Overview: Samuel Abbot, son of Mary Phillips and George Abbot (1692-1768), was born on February 25, 1732 in Andover, Massachusetts. At the age of fifteen, Samuel was apprenticed to his cousin, William White, who owned a retail store in Boston. George Abbot paid White almost £50 toward the cost of Samuel’s apprenticeship. After spending the required seven years with his cousin, Samuel opened his own business in Boston in June 1754. The Samuel Abbot business papers consist of 46 volumes of daybooks,...