The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Pierce & Baldwin
Title: Legal papers
Dates: 1856-1860
Call No.: Col. 459
Acc. No.: 74x300.1-.31, .36
Quantity: 32 items (1 folder)
Location: 34 J 2
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
The firm of Pierce & Baldwin manufactured and
sold furniture in Brandon, Rutland County, Vermont, between August 1856 and
January 1857. The firm was established
by Frederick Pierce and Warner Baldwin in an effort to help revive the
cabinetmaking business of Frederick's father, Rodney Pierce.
Rodney Pierce was born in 1796, and died in
1871. He was married to Eliza Severance
(died 1877), and they had several children, including son Frederick F. Pierce
(1832-1887). Rodney was a cabinetmaker
and later an undertaker. Frederick
Pierce became a dentist.
Warner Horace Baldwin was the son of Roxalana Wood
and Hiram G. Baldwin, who was a carpenter in Brandon, Vermont. Warner was born in 1837; in the 1860 census,
he was listed as being a cabinetmaker.
Later in life, he became the foreman in a woodshop. He died in 1917.
Abram L. (Abraham Lawrence) Clark (1807-1880) was a
wheelwright in Brandon, Vermont. John
Field has not been further identified.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
This collection contains legal papers pertaining to
a lawsuit between the firm of Pierce & Baldwin and Abram L. Clark. The collection contains an article of
partnership, inventories, writs, referees reports, arguments from the
defendants, bills, rules of reference, summons, bills for court costs,
transcriptions of witness testimony, and the original promissory note signed by
Rodney Pierce.
In 1856, Rodney Pierce received $140.00 from his son
Frederick of Pierce & Baldwin to purchase additional furniture to sell as
retail in his cabinetmaking shop. On
July 30, 1856, Rodney Pierce wrote a promissory note to John Field for $150.00
payable within six months. Frederick
Pierce purchased the shop his father was renting, along with the $140 worth of
furniture, and put up the furniture his father purchased as stock for his new
partnership of Pierce & Baldwin.
However, Rodney Pierce defaulted on his promissory note to John
Field. The note was then purchased by Abram Clark, who brought a lawsuit against
Rodney Pierce. During the course of the
lawsuit, Clark attained a writ against Rodney Pierce, and handed it to Levi
Briggs, sheriff of Rutland County, to enforce.
Briggs took all of the furniture in the store, including the $140 worth
of furniture that had been purchased by Frederick Pierce, and sold it. Briggs gave half of the money to Clark, and
the other half to Baldwin. In turn, the
firm Pierce & Baldwin filed a lawsuit against both Clark and Briggs, as
documented by the items in this collection.
ORGANIZATION
The items are in accession number order.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Purchased from N. D. Scotti.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Pierce, Rodney, 1796-1871.
Pierce,
Frederick Frank, 1832-1887.
Baldwin,
Warner Horace, 1837-1917.
Clark,
Abram L. (Abraham Lawrence), 1807-1880.
Topics:
Actions and defenses.
Cabinetmakers - Vermont - Brandon.
Furniture - Prices - 19th century.
Invoices.
Inventories
Legal documents.
Legal instruments.
Writs.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 34 J 2
All accession
numbers begin with 74x300.
.1 Articles of co-partnership entered into
by Frederick F. Pierce and Warner H. Baldwin, both of Brandon, Rutland County,
Vermont, August 21, 1856.
Baldwin is to work with
Rodney Pierce making furniture.
Frederick was working in a store in Vergennes so he could not be
involved with day-to-day operations; therefore he appointed his father as his
agent in the shop.
H. E. Baldwin, father of
Warner H. Baldwin, had to agree to the contract because Warner was under the
age of 21.
.2 Copy of inventory [or bill of stock] at
time of partnership, not dated.
Includes sofas, bureaus,
fall stands, bedsteads, stands, coffins, bench, lumber (cherry, black walnut,
and pine), and other items. [handwriting
not always easy to read]
.3 “Invoice of Furniture of Pierce &
Baldwin taken January 14, 1857.”
