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Inventory of the Moses Brown Papers,1777-1815
D-097  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Descriptive Summary
  • Administrative Information
  • Biography
  • Scope and Content of Collection
  • Related collections
  • Indexing Terms

  • Descriptive Summary

    Title: Moses Brown Papers,
    Date (inclusive): 1777-1815
    Collection number: D-097
    Creator: Brown, Moses, 1742-1827
    Extent: 0.8 linear feet
    Repository: University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of Special Collections.
    100 North West Quad
    Davis, California, 95616-5292
    Abstract: Moses Brown (October 2, 1742-February 9, 1827), prominent merchant and citizen of Newburyport, Massachusetts, developed a large foreign and domestic trade, especially in sugar, molasses and distilled rum. This collection contains records relating to Brown's involvement in the rum industry in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Included are account statements, invoices, correspondence, and distillery house orders.
    Language: English.

    Administrative Information

    Access

    Collection is open for research.

    Publication Rights

    Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17 of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections, General Library, University of California, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], Moses Brown Papers, D-097, Department of Special Collections, University of California Library, Davis, California.

    Acquisition Information

    Purchased in 1994.

    Biography

    Biographical Narrative

    Moses Brown (October 2, 1742-February 9, 1827), prominent merchant and citizen of Newburyport, Massachusetts, was the youngest of thirteen children of Joseph Jr. and Abigail Brown. As a boy he was apprenticed to a chaise-maker and upon adulthood he started in business himself as a carriage manufacturer. Eventually he turned to commerce, developing a large foreign and domestic trade, especially in sugar, molasses and distilled rum. He increased his investments until he was the owner of several wharves, wharehouses, and distilleries, as well as extensive real estate in Newburyport and vicinity.
    Source: Dictionary of American Biography, Volume 3. New York: Scribner, 1929. p. 147.

    Scope and Content of Collection

    This collection contains records relating to Brown's involvement in the rum industry in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It is arranged in four series: 1. Account statements, 2. Invoices, 3. Correspondence, 4. Distillery house orders.

    Related collections

    Milne Special Collections and Archives at the University of New Hampshire, the Manuscripts Department of the Library at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina also hold portions of the Moses Brown Papers.

    Indexing Terms

    The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

    Subjects

    Brown, Moses,--1742-1827
    Rum industry--United States
    Rum industry--Jamaica
    Merchants--Massachusetts--Newburyport
    Distilleries