The Winterthur Library

The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Creator: I. & J. Pratt Co. (Wareham, Mass.)

Title: Records

Dates: 1794-1869 (bulk 1813-1837, 1854-1859)

Call No.: Col. 97

Acc. No.: 61x98; 76x111

Quantity: 6 cubic ft. (11 boxes, 11 volumes)

Location: 15 I 3 (oversize box), I 5, and J 1-2

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

Jared Pratt was born in North Middleboro, Massachusetts, in 1803. He and his uncle, Isaac Pratt, established a general store, cotton factory, and an iron foundry in nearby Wareham around 1819. In 1828, the Pratts incorporated the Wareham Iron Company, which they sold in 1834; Isaac retired back to North Middleboro.

Shortly afterwards, Jared and his son, Christopher, moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and purchased the Fairview Rolling Mill, which had been founded around 1833 by Gabriel Heister and Norman Callender. The Pratts added a nail factory to the operation and renamed it the Fairview Iron Works, although they were in business as Jared Pratt & Son. They sold the works in 1859 and in retirement, returned to Massachusetts. The Fairview Iron Works was still being operated by the heirs of the purchaser, James McCormick, in 1879.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

Records, including letters and bound manuscripts, deal chiefly with the Pratts’ iron business and store. The letters contain orders for nails and hoops, and include their prices. Probably written by commission agents and merchants, the letters offer information about the dismal financial conditions in America during the late 1820s and early 1830s. Business affairs in the southern states and prices of commodities there are noted. Most of the letters are from New England, although there are also some from Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans. A stock certificate for the Wareham Iron Company is included.

Bound manuscripts detail the operation of the general store. Other businesses, such as the Wareham Cotton Manufacturing Co. and Fearing, Pratt and Co., are mentioned as well. The store sold all kinds of foodstuffs, textiles, metalware, and wood products. These volumes also contain shipping accounts, reflecting the Pratts’ interests in several vessels.

The collection includes a document sent to Josiah Pratt, constable of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 1794, requiring him to collect taxes from certain people. Regretfully, the list of people from whom he was to collect the taxes is not part of the collection. Josiah may have been Jared’s father.

Some of the later business adventures of Jared Pratt and his son are documented as well. Of particular note are the insurance policies they carried on the Fairview Iron Works, which list the value of the buildings on the property (bar iron building, plate and sheet iron building, blacksmith shop, etc.) and the value of the tools. As well, there are some shipping documents and letters; two billheads are decorated with pictures of trains. Copies of the deeds selling the iron works and real estate in Harrisburg to James McCormick are found in the collection.

ORGANIZATION

The letters are arranged in chronological order. A name index to acc. 76x111 is appended to this finding aid.

PROVENANCE

Accession 61x98 was purchased from Lawrence Romaine.

Accession 76x111 was purchased from Craig W. Ross of Medina, New York.

RELATED MATERIALS

Additional material on the Pratt operations in Massachusetts is available at the Middleboro Historical Museum, Middleboro, Massachusetts. Additional material on the Fairview Iron Works is available in the library at the Hagley Museum, Greenville, Delaware.

ACCESS POINTS

People:

Pratt, Isaac.

Pratt, Jared.

Pratt, Josiah.

Pratt, Christopher C. K.

Topics:

Fearing, Pratt and Co.

Wareham Cotton Manufacturing Co.

Jared Pratt & Son.

Fairview Iron Works (West Fairview, Pa.)

Retail trade - Massachusetts - Wareham.

Textile fabrics - Prices.

Ship's papers.

General stores - Massachusetts - Wareham.

Shipping - United States.

Cotton manufacture - Massachusetts - Wareham.

Nails and spikes - Prices.

Coastwise shipping - United States.

Commission merchants - United States.

Insurance, Fire – Pennsylvania – Harrisburg.

Iron foundries - Massachusetts - Wareham.

Iron foundries – Pennsylvania – Fairview.

Iron industry and trade - Massachusetts - Wareham.

Iron industry and trade – Pennsylvania – Fairview.

Iron industry and trade - Prices - United States.

Prices - United States.

Business records - Massachusetts - Wareham.

United States - Economic conditions - To 1865.

Southern States - Economic conditions.

Account books.

Bills (financial).

Broadsides.

Correspondence.

Deeds.

Insurance policies.

Inventories.

Journals (bookkeeping).

Leases.

Ledgers.

Letters.

Notes (financial).

Receipts.

Ironworkers.

Merchants.

Businessmen.

Commercial agents.

Textile workers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

Location: 15 I 3 (oversize box), I 5, and J 1-2

Box 1: Letters, 1818

Letters, 1819-1820

Letters, 1821 (3 folders)

Letters, 1822, January-July

Box 2: Letters, 1822, August-December

Letters, 1823 (3 folders)

Letters, 1825, January-March

Box 3: Letters, 1825, April-August (2 folders)

Letters, 1826 (4 folders)

Box 4: Letters, 1827-1830

Letters, 1831, January-August (4 folders)

Box 5: Letters, 1831, September-December (2 folders)

Letters, 1832, January-June (4 folders)

Box 6: Letters, 1832, July-December (4 folders)

Letters, 1833, January-May (2 folders)

Box 7: Letters, 1833, June-December

Letters, 1834-1836

Letters from J.L. James, 1820-1822

Letters from J.L. James, 1823

Letters from J.L. James, 1824

Small leather notebook & contents

Notebook of agreements, 1831-1832

Box 8: Bills, notes of credit, notices, 1826

Orders, bills, circulars, 1814, 1825, 1831

Orders, bills, circulars, 1832-1833

Deeds & leases

Letters, undated

Wareham Meeting House

Wareham Iron Co.

