activities connected directly or peripherally with banking. Thus, the case of the Union Bank of Tennessee v. Bank of Baltimore (1833-1834) sheds light on interstate contractual agreements between banks, and the undated legal opinions of Meredith, written for the Bank of Baltimore, provide a sampling of legal principles affecting banks. Although Meredith was associated with the Bank of the United States for many years, materials documenting that institution's business are scant. However, in many of the Legal Files various banking and insurance companies are parties to suits.
A persistent theme within the Legal Files is shipping and trade with Europe and South America. A sample of the cases includes Mactier v. Wirgman (1811-1837), regarding access of a colonial ship to European ports; Sheppard v. Taylor (1830-1831), involving libel against the owners of the ship Warren for planning to smuggle goods out of the Spanish province of Chile; and the case of the ship Damascus(1853), concerning an insurance claim after the ship was discovered to be unseaworthy in Cuba.
A number of legal documents, such as wills, contracts, and suits between individuals, are also present in the Legal files . There are also papers dealing with the settlement of the Charles Carroll estate (1833-1837) and the Robert Oliver estate (1835-1843), two cases in which substantial personal property was at stake. Reverdy Johnson served as a lawyer in both of these cases. Johnson was also involved in suits of the Bank of Baltimore v. William Bosley (1827-1829) and the Warren Factory (1829).
The South American File contains legal contracts and other documents, along with letters, that relate to the seizure of Spanish and Portuguese ships sailing in South American waters. The documents concern Venezuela, Chile, and Argentina (called Oriental Republic) soon after their revolt against the Spanish crown. There is one document relating to a proposed trading expedition to Veracruz, Mexico.
Oversize consists of shipping articles for the ship Fame of Baltimore, dated 1806.