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John Holker papers, 1770-1872

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Summary

Creator:
Holker, John, 1745-1822 and Holker, Nancy Davis Stackpole, 1777-1857
Abstract:
This collection consists of the official and private correspondence of John Holker, merchant, speculator, and French consul general to the United States during the American Revolution. The collection also contains items related to Holker's wife, Nancy Davis Stackpole Holker, who managed his estate after his death.
Extent:
0.75 linear feet
Language:
English
Authors:
Collection processed and finding aid created by Clements Staff and Philip Heslip, November 2009

Background

Scope and Content:

This collection consists of the official and private correspondence of John Holker, merchant, speculator, and French consul general to the United States during the American Revolution. Included are 301 letters and 35 financial records. The documents from 1825 to 1872 concern Holker's third wife Nancy Davis Holker and her business with her husband's estate after his death.

The Correspondence and Documents series contains approximately 85 items relating to Holker's official consular duties and his efforts to supply the French fleet in American waters from 1778-1781. These items, which include both letters addressed to Holker in Philadelphia and copies of letters he wrote to France, offer information on the contracts and accounts of the French Royal Marines.

The bulk of the collection, however, concerns Holker's private business interests, primarily his partnership with Turnbull in supplying the Continental Army. Also notable are letters between Holker and his associate John Barclay, 1807-1816, that address national politics and foreign affairs as well as business interests such as the building of a distillery in Poughkeepsie, New York; his import business in Virginia; and land speculation in Illinois and Indiana. Other items document various lawsuits pertaining to Holker's business ventures, especially with Daniel Parker and William Duer. Many of the documents are in French, including all dated before 1779.

The papers from 1825 to 1872 concern Nancy Davis Holker and relate to the management of Holker's Virginia farm after his death and to the settlement of his estate. One "Article of Agreement" from March 1, 1832, details the renting out of the Springbury estate for agricultural use. The lease includes the farm, tools, buildings, and at least 13 slaves (all named). The document specified that at the end of a 3-year lease all of the property had to be returned, including the slaves who should be "clothed in the manner that the custom of the country requires[.] hired slaves to be returned clothed." This portion of the collection also contains 12 personal letters to Nancy from her daughter Anna Maria Adelaide which discuss family and personal matters. One particularly interesting letter from Anna Maria Adelaide contains a defense of slavery in the South (February 1, 1839). She argued that her father bought and sold slaves and suggested that her mother was only uncomfortable with the practice because she disliked Anna's husband, Hugh Nelson. "[G]et over this prejudice and not allow those around you to influence you." While she acknowledged that slavery was a regrettable practice, to her it seemed "impossible to live above the world."

The Documents and Financial Records series (35 items) consists of two Revolutionary war era receipts for flour and beef, and later receipts from farmers, merchants, and baker's (with many items from Peter Royston) for food stuffs, cloth, and other goods (1812-1822). Of note are two receipts for slaves (1818). Later items include Nancy Holker's annual food and supply receipts from 1848 and 1857.

Biographical / Historical:

John (Jean) Holker (1745-1822), born in Manchester, was the son of Chevalier Jean Holker, an English Jacobite who fled to Rouen, France, in 1745 and became prominent in French textile manufacturing. The younger Holker returned to England between 1769 and 1772 to study the Hargreave and Arkwright manufacturing processes. In 1777, father and son were involved in helping the American commissioners in Paris obtain military clothing and other supplies. In 1778, with Benjamin Franklin's support, John Holker and Conrad Alexandre Gérard came to America as the first French ministers to the United States. Holker was the agent for the French navy in American ports and consul of France, and took up permanent residence in Philadelphia. During the war, he supplied arms and provisions to the French fleet, with Robert Morris acting as Holker's American agent in Philadelphia and William Smith as his agent in Baltimore.

By 1780, Holker had become consul general for Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, and New York. While acting in this official capacity, he was engaged in extensive private business speculations with Robert Morris, William Turnbull, and Peter Marmie. Complaints from local authorities on his financial activities led the French government to demand that he either observe the prohibition against public officials engaging in trade or resign. Holker resigned in 1781, preferring to continue his various business ventures that included supplying clothes to Continental troops during the war, and later investing in western land speculation, Pittsburgh ironworks, distilleries, saw mills, and salt works. He and his partners William Turnbull and Peter Marmie formed the Alliance Iron Works, which was important to the early development of Pittsburgh as an urban center. The death of his father and the turmoil of the French Revolution diminished his assets and left him with fewer business ties in France. Following the war, Holker settled in Springsbury, Virginia, where he remained until his death in 1822, with the exception of a brief sojourn in France from 1800 to 1804.

Holker had children with three wives on both sides of the Atlantic. He first married Elizabeth Julie Quesnel (1748-1820) in France in 1769; they had one son, Jean-Louis Holker (1770-1884), who stayed in France with his mother. Holker's second wife was Hannah Hay Cooper (1755-1812) of Pennsylvania, whom he married in America even though his French wife was still alive. They had two children: Catherine Cooper (1781-1857), and Maria Holker, who died in 1794 in Virginia at age 10.

After the death of Hannah, Holker married Nancy Davis Stackpole (1777--1857) daughter of Boston wine merchant William Stackpole (1746--1813) and Ann Jackson Parker (d. 1807). Nancy’s first husband was John Morgan Stillman, whom she wed in 1794. She married John Holker in January 1815, and they had one daughter, Anna Maria Adelaide (1816-1875). Nancy Holker died in 1857 at her daughter's estate Long Branch in Clark County, Virginia.

Acquisition Information:
1932-1966. M-173, M-648, M-1059, M-1083, M-1392 .
Processing information:

Cataloging funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the "We the People" project.

Arrangement:
This collection is organized into two series:
  • Series I: Correspondence
  • Series II: Documents and Financial Records.

Each series is ordered chronologically with undated items filed at the end.

Rules or Conventions:
Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Contents

Using These Materials

Info for Visitors

How to Request

Ordering Reproductions

Download PDF Finding Aid
RESTRICTIONS:

The collection is open for research.

USE & PERMISSIONS:

Copyright status is unknown

PREFERRED CITATION:

John Holker Papers, William L. Clements Library, The University of Michigan

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Collection

John Holker papers, 1770-1872
Total components 46
Last indexed 2025-02-09