NLI Sweetman Papers

John Sweetman. (1844-1936)

John Sweetman, was the eldest son of John Sweetman, a Dublin brewer and Honoria, daughter of Malachy O'Connor, a Dublin merchant. He was born in 1844 in County Dublin and was educated at Downside College in Somerset. He lived at Drumbaragh, Kells, County Meath and 47 Merrion Square, Dublin. He married Agnes Hanly in 1895 and they had six children. He had passionate interests in politics, agriculture and economics and in the 1870s he joined the Irish Land League. It was not long before he became a member of the executive committee and in 1879 he proposed the election of Charles Stewart Parnell as its president. He was also involved in farming and tenants organisations at the time.

In 1880, Sweetman visited Minnesota, USA. As a result of that trip he became involved in a scheme to settle poor Irish farmers in Minnesota. He purchased about 20,000 acres near Currie, Murray County in Minnesota, and this became the first tranche of land to be controlled by The Irish-American Colonization Company, for which he had raised some funds from other businessmen and land owners back in Irelandthough most of the money put up was his own. The colonisation project was not a complete success, but it did help a large number of people, including over 80 families, from Co. Meath obtain a better life in America.

The family brewery in Dublin was sold to Arthur Guinness & Sons in 1891 and Sweetman decided to enter full time into politics. He was elected as an anti-Parnellite Irish Parliamentary Party MP for East Wicklow in 1892. At first he was a convinced Home Ruler and opposed to armed rebellion. However by the early twentieth century he had become more radical. In a speech in 1903, he did not rule out “armed rebellion”, which prompted a correspondence with Pádraig Pearse.

He was one of the founders and financial backers of Sinn Féin in 1905, succeeding Edward Martyn to be the second President of the party in 1908. Arthur Griffith took over as the third President later in the year. He was arrested at his home in Meath during the 1916 Rising in which he did not apparently play any active part, and was taken to prison in England. After a vigorous campaign by his wife and friends who enlisted the support of politicians as diverse as Sir Edward Carson he was released after 3 months. He took an active part in Sinn Féin during the 1917 and 1918 elections but took a back seat in politics afterwards, in the 1920s and 1930s, he kept speaking at meetings and was an inveterate letter writer, particularly to politicians including WT Cosgrave, JJ Walsh, Éamon de Valera and others, all of whom held him in much respect. Newspapers and magazines were the recipients of most of his opinions and some published letters from him every day.

He became vice-chairman (1899-1901) and subsequently chairman of Meath County Council (1902-08), Sweetman was a leading figure in the establishment of the ‘General Council of County Councils’. He served as its vice-president during the early 1900s and argued frequently that this federation of senior county council officials should be allowed to take over many of the administrative functions of Dublin Castle. Sweetman’s fear of being potentially responsible for instigating divisions of any kind within the Irish Catholic community also played a significant role in shaping his style of leadership of Sinn Féin.

During the 1910s Sweetman’s well-established reputation for conservatism grew not only due to his continued opposition to granting women access to higher education but also because of his strident criticisms of labour radicalism. Inspired by the Pope’s anti-war declarations, during 1915 he was one of the first Irishmen to speak out against the possibility of conscription being introduced into the country. This may have influenced Dublin Castle’s decision to arrest him in the wake of the 1916 rising.

During 1917-18 Sweetman supported Herbert Pim and Darrel Figgis in pushing for a revival of Sinn Féin. He was chosen as the Sinn Fein candidate for North Wexford in the run up the 1918 general election but declined due to his advanced age (he was seventy-four), the seat going instead to his cousin Roger.

By the mid-1920s, however, he was expressing strong opposition to the government’s free-trade policies, accusing the government of indifference to the poor and latent British imperialism. He resigned his honorary membership of the central branch of Cumann na nGaedhael in January 1928 and thereafter considered funding the establishment of an alternative, centrist and protectionist party in Irish politics. By 1930, however, his growing admiration for what he saw as Eamon DeValera’s Christian statesmanship prompted him to overcome his aversion to Fianna Fáil and to support that party, which he joined in 1932.

