The Carty family papers, 1815–1912, represent nearly a century of the business activities as well as the personal lives of various members of the Carty family of New Jersey. The collection also includes papers of the Shreve family, which seems to have been related to the primary family in some way.
The family lived in the town of Florence, located in Burlington County, New Jersey. The Township is situated in the northern part of the county, bordered by Mansfield on the east, and the Delaware River on the north. The Carty family had lived in Florence since its creation on March 7, 1872. An Alfred Carty was a township commissioner in 1872, and he was appointed to establish the dividing line between Florence township and the neighboring Mansfield township. Documents in the collection dated before 1872 place the Carty family in Mansfield Township, the township divided to create Florence.
The collection consists mainly of business receipts, bills, and account books of Peter and William Carty. Most of the business transactions occurred within Burlington County, but some display contacts between the Carty family and businessmen in nearby Philadelphia. It seems that the Carty family owned land in Florence and Mansfield Township throughout the nineteenth century.
Bisbee, Henry Harold. Place Names in Burlington County New Jersey. Riverside, NJ: Burlington County Publishing Co., 1955. pp. 42-3. Woodward, E.M. History of Burlington and Mercer Counties: With Biographical Sketches of Their Pioneers and Prominent Men. Salem, Mass: Higginson Book Co., 1992. pp. 327-331.
From the guide to the Carty family papers, 1815–1912, (University of Delaware Library - Special Collections)
