The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

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