Stephen Collins correspondence to Jonathan Amory, 1777-1778 Digital

Contains correspondence from Philadelphia merchant Stephen Collins to Jonathan Amory, dated 1777-1778, regarding the settlement of the estate of William Barrell, Amory's & Taylor's trading partner. Letters from Collins, the estate administrator, reference debts outstanding and debts owed to the estate, and request guidance on redeeming notes issued under the authority of the King of Great Britain, after the Continental Congress issued a resolve mandating Continental currency be accepted as payment. Collins also discusses the difficulties in settling accounts with merchants in England in light of the ongoing Revolutionary War; his attempts to organize Barrell's papers, which were "in the greatest confusion and disorder"; and efforts by Barrell's brother to take over administration of the estate. Collins additionally writes in June 1778 about the British evacuation of Philadelphia, movements of the Continental Army, desertions by British soldiers in Philadelphia, and his success in saving Barrell's effects "through the devastation & destruction of war."