Early Huntsville, Alabama, letters
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Scope and Contents
These two unconnected letters contain information related to Huntsville, Alabama.
The earlier letter, dated January 1, 1822, was written by county court clerk Thomas Brandon and addressed to Samuel Pickens, the brother of Alabama governor Israel Pickens. In the letter, Brandon asks Pickens to support a court claim against the state for failure to pay Brandon for compiling state census and tax lists.
The later letter, dated June 16, 1861, was written by salesman A. R. Moen and addressed to M. P. Collins of Collins and Company, located in Hartford, Connecticut. In the letter, Moen describes his efforts to sell Collins's axes to merchants in the Huntsville area and describes the city as "a town outranked by no other in the State but Mobile."
Dates
- Creation: 1822, 1831
Creator
- Williams, A. S., III (Collector, Person)
- Moen, A. R. (Author, Person)
- Brandon, Thomas (Author, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
None
Biographical / Historical
Born on April 7, 1785, in Georgia, Thomas Brandon was an early resident of Huntsville, Alabama. In 1811, Brandon married Elizabeth Sample in Lincoln County, Tennessee; the couple had six daughters. Sometime after his marriage, Thomas Brandon moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where he became a brick mason and managed a brickyard with his brother William. Brandon became the clerk of the County Court in 1823, and was later named to the city's Committee of Vigilance. He married Mary Owen following Elizabeth Sample's death in 1827; the couple had four daughters and one son. In 1842, the partnership between William and Thomas dissolved, and Thomas and his family moved to Monroe County, Mississippi. Brandon died in Mississippi in 1859.
A. R. Moen was a salesmen who represented Collins and Company, an axe company headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut. Moen sold axes to merchants throughout Alabama, reporting on his progress to company representatives.
Source: Rohr, Nancy. "The News from Huntsville," The Huntsville Historical Review 26, number 1 (Winter-Spring 1999), 3-23.
Extent
0.05 Linear Feet
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Two unrelated letters, dated from 1822 and 1831, containing information about Huntsville, Alabama.
Physical Location
The A. S. Williams III Americana Collection, Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library, The University of Alabama
Provenance
Gift of A. S. Williams III, 2010
General
Title on Spine: Early Huntsville, Alabama Manuscripts
Processed by
Haley Aaron, 2013
Subject
- Pickens, Samuel (Recipient, Person)
- Collins, M. P. (Recipient, Person)
Source
- Williams, A. S., III (Donor, Person)
- Title
- Guide to the Early Huntsville, Alabama, letters
- Status
- Completed
- Date
- December 2013
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the The University of Alabama Libraries Special Collections Repository