Keyte, James, Collection, 1818-1876 (C1011)
.8 linear feet; also available on 2 rolls of microfilm
INTRODUCTION
Land records, correspondence, and miscellaneous papers of James Keyte, Missouri pioneer, founder of Brunswick and Keytesville in Chariton County, Methodist preacher, and merchant.
DONOR INFORMATION
The Keyte Collection was purchased from Goodspeed's by the State Historical Society of Missouri on 8 February 1938.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
James Keyte came to St. Louis from England in 1818. While in St. Louis he was a partner with John O'Fallon in the mercantile business as well as a Methodist preacher. He was appointed pastor of the Boonslick Circuit, which included Chariton County, in 1821 and settled in the town of Chariton shortly thereafter.
Riding the circuit Keyte became familiar with Chariton County and began to purchase land. When the town of Chariton, which was the county seat, flooded, Keyte offered higher land for a new county seat. In 1831 Keytesville became the county seat of Chariton County. Keyte became the first postmaster of Keytesville and continued to buy and sell land until his death some time in the 1840s.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The James Keyte Collection is primarily made up of land records that reflects Keyte's dealings in land in Chariton County. The collection is arranged in chronological order followed by 13 volumes. The records from 1819 are deeds for tracts of land granted to various men in the Missouri Territory. Tax receipts and deeds make up the bulk of the items from the 1820s. The records from the 1830s include land tax redemption receipts and records of land bought by Keyte in the Keytesville area. Records from the 1840s and later reflect the actions of the executor of Keyte's estate.
Keyte not only purchased land for himself, he also represented others when he purchased land for them. Records of
these transactions are found in the collection. There are only a few letters, three are to his sister Sarah while he was in St. Louis during the winter of 1830/31. There are two maps of Keytesville and Chariton County, one drawn by James Keyte. Pencil drawings by Joseph T. Keyte are in the collection as well as a few items pertaining to the sale and purchase of slaves.
The volumes include account books of James Keyte, farm journals of Henry and John F. Lewis (it is unclear what connection the Lewises had with Keyte) that give brief day-by-day accounts of the weather and farm work. There are also record books of the steamboat Old Bullion for two trips from St. Louis to Brunswick in June 1852 and a
woman's scrapbook of poems, articles, and thoughts taken from newspapers.
FOLDER LIST
| f. 1 | n.d. |
| f. 2 | n.d., June 1818-June 1819 |
| f. 3 | 1819 June-December |
| f. 4 | 1820 March-1828 October |
| f. 5 | 1829 April-1831 July |
| f. 6 | 1831 July-1832 November |
| f. 7 | 1833 January-1834 December |
| f. 8 | 1835 February-1837 September |
| f. 9 | 1837 October-1843 January |
| f. 10 | 1843 July-1846 October |
| f. 11 | 1847 November-1852 June |
| f. 12 | 1853 June-1876 October |
| v. 1 | Sales of Lots in Keytesville, 1828-1843 |
| v. 2 | Itemized accounts kept by James Keyte, accounts of goods bought by Rhodes & Keyte, Brunswick, Missouri, 1829-1830, 1857-1858, 1860 |
| v. 3 | Commission Sales Book, Applegate and Gordon, n.d. |
| v. 4 | James Keyte account of sales of lots in Brunswick, Missouri, 1836-1846 |
| v. 5 | James Keyte old land book, includes plats and out-of-state owners of land, 1836
Joseph T. Keyte old land book, 1860 |
| v. 6 | Henry Lewis journal, 1850-1858 |
| v. 7 | John F. Lewis journal, 1854-1861 |
| v. 8 | John F. Lewis journal, 1858, 1862-1865, 1867-1869 |
| v. 9 | Steamer Old Bullion, freight book, 1852 |
| v. 10 | Steamer Old Bullion, portage book, 1852 |
| v. 11 | Steamer Old Bullion, passage book, 1852 |
| v. 12 | Walker, George W. and Hinton & Walker account book, 1855-1856. Goods shipped by steamboat from Rocheport, Missouri to St. Louis. |
| v. 13 | Maggie Ward Vaughan scrapbook, 1858 |
INDEX TERMS
These index terms are the subjects, people, places, etc. under which this collection is listed in all available indexes at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia. If you are interested in a specific index term, please contact the reference staff.
- Ashley, William H.
- Keyte, James
- Lewis, Henry
- Lewis, John F.
- Slaves
- Steamboat, Old Bullion
- Steamboats