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:         Cobb, J. H. (Jonathan Holmes), 1799-1882                          

Title:               Papers

Dates:             1820-1878

Call No.:         Col. 980         

Acc. No.:        2017x87

Quantity:        2 boxes, oversize 3 folders

Location:        39 G 1 and map case 3, drawer 8

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Jonathan Holmes Cobb of Dedham, Massachusetts, was a lawyer, a promoter of the American silk industry, an author, a bank officer (Dedham Institution for Savings, still in business), and a town officer, among other things.  He was born in Sharon, Massachusetts, in 1799, the son of Syble Holmes and Jonathan Cobb (1770-1845).  He graduated from Harvard College in 1817.  He married Sophia Doggett (1805-1878, daughter of John Doggett), and they had several children, including daughters Abby and Isabelle.   Cobb retired as register of probate in Dedham in 1879 and died in 1882.  

 

During the early decades of the 1800s, many U.S. speculators tried investing in the silk industry, or sericulture. There were no major success stories, but a rush ensued when a new variety of mulberry, moris multicaulis, was introduced from China around 1830. Mulberry is the only food eaten by the silkworms which produce the filament that is converted to silk thread. This new variety of mulberry enjoyed more rapid growth and larger leaves. Seedlings of the new variety ranged from $4 per hundred in 1834 to $10 in 1835 and $30 per hundred in 1836. The sericulture speculation craze followed a similar pattern to the land speculation boom during this same time period.

 

Despite the new variety of mulberry, and its popularity and planting in nurseries and farms all across New England and into the Midwest, the mulberry tree was simply not hardy enough for the U.S. In addition, growers found that the production of the cocoons was enormously labor intensive, and not suitable for the new manufacturing methods.  In addition, there were few successful domestic silk weavers, and the price of shipping raw silk abroad to be woven increased costs beyond profitability. The mulberry tree craze, along with the land speculation of the time, continued until the economic Panic of 1837. Sericulturists who survived the panic suffered a harsh winter in 1839 that destroyed many trees. By 1840 trees could not be sold at any price. Finally, a serious blight in 1844 impacted nearly all the trees still in cultivation, driving out the remaining growers.

 

One of the participants in the sericulture craze was Jonathan Holmes (J.H.) Cobb, of Massachusetts. Cobb, educated as a lawyer and working as a newspaper editor when the interest in raising silkworms began, ventured into both the farming and selling of mulberry trees, as well as the production and sales of silkworms.  Cobb authored a popular book on the subject, A Manual Containing Information Respecting the Growth of the Mulberry Tree, with Suitable Directions for the Culture of Silk (Cobb’s Silk Manual), copyrighted in 1831 (with a fourth edition in 1839) that promoted the new moris multicaulis variety of mulberry. While Cobb tried his hand in both tree farming and silkworm production, like all the sericulture speculators of his time he met with failure in the U.S. silk industry.

 

 

Important Dates:

 

1799                Jonathan Holmes Cobb born in Sharon, MA.

 

1813-1817       Studies law at Harvard, graduates 1817.

 

1820                Moves to Dedham, starts a law practice.

Purchases a Dedham newspaper, becomes editor.

 

1821                Marries Sophia Doggett.

 

1827                Begins active interest in sericulture and mulberry tree planting.

 

1830                Sells mulberry trees via ads in the Dedham Patriot newspaper.

                        Begins lecturing on sericulture.

 

1831                Contracts with Martin Gay, for Gay to provide funding for Cobb’s silk business.

 

1834                Appointed register of probate in Dedham.

 

1835                Appointed superintendent of the New England Silk Company.

 

1836                New England Silk Company factory building cornerstone set.

Cobb gives up his shares of the company in return for the proceeds of future tree sales. He continues as an employee, develops tree farm to sell trees.

 

1837                U.S. economic panic ensues shortly after President Van Buren takes office, resulting in widespread bank closures and several years of economic depression.

 

1839                Cobb enters partnership in Potomac Silk Company, Maryland.

Mulberry tree craze ‘bubble’ bursts. Severe winter destroys many trees.

