Stephen M. Weld and Company records
Overview
Ledgers, journals, blotters, and unbound statements of a firm of cotton brokers in Boston.
Dates
- Creation: 1883-1931
Creator
- Stephen M. Weld and 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
7.5 linear feet (19 volumes, 9 boxes)The Stephen M. Weld and Company records contains materials related to the administration of a cotton broker's firm. The colelctions includes private ledgers, accounts, blotter, records, and general journals, organized in 66 volumes ranging from 1897 to 1931. Also included are correspondence and memoranda, statements, trial balances, and partnership material, dating 1887 to 1905. Two boxes of photographs document the firm's work in Genova, Italy, Brunswick, Georgia, Jackson, Mississippi, and Houston, Texas from 1883 to 1912.
Biographical / Historical
Stephen Minot Weld, Jr., born January 4, 1842 in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, was a member of Boston's illustrious Weld Family, a decorated Civil War soldier, horticulturalist, and industrialist. Shortly after Weld returned from the Civil War, he met with a series of misfortunes including the death of his father, the failure of a felting mill he'd inherited, and destruction of a cotton mill he'd purchased in a flood. To recover from his debt, Weld became a cotton broker, opening S.M. Weld and Company in Boston. The company suffered some setbacks such as when a business partner embezzled $326,000, but ultimate S.M. Weld and Company prospered and made Weld very prosperous. The firm also had offices in Providence and New York and opened branches in India and Japan. Weld would also found the firms of Weld and Neville of New York and Houston, and Weld and Co. of Liverpool, England. Weld died March 16, 1920 in Boca Grande, Florida.
Physical Location
MANU
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The Stephen M. Weld and Company records were received by Baker Library Special Collections as a donation from Rudolph Weld in 1938.
Processing Information
Processed: February 2002 By: Naomi Singer
Creator
- Stephen M. Weld and Company (Organization)
- Weld, Stephen M., Jr. (Person)
- Title
- Stephen M. Weld and Company. Stephen M. Weld and Company Records, 1883-1931
- Author
- Baker Library
- Description rules
- dacs
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- bak00435
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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