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:         Eyre, Manuel, 1777-1845.                             

Title:               Bills,

Dates:             1794-1842, 1800-1805 (bulk dates).

Call No.:         Col. 657         

Acc. No.:        [various – see detailed description]

Quantity:        33 items

Location:        34 J 4

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Manuel Eyre, Jr., was a shipping merchant in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  He was born in Burlington, New Jersey, in 1777, the son of Manuel Eyre (1736-1805) and Mary Wright (1743-1798).   Eyre, Jr., married Anne Louisa Connelly (1788-1832, daughter of John Connelly), and they had a number of children.  In 1816, Eyre, Jr., became a director of the Second Bank of the United States.  Around 1819, Eyre, Jr., established the Blockley Cotton Factory outside Philadelphia.  He also founded Delaware City, Delaware, at one end of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.

 

Two items relate to his father Manuel Eyre (1736-1805), a shipwright who lived in the Northern Liberties.  Eyre, Sr., in partnership with his brothers, built some of the earliest U.S. Navy ships.  The shipbuilding firm of Eyre and Massey was a noted establishment until broken up after Eyre, Jr.’s death in 1845.  The extended Eyre family was involved in business and politics in the 18th and early 19th centuries. 

 

Emanuel Eyre seems to be the same person as Manuel, and he is so treated in this collection.  The surname is sometimes recorded as Eyres.  The American Whig Society of Princeton University had a member from Pennsylvania named Manuel Eyre; he was probably the son of Eyre, Jr., although perhaps was Eyre, Jr. himself.

 

Eyre’s Daughter Harriet Kingston Eyre married John Wheeler Ashhurst (1809-1892), son of Richard L. Ashhurst.  The Downs Collection has a small collection of Ashhurst family papers. 

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

A collection of bills send to Manuel Eyre, for such commodities as textile fabrics, handkerchiefs, boots and shoes, shawls, candles, carpets, soap, cigars, tea, cheese, hair powder, assorted goods from a drugstore (including spices, polishing liquid, and some medicines), gloves, and other items.  One bill is for making men’s clothes.  As well, there is one letter addressed to Eyre from Tobias Little of Shrewsbury, Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, requesting money (dated 1834).  A check drawn on the Bank of Pennsylvania and signed by Eyre in 1813 is decorated with a seal (the state seal of Pennsylvania?).

 

The collection also includes a deed by which Philip Warner, a Maryland cabinetmaker, sells land in the Northern Liberties to Manuel Eyre [Sr.], shipwright, in 1780.  The deed is not completely filled out (the month and date and other information are left blank), nor it is signed.

   

 

ORGANIZATION

 

Items are in chronological 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 various sources; see case file for information.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS

 

Additional documents relating to Eyre are located in Col. 69 in this repository.  A finding aid to that collection is available.

 

Manuel Eyre is listed in Doc. 1058 in this repository.           

 

Hagley Museum and Historical Society of Pennsylvania have collections containing papers of Manuel Eyre.  Eyre manuscripts are found in the Ashhurst family papers at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Eyre, Manuel, 1736-1805.

 

Topics:

Carpets - Prices - 19th century.                                  

Dress accessories - Prices - 19th century.

Men’s clothing - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.

                        Medicine.

                        Real property - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia County.

Textile fabrics - Prices - 19th century.

                       

                        Invoices.

                        Deeds.

                        Bills of sale.

                        Merchants.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 34 J 4

 

 

Folder 1: Bills, account books, and check:

 

71x241.8-.9     receipted bills, Emanuel Eyres, Jr., paid William Trautwine, Philadelphia, Sept. 30, 1794, and Nov. 11, 1794, for hair power and empty boxes

 

74x16.21         receipted bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., paid Thomas Leiper & Co., Dec. 4, 1794, for cigars.  Signed by Elizabeth C. Leiper.

 

70x91.75         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought of Benson & Yorke, April 2, 1800: cloth, cassimere

 

70x91.76         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought of Bickham & Reese, Philadlephia, April 3, 1800: baftas and cossa[?] [textiles]

 

71x240.3         bill, Emanuel Eyres bought from William Blair, Sept.-Dec. 1800: boots, shoes, pumps

 

70x91.77         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought from F. Dusar, Sept. 26, 1800: handkerchiefs

 

70x91.78         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought from Joseph Pryer, Philadelphia, Oct. 24, 1800: ravens duck

 

70x91.79         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought from Samuel Yorke, Oct. 27, 1800: table cloths, napkins, muslin.

 

71x240.5         bill, Manuel Ares bought from William Blair, Feb.-Aug. 1801: shoes and boot repairs

 

70x91.80         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought from William Bell, Philadelphia, June 20, 1801: green silk velvet.

 

71x240.4         bill, Manuel Eyre bought from William Blair, Nov. 6, 1801: boots, shoes.

