Found 4 collections related to New York (N.Y.) -- Commerce -- 19th century

Howell L. Williams (1792-1872) was a New York City commission merchant and partner in the firm of Williams, Rogers & Robert. The partnership dissolved in 1834, resuming business as Robert & Williams. The collection consists of mercantile correspondence received by Howell L. Williams at New Orleans, other southern cities, and New York, relating to trade chiefly in cotton, but also in tobacco, sugar and other commodities. Among the letters are lists of prices current, some with further notes addressed to Williams, and invoices and waybills for cotton. Correspondents include associates in New Orleans and New York, as well as merchants in various states, and Liverpool, England. There are also are a few letters of introduction for Williams's use, social invitations, and letters from his brothers Fielding L. Williams and William L. Williams, and sister Mildred Wheatley and her husband. less

Grant Thorburn was a Scottish-born New York City nurseryman and author. The collection consists mainly of letters and letter fragments from his friend William Carver, a mutual acquaintance of Thomas Paine, with a loose poem by Carver on Nature and Her Laws, and miscellaneous holograph writings by Thorburn. Letters concern Carver's poverty and troubled life in New York; his efforts to find a publisher for a sketch of Paine's life; and his atheism, disputed in Thorburn's copy of a letter he wrote to Carver, and a memorandum of a conversation with him. There are also two letters discussing family and business matters; Thorburn autographs and a letter fragment; and several receipts for purchases from G. Thorburn & Son, seedsmen and florists in Manhattan. Writings by Thorburn are: Pocahontas, 1852 (her story, inspired by a visit to Yorktown in 1848); Life of Thomas Paine, No. 1, 1852; his unfinished autobiographical History of Lawrie Todd, 1862, with lithograph portrait; Grant Thorburn Sinior's (sic) Manuscript No. 2, undated; Churches and Meetinghouses in New York, undated; and Anecdote of George Watson, undated. Also present is an 1849 manuscript, "Hints to Doctors, Quacks, and Grave-Diggers" by Lawrie Todd (Thorburn), a vituperative attack on the skill of physicians during epidemics, and the personal and political character of William Cobbett, his business competitor, and Thomas Paine. The name Lawrie Todd also appears as Laurie Todd. less

The Colles family papers contain extensive correspondence, diaries, financial records, photographs, and personal miscellany of three generations of the Colles family, 1801-1957. Over half of the collection is devoted to the papers of prominent New York City and New Orleans merchant James Colles (1788-1883), and his granddaughter, the artist Gertrude Colles (1869-1957) of New York City and Morristown, New Jersey. less