Henry Cruger was born in New York in 1739 and educated at Kings College (now Columbia University). He became active in his family's mercantile business in Bristol, England, and gained prominence both in New York and England. In 1765, he was elected to the Bristol Common Council, a position he held until 1790. He served as Sheriff of Bristol from 1766 to 1767, and was elected to Parliament as a radical Whig in 1774. His outspoken support for American independence led to his defeat in the election of 1780, but did not end his political career; he went on to become mayor of Bristol in 1781, and was reelected to Parliament in 1784. He returned to New York in 1790, serving a single term in the state senate as a representative of the Federalist party, and died there in 1827. The handwritten account book details transactions of Henry Cruger & Company between 1784-1793.
