The firm of William Wallis of Birmingham, England was active from about 1797 to 1830, and supplied buttons to Adam W. Spies & Co., importers of military goods. Originally based in Birmingham also, Spies later established offices in New York City and after the 1830s specialized in firearms rather than buttons.
Wallis buttons recovered at Robert Stafford Plantation, Cumberland Island, Georgia:
http://www.nps.gov/history/seac/archy79.htm
William Wallis' genealogy (his trade called "button burnisher"):
http://www.oliveweb.clara.net/msgedcom/I2099.html
Wallis rose a great distance from lowly button burnisher to become one of the major (and wealthiest) merchants and exporters of Birmingham (see #11):
http://www.search.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/content/files/18/18/94.rtf
http://books.google.com/books?id=OV0JAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA389&lpg=PA389&dq=%22william+wallis%22+birmingham&source=web&ots=fRYjC5_uC9&sig=C1tQ3CbR27Dc_2JiI7OVY2CQ6Lo
Wallis (vice Spies) button pix:
http://www.relicman.com/backaaa.htm
http://www.relicman.com/backspies.htm
Poignant (for a New Yorker or anyone ever having served as a volunteer fireman) reminicence of Adam Spies:
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/fire/21-30/ch26pt1.html
Spies biographical snippet:
... His playmates were the Roosevelts, the Goelets, the Irvings--Washington Irving's father kept a dry goods store on William Street--General Morris, Drake, the poet, and Mr. Hackett, the actor. Then there was Adam W. Spies, the successful hardware merchant, now eighty-six years old and wealthy. Mr. Spies was president of the Stuyvesant Insurance Company, had traveled over Europe, an amateur artist of no inconsiderable talent and full of information on a variety of subjects. He was a member of Engine Company No. 5, and a fire warden.
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ny/state/fire/11-20/ch11pt1.html
Spies' innovative pre-Colt Navy six-shooter (6-barrel revolver):
http://books.google.com/books?id=cNYAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA256&dq=%22A.+W.+Spies%22&as_brr=1
William Wallis' Birmingham home:
http://www.fullbooks.com/A-Description-of-Modern-Birmingham2.html
Buttonus interruptus:
http://www.mdhs.org/library/mss/ms000194.html
From 1803-1813, Henry Garrett of Dunkirk, [Maryland,] served as an agent for the Israel and John P. Pleasants Company in recovering the money due them by Virginia
debtors. In addition, Garrett oversaw the prosecution of lawsuits against these debotrs and reported the progression and final outcome of the cases to Israel and John Pleasants. Thomas C. Hoomes of King and Queen Courthouse, Virginia, acted as the attorney in these trials. The litigants included John Mandeville, Mr. Baytop, Mr. Throckmorton, and Benjamin Reeder, among others. A complete history of the Mandeville v. Gibson case is recounted in the letter from T[homas] B[.] Barton to John Pleasants dated 7 September 1820. Edmund J. Lee also helped with the 1813 suit against Mandeville.
In 1817, Archibald R. Taylor of Fredericksburg, Virginia, succeeded Mr. Garrett as the agent for this defunct company. He gathered information for legal cases, reported the progress and outcome of these litigations, collected debts, and also quoted prices for tobacco, wheat, and flour in his letters to John Pleasants. Mr. Taylor moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1822, but continued as their agent until 1825. A majority of the incoming correspondence written between the years 1817-25 was penned by him and concerned the aforementioned topics.
The Pleasants's and their agents continue to discuss Virginia and Kentucky court cases and their outcomes in the correspondence from 1820-23. More information on the Mandeville v. Gibson case is presented in the letters of 6 June and 21 July 1821. While in Virginia, William Pleasants wrote three letters in October, 1823, to his father concerning his effort to gather information for a court case.
The Pleasants's trade with English merchants had been interrupted by a series of federal commerce regulations which forbade trade with Great Britain and France: the Non-Importation Act of 1806, the Embargo Act of 1807, and the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809. On 1 May 1810, Macon Bill, No. 2, once again restored trade between the United States and the two combatants, Great Britain and France, but only if these two countries repealed their similar decrees against the United States. Napoleon, however, by failing to return sequestered American vessels, using the permit system, and imposing high tariffs, caused President Madison to act in accordance with the Macon Bill and proclaim on 2 November 1810 that non-intercourse with England and France would again take effect on 1 February 1811. In a letter dated 6 February 1811 to Wallis and Lloyd of Birmingham, England, G.F. and J. Lindberger of Baltimore expressed concern as to whether British goods could be shipped to America in the fall. Products traded with England included tobacco, ginseng, buttons, and umbrella furniture (parts).
American merchants were not in favor of non-intercourse because they already suffered financially from the ban on
commerce with England. Congress, therefore, accepted John W. Eppes' amendment to the Foreign Relations Committee bill that would allow trade with England if they repealed their Orders in Council. Until that time, however, the 2 March 1811 Non-Importation Act against the British would be in effect. On 23 June 1812, Great Britain repealed their orders of November, 1807, and April, 1809, but the Congress had already declared war on England on 18 June because of their impressment of American sailors and seizure of American vessels. Therefore, the trade between America and England continued to be interrupted by a new disagreement, the War of 1812, which did not officially end until the U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty of Ghent on 17 February 1815.
Correspondence between the Pleasants's and English firms began anew in 1814. In October, John P. Pleasants became an agent for Joseph Wallis and Company of Birmingham, England, when he took over the management of their American accounts from his brother, Charles Pleasants. Throughout 1815, John debated with Wallis the problem of who would bear the loss if goods shipped from England to the United States by Joseph Wallis and Company in the face of the non importation Law of the U.S. were confiscated. In addition, Wallis addressed Pleasants on 25 July 1815 about the probability of an increase in the prices of mercantile products because of Napoleon Bonaparte's defeat and capture by the British. Letters from Joseph Wallis span the years, 1814-18.
On 7 October 1818, John received a letter from Wallis's brother, William, explaining Joseph's mismanagement of the company money and the resulting June dissolution of Joseph Wallis and Company. Then, in early 1819, G[eorge] W[ashington] Wallis of New York, son of William, along with Edward J. Canning obtained the power of attorney for this defunct company in order to recoup any losses and pay off outstanding debts. George wrote a large body of correspondence during 1819 concerning the business to Pleasants, the company's former agent, who also owed Joseph Wallis and Company $3,567.12.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patrick Tucker" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 10:14 AM
Subject: Gilt Buttons Manufactured by W. Wallis
> Does anyone have any information on gilt buttons (brass buttons with quality
> marks) manufactured by "W [William?]. Wallis? I have a brass button with a
> quality mark that reads "W. Wallis/Triple Plated" from 33Wo50 (Orleans -
> Queen City of the North) near Fort Meigs, Ohio. The date of this site is
> 1810-1850. Are there any archaeological sites on-line with Wallis buttons?
>
>
>
> Digital images of the reverse and obverse sides of the button can be seen at
> the following url link [ctrl+click]:
>
>
>
> http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/Pat_Tucker/33Wo50ButtonBrassW.Wallis
> TriplePlatedReverseTrench1.jpg
>
>
>
> http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r230/Pat_Tucker/33Wo50ButtonBrassW.Wallis
> TriplePlatedObverseTrench1.jpg
>
>
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Pat Tucker
>
> French-Canadian Heritage Society of Michigan
>
> Detroit
>
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