John Sweetman died on 8 September 1936 at the age of ninety-two. He was survived by his wife Agnes (who died in November 1936), his four sons and two daughters.

He is buried in the family plot in St Colmcille`s Cemetery, Kells, on a portion of land he gifted to the Parish of Kells for the new cemetery, opened 1910, to which, like everybody else, he had to buy his plot from the Parish.

VIII. Irish-American Colonisation Company

The Irish-American Colonisation Company [IACC] was established in 1881, its aim was to assist Irish Catholics to emigrate to Minnesota and help to establish Catholic Colonies there. The company purchased land in Minnesota for the new settlers and assisted in meeting the costs of travelling. John Sweetman was a central motivational force behind the establishment of the company, and acted as company Director. The company was voluntary disbanded by its directors in 1909, although not a complete success it had assisted many Catholic Irish to emigrate in search of a better life in America. The company papers have been split into seven sections by document type; organisational papers, publicity material, requests for information, successful applications, company correspondence, financial material and maps. Within each section the records have been arranged chronologically.

John Sweetman’s correspondence with members of the community in Minnesota can be found in section X.i. Minnesota Correspondence. Newspaper cuttings relating to the Irish-American Colonisation Company can be found in section XI.

VIII.i. Organisational Papers MS 47,593 /1	1880-1881 Legal documentation regarding the establishment of the IACC Includes a certificate of registration of the IACC as a limited company with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies (13 Mar. 1881). Also, warranty deeds from the ‘Winona & St. Peter Railway Co.’ and ‘St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad Co.’ to Sweetman regarding the purchase of land. Also, copies of power of attorney granted to Bishop John Ireland and John Sweetman to act for the company (Apr. 1881). Also, legal opinion offered by R.P. Carton Q.C. about the possibility of applying for government aid (Nov. 1881); 11 items
MS 42,082	1881-1909 Minute book of the meetings of the Board of Directors from the establishment of the Company in March 1881 to the final meeting of November 1909. Also includes loose sheets of related notes and drafts; c.300pp
MS 42,083	1881-1893 Rough Minute Book of the meetings of the Board of Directors from March 1881 to January 1893; c.300pp
MS 47,593 /2	[undated, 1881] A leather-bound, pocket-size diary of John Sweetman. Entries relate to IACC appointments or business, also some general notes; c.100pp.
MS 47,593 /3	1885

A copy of a resolution of the directors of the IACC (annotated ‘proposed by Lattin Thunder, seconded by Colonel Dease and carried’) appointing Sweetman an agent for the IACC, entitled to grant and sell any and all lands owned by the company in the United States. Also, a copy of a power of attorney (20 Aug. 1885) and a copy of a second IACC resolution to this effect; 3 items
MS 47,593 /4	1887-1907 A list of the retiring directors of the IACC for each year from 1887 to 1907; 1p.
MS 47,593 /5	1892 A draft for a land agreement with settlers, and two blank land agreement forms. Also, a copy of an IACC land agreement with Timothy Brodle and Elias Howard respectively (1892); 6 items
MS 47,593 /6	1900-1908 General papers relating to the IACC. Includes a sheet listing names of individuals whom were issued with deeds (1901). Reports of directors’ meetings from 1904-08 (including some reports of meetings involving [Agnes Sweetman]). Also, a copy of a letter to and from Ambrose A. Kelly (Dublin) regarding his becoming a director of the IACC (Mar. 1900), a letter to and from Maxwell and Weldon (solicitors) regarding the death of Lattin Thunder (Mar. 1900), and a letter from Walter Sweetman of Currie, Minn. about IACC business (May 1901); 21 items
MS 47,593 /7	1928, 1984 and undated Historical articles on the IACC and the Sweetman Catholic Colony. Includes an original and photocopied copy of Alice E. Smith, ‘The Sweetman Irish Colony’, Minnesota History (vol.9, no.4, Dec. 1928), pp331-46, as well as a print-out of an extract of this same article (as featured on ‘rootsweb.com’). Two copies of ‘The Connemara and Sweetman Colonies’ in Patricia Condon Johnston, Minnesota’s Irish (1984). A 3pp article giving a history of ‘the Immaculate of Mary Parish’, featuring a photo of John Sweetman. Also, a photograph of an unknown lake [at Currie] by Charles Tenney of Winona, Minn, and a photograph taken in snowy weather of three unknown individuals in Minnesota, including one priest; 8 items

