Battaile Muse papers, 1726-1891, bulk 1777-1800

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Summary

Creator:
Muse, Battaile
Abstract:
Battaile Muse (1750-1803) was a planters' agent, of Berkeley Co., Va. (now Jefferson Co., W. Va.). Collection includes correspondence, account books, memoranda, and other papers. The collection concerns the movement from Tidewater farms to western Virginia, the progress of the Revolutionary War, sale of farm produce, the treatment of slaves, business operations, the Mercer (1776-1783) plantations and Fairfax estates, and Muse's career as a rental agent for George Washington in Frederick and Fauquier counties, Va. (1784-1792). Correspondents include W. M. Cary, Bryan Fairfax, Ferdinando Fairfax, G. W. Fairfax, Thomas Fairfax, J. L. Gervais, Tobias Lear, Richard Bland Lee, Warner Lewis, Stevens T. Mason, James Mercer, John Francis Mercer, Hugh Nelson, George Nicholas, John Hatley Norton, Thomas Rutherford, Magnus Tate, Hannah Fairfax Washington, George Washington, and Warner Washington.
Extent:
7.2 Linear Feet (18 boxes)
Language:
Materials in English
Collection ID:
RL.10131

Background

Scope and content:

Collection includes correspondence and papers of Battaile Muse (1750-1803), agent for large Virginia planters and plantation owners, relating to the desertion of Tidewater farms by Virginia planters for the more fertile areas in Loudoun, Fauquier, Frederick, and Berkeley counties; the progress of the Revolutionary War; planting and the sale of indigo and other farm products; the treatment of slaves, the estate of James and John Francis Mercer, 1776-1783; the Fairfax estate; and Muse's career as rental agent for George Washington in Frederick and Fauquier counties; 1784-1792. Included also are account books and memoranda listing rent collections and other business operations. Four letters, 1847-1848, relate to a dispute in the faculty of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.

Biographical / historical:

Battaile Muse (1750-1803) was a planters' agent, of Berkeley Co., Va. (now Jefferson Co., W. Va.).

Acquisition information:
The Battaile Muse Papers were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library in 1944.
Processing information:

Processed by: Rubenstein Library Staff, date unknown

Arrangement:

Collection is organized into the following series: Correspondence, Addresses and Writings, Legal Papers, Financial Papers, Plantation and Land Records, Genealogy, Miscellaneous Materials, and Bound Manuscript Volumes.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Contents

Using These Materials

Using These Materials Links:

Using These Materials

Restrictions:

Collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

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Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Battaile Muse Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.

Permalink:
https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1h367