Justus Post Collection
Scope and Contents
The collection is comprised of letters, financial documents, and biographical and estate records of Justus Post spanning from 1807 to circa 1999. The bulk of the collection consists of letters, and several transcriptions, written by Justus Post to his older brother, John Post, from 1807 to 1821. The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Justus wrote the earliest letters, 1807-1814, while in the army and stationed at various places such West Point, Philadelphia, and Fort Columbus (New York Harbor). He writes of family, the places he has traveled, and of current affairs, particularly events leading up to and including the War of 1812. Justus wrote one last letter to John before his family left New York for the Missouri Territory on 14 August 1815.
Letters subsequent to Justus’s arrival in St. Louis often focus upon his land deals in Missouri and Illinois, his travels, news of friend and colleagues relocating in the west, and asking John to join him in Missouri. On 14 June 1819, Justus wrote about a blacksmith, Mr. Robley, and a wagon maker, Mr. Griswold, opening for business in his town of Chesterfield and of his plans for further development of the town.
The final letter in the collection, 1 March 1832, is the only one not written by Justus. Henry and Maria Griswold, one of John Post’s daughters, wrote to “Respected Parents, Brothers & Sisters,” and addressed the letter to John Post of Bonhomme, Missouri. The letter relates family news and their journey home from St. Louis.
Additions to the collection include a volume, a portion of which contains a register of banking transactions from July 1819 to December 1821 (acc. no.2009.145). The bank register does not include name of bank but lists several transactions for the Missouri Exchange Bank. Entries include information such as holders of notes/bills, designation (bill or note), drawers and endorsers, acceptors or payers, amount, and remarks (“paid” or “returned” with date). The other part of the volume relates to the estate of Justus Post. It includes an inventory/appraisal (12 May 1846), an inventory of property to Eliza Post, and bills of sale (4-8 June 1846).
Financial documents in the collection include Justus Post’s final account as Quartermaster General dated 31 March 1815. There is also a list of his Missouri real estate holdings that he shared with his brother John in 1819. The Post family bought slaves for the first time after their arrival in Missouri. There are photocopies of two slave bills of sale, 9 January 1816 and 17 November 1817. On 19 August 1830, Justus sold land in Bonhomme to John M. Ficklin. In 1839, Justus Post purchased stock in the Caledonia Railroad and Manufacturing Company.
Dates
- 1807-ca. 1999
- Majority of material found within 1807-1821
Creator
- Post, Justus, Col., 1780-1846 (Author, Person)
Conditions Governing Use
For permission to publish, quote from, or reproduce material in this collection, please contact the Archives Reference Desk at archives@mohistory.org. Copyright restrictions may apply. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright.
Biographical Sketch
Justus Post was born in 1780, the youngest of eight children born to John and Lois Post of Vermont. He graduated from Middlebury College and then from West Point in 1806, where he was top of his class. On 6 August 1808, Justus married Eliza G. Randolph. They had three children: Dr. Julius Augustus John (1809-1856), Marcus Aurelius (1811-1832, Black Hawk War veteran), and Alexander (1825-1838). Of the three sons, only Augustus lived to adulthood. He had one daughter, Augusta (Post) Mitchell, who lived to adulthood, settling in South Dakota with her husband, Samuel Mitchell.
Post served in the War of 1812, resigning at war’s end after reaching the rank of Colonel and having been Quartermaster General for his district in New York. Post moved his family to St. Louis in August, 1815, where they were welcomed by the town’s elite citizens such as General and Mrs. Bissell and Governor and Mrs. William Clark. However, Justus Post lived in St. Louis for only year. He invested in land and moved his family to a farm near the Missouri River in Bonhomme Township, west St. Louis County, in November 1816.
The Post’s lived in St. Louis County for fourteen years, 1816-1830. While there Justus established the town of Chesterfield, installing a blacksmith, a wagon maker, and building a store, saw mill, and grist mill. He also appreciated all the fruit and crops that grew on the land. For many years, Col. Post was a judge in the St. Louis County court and was a representative in the Missouri state legislature. He also surveyed the Illinois and Michigan canal and was involved with establishing the first banks in Missouri.
In Illinois, Justus Post purchased large portions of land just above the mouth of the Ohio River. He helped establish the town of America, Alexander County, on the Ohio River, where he moved his family in August 1830. Only five years later in 1835, Col. Post relocated his family to Caledonia, Pulaski County, Illinois, where he once again assisted in building the town and county. Justus and Eliza Post donated the land upon which the Pulaski County court house was erected. Col. Post died of fever on his farm near Caledonia on 14 March 1846.
John Post (1773-1845), Justus’s older brother to whom he wrote many letters, married Elizabeth Stickles (1776-1858). The couple had nine children: Electa Ware (1800-1859), Johnson (1801-1858), Maria Griswold (1804-1854), Abby Tunison (1806-1891), Justus Augustus (1808-1854), Elizabeth Brackenridge (1810-1897), Sallie Long (1812-1885), Lois Brackenridge (1816-1904), and Erastus Post (1818-1882). In 1821, John and Elizabeth moved their family to St. Louis County.
For more about Justus Post see:
A Yankee in Creole Country: The Unfinished Vision of Justus Post in Frontier St. Louis by Elizabeth Gentry Sayad (St. Louis: Virginia Publishing Co., 2004).
This book includes transcripts of many of the letters in this collection and also letters from the Justus Post Letters (C0388) at the State Historical Society of Missouri.
“Justus Post: Portrait of a Frontier Land Speculator,” by William E. Foley, Missouri Historical Society Bulletin (Oct. 1979).
Eliza Post Collection, 1805-c.1962 (A1241), Missouri Historical Society Archives.
Extent
0.5 Cubic Feet ( (1 box))
Language of Materials
English
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically by folder title.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
There are no physical or technical restrictions.
Donor Information
Laura and Ida Post, granddaughters of John Post, of Pattonville, Missouri, donated the bulk of the collection, letters from Justus to John Post, on 11 June 1947. The first and second additions to the collection were donated by Elizabeth Gentry Sayad in 1996 (acc.no. 1996-083) and 2008 (acc. no. 2008-014). The third addition was donated by Audrey L. Kempf and Norma Ames in 2009 (acc no. 2009-145).
General
Formerly known as the Justus Post Papers.
Processing Information
Processed with funding from The Stuart Foundation, Inc. by Kristina Perez, 2018.
Creator
- Post, Justus, Col., 1780-1846 (Author, Person)
- Title
- Inventory of Justus Post Collection
- Author
- EAD by Kristina Perez using ArchivesSpace
- Date
- 2018
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Missouri Historical Society Library and Research Center Repository