Summary Information
Thomas Steel Papers
1660, 1834-1909
Wis Mss 51PB
0.4 c. f. (1 archives box)
Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)
Mainly correspondence, 1834-1860, of Thomas Steel, a Waukesha County, Wisconsin, physician and farmer with his family in England, describing his voyages to India and China as a ship's doctor and his efforts to find a fruitful medical practice in the United States and Canada. Later letters comment on his struggles to homestead and eke out a living as a rural physician; some discuss the Socialist Society of Equality, a group with which Steel immigrated to Wisconsin in 1843 to establish a socialistic community. Other letters mention local and national political affairs. There is also a folder of miscellaneous legal documents, including an agreement written in Middle English, November 9, 1660, concerning the use of land at Inveraray, Scotland.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-wis051pb ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
Thomas Steel was born Nov. 9, 1809, at Inverkeithing, Fifeshire, Scotland, and was educated in the public schools of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and London. He studied medicine in both London and Glasgow, and received his M.D. from the University of Glasgow in 1833.
In 1834, Steel sailed for New York as a ship's doctor, intending to set up practice in the New World. He found the opportunity for a lucrative medical practice was very slight wherever he traveled in Canada and the United States; and he finally returned to England, disheartened at his failure. During the next few years he made two long voyages as a ship's doctor--trips which took him to India, and once caused him to live for six months in China.
In 1843, Dr. Steel set out from England once more for the United States, sailing this time with a socialistic group intending to take up government land in Wisconsin. He settled in Waukesha County, where he became a struggling farmer as well as a struggling physician. In 1845 he married Miss Catherine Freeman of Milwaukee, whose family had also crossed the Atlantic with him. During the years when he was establishing a homestead for himself, Steel also bought a farm in behalf of his father; and in 1854, just before James Steel's death, he and Thomas' sister, Lilias, arrived in Wisconsin. By 1880 both farms had evidently been disposed of, and the Thomas Steel family had taken up residence in Genesee, a mile east of the homestead farm, where the doctor practiced.
The Steels had eight children, the oldest of whom, James, died of yellow fever when serving as a Cadet Engineer with the U.S. Navy in Cuba in 1870. In 1880, the two youngest, Alfred and Andrew, were in school in Beloit and Milwaukee. Three of the children, Annie, Lilias, and John, became teachers.
Dr. Steel referred to himself as a free thinker in religion, a liberal in thought, and a “radical” in politics. He took up Spiritualism in 1853, and supported the Free Democrats, or Free Soilers, in the election of 1852. He served as a Justice of the Peace and a Clerk of the School Board, but never became a political officeholder.
A review of the Thomas Steel Papers affords an opportunity to sketch the genealogy of the families involved. This is given here as an aid to persons making use of the papers.
- John Steel
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- Robert Steel
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- James Steel
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- Andrew Steel
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- James Steel (b. 1782) m. (1806) Elizabeth Thomson (d. 1841)
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- Thomas Steel (d. 1909) m. (1845) Catherine Freeman
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- James (b. 1846) (d. 1870)
- Annie (b. 1848)
- Lilias (b. 1851)
- Thomas (b. 1853)
- Catherine
- John
- Alfred
- Andrew
- Andrew (d. 1832)
- John (d. 1826)
- Lilias (Lilly) m. (1861) James Alfred Freeman
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Thomas Steel are composed chiefly of correspondence. By far the largest number of letters are those exchanged between the Thomas Steel family in Wisconsin, and members of the James Steel family in London, England between 1843 and 1860. The chief worth of the collection is to be found in the letters Thomas himself wrote to England in those years, and yet groups of other letters have interest. The collection might be divided as follows:
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Number of letters
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Correspondents
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| 7 |
Between the James Steel family and Mrs. Steel's family (Thomson). Concerning family affairs, 1813-1835. |
| 1 |
Long letter from Dr. Andrew Steel to parents, written from Madras, India. Description of India and near shipwreck, 1828. |
| 9 |
Thomas Steel to his family in England (1834-1839), when he failed to establish practice in Canada and U.S., and made three voyages as a ship's doctor. Steel landed first at N.Y., and then sought possibilities for medical practice in and near Toronto, Niagara Falls, Louisville, and New Orleans, with no success. Returned to England as a ship's doctor--voyage on which he wrote from India, July 10, 1835. |
| 482 (approx.) |
Exchange of letters between Thomas Steel family in Wisconsin and members of the James Steel family in England, 1843-1860. |
| 24 |
Letters and documents concerning James Steel, son of Thomas Steel, Cadet Engineer in U.S. Navy, 1862-1871. |
| 7 |
From John Steel, son of Thomas Steel, written from Grenoble, France, where he helped manage a glove factory. Some description given of France, 1880-1883. |
| 4 |
Letters from a woman inquiring about Steel family history, 1908-1909. |
Thomas Steel's letters from Wisconsin to his family in England chronicle three projects in his life, any one of which might yield useful material for the student of history: (1) Steel's brief and unrewarding membership in the Society of Equality, (2) Steel's difficulties as an early doctor, (3) Steel's struggle to make a living by homesteading and farming forty acres. None of these ventures was really successful financially, and yet Steel's accounts of his plans and problems through the years are most revealing.
