Letter book, 1797-1798 Digital

Contains copies of Thomas Coffin Amory's correspondence to merchants, agents, ship captains, and other individuals, regarding trade and consignment of goods and endorsement of notes, dated 1797-1798. Correspondents include Portland, Maine, merchants Samuel Waldo (1764–1798), James Deering (1766-1850), and Thomas Hodges, Robert Hazlehurst & Co. of South Carolina, Farris & Stocker of Newburyport, Massachusetts, Israel Thorndike (1755-1832) of Beverly, Massachusetts, and Samuel Breck, Jr. (1771-1862) of Philadelphia. Other topics include market fluctuations and prices current, ships captured by French privateers, marine insurance, charters, politics and the prospect of war between France and Spain, customs issues, and comings and goings of international vessels.

He wrote to Ruth Jewet (or Jewtt) several times regarding prices he sought for sugar and cotton imported on her behalf, and the sale of the ship Portland, in which she apparently owned a stake, possibly to merchant William Gray (1750-1832) of Salem, Massachusetts. Captain Edward Preble (1761-1807) was also involved in the transaction. Jewet also invested in mercantile voyages with Amory. On September 30, 1797, he writes, "Yr. part of the portage bill & money to be remitt'd to Calcutta will require about $2500." He further relayed news on November 12 that he sold her sugar to Joseph Willson and Joseph Sewall of Marblehead.

Amory's letters reference the import and sale of commodities including coffee, flour, Bohea tea, salt, rice, French brandy, gun powder, fish, molasses, and sugar, and the consignment of these goods in Boston for business associates. He invested in voyages to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Nova Scotia, Granada, Liverpool, England, Martinique, and Calcutta, India. Several letters to Samuel Waldo refered to a lawsuit Waldo was pursuing. In a letter to Andrew Thompson & Co. dated October 15, 1797, Amory explained his practice for reselling imported commodities, writing "I charge no commission for remitting exchange which I purchase with ready money generally before I am in cash for the goods consign'd me." Many letters solicited payment of notes from other merchants.

Writing to James Deering on June 19, 1797, he enclosed an export certificate for cotton and discussed news about a friend who was to become a foreign consul. On August 20, 1797, Amory wrote to Joseph Tilden regarding fish he wanted him to procure "fit for" Marseilles, France, that was "say under 22 inches, early caught & well made smooth & hard," with instructions to make inquiries in Duxbury and Plymouth. He also wrote Israel Thorndike on the same day with a request for fish, if there were any in Beverly, which he planned to ship to Italy. He noted that unlike fish, coffee, sugar, and pepper were too costly for him to buy and ship. Other topics include outstanding debts and attempts to recover money through legal means. On November 19, 1797, he wrote to Brook Watson & Co. about a protested bill of Samuel Waldo, and his reasons for not seeking security for a note endorsed over to him by a Mr. Wetmore. Amory wrote to William Codman on December 3, 1797, requesting his assistance in recovering a debt due him by William Mann. A letter dated December 16, 1797 to Fitzwilliam Sargent thanked him for informing him of the wreck of a ship carrying his goods and Sargent's assistance in recovering part of the cargo. Writing to James Hunter & Co., owner of the ship, Renown, he explained that the captain drowned after he refused to abandon the ship, which went aground and sunk off Cape Ann Harbor in Milk Island.

Amory wrote to Samuel Breck on December 24, 1797, voicing his support for the appointment of Boston merchant Thomas Handasyd Perkins (1764-1854) as a bank director. He informed New York City-based Peppin & Satterthwaite on February 6, 1798, of the result of his effort to purchase guns for the firm: Amory could only procure "a handsome pair of old fortified fours with carriages." A number of letters to Farris & Stocker covered issues surrounding trade but also securing insurance and papers from various consuls. Discussing the political atmosphere in the United States, he wrote to William Forsythe that "We are daily becoming more Federal & United." Other topics include the commission of an armed brigantine, Atlanta, to defend American ships against French privateers and retake American sailors and cargo, as well as the yellow fever epidemic in Boston in 1798; Amory thought customers were using it as an excuse to avoid paying debts to merchants located in the infected areas of the city. On August 21, 1798, Amory, acting on behalf of the owners of the ship Eagle, wrote to William Codman asking him about additional insurance for the vessel and her cargo, which had been captured by a French privateer on entering Marseilles. A later letter indicated the insurance had not been secured.