Information
Sheet
R Cresswell family.
7 Papers,
1823-1979.
987 items.
George Cresswell (1796-1871) emigrated to
the United States from his native England in 1821. After living briefly in Pennsylvania he brought his family to
Washington County in the new state of Missouri. There he acquired large holdings of land and became involved in
farming, lead mining and smelting, flour milling, and the mercantile
trade. His home and business activities
eventually were established at Aptus, on Mineral Fork Creek about ten miles
north of Potosi, the county seat. Today
the Cresswell house and ruins of the lead furnace still stand and are owned by
a descendent of George Cresswell.
The Cresswell papers include
correspondence, land documents, legal papers, slave documents, tax receipts,
account books from the furnace and store, miscellaneous business papers, local
school records, and other family papers.
The correspondence folders (1-7) contain
letters from George Cresswell’s relatives, most prolifically his father and
brother, who remained in England. They
are concerned mostly with family matters, but there are also interesting
observations on economic and social conditions in early Victorian
Britain. Other letters deal largely
with Cresswell’s business affairs, although there are some letters from
relatives in the gold-mining areas of California.
The land, legal, slave, and tax papers
(Folders 8-24) contain useful information on the extent of the family’s
property holdings.
The furnace account book (Folder 25)
includes records of “Lead Hauled to Selma” (1853-1854) and mineral received,
smelted, and shipped to Aptus (1868-1876).
The store ledger (1868-1874) and business papers (Folders 26-38) detail
the family's commercial dealings with local residents and St. Louis, Missouri,
wholesalers. Especially valuable are
records of the Cresswells’ accounts with Chadbourne & Forster of St.
Louis, who marketed the lead produced at the Aptus furnace.
Also in the collection are papers of
George F. Cresswell, M.D., concerning economic and social conditions, and
especially the welfare of child laborers in Washington County’s “tiff” diggings,
during the Great Depression. There are
also nineteenth century clerk’s records from Washington County school district
#1.
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