{"value"=>"<p>James Colles' correspondence is composed of letters he sent and received as well as those exchanged among his business associates and other family members from October 1801 to August 1878. The letters, in their original order as assembled by his grandson, Henry Metcalfe, are numbered 1-940. They are accompanied by two volumes of typed transcripts prepared by Metcalfe. Metcalfe's introduction to the volumes of transcripts includes a brief history of James Colles' life and provides information on key correspondents. There is a table of contents listing each letter's number, writer and recipient, and the year it was sent. Metcalfe also included notes on some letters clarifying a person or situation, or adding his personal opinion. Letters numbered 243 and 544 are not present. The series also includes two folders of unnumbered and untranscribed letters dated from Oct. 30, 1815 - Sept. 30, 1816 and Jan. 11, 1844 - Aug. 30, 1878. These letters which were added to the collection after the transcriptions were prepared have been placed in separate folders rather than interfiled with the transcribed letters.</p> <p>Early letters to James are primarily from his friends Mary and Abraham Bailey. These letters are personal in nature, revealing the Baileys' protective feelings toward their younger friend. In 1812, James received a telegram stating that war had been declared between the United States and Great Britain, and because of the embargo, a ship transporting dry goods belonging to his employer, H.K. Toler, could not come into the country. James often received cryptic instructions from Toler between 1812-1816, while James was living in Portland, Maine, on how to keep the goods safe in Halifax before organizing their movement through New England, to New York. These efforts would smuggle goods into the United States while avoiding British cruisers. In 1816, James returned to New York and set up an ultimately unsuccessful business with W.I. Ingersoll. The company folded in 1817. Subsequently, James went into business with David I. Rogers. Their partnership was based out of New Orleans and New York; Rogers lived in New Orleans full time and James traveled between the two cities. Their profitable business involved the trading of dry goods. The correspondence between the two men is primarily of the price of goods, business stratagems, and shipping news. Yellow fever is often discussed in the letters as being epidemic in New Orleans and affecting business and personal affairs. Rogers died of the fever on September 23, 1822. Many letters discuss Rogers' heir, Catharine B. Johnson, and James' role as the executor of the estate. A copy of the will is included in Box 4, Folder 4.</p> <p>In 1826, James received a letter from the Bank of the United States announcing that he had been voted Director. He retained this position until 1835 when he resigned and went into a private business, based out of New Orleans and New York. James continued to be successful despite the Panic of 1837 and the resulting bankruptcy and poverty of other relatives and associates.</p> <p>In 1832, Joseph Lovell, husband of Harriet Wetmore Colles' sister Sophia Maria Wetmore, bought 70 acres in Morristown for $5000. His letters detail the transaction, the quality of the land bought, and the subsequent improvements made to the property. In 1835, the land was divided between the two families and the Colleses built their home, which they named the \"Evergreens\". The Colles family continued to live in the Evergreens for two more generations; however, James often resided in New York at a residence on University Place. He was involved in the construction of the Astor Place Opera house.</p> <p>From 1842-1844, the family spent a great deal of time abroad, living in Paris and touring Europe. James' sons John Henry and George were schooled in Europe while James Jr. remained in Morristown, due to his delicate health. His daughter Augusta was schooled at Mrs. Smith's on Fifth Avenue while Frances studied in Madison, New Jersey. The bulk of letters from 1838-1869 are correspondence between James and Harriet and their children as the younger Colleses embarked on their schooling and then, later in life, on their professions and marriages. Frequent correspondents of James Colles are his siblings Addison and Sarah, and business associates John Taylor (brother-in-law), Richard Ebbets, Thomas Hearsey, Robert Jaffray, W.H. Dudley, Joseph Lovell (brother-in-law), and Matthew Morgan. W.H. Dudley was an especially close colleague of James. He was the New Orleans business partner of John P. Nelson, whose daughter Julia married James' son George. Matthew Morgan and James were involved in business and in the building of the Astor Place Opera house, in which James Foster Jr. was also a partner. However, the only letter in the collection concerning the opera house is from Mario Bragaldi, in 1847, regarding the house's machinery.</p>"}