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New Orleans, [1884]. 2 circulars (11” x 8.25”), 2 pp. 1 ALS (11.75” x 8.25”). 1 p. in ink. Early inscription on the original letter envelope likely by the addressee. CONDITION: Circulars good, minor separations along old folds, partial loss to one word; letter good, light chipping along the upper-left portion of the letterhead’s margin; moderate wear to envelope.

Two unrecorded circulars and a letter sent by a New Orleans land agent Colonel W. R. Stuart to a prominent Texas land businessman Leonidas Cartwright in 1884, constituting an apparently unsuccessful attempt via correspondence to go into business with the affluent Texan.

The first circular covers “great bargains” on orange groves, truck farms, stock farms, ranches, timber lands, mineral lands, and also hotels and winter homes in Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and Colorado. The farm in Georgia for sale also included on its grounds a Female Seminary; it is noted “this magnificent farm could be converted into a prosperous sanitarium, or stock farm, female or summer or winter resort.” The text details the timber, climate, crops, and natural resources of the various properties for sale. Prices are variously given for the entire property or per acre, and terms of sale are also provided.

The second circular describes a range of haciendas, ranches, mines, and more for sale in the city of Saltillo and the broader Mexican state of Coahuila, which is described as one of Mexico’s “most productive agricultural district…situated in the extensive space that separates Fresnillo from the frontier, and at present thinly populated and uncultivated.” Offered here is an extensive overview of Coahuila—through which the Mexican Central Railroad passes—as well as the State of Durango, Laguna, Parras, and San Pedro. Priced between fifty and ninety cents per acre, the haciendas and ranches in Coahuila are offered at “very attractive prices.” Some of their names are Anacapo, Barrial de la Paila, San Juan de la Vacquierria, and Jarral. The acreage of each property is given and the text discusses wine, stock, and farming operations in some of these locales. Interested parties are advised to contact W. R. Stuart’s bilingual attorney in Saltillo, who is “in high favor with the Governor and State and city officials.” A note on Saltillo covers the city’s resources, climate, attractions, and resident missionaries that are currently living in the city. Stuart closes the circular by noting he also has for sale lands, groves, homes, farms, and more in a range of states such as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. 

The 24 Sept. 1884 letter by Stuart addresses land businessman Leonidas Cartwright (1842–1922) of San Augustine, Texas, to whom he sent these two circulars. Cartwright engaged in farming until 1870 when his father died, following which he assumed his late father’s extensive land business, which embraced cotton plantations as well as livestock and agriculture operations. Cartwright continued his father’s business with success until 1894, opening up ranches in both Cooke County and Taylor County, Texas, where he raised horses and cattle. Stuart writes to him: “I will be pleased to exchange price lists of lands for sale, and will divide with you all commissions on sales jointly made. Let me hear from you. Yours truly.” A partially-legible inscription on the envelope, apparently by Cartwright, notes: “[Stuart] wants to exchange list of lands for sale… I did not handle any but family land now[?] or c[?] &c” In light of Cartwright’s response, it seems that Stuart was unaware at this time that Cartwright was no longer working as a farmer, but was instead operating his father’s business, i.e., “family land.” Nevertheless, the precise nature of the connection between the two businessmen is unclear. 

Born in Maryland, Colonel W. R. Stuart (1820–1894) moved in 1840 from West Virginia to New Orleans where he became a successful sugar and cotton broker. After he retired in 1871, he relocated to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, where he began a new career as a gentleman farmer, stockman, and horticulturist. As early as 1878, Stuart was raising merino sheep. In 1884, Stuart sold his orange grove on the Back Bay of Biloxi to the prominent horticulturist Parker Earle (1831–1917) of Cobden, Illinois, who served as chief of the horticultural department of the 1885 World’s Exposition at New Orleans and also president of the Mississippi Valley and the American horticultural societies. Stuart was highly regarded for his merino sheep and pecan experimentation, having been dubbed “the father of pecan culture in the South.” In 1890, he was named as the originator of the Stuart and the Van Deman pecan varieties by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and this same year he is known to have shipped a large quantity of pecans to Melbourne, Australia. Stuart married Elizabeth McCauley (1841–1925), a Mississippi native; the couple were philanthropists and supported the First Methodist Church at Ocean Springs, MI, which was built in 1872. The letterhead and envelope identify Stuart at this time as a dealer and importer of Jersey Cattle.

REFERENCES: “An Early Black History of Ocean Springs” at Ocean Springs Archives online; “Leonidas Cartwright” at Find a Grave online.

Item #7659

Price: $475.00