Includes sofas, bureaus,
center tables, toilet table, dressing table, fall stands, wash stands, tables
of different sizes, secretary, spring bed, office chairs, rocking chairs, other
chairs, a crib, coffins, hardware, lumber and planks, a grindstone, a bench, a
sink case, and other items.
Variations of this list
are found on other documents in this collection., with some more legible than
others. That on .12 gives more
description of the furniture (mentioning woods used) than some of the lists.
.4 note: “Partnership comm’d [commenced]
July 1856. Ended about 1st Jan.
1857. During time they mf’d
[manufactured] from old stock that Rodney Pierce bot of [illegible].”
With additional writing
on back.
.5a-b Report in Pierce v. Clark: 1st a
fraud.
Notes on the case
.6 “The Referees Report in the case of
Pierce & Baldwin v. Abram L. Clark et al.” [note: Pierce is misspelled as
Peirce.]
The report states that
Rodney Pierce had been a manufacturer of cabinet wares since 1846 and had moved
into a shop in Brandon in April 1856.
Not having the wherewithal to stock his shop, Rodney asked his son
Frederick for money. Frederick gave
Rodney money to purchase goods in Boston, but the goods were purchased in
Frederick’s name, and were considered his property. The report goes on in more detail about the
business.
The referees
were Martin G. Evits [in another place looks like Everts] and Horace Allen.
Includes
a statement by Warner Baldwin releasing Clark and Levi Briggs from damages in
the case.
.7 receipt: H. G. Baldwin received a
payment from Pierce & Baldwin, Brandon, Jan. 20, 1857.
.8 execution in the case of Clark vs.
Pierce, to sheriff or constable to “make due return upon this writ,” dated
April 4, 1857.
Printed form, to which
is attached an unsigned handwritten document, in which is listed the items
attached in the case, and a statement of other charges in the case.
.9 “Schedule of property attached.”
“The above is copied
literally from the writ and cannot be relied on as a true inventory but is
subject to be varied by proofs.”
Includes furniture,
hardware, lumber
.10 “Bill of Furniture &c attached by
Abram L. Clark on the 2d of Feb. 1857.”
List of furniture and
shop goods. This mentions that the
veneers were of mahogany and rosewood.
This also indicates what was property of partnership of Pierce &
Baldwin.
.11 “Bill of Furniture attached by A. L.
Clark on the 2d day of Feb. 1857.”
List of furniture and
shop goods. This mentions that the
veneers were of mahogany and rosewood.
.12 another copy of the command to sheriff
for an action of attachment, with same date as above. Tied to this is a list of the items that were
attached, including rosewood and mahogany sofas, maple bureau, rosewood center
table, pine tables, coffins, basswood secretary, lumber, veneer, coffin
trimmings, and other pieces of furniture and other shop goods. Values were attached to all these by E. J.
Bliss, J. E. Higgins, and S. B. June.
The goods were
auctioned on Feb. 18, 1857, at store of F. R. Forbes in Brandon, and the prices
realized are given.
The document was
signed by Levi Briggs, deputy sheriff.
.13 “Alleged trespass, 18th Feb.
1857”
List of furniture,
including sofas, bureaus, spring bed, towel racks, various kinds of chairs
(dining, office, small, sewing, rocking), crib, wash stands, fall leaf stands,
dressing tables, center tables, secretaries, and writing desk.
.14 Command to sheriff to attach goods,
chattels, or estate of Rodney Pierce of Brandon, and to order him to appear in
court in March 1857 to answer to Abram L. Clark. This stems from the promissory note given to
John Field by Rodney Pierce on July 30, 1856.
This form is dated Jan. 31, 1857.
[printed
form, on blue paper]
.15 defendants brief in the case [several
pages tied together]:
Includes the statement
“We insist that even if this money was furnished as stated, the manner in which
the parties subsequently acted – and the manner in which the business was
conducted renders the transactions a fraud upon the creditors of Rodney
Pierce.”