VIII.ii. Publicity Material MS 47,594 /1	1880-1881 Booklets relating to Minnesota or Catholic colonisation: Minnesota: her agricultural resources, commercial advantages and manufacturing capabilities (published by the State Board of Immigration, St. Paul, Minnesota, 1880) Catholic Colonisation in Minnesota (published by the Catholic Colonisation Bureau, St. Paul, Minnesota, Dec. 1880, reprinted M.H. Gill and Son, Dublin, 1881) A booklet of the ‘Irish Catholic Colonisation Association’ (detailing the first colony sent from Boston, Massachusetts, to Adrian, Minnesota, Mar. 1880) Rev. J.W. Spalding (bishop of Peoria, Illinois), The position of Catholics in the United States (Dublin, 1881) A copy of Revue Genérale (Brussels, Dec, 1881) containing an article by ‘Ch. Verbrugghen’ [Belgian member of parliament] on ‘La Colonisation Catholique aux États-Unis’ (pp.842-69). 5 items
MS 47,594 /2	1880-1881 Literature relating to the IACC, includes a general pamphlet entitled Irish colonisation in America (Gill and Son, Dublin, 1880) and two copies of a pamphlet (one annotated) by Sweetman describing the aims of the IACC. A provisional and final prospectus for the company, as well as a memorandum of association. A copy of the Irish and American editions of the pamphlet Farms for Sale in Minnesota by the Irish-American Colonisation Company (Ltd.) (1881). Also included, a leaflet reprinting Sweetman’s letter to The Tablet (18 Oct. 1881) describing the difficulties that emigrants are likely to face; 9 items
MS 47,594 /3	1880-1883 Letters from various newspapers or journals in Britain and Ireland (local, national and specialist), listing the cost for placing an advertisement for the IACC. Also included are five copies of a draft (in Sweetman’s hand) of a cover-letter (Apr. 1881), and some letters from M.H. Gill and Son regarding the cost of publishing pamphlets; 80 items
MS 47,594 /4	1881-1883 Receipts from various newspapers or journals in Britain and Ireland (local, national and specialist) for the cost of placing an advertisement for the IACC in their columns. Also, some receipts from M.H. Gill and Son regarding the cost of publishing pamphlets; 118 items
MS 47,594 /5	1881-1889 Prospectuses for some agricultural and colonisation companies based in
London, namely ‘The Anglo-American Agricultural Company’, ‘The Manitoba Land Company Ltd.’ and the ‘National Association for Promoting State Colonisation’. Includes shareholders reports, as well as a share certificate dividend, from the Manitoba Land Company. A pamphlet by the William Brabazon, 11th Earl of Meath (president of the ‘National Association for Promoting State Colonisation’) entitled State Colonisation (London, 1888). Also, a miscellaneous photograph of an unnamed individual; 19 items
MS 47,594 /6		1882 A copy of a pamphlet entitled Farms for Sale in the Sweetman Catholic Colony of Murray County, Minnesota, by the Irish-American Colonisation Co. (Ltd.) (St. Paul, 1882). Also, two different advertising brochures including one that folds out into a large colour-coded map, showing lands yet to be sold; 3 items
MS 47,594 /7		1883-1885 A copy of Sweetman’s pamphlet (16pp) Recent experiences in the emigration of Irish families (Dublin, 1883). A 4pp leaflet reprinting a letter of Bishop John Ireland (St. Paul) to the American press on the ‘Sweetman Colony in Minnesota’ [1883]. A pamphlet on the Sweetman Catholic Colony (Currie, Minnesota, 1885), featuring reprints of letters written to the American Catholic press by Fr. Martin Mahoney (parish priest of Currie) and John Sweetman, as well as an image of the recently established church in the parish; 3 items
(marked ‘rejected’) to become a tenant under the scheme. Surname: F-H; 100 items
MS 47,595 /4		1881-1884 Fifty letters from the general public requesting information about the colonisation scheme. Also, fourteen unsuccessful applications (marked ‘rejected’) to become a tenant under the scheme. Surname: K-L; 64 items
MS 47,595 /5		1881-1884 Eighty-one letters from the general public requesting information about the colonisation scheme. Also, fourteen unsuccessful applications (marked ‘rejected’) to become a tenant under the scheme. Surname: M; 95 items
MS 47,595 /6		1881-1884 Thirty-seven letters from the general public requesting information about the colonisation scheme. Also, three unsuccessful applications (marked ‘rejected’) to become a tenant under the scheme. Surname: N-O; 40 items
MS 47,595 /7		1881-1884 Fifty-one letters from the general public requesting information about the colonisation scheme. Also, six unsuccessful applications (marked ‘rejected’) to become a tenant under the scheme and three miscellaneous application forms [unprocessed]. Surname: P-R; 60 items
MS 47,595 /8		1881-1884 Forty-two letters from the general public requesting information about the colonisation scheme. Also, three unsuccessful applications (marked ‘rejected’). Surname: S; 45 items
MS 47,595 /9		1881-1884 Forty letters from the general public requesting information about the colonisation scheme. Also, six unsuccessful applications (marked ‘rejected’) to become a tenant under the scheme. Surnames: T-Y; 46 items

