The Richard A. Blount Collection consists of 74 folders arranged within two file boxes. It includes personal and professional journals, sermons, expense accounts and correspondence. The collection includes R. A. Blount's writings from 1793 to papers concerning the disposal of his estate dated 1859.
File Box 1, Book 1, Folder 1A contains a typed text of Richard A. Blount's journal, which was written while serving as a commissioner for the Georgia-Alabama boundary line surveying expedition of 1826. This is the largest folder in the collection and contains a daily narrative of the journey along with fascinating insights into the life and customs of the Creek and Cherokee Indians indigenous to the area. Of great value to the scholar is an English to Creek to Cherokee translation guide located in File Box 1, Book 1, Folder 12.
There are major gaps in all areas of the collection. It is surmised that the gaps are due to the likelihood that neither Richard A. Blount nor his heirs preserved all of his papers, thus contributing to the indiscriminate demeanor of the extant documents.
There are several prominent personalities included within the collection. For example, Blount corresponded with Governor George Troup of Georgia continuously during the boundary line expedition of 1826 and then maintained a politically-based correspondence until the late 1840's. Extracts from the journal of Bishop Francis Asbury, a pivotal figure in the early Methodist church in America, are included in the collection (File Box 2, Folder 12). Included in the Asbury folder is a personal letter from John Wesley to Bishop Asbury dated 1787. General (Chief) William McIntosh (of the Creek Indians) appears in Blount's journal and a detailed description of his death is recounted when Blount met the General's two Indian widows in 1826. Also mentioned is the Reverend William Capers, another prominent figure in the early Methodist church.
More detailed information about the collection is provided in the individual folder descriptions. Georgia College places no restrictions on the use of the collection. The copyright is held by the Alabama Department of Archives and History; therefore, permission to quote from any of the materials must be obtained from: Director, Alabama Department of Archives and History, 624 Washington Ave, Montgomery, Alabama 36130.