Moses Brown papers, 1788-1816

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Summary

Abstract:
Correspondence and business papers belonging to the shipping merchant Moses Brown in relation to his business in the West Indies, Spain, and Portugal.
Extent:
188 items
Language:
The records are in English.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection contains correspondence and business papers belonging to the shipping merchant Moses Brown in relation to his business in the West Indies, Spain, and Portugal. The letters are from agents and sea-captains to Moses Brown regarding his cargo. Also included are: bills of lading, invoices, accounts of sales of cargo, port changes, etc. The collection also contains several legal papers such as contracts and agreements. The collection is organized by the region of Brown's trade and commerce: Cuba and St. Thomas; Guadeloupe and Haiti; Jamaica; Martinique; Spain and Portugal; and Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Sint Eustatius (these categories are general in nature and not mutually exclusive; some of the ports show up in more than one of the categories). Browns' cargo consisted of various items including, but not limited to: sugar, potatoes, beef, fish, soap, butter, candles, coffee, lumber, lard, molasses, etc.

The collection is arranged by the region of Brown's trade. It is housed in one box.

Biographical / historical:

Moses Brown was born in 1742 and raised on the Brown farm in West Newbury, Massachusetts. Brown learned the carriage trade as a boy and later moved to Newburyport, where he established his own chaise making and repair shop. Having acquired capital in the years before the Revolutionary War, he invested it in the importation of sugar and molasses, profiting handsomely, and investing thereafter in the West Indies trading, in ships of trade and in real estate. By 1790, Brown was the second wealthiest man in Newburyport. In 1792, he purchased the land, wharf, and flats at the foot of Green Street, where he established his distillery manufacturing New England Rum. Moses Brown invested his profits in widespread real estate purchases. As the largest holder of real estate in Newburyport, Brown owned many buildings, be he is best remembered for the one built at his direction on the public square of his creation - the Brown Square House now known as the Garrison Inn.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Maggs Bros. Ltd., Bloomsbury Book Auctions, December 1995.
Rules or conventions:
Finding Aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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