User:Itps2022/Catharine Flood McCall

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Catharine Flood McCall (December 25, 1766–March 9, 1828) was an early 19th century slave-owner and business woman. She was the largest female slave-owner in Essex County, Virginia for decades, and founded two nail-making manufactories, one in Alexandria (1798) and one in Richmond (1805). [DELETE: during a time when women generally did not operate businesses or manage finances.] '''While it wasn't uncommon [DELETED: rare, changed with uncommon.] for a woman to manage finances at in this era [replaced time with in this era], it was [deleted more] rare for a woman to manage manufacturing enterprises. [deleted "salt mines and ironworks" for flow.] Prior to and during the American Revolutionary War, she was educated in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland and in London, England'''. She inherited Cedar Grove and Clydeside plantations in Essex County following the death of her maternal grandfather, Dr. Nicholas Flood in 1776. Parliament passed a law that prevented people traveling to the British colonies during the war. '''McCall, her sister Elizabeth (Betsey), and her father fled at the beginning of the war because he was a Loyalist. Betsey died abroad. Archibald and Catharine''' were unable to return to Virginia until 1782. She was among the largest slaveholders in Essex County, Virginia and received an inheritance from her maternal grandfather of the Cedar Grove and Clydeside plantations.

[DELETED: Beginning in 1798, she owned blacksmith shops and nail factories in Alexandria and Richmond, Virginia, during a period of growth in Virginia when there was a demand for nails to build wooden houses and buildings.] Her business competed against Thomas Jefferson's and the Virginia State Penitentiary's blacksmith and nailery businesses [deleted sometime] in the 19th century. After the penitentiary [penitentiary spelled wrong, corrected.] had undersold McCall's nailery [deleted not sure when, needs to be more specific.] she sold the business in 1815 to William Stewart, Jr., [deleted a guy they knew] who died with outstanding debts, [deleted no one is sure how much, unnecessary.] McCall was sued for his debts by some people, claiming that McCall had not properly sold the business to Stewart. [deleted this seems totally unfair to McCall!!] McCall lived in Georgetown in the District of Columbia in her later years.