VIII.iv. Successful applications MS 47,596 /1	1880-1881 Applications for admission to the emigration scheme marked ‘accepted’ with, in some cases, original letters of the applicants attached to the forms. Surnames B-D; 17 items
MS 47,596 /2	1881 Applications for admission to the emigration scheme marked ‘accepted’ with, in some cases, original letters of the applicants attached to the forms. Surnames: F-H; 11 items
MS 47,596 /3	1881-1882 Applications for admission to the emigration scheme marked ‘accepted’ with, in some cases, original letters of the applicants attached to the forms. Surnames: K-L; 12 items
MS 47,596 /4	1881-1882 Applications for admission to the emigration scheme marked ‘accepted’ with, in some cases, original letters of the applicants attached to the forms. Surnames: M-O; 16 items
MS 47,596 /5	1881-1882 Applications for admission to the emigration scheme marked ‘accepted’ with, in some cases, original letters of the applicants attached to the forms. Surnames: P-W; 10 items
MS 47,596 /6	1881-1883 Letters from steamship companies (principally Allan Line of Liverpool) about making arrangements for the transportation of sixty families across the Atlantic (1881). Includes a poster advertising weekly sailings from Glasgow and Belfast to New York. Two memorandum cards from Allan Line providing notification of the safe arrival of passenger ships in America (28 Mar., 4 Apr.1881). Letters from steamship companies (principally ‘White Star Line’) about making arrangements for the transportation of fifteen families across the Atlantic (Mar. 1882). Also included, a cabin passenger list for a sailing between New York and Liverpool (Jan.1883) and a miscellaneous cabin passenger lists for a sailing to Quebec (28 Apr.1881) and an earlier sailing from New York to Liverpool; 52 items
MS 47,596 /7	1881-1884 Letters making arrangements for the transportation of individuals or families, principally from railway companies within the United Kingdom or United States. Includes a couple of lists of settlers who sailed for Minnesota during 1882, and some undated memos listing the
names of [shipping and publicity] agents. Also included, miscellaneous cabin passenger lists for sailings between New York and Liverpool (Jul and Oct. 1884); 28 items
MS 47,596 /8		1889-1895 Cabin passenger lists for various trans-Atlantic sailings [performed by Sweetman], as well as two layout plans for ‘Cunard Line’ steamships (with ticket-prices attached); 10 items
MS 47,596 /9		Undated Notebook containing names of those sailing for America [with the IACC], with details of age, occupation, present wage, how much the passage cost, who paid for the passage and any additional supplies given, with index at back of volume; c.200 pp
names of [shipping and publicity] agents. Also included, miscellaneous cabin passenger lists for sailings between New York and Liverpool (Jul and Oct. 1884); 28 items
MS 47,596 /8		1889-1895 Cabin passenger lists for various trans-Atlantic sailings [performed by Sweetman], as well as two layout plans for ‘Cunard Line’ steamships (with ticket-prices attached); 10 items
MS 47,596 /9		Undated Notebook containing names of those sailing for America [with the IACC], with details of age, occupation, present wage, how much the passage cost, who paid for the passage and any additional supplies given, with index at back of volume; c.200 pp