With a group of about twenty people, all members of the Socialist Society of Equality in England, Thomas Steel came to Wisconsin to serve as the doctor at a settlement to be called “Equality.” The little band arrived in Milwaukee in the summer of 1843, and soon located and bought part of a section of land on Spring Lake in the Town of Mukwonago, Waukesha County. Steel's letters describe the problems this group faced through their first five months, and his own misgivings as to their success. Believing that their members lacked the proper frame of mind and positive leadership to make the experiment a success, Steel withdrew from the group in December, 1843, and secured a 40-acre tract for himself some miles away. In letters of 1846 and 1847 he describes how Equality was dissolved and how he then purchased about 176 acres of its land in behalf of his father.
It is obvious from Steel's correspondence between 1843 and 1860 that there was neither enough work nor enough money to support a doctor in this rural frontier community. He frequently wrote of the distance he had to travel, afoot or by horseback, only to have patients fail to pay him. Since he had to supply his own drugs he often failed to make expenses, even when paid for the call (e.g. March 16, 1852). Accepting produce or trades in payment for medical fees was common practice. Once he spent two days “collecting” without realizing a cent. By 1854 he was considering establishing a drug store in the wing of his home.
It is in reference to Steel's development of his homesteaded land that the best and most descriptive accounts are given of how land was acquired in that period, cleared, and farmed. He sometimes inserted into his letters drawings showing the layout of land or the appearance of farm buildings. The price of farm land, the costs of buildings, the value and kinds of crops, interest and taxes, and the scarcity of money and labor were often topics of concern in his letters.
Throughout his letters run frequent references to township, state, and national affairs. His letter of Sept. 30, 1852, for example, gives in some detail the method of election and the function of school boards. He mentions activities at the state agricultural fair at Janesville (Oct. 6, 1851), the first Waukesha County fair (Apr. 1., 1853), and the laying of the first railroad through the Genesee area. Trips to Milwaukee were the occasion for Steel to describe costs of transportation, and food and rent in that city.
Many of the letters from Wisconsin in this period were also written by Mrs. Steel. Most of these are very difficult to read due to the crossing of lines; but in general they deal with household duties, the children's activities, and a limited social life.
Related Material
A letter from Dr. Thomas Steel, dated North Prairie, Dec. 18, 1848, was published in the Milwaukee Weekly Wisconsin, Dec. 27, 1848. p. 3, c. 1.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Presented by Miss Harriet Bernice Steel, granddaughter of Thomas Steel, February, 1959. Copies of letters Dr. Thomas Steel wrote home in 1843-1844 have been returned to the donor; originals are filed with these papers.
Contents List
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Box
1
Folder
1-10
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Correspondence, 1813-1909 (primarily 1813-1880)
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Box
1
Folder
11
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Genealogical and Biographical Materials, 1808-post 1896, undated
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Box
1
Folder
12
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Records of Attendance at Medical Lectures, 1829-1838
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Box
1
Folder
13
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Legal and Miscellaneous Documents, 1660-1854
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Legal compact
: Original agreement in Old English (?) made Nov. 9, 1660, concerning use of and payments at Inveraray, Scotland. “Translation” attached.
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Notebook and diary of James Steel, father of Dr. Thomas Steel, 1808-1854
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Class cards and certificates concerning Thomas Steel's medical courses at London and Glasgow, 1829-1939
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Contract for mortgage on land purchased by Thomas Steel from the Society of Equality, 1847
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Miscellaneous
: Baptismal records, certificates, passport, medical license, and auction account.
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