Title: John Thomas Haight Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1791-1936

Creator:

• Haight, John Thomas, 1813-1853

Call Number: Whitewater Mss U

Quantity: 2.4 c.f. (6 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives & Area Research Center, Harold Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Whitewater Library / Whitewater Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Incoming correspondence, legal documents, and other business papers of Haight, a Wisconsin land speculator based in Koshkonong who was active in local and state politics. Haight acted as agent for various Wisconsin residents and numerous persons from out of state, including John Davis of Massachusetts, Martin O. Walker of Chicago, and Eastern businessmen Caleb and William Cushing. Included are a lengthy exchange with O. W. Thornton of Marshall and correspondence with Moses M. Strong discussing land transactions and state and local politics. Other correspondents are John Catlin, James D. Doty, and Alexander Mitchell. A detailed land account book, 1839-1845, traces many of Haight's transactions. Letters written after Haight's death concern the personal and business affairs of his descendants. There is some genealogical material pertaining to the Thomas family of Connecticut. Papers before 1836 and after 1853 are primarily family correspondence.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-whit000u

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

 ↑ Bookmark this ↑

The papers of John Thomas Haight are a small collection of incoming correspondence and other miscellaneous papers covering the years 1791 to 1930, and genealogical material of a later date. Those papers prior to 1836 and after 1853 consist mostly of family correspondence. Those falling in the intervening period deal with two main topics: land speculation and development by eastern interests, and territorial and state politics.

John T. Haight came from Monkton, Vermont, to Oak Creek in southern Milwaukee County in 1837. The previous year he had spent as a surveyor on the Military Road between Chicago and Green Bay. Soon after his arrival in Wisconsin he began to speculate in farm land and city lots. Most of the purchases that Haight made were for such eastern men as Caleb Cushing and his brothers, Governor John Davis of Massachusetts, and Martin O. Walker of Troy, New York, and later of Chicago. Along with the management of the lands of such men as these Haight also invested his own money in lands. These papers are indicative of the methods of operation of both the investors and the agents in Western land speculation. Besides the relative correspondence there are also numerous tax receipts, deeds, mortgages and other such miscellaneous material.

During the same period that Haight was acting as a land agent he was also interested in local politics. Beginning in 1841, with his appointment as a Notary Public, Haight was a perennial office seeker. After 1841 he held at various times the offices of Justice of the Peace, Deputy Surveyor, Postmaster, and in 1847 he was a member of the Assembly from Koshkonong, Jefferson County where he had moved in 1842. The political correspondence of this period is from some of the foremost personages of the day including James Duane Doty and Moses McClure Strong. These men discussed with Haight the current issues and also asked his advice on various matters of a political nature from time to time.

The following people are the more prominent persons whose letters occur in the course of Haight's land business or his political endeavors. The correspondence is all arranged chronologically within the collection.