VIII.v. Company Correspondence MS 47,597 /1		1880 A diary entitled ‘A short summer trip to Minnesota, 1880’, written by Sweetman (returned to him in 1905 by the Rectress of the Sisters of Mercy in Stanhope St., Dublin: cover-letters included). Letters of James Rochford (London), offering opinions on the scheme; a letter of The O’Conor Don, declining to support the scheme (23 Jul. 1880), and a letter of William Shaw MP and Professor Baldwin (member with Shaw of a New York Herald committee to examine Irish affairs) announcing their inability to travel to America; 10 items
MS 47,597 /2		1880-1881, undated Letters and telegrams from Dillon O’Brien (St. Paul) on finalising arrangements [for transportation or the purchase of land]. Includes a letter of ‘C Dooley’ of the ‘New York Catholic Protectory’, forwarded by O’Brien (attached to 9 Apr.). Also, some handwritten notes of Sweetman and a miscellaneous note from ‘Young & Newel’ (solicitors) of St. Paul; 13 items
MS 47,597 /3		1880-1881 Two letters from Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron Monteagle, including one expressing an interest in become a director in Sweetman’s company. Also, two letters from Horace Plunkett of Dunsany Castle (Navan, Co. Meath) on the same theme. Also, several letters from Plunkett regarding tenants he encouraged to apply to Sweetman’s emigration scheme; 11 items
MS 47,597 /4		1880-82 Letters from J.H. Tuke (English Quaker, philanthropist and author of Irish distress and its remedies, 1880) enquiring as to the progress of the
IACC; 12 items
MS 47,598 /1			1880, 1883 Letters from Edmund Dease (a director of the IACC) of Ballybrittas, Queens County (Laois), and a brief note from G.R. Dease (of Celbridge, Co. Kildare, a director of the IACC), sent from ‘The Castle, Dublin’, regretting his inability to attend a meeting; 5 items
MS 47,598 /2			1880-1884 Letters and telegrams from John Ireland [coadjutor bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, and a director of the IACC] on the organisation of the scheme. Included is a letter of introduction (23 May 1883) for Fr. Martin Mahony (the new parish priest for Currie, Minnesota, a native of Kerry and a former curate in Liverpool) and a press-cutting of Bishop Ireland’s speech before an annual convention of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America (2 Aug. 1882). Also, a series of telegrams to Bishop Ireland, informing him when families had sailed, and a letter of Sweetman to ‘My Lord Bishop’, written from Kells, Co. Meath, expressing his willingness to fund the re-housing in Minnesota of Benedictines expelled from France (9 Feb. 1881). And a miscellaneous letter (28 Feb. 1882) from Fr. J.P. Bodfish C.S.P. (secretary of the archdiocese of Boston) and a letter (18 Jun. 1883) of a Sr. Sweetman (Convent of Mercy, Greenbush, New York); 26 items
MS 47,598 /3			1880-1884 Letters from John P. O’Connor (superintendent of the IACC in America) providing news of the finances of the company and the development of the colony. Also, a letter of Robert Taaffe (4 Apr. 1882), written at O’Connor’s request, a copy of a map of Murray Co. showing the location of the I.A.C.C. lands (1882), and a miscellaneous paper annotated to indicate that O’Connor had become general manager of the North Western Chronicle (undated [mid-1880s]); 21 items
MS 47,598 /4			1880-1884 Letters from John D. O’Brien (attorney, St. Paul). Subjects include titles to, and the transfer of, land, the creation of a corporate seal and other legal matters. Also included, a letter from a farmer and friend of O’Brien who was offering to sell land (17 Jan. 1881); 14 items
MS 47,598 /5			1880-1886 General correspondence relating to the IACC, includes two letters (in French) from the Archbishop of St. Boniface (Canada), a letter from Edmund Sweetman and Hugh O’Callaghan, a letter from Viscount Monck (Bray, Co. Wicklow) and a letter of Neil Currie (Currie, Minn.). Also, some letters of W.J. O’Nahan (president of St. Patrick’s Society and City Collector for Chicago), a letter from a Colonel Oldfield