 

1840                Cobb declares bankruptcy.

 

1845                New England Silk Company factory building burns down.

 

1879                Cobb retires from register of probate office.

 

1882                Cobb dies.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Collection is chiefly about sericulture and includes account books, some letters about sericulture and about publishing Cobb’s Silk Manual, copies of lectures given by Cobb, tickets to his lectures, copies of his book and other books about sericulture, inventories, and other business papers pertaining to Cobb’s silk factory, the New England Silk Company, and the Potomac Silk Company.  One of the ledgers (acc. 2017x87.23) includes inventory of factory equipment and gives the names of workers.  Two copies of the list of items placed under the cornerstone of the New England Silk Company’s factory are found.  (Items included were cocoons, sewing silk, gimp, webbing, several newspapers, etc.)  Included with the items about publishing Cobb’s Silk Manual is a rusted metal plate for printing the engravings.

 

This collection’s importance lies in its illustration of the widespread textile sericulture craze of the 1830s. Despite his assumed expertise in the field based on the publication of his Silk Manual, Cobb failed like virtually all the sericulturists in the U.S. of the time. His papers are concentrated in the time period of the sericulture fad.

 

The daybook (acc. 2017x87.22) includes entries Cobb’s law business; for the silk business; for rent collected from boarders, including Horace Mann (who lived in Dedham, Mass., for a time after completing his law education); genealogy notes about Cobb’s grandparents; and phrenological readings of members of the Cobb family.  (Phrenology was a popular pseudo-scientific study in the 19th century that claimed to be able to predict a person’s moral and intellectual traits based on interpreting the bumps and indentations of the skull.) 

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

Initial arrangement and original finding aid were prepared by Melinda McGee of the American Textile History Museum.  Her finding aid was revised and expanded in October 2017.

 

Series Descriptions:

 

Organization and Administration, 1831-1836.

Includes partnership agreements and letters of intent to form a company.

 

Executive, 1831-1843.

Includes correspondence, lectures, book leaves, and miscellaneous writings.

 

Financial, 1820-1869.

Includes ledgers, balance sheets and accounts payable.

 

Sales and Donations, 1833-1839, 1861.

Includes ads, receipts and orders for books, plus silk and tree orders and receipts.

 

Labor, 1832, 1837.

Includes receipts for pay, and a work log.

 

Production, 1829, 1838.

Includes production plans and managers reports.

 

Miscellany, 1831, 1916.

Includes ticket stub, factory histories, a clipping, an invitation, a printer’s plate, and an address label.

 

Related Companies, 1839.

Includes documents related to the Potomac Silk Company, MD.

 

Publications.

 

Oversize materials.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

 

Gift of American Textile History Museum, Lowell, Massachusetts, which received the papers from Ruth Kiemle.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS: 

 

The American Textile History Museum had removed textile samples, threads, spools with thread, a sewing kit, and a few other textile items to its Textile Collection; these items were transferred to the Winterthur Museum collection, accession number 2017.0019.102.001-.011a-g.

 

Records of John Doggett (1780-1857) are in Col. 330 in this repository.  John Doggett was the father of Sophia Doggett, the wife of Jonathan Holmes Cobb.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Cobb family.

            Boynton, Enoch.

            Fowler, L. N. (Lorenzo Niles), 1811-1896.

            Orrell, Edward K., circa 1804-1871.

 

Topics:

            New England Silk Company.

            Potomac Silk Company.

            Wabash and Erie Canal (Ind. and Ohio)

            Commercial correspondence.

Cornerstone laying - Massachusetts - Dedham.

Debt.

Factories - Employees.

Factories - Massachusetts - Dedham.

Inventories - Massachusetts - Dedham.

Lawyers - Massachusetts - Dedham.

            Lectures and lecturing.

            Mulberry.

            Phrenology.

            Practice of law - Massachusetts - Dedham.

            Printing plates.

            Publishers and publishing.

            Sericulture - United States.

            Silk industry - Massachusetts - Dedham.

            Tintype.

            Wages - Silk industry.

Wallpaper – Specimens.

Advertisements - Exhibitions.

Advertisements - Reed makers.

Advertisements - Thread.

Lectures.

Tickets.

 

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location:  39 G 1 and map case 3, drawer 8

 

 

 

Box 1:

 

Organization & Administration:

Folder 1: Legal and Property

 

             .1        Partnership agreement, August 19, 1831, between J. H. Cobb and Martin Gay. Gay to provide additional capital and act as a selling agent for Cobb, who intends to expand his manufacturing.

