James Dick & Stewart & Company letter book, 1773-1781 : autograph manuscript.

Correspondence relating to James Dick & Stewart & Company business transactions until 1775; followed by James Dick's correspondence. The burning of the "Peggy Stewart" is recorded in the letter book, along with some of Dick's other political activities. There is detailed marketing information and discussion of economic conditions before and during the Revolution. Frequent correspondents include Daniel Bowly; Archibald Boyd; Archibald, John, and Gilbert Buchanan; James Clarke; Robert Christie; John Glassell; Charles Grahame; Henry Hill; Messrs. Lux and Bowlie; Dr. William Lyon; William McGachin; Messrs. Merridiths and Clymer; John Nelson; James Russell; John Skinner; Anthony Stewart; and Thomas Worthington, as well as many prominent Marylanders.

James Dick & Stewart & Company was a trading company in Annapolis, Maryland, owned by James Dick and his son-in-law, Anthony Stewart, who was a loyalist. The firm traded in agricultural products and manufactured goods with England, Spain, Portugal, the Madeira Islands, and the West Indies. The firm also owned the ship "Peggy Stewart," which patriots forced to burn in Annapolis harbor in 1774 because of its cargo in tea. This became known as the Annapolis Tea Party. In 1775, Stewart was forced to leave the company and the state, because he had paid the British tax on the tea in order to release the rest of the ship's cargo of indentured servants, He eventually settled in New York. Dick then carried on in business on his own.