{"value"=>"<p>The business records (1756-1864) are primarily the financial and legal papers of Edmund Morewood, Abraham Walton, Samuel Ferguson, his son John Ferguson, John Day, and their business associates in various firms in the 18th and 19th centuries. The firms in England and America traded with each other, the East Indies, and China and the types of goods shipped were diverse. Some of these items included sugar, coffee, tea, tobacco, liquor, dry goods, earthenware, and various manufactured goods. Shipping lists and inventories are prominent throughout the business papers, and give insight into the types of goods being exchanged at that time and their pricing. Some examples from the Ferguson and Day business correspondence include a memorandum stating the Particulars of India Muslins suitable for the American market, the Cochineal Industry in Bombay, and a letter that discusses the value of flax seed in America. Some of these records show the affiliations that the families, especially the Waltons, had to other prominent New York City merchants and businessmen of the time. An example is an account book of Abraham Walton's dated 1794-1797. It records money acquired by the drawing of deeds and mortgages, from such names as John Jacob Astor, the Varicks, Bleeckers, Bayards, Ludlows, and Delanceys.</p> <p>In addition to commercial papers, the series contains records from Abraham Walton, Edmund Morewood, and John Ferguson's legal practices. Included are court registers, and estate papers, in particular, Bonney family papers in the possession of Edmund Morewood as executor of the estate of George Bonney.</p>"}