Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

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Preferred Citation

James W. McRea Letters, 1836. Samuel Harrison Smith, Treasurer of the Washington National Monument Society versus Thomas K. Beale (Judgments, October 1838) Library of Virginia. Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

These materials came to the Library of Virginia in shipments of court papers from Arlington County.

Historical Information

James W. McRea was a collector for the Washington National Monument Society. He was sent to Alabama in March 1836, to raise funds for the construction of a monument honoring George Washington.

The letters were used as evidence in a debt case heard in Arlington County titled Samuel Harrison Smith, Treasurer of the Washington National Monument Society versus Thomas K. Beale. The suit was settled in the society's favor in October 1838.

Scope and Content Information

Three letters written in 1836 by James W. McRea to the treasurer of the Washington National Monument Society. McRea writes about his fundraising efforts in Alabama on behalf of the society. He reports his successes and failures in raising money and the total amount he collected. McRea writes of meeting Governor Clement C. Clay, speaking to students at the University of Alabama, attending a fund raiser in the town of Livingston in Sumter County, and serving as a quartermaster in the Alabama militia during the Creek War. The letters conclude with McRea tendering his resignation to the society due to his frustration with collecting money in Alabama.

Arrangement

Chronological.