Scope and Contents
Letter book containing copies of correspondence of merchant Elias Smith of Montréal, Québec, dated 1799-1800. The volume includes letters to his eldest son and business partner, David Smith, in New York City, as well as merchants in Liverpool and London, England, concerning shipment of cargo and prices current. Elias Smith exported fish and imported rum, crockery, Irish linen, Russian sheeting, German scythes, and looking glasses. Other topics include a condemned American ship he possessed, the Catharine, and ensuring she was not reclaimed by her owners, and his gristmill at Hope Mills (now Port Hope), Ontario, where he manufactured flour that he sold in Canada. Elias Smith also referred to an English law that had been passed restricting the slave trade; and a citizens' petition he co-signed in April 1800 to the Assembly of Lower Canada requesting clarification of masters' rights after one of his slaves escaped. The volume contains some correspondence and copies of public notices from the 1830s and 1840s written by James Fox, the husband of Elias Smith's granddaughter, Catharine. Tipped in to the front of the book is a letter to Baker Library from the donor, E.A.S. Clarke, a descendant of Elias Smith.
Dates
- Creation: 1799-1841
Creator
- Smith, Elias (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials stored onsite. Please contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information regarding access procedures.
Extent
.25 linear feet (1 volume)Biographical / Historical
Elias Smith (1769-1846) was a Loyalist merchant in New York City. He moved to Montréal, Québec, when British forces evacuated New York at the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783, but returned to the United States for about a decade, before moving back to Montréal in approximately 1793. He exported fish to Jamaica and the West Indies and imported crockery and linen from England. His business partner was his son, David Smith, who remained in New York City. Elias Smith acquired lands from the Crown at Hope Mills (now Port Hope), Ontario, and built a gristmill there for the manufacture of flour. He also was one of the citizens of Montréal who petitioned the Assembly of Lower Canada for clarification of his rights as a master after one of his slaves escaped.
Physical Location
MANU
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of E.A.S. Clarke.
Digitization Funding
Collections and items have been digitized with the generous support of The Polonsky Foundation.
General note
To enhance discoverability, this collection was removed from an artificial collection of records of merchants engaged in foreign trade in January 2021.
Creator
- Smith, Elias (Person)
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- bak01359
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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