 

            .2         Formal indenturing agreement to form The New England Silk Company, May 6, 1835. Lists all shareholders on page 4.

           

            .3         Letter of intent to start The New England Silk Company, May 20, 1835. Lists shareholders and their shares. Designates J. H. Cobb as superintendent.   

 

            .4         Notice from Board of Directors, April 12, 1836, that The New England Silk Company intends to purchase an acre of land in Dedham to build their factory.

 

            .5         envelope marked “Bills paid” [now empty]

 

 

Executive:

Folder 2: Correspondence, 1831-1843.

 

.6         October 7, 1831. From Carter, Hendee & Co., publisher of book by J. H. Cobb, regarding expenses.

 

            .7a-b    April 10, 1833. From the U.S. House of Representatives to J. H. Cobb, about  Cobb’s book on silk. Attached is a resolution from the House to the Secretary of the Treasury authorizing purchase of 2000 copies of Cobb’s book.

 

            .8         July 20, 1833. From J. H. Cobb to state governors with complimentary copies of Cobb’s book, and an offer to sell more copies if wanted.

 

            .9         February 12, 1835. From H. Huxley & Co., Agri. Seedmen, New York, seeking permission to republish Cobb’s book.

           

            .10       August 15, 1837. From J. H. Cobb to Charles Kerr of the House of Fletcher Alexander & Co. of London regarding paying a debt.

 

            .11       October 22, 1843. From H. Silessinger to J. H. Cobb, a thank you note for receipt of Cobb’s book as a gift.

 

Folder 3: Correspondence, 1837-1838.

 

.12       Silk Business Records: Letter book, J. H. Cobb, 1837.  Copies of correspondence sent to various recipients. January 20, 1837-June 5, 1838.

 

Folder 4: Lectures, no date. In unlined notebooks with metal wire bindings.

 

            ,13       ‘Lecture 1: On the History of Silk & the importance of its culture in the United States.’

           

            ,14       ‘Lecture 2: On silk worms and the art of rearing them.’

           

            .15       ‘Lecture 3: On the culture of the mulberry tree.’

 

            .16       ‘Lecture 4th: On the art of reeling and manufacturing silk.’

 

Folder 5: Papers related to writing, 1831-1839.              

           

            .17       Book leaves, pages 13-24, from Cobb’s book ‘A Manual Containing Information respecting the growth of the mulberry tree with Suitable Directions for the Culture of Silk,’ 1831.  [printed material]

 

            .18       Copyright, 1839. For Cobb’s book, from the Massachusetts District Clerk Francis Bassett.  [printed form]

 

            .19       Partial report on silkworms, no date. Appears to be piece of book manuscript.

 

            .20a-b  Miscellaneous writings, no date. Two pages, one numbered ‘6’ and one ‘10’.  ‘6’ discusses plants dying and possible causes. ‘10’ describes Cobb merging his work with the New England Silk Company.

 

Folder 6: Cornerstone laying

 

            .21a-b  List of items placed under building cornerstone, June 1, 1836, for the New England Silk Company’s factory in Dedham.  Two copies.

 

 

Financial:

Folder 7: Daybook, 1820-1869, with genealogy and phrenological readings

 

.22       Daybook, October 12, 1820 thru 1869. Signed Jonathan H. Cobb.  Written on spine: Day Book.  With booksellers label: Samuel West, Providence.

 

            Cobb’s daybook records payments for a variety of goods and services.  Many of the entries are related to his law business, such as “attending at the gaol examining witnesses,” (Jan. 16, 1822), although a number of those entries do not contain much information about the cases.  He also records sales of turkeys, corn, singing books and newspapers; charges for use of his horse and chaise; and charges for boarding people, including Horace Mann.  Some of the entries relate to the silk business.

 

The back of the daybook contains a section titled ‘My Grandparents’ with genealogy information, as well as reports on the ‘Phrenological examinations’ of Cobb by L. Jones on July 28, 1836, and of the Cobb family by L. N. Fowler on July 12, 1838. Of special note are rent collections from Horace Mann, who was a boarder, see April 23, 1823.

