Jackson, Riddle, and Company (Philadelphia, Pa.)

Jackosn, Riddle, and Company was a firm of commission merchants of Philadelphia and Liverpool. The firm, which later became Jackson, Todd, and Company, dealt in the sale of cotton, sugar, tobacco, sheet iron, nails, and coal. Washington Jackson was principal owner, and his son, Bolton Jackson, oversaw operations in Liverpool. The company, which received some of its financing from the Bank of the United States, carried on business with clients and associates in the northeastern and southern United States, England, and France.

From the description of Jackson, Riddle and Company records, 1835-1839; 1855 [manuscript]. WorldCat record id: 24678760

Washington Jackson (fl. 1835-1855), commission merchant, ran, along with his partners, Riddle and Todd, a diverse business in agricultural and hardware products. His company, Jackson, Riddle, and Company, which became Jackson, Todd, and Company in late 1838, operated out of Philadelphia, with a branch in Liverpool, England. Jackson's son, Bolton Jackson, went to England to establish operations there in January 1838. Jackson and his partners sold sugar, tobacco, and cotton produced by southern (mostly Mississippi and Louisiana) planters, and purchased northern-produced sheet iron, nails, and other hardware items and coal for resale to planters and to southern and northern retail merchants, manufacturers, and railroad builders. The company carried on business with individuals and firms in New York, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Louisiana, Maryland, North Carolina, and Tennessee. Limited international trade consisted of the importation of French foodstuffs from J. H. Boyer and Company of Bordeaux and of English iron for use by Pennsylvania nailmakers.

Letters from 1838 indicate that Jackson, Riddle, and Company received some of its financing through loans from the Bank of the United States. Jackson also invested frequently in the stock market through his broker, George Dickey, of New York.

Jackson maintained close ties with a number of other commission merchants, including Byrne Hermann and Company of New Orleans; Daniel Buchanan and Son of Liverpool; Nevins Townsend and Company, Thomas Barrett and Company, and W. J. Brown and Company of New York; and William Ferriday and Company of Natchez, Mississippi. Planters for whom Jackson's firm carried out commission sales included Dr. Stephen Duncan and John Ker of Natchez, Mississippi. Edward Brook and Kennis Whitaker Co., iron makers of Birdsborough Forge and Reading, Pennsylvania, respectively, provided Jackson with most of the iron he purchased for resale. Isaac Brooks, who apears to have been his largest hardware customer, was a retail merchant in Baltimore.

From the guide to the Jackson, Riddle and Company Records, ., 1835-1839, 1855, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Library. Southern Historical Collection.)