Wareham Iron Co.: stock certificate, 1832 (acc. 76x111.16)

Wareham Iron Co.: agreement with Lewis Kinney about casks for nails (acc. 76x111.47)

Miscellaneous, 1794, 1815-1834, 1869 (includes 76x111.1, .16, .17)

Box 9: Daybook (weaving), 1813-1814; (61x98.1)

Ledger (weaving), 1815-1824; (61x98.2)

Store daybook, 1815; (61x98.5)

Daybook, 1815-1817; (61x98.6)

Daybook, 1817; (61x98.7)

Notes due, 1819; (61x98.9)

Store daybook, 1828; (61x98.11)

Stock book & accounts, store; (61x98.18)

Inventory of rolling mill machinery; (61x98.20)

Box 10: papers in very poor condition, have not been examined

Box 11: (oversized, on 15 I 3):

Deeds & leases for the Wareham Iron Company, 1830-1831

Circulars & accounts, 1832-1833

Fairview Iron Works sale notice, 1854 (12 copies) (includes 76x111.50-.51)

Fairview Iron Works: shipping documents, letters, etc. (acc. 76x111.2-.14, .18-.33)

Fairview Iron Works: Jared Pratt & Son: insurance policies (acc. 76x111.34-.46)

Fairview Iron Works: Jared Pratt & Son: deeds to James McCormick, 1859, 1862 (acc. 76x111.48-.49)

Volumes:

Vol. 1: Store & Wareham Cotton factory daybook, 1813-1815 (acc. no. 61x98.3)

Vol. 2: Ledger, 1813-1824; (61x98.4a-c)

Vol. 3: Store ledger, 1818-1823; (61x98.8)

Vol. 4: Store ledger, 1819-1820; (61x98.10)

Vol. 5: Store daybook, 1839-1831; (61x98.12)

Vol. 6: Store ledger, 1830-1832; (61x98.13, .11b)

Vol. 7: Store daybook, 1830-1832; (61x98.14)

Vol. 8: Ledger, 1831-1834, factory, store, vessels, etc. (61x98.15, .13b)

Vol. 9: Store ledger, 1832-1834; (61x98.16, .14b)

Vol. 10: Store daybook, 1834, Fearing, Pratt & Co. (61x98.17)

Vol. 11: Store inventories, 1831, I. & J. Pratt Co., Fearing, Pratt & Co.; (61x98.19)

Index to 76x111.1-.51, part of Col. 97 (these documents are in Box 8 or Box 11, with the exception of 76x111.15, the location of which is unknown)

American Iron Associ[ation] .18

Atlantic Fire and Marine Insurance Co. .43

Bank of America .10

Beck (of Scheffer & Beck) .50-51

Bolles, M. .3-5

Brandon, J., & Son .22

Chas. H. Rogers (schooner) .2

Clothier., H. B. .2

Fair View Iron Works .41, [.50-51]

Fairview Rolling Mill .48

Folger, F. F., & Co. .33

Franklin Fire Insurance Company of Philadelphia .34-40, .42

Harrisburg and Lancaster Rail Road Company .42

Hart, S. N., & Co. .2, .21-22

Hayward, Dodge .15

Herr's Hotel, Col. .50-51

Hotel, Col. Herr's .50-51

Jones, James R. .9

Keith, M., & Son .21

Kimball, D. .20

Kimball, David .33

King, Edward .10

Kinney, Lewis .47

Langley .2

Lesley, J. P. .18

Lucas, Albert B. .24

McCormick, James .48-49

Merchants' Insurance Company .46

Peacock, Zell & Co. .2

Philadelphia Fire and Life Insurance Company .41

Pratt & Son - see Pratt, Jared, & Son

Pratt, I. & J., & Co. .47

Pratt, J., & Son - see Pratt, Jared, & Son

Pratt, Jared, & Son .3-14, .19-26, .33-46, .48-51

Pratt, C. C. K. .15

Pratt, Cristopher C. K. .48

Pratt, Isaac .16

Pratt, Jared .1, .16, .18, .48

Pratt, Wm. .1

Providence Washington Insurance Company .44

Putnam, J. P. .6

Roberts, Wm. T. .19

Roger Williams Insurance Company .45

Rogers, Chas. H. (schooner) .2

Saxton, Henry .13, .23

Scheffer & Beck .50-51

Scheffer, Theo. F. .14

Sterling (of Wood & Sterling) .19

Stetson, D. S., & Co. .2

Sturtevant, L., & Co. .20, .33

Thompson & Willey .17

Wallower, Jno., & Son .7-8, .11-14, [.42]

Wareham Iron Company .16-17, .47

Wilbar, Charles .50-51

Willey (of Thompson & Willey) .17

Wilson, Robt. .25

Wood & Sterling .19