From his home in Annapolis, Md., Thomas Rutland carried on an extensive trade in produce and general merchandise with ports on the Atlantic seaboard, the West Indies and Britain. Disputatious with his neighbors and debtors, Rutland was under constant pressure in the late 1780s from aggressive creditors and delinquent debtors, and he often resorted to civil suits, or the threat of suits, to remain solvent.

Rutland was a relentless, even ruthless opponent. Typical of his belligerent manner was his retort to a neighbor, with whom he had been embroiled in a dispute over right of way across his property: "That I am the worst of Neighbours is difficult to prove; and on my Side, I can only say, that if there is a Degree, above the Superlative, you must be considered Superior" (p. 35). Not surprisingly, perhaps, Rutland suffered from the feeling that he was being besieged by his enemies, and he readily accepted the truth of the rumor that an order had been issued to take him, dead or alive.

Scope and contents:

The Rutland Letterbook consists of retained copies of Thomas Rutland's outgoing correspondence between May 10, 1787 and August 28, 1789. Although the letters are usually brief and "routine," they form an important resource for the study of the commercial activities and attitudes of a substantial Annapolis merchant.

A major theme that emerges in Rutland's correspondence is the extremely contentious nature of his relationships with creditor, debtor, and neighbor alike, particularly with James Williams, Charles Ridgely, and Charles Carroll of Carollton. The letters provide relatively little detail on Rutland's mercantile activities, either in scope or in terms of goods traded, but they do create an impression of the tenuous financial foundation, built on a bedrock of indebtedness, that underlay his mercantile empire. Though Rutland held considerable interests in land and slaves, the letterbook documents the time and energy that he necessarily devoted to fending off creditors, as well as the extensive efforts he made to collect from his many debtors.

The Rutland Letterbook has been microfilmed.

Related collections:

he collections of the Maryland Historical Society (MS 71-278) include a letterbook of Thomas Rutland covering the years 1784-1787, immediately prior to those covered in the Clements' letterbook.

M-2179
Cat. 1/97 rsc

Subject index to the Thomas Rutland Letterbook

Index of recipients in the Thomas Rutland Letterbook

Back to brief guide

Return to:

Homepage	Manuscripts	Collections	Staff	Hours and policies