(regarding a journal article by J.H. Tuke) and letters from Robert Taaffe; 22 items
MS 42,084			1881-1882 Letter book of the I.A.C.C. from January 1881 to February 1882, containing copy letters written on company business by John Sweetman and Charles Blackney (IACC Secretary), with index of correspondents at front; 500pp
MS 47,598 /6			1881 A letter from Adam Hamilton O.S.B. (St. Benedict’s, Leopardstown, Stillorgan, Co. Dublin) to ‘Mr. Kelly’ on the limited resources of the Benedictine Order and the impossibility of it becoming involved in the Minnesota colonisation scheme. 31 Mar. 1881; 2pp.
MS 47,598 /7			1881 Cover-notes for documents sent, or letters offering advise, by ‘Maxwell and Weldon’ solicitors in Dublin (Mar.-Jul.). Also, drafts or notes in Sweetman hands for various company contracts, including one marked ‘rough sketch of letter to Dr. Ireland about requirements with settlers’. Also, a miscellaneous receipt for payment of rent for the IACC office in South Frederick Street, Dublin; 11 items
MS 47,598 /8			1881 Letters from R.H. Froude (a company director) of Kensington, London. Subjects include his acceptance of an I.A.C.C. directorship, the company’s prospectus and the possibility of finding shareholders in England. Also, one letter from James Rochford to Sweetman about a private business interview with Froude (1 Mar.), two brief letters from W.H.F. Cogan (a company director and barrister) of Tinode, Co. Wicklow (Apr.) and a letter from an army officer, declining an invitation to join the board of directors [of the IACC]; 29 items
MS 47,598 /9			1881 Letters from John Sweetman to Charles Blackney (IACC secretary), mostly written from Currie, Minnesota. Subjects include investments, the transfer of funds and the manual labour involved in setting up the colony. Also, one miscellaneous letter from Joseph Taylor of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England; 22 items
MS 47,598 /10			1881-1882 Letters from Lattin Thunder (a company director) of Navan, Co. Meath, to Charles Blackney (IACC secretary) with a couple of brief notes from R.H. Froude. Subjects include the making of company reports and convening meetings of directors; 10 items
MS 47,599 /1			1881-1882 General correspondence from public figures relating to the I.A.C.C. Includes letters from P.H. Bagenal (author and civil servant), John A. Blake (MP Waterford Co.), George Errington (MP Longford Co.), Arthur Moore, Thomas Spring Rice, 2nd Baron Monteagle and Charlotte Grace O’Brien (author and social reformer); 10 items
MS 47,599 /2			Undated [1881-1882] Copies of two lengthy Sweetman letters, as well as one short letter to the [North Western] Chronicle, arguing in favour of free trade and criticising American protectionists [1881]. Also, notes for a Sweetman speech on credit option facing American farmers, a brief note on the cooperative movement in England and a draft of a letter responding to some criticism of his Catholic colony; 6 items
MS 47,599 /3			1881-1883 Letters from Fr. James Nugent of the Catholic Colonisation Society’s office in Liverpool, principally regarding transportation arrangements for men going to America; 8 items
MS 47,599 /4			1881-1883 Letters from individuals regarding their inability to assist the scheme, including one sent on behalf of Kells Union Workhouse. Also, a letter from Ernest Hart (medical journalist and Liberal Party figure), a letter from a man offering to assist the IACC in Preston, Lancashire, and a letter sent to Thunder (acting secretary IACC, Dublin) from J.J. Jones (director of ‘The International Labour and Emigration Agency’) of London; 9 items
MS 47,599 /5			1881-1884 Communications from Craig, Gardner and Co. (Dame St., Dublin) in its capacity as auditor and accountant for the IACC; 6 items