 

70x91.81         receipted bill, Emanuel Eyres, paid Thomas Humphrey, Philadelphia, April 28, 1802, for dishes, tumblers, a basin, a coffee pot, etc.  Endorsed on back: “bill of queensware for brig Aristides.”

 

70x91.82         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought from Alexander Elmslie, Philadelphia, May 24, 1802: nankeens

 

68x23.15-.16   bill, M. Eyre, Jr., bought from John Johnson, Philadelphia, March 24 and April 1, 1803: molded and dripped candles, and soap.

                                    [98x23.16 has watermark: WM]

 

70x91.83         bill, Manuel Eyres, Jr., bought from Pratt, Son & Kintzing, Philadelphia, Nov. 18, 1803: large quantities of tea, ink, handkerchiefs, copper ladles, skimmers, St. George [a textile?], various textiles, blank books, writing paper, quills, pen knives, pencils, wafers, sealing wax, ink stands, thread, tapes, table clothes and other linen, gin cases, flour, cheese, yellow soup.

                                    [watermark: crowned coat of arms, bearing a hunting horn, above initials GM]

 

71x240.2         receipted bill, Manuel Eyres paid George Abel, Philadelphia, March 1, 1804, for shoes and shoe repairs.

 

70x91.85         bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought of Howell & Pleasants, Philadelphia: May 31, 1804: various textiles, caulking pins, apron and cap tape, shawls, handkerchiefs and bandannas, chintz patches, combs, etc.  Endorsed on back that these dry goods were sent to William L. Foster.

                                    [watermark: WL]

 

71x242.10       bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought of J. Austin and W. Howell, Philadelphia, June 1, 1804: fans.  Endorsed on back that these goods were sent to William L. Foster.

 

70x91.84         bill, Manuel Erea bought of Casper Sybert, Philadelphia, Aug. 23, 1804: bushels of shorts and for carting the same.

                                    [watermark: WY & Co]

 

70x91.88-.87   bill, Manuel Eyre, Jr., bought of Richard R. Smith, Feb. 22, 1805: Irish linen.

                                    [two copies of same bill]

 

71x240.2         receipted bill, Manuel Eyre paid Henry Wall, Dec. 7, 1805, for shoes and boots.  A note identifies this as a bill charged to the estate of Manuel Eyre, Sr., and it was examined by William Read.

 

74x16.4c         check: drawn on Bank of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Oct. 6, 1813, signed by Manuel Eyre [printed form; partial watermark visible]

 

71x202            letter, Tobias Little, Shrewsbury, [Lycoming County, Penn.,] to Manuel Eyre, Philadelphia, Aug. 12, 1834.  Glass works has ceased operation, owing Little with unpaid wages.  Sends an account of taxes due and requests Eyre send him money.  Asks to be remembered to Cuzen Ann [Mrs. Eyre?].

 

70x91.89         bill, Manuel Eyre bought of T.J. & A.R. Perkins, Aug.-Dec. 1837: a long lest, including hose, gloves, quilling, handkerchiefs, various textiles, cravats, spools of cotton, ribbon, cord, tape, needles and pins, buttons, silk flags and silk flag handkerchief, toweling, shirts, infants socks, ruffles, silk vesting, edging, etc.

 

70x91.88         bill, Manuel Eyre bought of Hamilton & Taylor, Philadelphia, Nov. 1, 1837: carpet and binding.

 

70x92.3           bill, Manuel Eyre bought of Hamilton & Taylor, Philadelphia, Nov. 1 and Dec. 12, 1837: carpet and binding.

 

70x91.90         bill, Manuel Eyre bought of Enoch Allen, Philadelphia, Jan. 1, 1839: making and repairing men’s clothing items (suspenders, various kinds of coats [hunting, frock, and just “coat”], pants, wrapper, vest, stock, jackets), also various kinds of textiles. 

As noted, the clothing items were made for Manuel, Dickerson, or Wilson Eyre, sons of Manuel Eyre, Jr. 

 

70x91.91         account book: Manuel Eyre, in account with John Bringhurst, drug and chemical store, Philadelphia, 1840; paid March 1841.  Eyre bought a wide variety of items, including indelible ink, injube paste, pearl barley, white wax, rose water, vanilla beans, polishing liquid, Epsom salts, washing soda, Williamson’s soap, sulphuric acid, oat meal, camphor, and other such items.

 

70x91.92         account book: Miss Eyre, in account with T.J. & A.R. Perkins, 1841, paid Feb. 1842.  Miss Eyre purchased various textiles (silk, linen lawn, muslin, merino, etc.), ribbon, gloves, cravats, an umbrella, braid, buttons, jackets, edging, etc.

 

 

Folder 2: Deed:

 

97x33.110       Deed, Philip Warner, cabinetmaker of Maryland, and his wife to Manuel Eyre of Northern Liberties, Philadelphia.  For parcel of land in Northern Liberties.  Dated 1780. 

                                    The deed has not been completed and has not been signed.  Because of the date, this obviously pertains to Manuel Eyre, Sr.

                                    On vellum.