 

Folder 8: Ledger, 1831-1835, 1842-1843, 1854.

 

            .23       labels on spine: Journal; Johnathan H. Cobb, Silk, 1831.

 

            Accounts for Cobb’s silk business, 1831-1835, with a page of entries dated 1842-1843.  He records purchases of cocoons, fringe, tools; renting a shop; hiring workers (and often mentioning what the person did, such as weaving or dyeing), selling trees, and other activities.  Periodically are found inventories of machinery belonging to the silk factory (see page 9; at end of volume is inventory of machinery transferred to New England Silk Company).  Also mentioned are goods delivered to people to be sold; see especially the invoice of goods sent to New York by Lemuel Cobb on March 25, 1834, which included fringe and gimp.  On the page headed January 13th, 1835, is a note about the location of looms, most of which were placed with women.

 

            The page headed Sept. 4, 1854, mentions the Gas Company’s books. 

 

            Two items are laid into the volume: a short article about the sale of morus [sic] multicaulis trees; and part of a broadside advertising for laborers to work on the Wabash and Erie Canal.

           

 

Folder 9: Inventory of property and debts, January 1, 1836.

 

            .24   the inventory of property includes real estate, shares in silk companies and the Masonic hall, notes (money due Cobb), the printing plates for his book, furniture, books, tools, meeting house pew, and some cash.  The list of debts includes a name and amount.

 

 

Folder 10: Ledger for New England Silk Co., “January 1st, 1836 to 1840, Inventory of property, 1836 & 1840,”  but the dates are really 1836-1838 and 1842.

 

            .25   Ledger which records expenses of the New England Silk Co., 1836-1838.  The volume opens with an inventory of property and debts, almost identical to acc. 2017x87.24 (see folder 9).  Although the volume is supposed to end with “another list,” that seems to be no longer extant, perhaps lost when the book covers were removed.  The volume now ends with accounts of raw silk delivered to the machinery, invoices of manufactured silk delivered from factory, and accounts of Calcutta spun silk received.  A note dated 1842 is about a deed to property in New Hampshire.

 

 

Folder 11:   Accounts payable, 1837-1838.

 

            .26   list of notes given for debts, including to whom given, where payable, time, amount, and when payable.

 

 

Sales:

Folder 12a: Book sales materials, 1838.

 

            .27a-b  Advertisement/solicitation: “Prospectus of Cobb’s Silk Manual, Dedham, Mass., Nov. 23, 1838,” advertising Cobb’s book; allowed subscribers to sign up to purchase copies of Cobb’s book. 

                        Acc. .27a has seventeen names on it, including men in Boston, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain, Mass.; Baltimore, Md.; Wilmington, Del.; Beaver City, Penn.; Burlington, N.J.; and other places.

                        Acc. 27b has fifteen names on it, including men from Washington, D.C., Frederick, Caroline County, and Baltimore, Md.; Boston; Ohio, Loudoun County, Virginia, etc. [printed forms]

 

            .28       Receipt, 10 April 1861, C. C. Felton, Harvard College, acknowledges receiving a copy of Cobb’s book.  Also signed by librarian John Langdon Sibley.

 

            .29       List of names and number of book copies, no date. Includes names from NY, VA, Washington, D.C., and NC.

 

 

Folder 12b: Printer’s plate, ca. 1831.

 

            .52       Printer’s plate, used for illustrations in Cobb’s books: ‘A manual containing information respecting the growth of the Mulberry tree…’ and ‘Cobb’s Silk Manual.’

 

            Note: the plate is rusted and scratched, so the engravings are not very clear.

 

 

Box 2:

 

Sales: 

Folder 13: Tree and silk sales materials, 1833-1839.

 

.30       Silk orders, August 1833, for William Hancock, mentioning yardage and colors.  Written on back of billhead for Upholstery Warehouse, nos. 37 to 49 Cornhill, 182- or 1830-, illustrated with picture of Grecian style sofa.

 

            .31       Silk order, 1834, from Philo Fisher, Franklin, April 7, 1834, requesting warp threads.

           

            .32       Receipt signed C. P. Blaney, Boston, Aug. 22, 1838: A. A.[?] Lawrence consigned raw silk to Cobb, for manufacture.