MS 47,599 /6			1881-84 Letters from various IACC shareholders. Includes some letters about the company’s lack of profits (Mar. 1884); 30 items
MS 47,599 /7			1882 Letters from Sweetman to Charles Blackney (IACC Secretary), mostly written from Currie, Minnesota. Subjects include publicity, the progress of the colony and problematic tenants (18 Jun.); 13 items
MS 42,085			1882-1888 Letter book of the IACC from February 1882 to January 1887, containing copy letters written on company business by John Sweetman and Charles Blackney (IACC Secretary), with index of
correspondents at front. Also contains two copy letters by Charles Blackney giving notice of annual meetings (April 1887 and August 1888); 502pp
MS 47,599 /8		1884 Letters from Fr. Martin Mahony (P.P., Currie, Minnesota). Subjects include the progress of the I.A.C.C. colony and reflections on religion; 10 items [For personal letters between Fr. Martin Mahony and John Sweetman see section X.i.2]
MS 47,599 /9		1883-1884 Letters from John Sweetman to ‘My dear John [Andrew Sweetman]’ (one letter marked ‘cousin’), sent from Currie, providing news of the colony and some advise regarding managing accounts [in Dublin] and placing advertisements; 10 items
MS 47,599 /10		1883-1885 Letters from R.H. Froude, W.H.F. Cogan and Arthur Kavanagh (company director) to Sweetman, as well as an undated draft of a note by Sweetman intended for the company directors. Subjects include the payment of shares and difficulties facing the company (Mar. 1884);11 items
MS 47,599 /11		1884-1887 Letters from Sweetman to Charles Blackney (IACC secretary), subjects of Sweetman’s letters include the placing of advertisements, company accounts and his and Bishop Ireland’s meeting with church dignitaries during their trip to Rome (Feb.-Mar. 1887). Also, a couple of letters from Lattin Thunder to Blackney, two income tax forms, and some letters from Blackney to Sweetman, sent from America (Feb.-Mar.1884), regarding his inability to find work whilst in St. Paul, Minnesota; 25 items
MS 47,599 /12		c.1886-95 Literature regarding some English colonisation schemes. Includes a report on a scheme to settle East-London artisans in Assiniboia, Canada (undated [late 1886]) and a House of Commons sub-committee report on state-directed colonisation (29 Jul. 1887). Also, two letters of the Home Colonisation Society [1892] and a report of its honorary director with a statement of accounts from 1895. Also included, three government notifications regarding stamp-duties (1887-89) and a miscellaneous letter of Robert Taaffe (Feb.1890) regarding his resettlement in Mexico; 9 items
MS 47,599 /13		1888
Letters from Sweetman to Charles Blackney (IACC secretary), subjects include company accounts and reducing the number of company directors (Jul). Also, some letters of Lattin Thunder and Hugh O’Connor (a company director) regarding an attempt to hold an annual general meeting. Also, a communication regarding income tax due (28 Nov.); 19 items
MS 47,599 /14	1889-1891 Letters from Sweetman to Charles Blackney (IACC secretary) about the payment of income tax and management of company books. Also, a communication regarding income tax due (24 Oct. 1889). Also, a pocket diary (mostly blank) from 1889 and three miscellaneous American business cards; 9 items
MS 47,599 /15	1892 A copy of a Sweetman letter to Rev. Dr. Fitzpatrick (Mount Melleray Abbey), providing a history of his previous efforts, made in vain, to get a religious order to settle at Currie and offering 800 acres to his [Cistercian] order. Also, a grateful but negative reply from ‘B.F. [B. Fitzpatrick], Abbot’; 2 items
MS 47,599 /16	1909-10 Letters and documents regarding the winding up of the I.A.C.C. (17 Dec. 1909). Includes a copy of a letter to Walter Sweetman (Currie, Minn.) regarding the meeting of a debt (21 Jun. 1909), and some letters to and from Charles Blackney regarding the settlement of company affairs (Dec.1909-Mar. 1910); 24 items

