Beall Booth Family Papers, 1751-1932

Access and use

Location of collection:
Colonial Williamsburg
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
P.O. Box 1776
Williamsburg, VA 23187
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Douglas Mayo
Phone: (757) 565-8521
Phone: (757) 565-8520
Fax: (757) 565-8528

Summary

Extent:
2 Boxes (314 items)
Creator:
Beall family; Booth family
Abstract:
The Beall Booth Family Papers contains 314 items and covers the family line of Samuel Booth of Williamsburg VA , his children and grandchildren from 1751-1785.
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The collection covers the business and personal papers of the Beall Booth family during the years of 1753-1932. The business papers are mostly from the 18th century (1753-1835), created by Samuel Beall (1748-1793), Norborne Booth Beall (1780-1844), William Lee Booth (1796), John May, William Scott, and James Semple (1768-1834). They contain bonds, receipts, contracts, memos, notes, and correspondence from the accounts of the Beall Family, as operated by the family and the lawyers who managed their estates. Much of the business papers address the land claims of Samuel Beall (1748-1793) and Norborne Booth Beall (1780-1844) in Kentucky, surveyed and managed with John May. There is a map from 1794 separated from the collection. The bulk of the business documents end at 1811, with two documents from the 1830s.

The personal papers are primarily from the 19th century. With one document from pre-1824, a prayer book given by Gabriel Maupin to his wife. They focus on the Booth family decendants of Samuel Beall in Kentucky, with some family mementos from the Maupin family who migrated with the Beall Family to Kentucky. They contain mostly correspondence between William Lee Booth, his children, and friends of the family between the 1850s and 1870s. Many of the letters are written to and from Galt Worthington Booth (1832-1921), who was a hospital steward for the Union Army during the Civil War. While the family writes on the Civil War, they mostly write about day to day life. The personal papers also contain some bible pages containing family genealogy, pamphlets, and photographs of the family. The pamphlets include the prayer book, a notebook, a young man's guide to the bridal chamber, and a copy of a speech given during the peace talks prior to the Civil War. There are no documents from the 1840s, and only one document from post 1875. A note pretaining to a daguerreotype by Margaret S. Booth from 1932.

Biographical / historical:

Samuel Beall (1748-1793), pronounced Bell, was a prominent merchant in Williamsburg, VA. ?b Born in 1748 to the descendants of Scottish immigrants he operated a store in Williamsburg from 1779 to 1785. He received a land grant for 40,000 acres in Jefferson County Kentucky, which he partnered with John May of Williamsburg to survey and rent. Married in 1779 to Ann Booth (1751-1786), he had 4 children; Norborne Booth Beall (1780-1844), Matilda Aylett Beall (1782-1822) who married William Galt, Harriet Beall who married Richard A. Maupin (1779-1827), and Louisa Brooke Beall. Norborne Booth Beall (1780-1844) took interest in Samuel Beall's (1748-1793) land claims and after Samuel Beall's death in 1793 he went about the process closing his accounts and moving west. The Estate of Samuel Beall (1748-1793) still had outstanding debts and other business that was dealt with through the lawyer James Semple (1768-1834). Ann Pasteur Maupin, daughter of huegunot Tavern owner Gabriel Maupin of Williamsburg, married Norborne Booth Beall (1780-1844) in 1799. Norborne Booth Beall (1780-1844) was a classmate of her brother Richard A. Maupin (1779-1827) at the College of William and Mary. They, and the younger brother Edward Maupin, settled Jefferson County Kentucky with the Galt Family in 1803. Norborne Booth Beall (1780-1844) and Ann Pasteur Maupin had several children. Their eldest daughter Ann Matilda Beall (1800-1859) married her cousin William Lee Booth (1796-1868), West Point Graduate and veteran of 1812, and they raised a family in Meade County Kentucky. They had nine children: Clara A. Booth (1820-1908), Norborne M. Booth (1822-1909), Harriet Maria Booth (1824-1908), William L. Booth (1827-1893), Waller S. Booth (1829-1921), Galt Worthington Booth (1832-1921), Charles H. W. Booth, Sarah Louisa Booth, and Meade Booth. At some point a portion of the family migrated to Indiana, but stayed in close contact with each other. Galt Worthington Booth (1832-1921), a doctor like his uncle Edward Maupin, joined the union army during the Civil War and served as a hospital steward.

Acquisition information:
Purchase, 2009.
Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in two series, each a box containing eleven folders. The first series contains the business papers of the family, mostly from the later part of the 18th century. The papers are organized by person and then date. The second series contains the personal papers of the family, primarily from the 19th century, in one box of eleven folders. The folders are arranged by document type; with the correspondence further arranged by recipient, sender, and date.

Physical location:
19-E-4
Physical description:
.