In 1841 Lewis Tappan established the Mercantile Agency in New York City to gather credit information on merchants from the United States and Canada doing business in the New York market. Benjamin Douglass acquired sole ownership in the Agency in 1854, and he was bought out in 1859 by Robert Graham Dun. R.G. Dun & Company maintained offices around the country to supply credit data on firms and individuals to the New York office. The company then in turn sold these credit reports to individuals and firms across the country. In 1933 Dun merged with the Bradstreet Company to form Dun and Bradstreet.
From the description of Credit ledgers, 1840-1895 (inclusive). (Harvard Business School). WorldCat record id: 269600617
