Southard & Starr (Louisville, Ky.) records, 1818-1828
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Southard & Starr (Louisville, Ky.)
Title: Southard & Starr (Louisville, Ky.) records, 1818-1828
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 0.23 cu. ft.
Location Number: Mss. BB S726
Historical Note
Mercantile company of Louisville, Kentucky, formed by Daniel R. Southard and Daniel Starr. The company operated circa 1818-1826. Both partners traveled to cities including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Baltimore, and New Orleans to buy products for the firm. The documents that comprise this collection were found in the attic of 116-118 W. Walnut St., possibly a building the firm occupied.
Daniel R. Southard married Elizabeth Young on August 10, 1822 in Jefferson County. They had several children including Mary, Caroline, and Laura.
Daniel Starr died in March 1826 in St. Louis, Missouri.
James Southard, brother of Daniel R. Southard, also worked for the firm. He died in 1841, his will having been probated Feb. 15, 1841.
Scope and Content Note
Records of Southard & Starr, a mercantile firm of Louisville, Kentucky formed by a partnership between Daniel R. Southard and Daniel Starr. Materials include business correspondence, legal papers, and receipts from steamboats that transported merchandise for the firm.
Business correspondence, 1818-1819 and 1822, primarily consists of letters from Daniel Starr to Daniel Southard, written during trips to purchase goods for sale in the firm’s Louisville store and elsewhere. Subjects frequently discussed include what goods should be purchased; the current prices of goods; river conditions; the anticipated arrival of merchandise in Louisville for sale in the firm’s store; currency issues, including exchanging money and news of worthless currencies; and settlement of accounts. In addition, local news of significance, including marriages, accidents, illnesses and deaths are often discussed.
Bills of lading, 1820-1824, record goods (especially stoneware), shipped on keelboats and steamboats by Southard & Starr.
Legal papers, 1823-1828, especially regard the sale and hire of enslaved persons between Southard & Starr and Dr. Gustavus R. A. Brown of Breckinridge County in 1823-24. Several individuals are named, with their ages and complexions were sometimes included in the documents. Papers dated 1825-1828 regard court cases involving Southard & Starr.
Business correspondence, 1826-1828, regards the operation of a St. Louis sawmill. James Southard, brother of Daniel Southard, corresponded with the mill’s managers. Daniel Starr first had charge of the mill, but the Southards were not pleased with his management of it. Following Starr’s sudden death in March 1826, the mill was managed by a [Black?] man named Harrison Munday.
Separation Note:
The papers of Samuel K. Page, 1842-1845, Mss. C P were separated from this collection.
The Southard family papers, Mss. C S were also separated.
Related Collections:
Daniel R. Southard papers, 1818-1832, Mss. C S
Southard family papers, Mss. C S
Folder List
Folder 1: Business correspondence, 1818
Folder 2: Business correspondence, 1819
Folder 3: Business correspondence, 1822
Folder 4: Bills of lading, 1820-1824
Folder 5: Legal papers, especially relating to purchase & hiring of enslaved persons, 1823-1828
Folder 6: Business correspondence re: a St. Louis sawmill, 1826-1828
Subject Headings
African American businesspeople.
Banks and banking.
Business enterprises.
Commercial products.
Crime – Kentucky – Louisville.
Death.
Diseases.
Distilleries.
Dueling – Kentucky – Louisville.
Enslaved persons – Kentucky.
Financial crises – United States.
Fires – Kentucky – Louisville.
Fur trade.
Indians of North America – Trapping.
Louisville (Ky.) – Social life and customs – 19th century.
Merchants – Kentucky – Louisville.
Ohio River.
Personnel management.
Sawmills – Missouri – St. Louis.
Slavery – Kentucky.
Steamboats.
Therapeutics – United States – History – 19th century.
Trapping.
Whiskey.
Yellow fever.