[Basically and simply
stated, Frederick Pierce insisted that the property that was attached was his,
not his father’s, and therefore could not be used to settle his father’s
debts. Clark and Briggs insisted that
Frederick Pierce could not make such a claim because he was not involved in the
business, other than that he gave his father some money.]
.16 order to the sheriff to attach the goods,
chattels, or estate of Abram L. Clark and Levi Briggs to satisfy claim brought
against them by Frederick Pierce, May 28, 1857.
Includes list of
attached goods belonging to Abram L. Clark, including a buggy, wagons, a horse,
a gig, lumber, harness, felloe[?] machine;
[printed form, on light
blue paper]
.17 copy of Rule of Reference, Rutland County
Court: court order to refer case of Pierce & Baldwin v. Abraham L. Clark et
al to Martin G. Everts and Horace Allen, and their decision will be announced on
Sept. 3, 1858
.18 court order: all parties to appear in
office of E. June on Aug. 26, 1859, to hear report of Everts and Allen
.19 wrapper for papers in court case: dated
Aug. 26, 1859, case to be continued to Jan. 10, 1860
.20 notes, written in pencil, about the case,
mentioning various documents in the case
.21 sixteen pages of statements, written in
pencil and ink, about the case
.22 testimony in the case, Jan. 10-11, 1860,
written in pencil, 14 pages
.23 defendants’ costs before referees, Jan. 10-11,
1860: a list of names and the amounts owed to them, plus charges for subpoenas,
service, and deposition of Hiram G. Baldwin
,24 summons: sheriff ordered to summon Daniel
Farrington, Isaac Dow, Austin Blanchard, J. V. Parker, David Warren, Warner Baldwin
[in pencil], and Wm. Y. Ripley with his books, to appear on Jan. 10, 1860;
On back: fees for
serving the summonses;
[printed form]
.25 receipted bill: bill addressed to F. F.
Pierce, from Holmes & Fletcher, Boston, May 1, 1856, marked paid: bill for
sofa and a rocker;
Printed and illustrated
billhead: Holmes & Fletcher, manufacturers of sofas, sofa beds, couches,
divans, ottomans, parlor and rocking chairs; illustrated with pictures of a
sofa bed, two chairs, a rocking chair, and a settee
.26 receipted bill: bill addressed to F. F.
Pierce, from William H. Barnes Boston, May 1, 1856, marked paid: bill for
coffin screws, studs, lining, and handles; other screws, table and coffin
hinges
Printed billhead:
importer and dealer in hardware and cutlery, nails, lead, zinc, window weights,
emery, glue, carpenters’ tools, building materials, &c, &c.
.27 receipted bill: bill addressed to F. F.
Pierce, from Trustees Second Mortgage Bonds, Rutland & Burlington Railroad
Co., Brandon, May 5, 1856, marked paid: bill for transporting 6 sofas and a
chair from Charlestown
[printed
form]
.28 bill: F. F. Pierce in account with Wm. Y.
Ripley, Jan.-Oct., 1859: purchase of Jenny Lind, cheap cottage, and other
bedsteads, with credit given for cash payments and return of a bedstead
.29 “Invoice of furniture sent to Rodney
Pierce of Brandon for sale on my account; he is to pay for it when sold at the
invoice price, June 15, 1856”; includes cottage and other bedsteads, tables,
sinks, wash stands; with credit for a cash payment; no indication of who wrote
the bill
.30 note: Rodney Pierce promises to pay John
Field $150, dated July 30, 1856
[Pierce spelled his name
Peirce]
.31 bill for bedsteads, presumably sold to
Fred & Rodney Pierce; Nov. 1857, with credit for a cash payment, 1859; in
addition to bedsteads (scroll top, cottage, cheap cottage), the bill also
includes charges for soft bureaus, sinks, and hard and soft tables;
.36 a
note about release by one of several persons having a joint demand