Heloise H. Cruzat Papers

The Cruzat Papers are comprised of some six hundred individual pieces. The collection includes business papers (accounts, correspondence, business ledgers, etc.) primarily of Panton, Leslie and Co., and their successors, John Forbes and Co. Also included are court records such as lawsuits to recover moneys due, property in slaves, etc., and documents regarding land and property ownership, deeds, and titles (with particular respect to Pensacola and southern Alabama). Other materials include ship's papers, market reports, powers-of-attorney, and documents pertaining to Panton's estate.

The correspondence from Panton, Leslie and Co., and John Forbes and Co. forms an especially interesting part of the collection. It primarily consists of letters between their various business concerns in Pensacola, St. Augustine, Nassau (Bahamas), London; their business associates in Havana, New York, Vera Cruz, etc.; and their branches in Mobile, New Orleans, etc. Several of the letters are to or from John Innerarity, or he is mentioned by the authors. Additionally there is correspondence with the traders Daniel McGillvary, another person only identified by the initials "E.G."; and with Spanish and American government officials, Indian (Native American tribes) chiefs, etc.

Though much of the collection is in the nature of routine business material, taken as a whole it does form an interesting and valuable part of the material on the history of Florida and the southern United States frontier from 1788 to 1848 (the extreme chronological limit of the collection). As much as half of the collection is in Spanish, and the bulk of the collection has been duplicated (photocopies are included).