Overview
Thomas Coffin Amory, merchant and store owner, was born in 1767 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Thomas and Elizabeth (Coffin) Amory. The Thomas Coffin Amory papers consist of a letter book, and copies of correspondence removed from a letter book, from Amory to other merchants, ship captains, agents, and associates, most likely in the hand of a clerk, dated 1797 to 1802. Letters relate to foreign trade, import, and consignment of assorted commodities and goods like New England rum, molasses, coffee, firearms, and cochineal, as well as politics and economic conditions.
Dates
- Creation: 1797-1802 (inclusive)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. Please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
In many cases, Baker Library does not hold the copyright to the materials in its collections. Researchers are responsible for determining copyright status and identifying and contacting any copyright holders for permission to reproduce or publish content from collections. Baker Library has included the names of third-party copyright holders at the folder and item level when known.
Extent
1.2 linear feet (1 volume, 1 box)The Thomas Coffin Amory papers consist of a letter book, and copies of correspondence removed from a letter book, from Amory to other merchants, ship captains, agents, and associates, most likely in the hand of a clerk, dated 1797 to 1802. Letters relate to foreign trade, import, and consignment of assorted commodities and goods like New England rum, molasses, coffee, firearms, and cochineal, as well as politics and economic conditions.
Amory's letters mention voyages to Halifax, Liverpool, Havana, Martinique, Teneriffe, Vera Cruz, and Spain. In addition to business matters, letters reference British and French privateering, the French Revolutionary Wars, and the Quasi-War.
The Newburyport, Massachusetts, firm of Farris & Stocker was a frequent correspondent, and after that partnership dissolved, Amory continued doing business with mariner and merchant Ebenezer Stocker (circa 1753-1816.) Stocker and Amory chartered a number of mercantile voyages together. Other correspondents include Portland, Maine, merchants Samuel Waldo (1762-1798), James Deering (1766-1850), and Thomas Hodges, Robert Hazlehurst & Co. of South Carolina, Israel Thorndike (1755-1832) of Beverly, Massachusetts, and Samuel Breck, Jr. (1771-1862) of Philadelphia, as well as William Codman and Captain Joseph Tilden.
Amory's letters often contained news of the arrivals and departures of vessels owned by other merchants, updates on the market in Boston for various imported goods and prices current, and information regarding business associates and their activities. There are also letters to Ruth Jewet (or Jewett) of Portland, Maine, regarding the consignment of her sugar and cotton and her stake in a voyage to Calcutta.
Biographical Note:
Thomas Coffin Amory, merchant and store owner, was born in 1767 in Boston, Massachusetts, to Thomas and Elizabeth (Coffin) Amory. He sold goods that he imported at retail, and goods on consignment for others at standard commercial rates. Amory partnered with his cousin, William Payne, and later with his brother, Jonathan Amory (1770-1828; Harvard AB 1778). He owned stakes in voyages, frequently chartering vessels with Newburyport businessman and mariner Ebenezer Stocker (circa 1753-1816) to the West Indies and Calcutta, India. Amory imported or traded commodities and goods including molasses, flour, fish, rum, coffee, firearms, and pearl and pot ashes. In addition, he acted as an agent for merchants in other parts of the country and overseas and provided banking and money lending services. Amory also offered apprenticeships to many local young men in his counting house.
Amory married Hannah Rowe Linzee (1770-1846) in 1795, and they had eight children. He died after suffering a stroke in 1812.
Physical Location
MANU
Provenance:
The Thomas Coffin Amory papers were a gift of Mary L. Amory in 1934.
Processing Information
Processed: February 2017
By: Brooke McManus
Preservation and description of the Thomas Coffin Amory papers were supported in part by the Colonial North America at Harvard Library Project.
Subject
- Sheafe, Jacob (Person)
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- eng
- EAD ID
- bak00018
Repository Details
Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository
Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.
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