John Barrett, Sr., miscellaneous, 1775-1785 Digital

Contains letters to John Barrett, or John Barrett & Sons, primarily from other merchants, dated 1775-1785, including Michael Saunders of Salem, who wrote regarding the company's existing inventory of nails and bundles of steel, and Robert & Nathan Hyde of Manchester, England, and Butlers & Mathew of Cadiz, Spain, who sought remittance of the balance on Barrett & Sons' accounts. There are a few copies of letters from Barrett & Sons regarding debts. Also included is a copy of a letter from William Govett to Nathaniel Appleton (1731-1798; Harvard AB 1749), related to a Congressional resolution increasing interest rates on Continental loan office certificates in 1777. Several letters refer to the Revolutionary War. Lemuel Bowers writes on March 9, 1776, about the end of the Siege of Boston, and General Howe's terms for the evacuation of British troops, relayed to George Washington in a letter from the Boston selectmen that was delivered by Boston merchant brothers Thomas Amory (1722-1784; Harvard AB 1741) and Jonathan Amory (1735 or 1726-1797) and Peter Johannot. According to Bowers, "yesterday a flag of truce came to our lines viz Major of ye 10th Messrs. Thoms. & Jna. Amory & a person wrapt in a cloak unknown" and the men carried a paper signed by four Boston selectmen outlining concerns about the town being destroyed by evacuating British forces. Bowers also discusses the distress of citizens and reports of the wounded from the latest cannonade and battles. A letter from Boston minister John Eliot discusses reports he heard of men being fired upon and horses shot during a journey from Philadelphia to Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1782, and a day spent in the company of General Washington, where Eliot "was entertained by the politeness which one may expect from any knowledge of his character."