Business-Related Records, 1803-1918 and undated

This series contains three sets of correspondence and related documents, and a financial ledger, each arranged chronologically. The first group, dated 1818 to 1874, includes fifteen letters and three receipts documenting John Hamilton's business affairs. These deal largely with agricultural matters, including tobacco and corn crops and prices; timber and inferior shingles; taxes; and a new law for the weighing and inspection of grain. Two of the letters in this group deal with the purchase of and care for slaves. Correspondents are other Charles County, Maryland, farmers and planters and the Baltimore mercantile firms of Neale, Harris & Company and Penn & Mitchell.

The second set of correspondence, consisting of nine letters dated from 1851 to 1855, deals primarily with John Hamilton's role in the financial troubles of Charles A. Pye, who may have served as the agent for Hamilton in Baltimore. In one letter Pye requests a loan from Hamilton; in another he pleads for oat seed on credit and feed for his cattle. In additional letters, R. H. Mitchell and Mr. Oliver of Baltimore offer several negative comments concerning Mr. Pye and his ability to handle business. Sister Mary Aloysius (Mary Clare Pye), under the auspices of the Sister of the Visitation, also writes to inform Hamilton of her willingness to assist her brother by signing a deed.

The third group of correspondence and documents, dated from 1846 to 1848, concerns the business interest and communications of a farmer named John Adams. Most of this correspondence deals with the sale of Adams's grain by his Baltimore agents, Neale and Luckett, and orders for supplies shipped to him from Newport, Charles County, Maryland, by Baltimore merchants Dinsmore & Kyle.

Two other notable items in this series include an 1803 deed of trust conveying the Charles County, Maryland, property known as "Beach Neck" to Edward Hamilton, the father of John Hamilton's first wife, Nancy. There is also an 1818 bond, signed by Edward Hamilton, acknowledging Charles Neale's final payment of a debt. The two oversize documents were moved to flat storage.

This series also contains a financial ledger of John Hamilton, which lists transactions such as slave purchases, farm product sales, expences, and disbursements to his children, from 1857-1882. Included with this ledger are some miscellaneous items that were found in the ledger. These include a 1918 map of Zekiah Swap near La Plata, Maryland (oversize), period copies of two Senate floor speeches about the admission of Kansas as a state to the United States in 1858, an 1846 broadside relating to a person dispute in Charles county, a late 19th century flyer about St. Mary's College, a political cartoon about the National Anti-Monopoly League and two ads.

The series is grouped by family or individual or individual relationship; within the groupings, the documents are arranged chronologically.