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I. & J. Pratt Co. Records, 1794-1869, 1813-1837, 1854-1859 (bulk dates).

Title: Records, 1794-1869, 1813-1837, 1854-1859 (bulk dates).

Records, including letters and bound manuscripts, deal chiefly with the Pratts iron business and store. The letters contain orders for nails and hoops, and include their prices. Probably written by commission agents and merchants, the letters offer information about the dismal financial conditions in America during the late 1820s and early 1830s. Business affairs in the southern states and prices of commodities there are noted. Most of the letters were from New England, although there are also some from Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans. A stock certificate for the Wareham Iron Company is included. Bound manuscripts detail the operation of the general store. Other businesses, such as the Wareham Cotton Manufacturing Co. and Fearing, Pratt and Co., are mentioned as well. The store sold all kinds of foodstuffs, textiles, metalware, and wood products. These volumes also contain shipping accounts, reflecting the Pratt's interests in several vessels. The collection includes a document sent to Josiah Pratt, constable of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1794, requiring him to collect taxes from certain people. (The list of people from whom he was to collect the taxes is missing.) Josiah may have been Jareds father. Some of the later business adventures of Jared Pratt and his son are documented in this collection as well. Of particular note are the insurance policies they carried on the Fairview Iron Works, which list the value of the buildings on the property (bar iron building, plate and sheet iron building, blacksmith shop, etc.) and the value of the tools. As well, there are some shipping documents and letters; two billheads are decorated with pictures of trains. Copies of the deeds selling the iron works and real estate in Harrisburg to James McCormick are found in the collection.

ArchivalResource: 6 cubic ft. (11 boxes, 11 volumes)

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/84665471 View