Overview:

Edward Wigglesworth was a commission merchant in partnership with William Blair Townsend in Boston before his appointment as the second Hollis Chair of Divinity at Harvard College in 1765. The Edward Wigglesworth business records, dated 1758-1773, consist of two daybooks and a ledger containing general store and commission sales and expenses related to the business of Townsend & Wigglesworth.

Scope and Contents: Three accounts books maintained by Boston tailor Daniel Rea from 1736 to 1784. Volume one is a daybook with entries from 1736 to 1749, for making, mending, or altering clothing. Volume two is a ledger recording credits and debits from 1750 to 1778. Daniel Rea accepted payment in goods and services; Captain Samuel Stebbins settled his account in 1757 by bartering earthenware and two coats, quilted by his daughter. Volume three is a daybook recording charges and payments from 1772 to 1784....

Scope and Contents: The two volumes in the collection, dated from 1743 to 1805, document Townsend's career as a merchant and his involvement in the slave trade. Volume one is a letter book containing Townsend's business correspondence from November 23, 1743 to December 12, 1774. Most of the letters were written to American (many in North Carolina) and British (predominately in London) merchants. His earliest letters document his efforts to establish himself as a trader. Over time his letters turn to illustrate...