Juan Stoughton papers

The Juan Stoughton papers consist of an account book, daybook, and two letter books, dated from 1794 to 1820, primarily related to consular business. The financial volumes are in Spanish. The letter books include copies of correspondence in Spanish, English, and French with merchants and associates regarding commerce and economic conditions in Boston, customs matters, and privateering. There are also some personal letters to his family, and correspondence of his wife, Anna Margaretha Langmack de Neufville Stoughton (d. 1837), after his death. At that point his widow used the book in her capacity as executrix of her husband's estate to record correspondence with the Spanish. She clearly was very knowledgeable about her husband's affairs and was attempting to recover money owed to her husband so she could pay off substantial debts on the estate.

The letter books were likely transcribed by his assistant or secretary. Correspondents include Valentin de Foronda (1751-1821), the Spanish consul in Philadelphia, and Luis de Onís (1762-1827), Spanish minister plenipotentiary to the United States, in addition to merchants in American ports, Havana, and Cadiz, Spain. The volume for 1815 to 1821 contains copies of letters to the Widow McRoberts & Co. in Cadiz, Spain. Most of the letters have to do with the seized ship, the Pastora Divina, which Stoughton helped to recover for her in the American courts.