 

            .33       “Memo of Monies paid to and silk rec’d from J. H. Cobb.”  With letter: from A.A.L., regarding advances and receipts.

 

            .34       Memo of agreement, May 4, 1839. Cobb agrees to sell E. T. O’Neil of Newton Academy, Bucks County, Penn., between 100,000 and 300,000 mulberry trees.  The agreement mentions that Cobb is growing the trees in Charles County, Maryland.

           

            .35a-c  printed notice: ‘Short Practical Instructions for rearing SILK WORMS.’ Sericulture instructions, no date.   Acc. .35b has two notices on one sheet.

 

 

Labor:

Folder 14: pay receipts, work log

 

            .36       Receipt for pay, 1832, for Parthenia Humphreys. (work performed not specified)

 

            .37       Receipt for pay, 1832, for Abigail Bowditch. (work performed not specified)

 

            .38a-b  Work log, 1837. List of people, almost all of whom were women, and when they would like to start work.  Place of residence frequently given.  John Howard of the Hollingsworth Paper Mills indicated he would like to keep a boarding house.

 

 

Production:

Folder 15:      

 

            .39       Production plan, 1829.  This begins with “one lb. of spun or elled silk is worth $8 in France, 6 or 7 here.”  Includes notes on how many pounds of leaves are needed to support a pound of cocoons, the quality of the soil needed to grow mulberry trees, etc.

 

            .40a-d  Managers reports, Oct. 15, 22, and 27, and Nov. 7, 1838, giving amounts of silk delivered and dyed.  Written on back of copies of printed “Advertisement: Superior American Sewing Silk,” signed J.H. Cobb.  (ad printed on yellow paper);

                        For report of Oct 8, 1838 and full advertisement, see acc. 2017x87.73

 

            .41       “Calculation for 100,000 silk worms,” no date; with plan for layout of frames, and supply list, including 10 attendants, thermometers, wood stoves, 70,000 pounds of leaves, etc.

 

 

Related Companies:

Folder 16:

 

            .50       Indenture, May 14, 1839. Cobb hired by Edmund Munroe and Samuel B. Barrell, both of Boston, to raise mulberry trees for an estate, part of “Mason’s enlargement,” in Maryland along the Potomac.  Abraham B. Waller of Washington, D.C., was a co-owner of the same tract of land.

 

            .51       Description of the Potomac Silk Company, no date but circa 1839.  The company was in Charles County, Maryland.  The direction of the company was by J.H. Cobb.

 

 

Miscellany:

Folder 17:

 

            .42a-c  Three printed tickets, no date, to Silk Exhibition, No. 5, Tremont House.  Printed by H. & W.H. Mann, Dedham.  Acc. .87c is numbered 140 and was issued to Dr. J. Spooner; the other two tickets are not numbered and were not issued to anyone.

 

            .43       History of ‘The Silk Mill at Dedham, Mass.’, no date, attributed to Abby (here spelled Abbie) Cobb Guild, daughter of Jonathan Holmes Cobb, born 1837. 

 

            .44a-c  History of the Silk Factory at Dedham, 1916. Three-page history by Isabelle F. French [Isabelle Frances Cobb French, Mrs. Frederic Halverson French, daughter of Jonathan Holmes Cobb, born 1835]

 

            .45a-b  Two cards to accompany silk samples, no date for cards, but one silk sample was from 1829-1840, and the other from 1831-1836.  The silk samples are no longer with the cards.

 

            .46       Address label, no date, of Miss Isabel Cobb French, Dedham.

 

            .47       Invitation, May 29, no year, to a luncheon and afternoon tea in Orleans, Mass., on card decorated with a view of “The Cape Cod Kitchen.”  On back:  Handwritten notes about Cobb and mulberry trees, and also the name Alice Hodgden.

 

            .48       Clipping, no date, about carpets. Mentions John Doggett & Co. of Boston, Mrs. J.H. (Sophia Doggett) Cobb’s father’s firm.

 

            .49       Advertisement: “Exhibition. The Growth and Manufacture of Silk, in the State of Massachusetts, with a newly improved raw-silk Drawing Mill in operation,” arranged by Enoch Boynton, and this copy is dated Boston, Jan. 21, 1830.  The ad was printed by W. & J. Gilman of Newburyport.