VIII.vi. Financial Papers MS 47,600 /1	1880-1882 Miscellaneous financial records of the IACC, includes a printed balance sheet and profit-and-loss account (31 Dec. 1881) and an annual report and statement made by Sweetman at a general meeting on 3 Apr. 1882. Also, some records of land sales; 11 items
MS 47,600 /2	1880-1801 Account book, cash account for IACC, contains accounts for office expenses, advertisements, passages and goods of emigrants; c.100pp
MS 42,086	1881 Account book of IACC for the year 1881. Details accounts with various different companies and individuals, with an index at the front; c.200pp
MS 42,087	1881
Waste or Day Account book of John Sweetman while in America [on ICCA business] from February to April 1881; c.200pp [There is some damage to the spine]
MS 42,088	1881-1882 Book of printed share certificates for the IACC. Only the first 20 sheets have been used to issue shares, the remaining counterfoils give details of number of shares and who they were issued to; c.200pp [There is some damage to the spine]
MS 47,600 /3	1881-1882 Copies of IACC share certificates issued to Sweetman and several other prominent shareholders; 19 items
MS 47,600 /4	1881-1883 Letters from Martins (Lombard St., London), the bankers for the IACC, regarding various financial transactions; 12 items
MS 47,600 /5	1881-1884 Receipts for cost incurred by John Sweetman as director of the IACC, including receipts for rent of offices, office equipment and some for cost of relating to emigration, Feb. 1881-Jul. 1884; 53 items
MS 47,600 /6	1881-85 Miscellaneous receipts for financial transactions of John Sweetman in Minnesota [relating to IACC business]. Includes two used cheque books, receipts of payments by cheque and a note from the Stock Exchange Year Book, requesting a balance sheet of the company for 1882; 17 items
MS 42,089	1881-1900 Guard book containing form of application for shares in the IACC, Bankers Receipts, financial correspondence, cheques, and witness statements of transfer of shares, mainly to John Sweetman. Index at front to those names in documents; c.200pp
MS L 181	1883 Transfer journal of shares in IACC; c.100pp
MS 47,600 /7	1887-1889 Profit and loss accounts and balance sheets for the year ending 31 Dec. 1887, 31 Dec. 1888 and 31 Dec. 1889. Also, a list of shareholders (31 Dec. 1888) and letters from Maxwell and Weldon (solicitors) requesting a copy of the company’s profit-and-loss account and balance sheet (Nov. 1888); 6 items
MS 47,600 /8	1894 Profit-and-loss accounts and balance sheets for the IACC for various terms during 1894; 9 items
MS 47,600 /9	1901-1908 Profit-and-loss accounts and balance sheets for the IACC for 1901-08. Some reports are in duplicate, no report is present for 1903; 12 items

VIII.vii. Maps MS L 192	1880 Wall map of ‘New Sections & Rail Road map of Minnesota & N. W. Wisconsin’; 1 item Please note that this item is very large.
MS L 193	Undated Wall map of the ‘United States & Mexico. Constructed and Engineered by W & A K Johnston’; 1 item Please note that this item is very large.
MS L 194	Undated Fragments of a map of [all or part] of America; 1 item This map is in very poor condition and cannot be issued.
MS 47,600 /10	Undated ‘Wm. H Gurnsey’s Guide Map of New York City’; 1 item