Name	Date
Baker, C. M.	1844 May 24
Barstow, William A.	1851 Jan. 24
	1851 May 16
	1851 Aug. 13
	1851 Sept. 16
	1851 Oct. 3
Catlin, John	1841 Dec. 1
	1842 Oct. 23
	1844 Feb. 28
	1845 April 9
	1845 April
	1845 July 15
	1849 Dec. 20
	1850 April 13
	1851 Aug. 18
	1851 Aug. 29
Clapp, M. R. Clapp	1849 Oct. 21
Clark, S.	1850 Aug. 9
Crocker, Hans	1847 Oct, 8
Cramer, Eliphalet	1844 Oct, 1
	1844 Dec. 17
	1845 May 13
	1846 March 19
	1847 Jan.
	1848 Nov, 13
Cushing, Caleb	1836 June 9
	1839 Oct. 9.
	1840 April 2.
	1840 May 22
	1840 Aug. 29
	1840 Nov. 27
	1840 Dec. 10
	1845 Oct. 10
	1847 May 21
	1847 Oct. 7
	1847 Nov. 20
	1848 March 2
	1848 July 4
	1849 May 22
	1849 June 18
	1849 June 28
	1849 July 22
	1849 Oct. 13
	1849 Dec. 5
	1849 Dec. 17
	1850 Jan. 18
	1850 April 1
	1851 Dec. 22
	1852 Oct. 16
Cushing, John	1844 April 20
Darling, M. C.	1848 July 27
Davis, John	1836 June
	1841 March 23
	1843 Sept. 10
	1843 Dec. 21
	1844 March 21
	1844 July 16
	1845 May 16
	1845 Aug. 15
	1845 Oct. 11
	1847 Feb 14
	1847 March 28
	1847 April 27
	1847 July 17
	1848 Aug. 14
	1848 Nov. 30
	1849 July 11
	1849 July 18
	1849 Oct. 17
	1849 Nov.
	1849 Nov. 17
	1850 April
	1850 Feb. 10
	1850 Nov. 29
	1850 Dec. 14
	1850 Dec. 29
	1851 July 16
	1851 Sept. 16
	1851 Sept. 23
	1851 Oct. 6
	1851 Oct. 9
Delaplaine, George P.	1852 Oct. 20
	1852 Dec. 8
	1852 Dec. 13
	1846 June 28
	1866 March 9
	1866 July 19
	1866 Oct. 25
	1866 Nov. 5
	1866 Nov. 15
Dennis, William M.	1848 Aug. 24
Doty, James Duane	1836 Aug. 17
	1848 Aug. 20
	1848 Sept. 29
	1849 Sept. 7
	1849 Sept. 24
	1850 April 19
	1850 May 18
	1850 July 24
	1850 Nov. 20
Durkee, Charles	1850 Feb. 23
	1850 May 23
Earll, Warner	1848 Dec. 2
Edgerton, B. H.	1844 May 6
1845 April 19
Elderkin, Edward	1847 June 23
Gardner, Palmer	1847 Dec. 29
Holmes, John E.	1846 July 10
	1846 July 27
	1848 Dec14
	1848 July 18
	1849 April 10
	1851 July 9
	1852 Jan, 12
	1852 July 28
	1852 Aug. 13
	1852 Dec. 3
	1867 Feb. 9
Hathaway, Joshua	1850 April 4
	1850 July 25
	1850 July
	1853 Feb 5
	1853 Feb. 14
	1853 Feb. 28
	1853 March 18
	1853 April 7
Hubbell, Levi	1848 Aug. 19
	1850 April 26
	1850 May 6
	1850 May 9
Hyer, George	1843 Aug. 3
Jones, George M.	1847 April 22
	1847 May 15
	1847 Aug. 22
	1847 Aug. 31
	1847 Sept. 24
	1847 Oct. 5
	1847 Dec. 25
	1848 Jan 25
	1848 April 5
	1848 April 27
	1848 May 11
	1848 June 1
Marshall, William K.	1848 June 5
Martin, Leonard	1848 April 9
Martin, Morgan L.	1845 Dec. 14
	1846 April 23
Mills, Simeon	1849 Aug. 19
Mitchell, Alexander	1844 Jan 21
	1848 May 12
	1848 Dec. 12
	1850 July 10
Noggle, David	1848 June 2
Pixley, J. W.	1849, Jan, 24
	1850 Jan 22
	1850 April 1
	1850 May 8
	1850 June 9
	1850 July 24
	1851 May 5
	1851 July 31
Prentiss, William A.	1843 July 20
	1843 July 24
	1845 Sept. 13
Prentiss, Theodore	1846 March 25
	1847 Jan. 30
	1847 June 26
	1848 Aug. 6
Rockwell, Leland	1847 March 4
	1848 Nov. 25
	1849 March 10
	1849 April 3
	1850 July 17
	1852 April 13
Smith, A. Hyatt	1848 Sept. 13
	1850 May 15
Strong, Moses M.	1843 Jan, 6
	1844 Jan. 14
	1844 May 13
	1844 Oct. 27
	1845 Oct. 6
	1846 Feb. 13
	1846 April 8
	1850 Jan. 11
	1850 June 5
	1850 July 16
	1850 July 22
	1850 July 24
	1850 Nov. 4
	1850 Dec. 20
	1851 June 2
	1851 Aug. 26
	1851 Sept. 19
Upham, D. A. J.	1846 Jan. 7
	1848 Oct. 17
Walker, Martin O.	1838 Oct. 19
	1839 March 15
	1839 April 15
	1839 Sept. 6
	1839 Sept. 30
	1839 Nov. 26
	1839[?]
	1840 March 21
	1840 April 5
	1840 May 3
	1840 Oct. 16
	1840 Nov. 10
	1840 Dec. 10
	1841 Jan. 30
	1841 March 6
	1841 April 2
	1841 May 12
	1841 Nov. 18
	1841 Nov. 24
	1841 Dec. 4
	1842 Jan. 8
	1842 May 1
	1842 Aug. 5
	1842 Nov. 7
	1842 Dec. 22
	1843 March 18
	1843 March 26
	1843 March 27
	1843 March 28
	1843 July 22
	1843 Sept. 14
	1843 Nov. 4
	1843 Dec. 23
	1844 Jan 26
	1844 Feb. 13
	1844 June 30
	1844 July 15
	1844 Aug. 22
	1844 Aug 27
	1845 Jan, 25
	1845 Feb. 10
	1845 April 12
	1845 July 16
	1845 Sept. 2
	1845 Oct. 11
	1846 Jan. 26
	1846 Feb. 22
	1846 March 29
	1846 June 14
	1846 Sept. 3
	1846 Sept. 20
	1847 Jan. 18
	1847 March 22
	1847 April 20
	1847 June 3
	1848 May 15
	1848 Aug. 24
	1848 Sept. 29
	1849 Jan. 21
	1849 Feb. 3
	1849 March 2
	1849 March 12
	1849 May 4
	1849 Aug. 6
	1849 Aug. 18
	1849 Sept. 9
	1849 Oct. 12
	1849 Dec. 10
	1850 Jan 6
	1850 Jan. 16
	1850 May 30
	1850 June 23
	1850 July 15
	1850 Aug. 27
	1850 Dec. 7
	1852 Feb. 25
	1852 Sept. 29
	1853 Feb. 28
	1853 April 4
	1853 April 7
	1854 March 12
	1854 Sept. 25
Wells, Horatio N.	1845 Aug. 27
	1848 Oct. 12
	1850, July 10
Wells, Daniel, Jr.	1846, Dec. 4
	1846, Dec. 4
	1851, May 22
Webster, Daniel	1850 Jan. 5 (copy)
Whiton, Edward V.	1846 April 30

Acquisition Information

Presented by the Haight family through the courtesy of William Harrison Haight, Cambridge, Wisconsin, 1955.

	Correspondence
Box   1	1791-1847 Jan.
Box   2	1847 Feb.-1856
Box   3	1857-1883
Box   4	1884-1894
Box   5	1895-1921
Box   6	1922-1930
Box   6	Undated and miscellaneous items
Box   6	Thomas family and Haight family genealogy
Box   6 Volume   1	Memoranda of sales of land, 1839-1850?