Letters from A.R. Moen, Cyrus Hawley and Ansel Humphreys, salesmen for the firm Collins & Company of Hartford and later Collinsville, Connecticut, to owner Samuel Collins. The men reported on sales of Collins axes, the competition, and their attempts to get commitments from merchants to carry Collins products. The men wrote from Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri. Of particular note in the October 7, 1830 letter from Moen is his statement that he was "attempting to furnish the Indians with axes who are obliged to emigrate to a new country." As a result of his plan he made an appointment to see President Andrew Jackson. On March 8, 1833, Cyrus Hawley explained one of his marketing schemes: "I hand one [axe] to every Negroe I meet or see and tell him to give it to his master."
