Henry W. Peabody & Company records
Overview
Ledgers, journals, miscellaneous accounts, and scattered letters, 1867-1957, of the Boston, Mass. based import-export firm founded by Henry W. Peabody.
Dates
- 1867-1957
Creator
- Henry W. Peabody & Company (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Materials stored offsite; access requires advance notice. Contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Extent
8 linear feet (94 volumes)Incomplete series of ledgers, journals, miscellaneous accounts and letters of a Boston firm which was in the import-export business (trade to Australia, South Africa and South America) to 1890. Thereafter it specialized in hemp, with an office in Yucatan, under the direction of Arthur Peirce, Agent. Letterbooks include ones directed to Plymouth Cordage Company and a private letter book, 1894-1907, of Henry W. Peabody. The greater part of the collection dates from the twentieth century.
Historical Note:
Henry W. Peabody & Co. was in the general import-export business until 1890. At that time it turned over the general business to the New York Office and concentrated henceforth on hemp. An Agent, Arthur Peirce, represented them in Merida (Yucatan?) from 1890.
Henry W. Peabody was born in Salem, Mass. on August 22, 1838. In 1856 he entered the counting house of Messrs. William & Hall, China and Indian merchants located on Central Wharf in Boston. In 1859 he assumed a clerkship with Samuel Stevens who was engaged in the Australian trade, making partner in 1862. He retired in 1866 and set up a special partnership in his own name in February, 1867. Henry's brother, Alfred S. Peabody was the special partner of the Peabody firm and supplied its original $25,000 capital. Henry died December 7, 1908.
Physical Location
MANU
Provenance:
Gift of Henry W. Peabody & Co., 1965.
Processing Information
Processed: December 2009
By: Benjamin Johnson
- Account books
- Australia -- Commerce.
- Boston (Mass.)--Commerce.
- Export marketing--Massachusetts.
- Hemp.
- Henry W. Peabody & Company
- Ledgers.
- Letters.
- Marketing.
- Peabody, Henry W. (Henry Wayland)
- Plymouth Cordage Company
- South Africa -- Commerce.
- South America--Commerce.
- Yucatán (Mexico : State) -- Commerce.
Creator
- Henry W. Peabody & Company (Organization)
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- bak00127
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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