Business and personal papers of brothers John Barratt and Joseph Barratt, who started in New York City as traders and later moved to Poughkeepsie where they had a stocking factory in the 1830s and a paper factory in the 1860s. Papers concerning their early business, 1815-1824, include letters to John Barratt in New York City from his family in England concerning family news and business matters; business letters received with a few copies of outgoing letters concerning shipping, prices, and other matters relating to trade in cotton, cotton goods, ash, flour, and other products; statements of accounts, bills, receipts, and lists of goods imported; and printed circulars concerning imports and exports at Liverpool and New York. Poughkeepsie business papers include receipts, accounts, and letters concerning their stocking factory, 1837, and J.W. Barratt & Bro., paper and twine factory, 1867-1874. Personal papers include notes on playing piano and writing music, ca. 1820; a copybook of poetry and essays, ca. 1820; letters of John Barratt to Harriet Hotchkiss, his future wife, 1819-1824; letters of Joseph Barratt to John Barratt concerning business and family matters, 1824-1825; and family letters from Baldwin relatives in Hudson and others concerning church affairs, visits, health, and the birth of children, 1822-1837.