 

            .53       tintype of Jonathan Holmes Cobb

 

            .54a-b  two printed tickets to lectures, “admit the bearer,” signed by J.H. Cobb

 

            .55       three printed tickets to “Lecture on the Culture and Manufacture of Silk, by J. H. Cobb,” no date

 

.56       printed label” Bead Silk, manufactured by J. H. Cobb, Dedham, Ms. [sic]

 

.57       printed advertising notice: “Winding Mill for Silk, J. H. Cobb, Dedham, Mass., July, 1829,” discussing Cobb’s winding mill, price $50

 

.58       Advertisement: Edward Orrell, Brass, Steel and Cane Reed Maker, and harness knitter, Providence, R.I., illustrated with images for Food, Raiment, Distribution: farmer plowing, male weaver at work, and sailing ship and steamboat;

            On back: an account, with cash, silk and handkerchief on the debit side and various credits

            [genealogy note: Edward K, Orrell, born circa 1804 in England, died 1871 in New York; was reed maker in Providence; listed there in 1830 census]

 

.59       small portfolio/folder which may have held the tickets and other small items in this folder

 

            .60       advertisement: J. H. Cobb advertises a course of lectures in the Culture and Manufacture of Silk, February 1831

 

 

Publications:

Folder 18: by Jonathan Holmes Cobb

 

            .61       A Manual Containing Information Respecting the Growth of the Mulberry Tree, with Suitable Directions for the Culture of Silk, in three parts. (Boston: Carter, Hendee and Babcock, 1831;  [Boston Classic Press: I. R. Butts])

                        Inscribed on front flyleaf: Mrs. Geo. A. Guild, Dedham, Mass.; Isabel C. French, 1935.  [both these women were daughters of J.H. Cobb]

 

            .62       A Manual Containing Information Respecting the Growth of the Mulberry Tree, with Suitable Directions for the Culture of Silk, in three parts. (Boston: Weeks, Jordan and Company, 1839; Tuttle, Dennett & Chisholm, printers)

                                    Inscribed inside front cover: Mrs. Isabelle F. French, Dedham, Mass.  “On page 152 may be found a description of one of the first silk factories in the United States & build by J. H. Cobb in June 1836.  First and smaller editions published in 1833.”

                                    Glued on front flyleaf: ticket to lecture on the culture and manufacture of silk, by J. H. Cobb.

                                    Inscribed on half-title page: Mrs. Isabelle F. French, Nashville, Tenn., 1870.

                                    Pasted on back flyleaf: obituary of Edmund Golding of Mansfield, [Conn.]; Golding was involved in silk business, and J. H. Cobb is mentioned in the obituary.

                                    Pasted inside back cover: death notice of Edmund Golding, dated April 1, 1854.

                                    Stamped on front cover: Cobb’s Silk Manual

 

Folder 19: Dedham Institution for Savings. 

           

            .63       Dedham Institution for Savings.  Centenary, March 19, 1931.  (Dedham, Mass.: the bank, 1931).

                                    Note: J.H. Cobb was the first treasurer of the bank, and this book includes a portrait of him and a photo of his house.

 

Folder 20: American Silk Grower …

 

            .64-.65             The American Silk Grower and Farmer’s Manual, vol. 1, no. 2 (August 1838) and no. 8 (February 1839).

                                    Also has title: The Silk Grower and Farmer’s Manual

 

Folder 21: Brownell and Kenrick

 

            .66       Brownell, A.  Observations on the Cultivation of Silk, no publisher, no date.

 

            .67a-b  Kenrick, William.  Silk, and the Chinese Mulberry, or Morus Multicaulis.  (Boston: Tuttle and Weeks, 1834).

                        The second copy is inscribed: J.H. Cobb, Esq., with the respects of the author.

 

Folder 22: Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

            .68       An Act to encourage the Reeling of Silk.  House, no. 22, 1835.  Reported by the Committee on Agriculture.

                        Stamped several times: Jonathan H. Cobb.

 

            .69       An Act for the encouragement of the culture of Silk.  House, no. 22, 1836. 

 

Folder 23: New England Silk Company

 

            .70       Memorial of the New England Silk Company.  To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, March 1836. 

                        At head of title: Senate, no. 76.

                        J. H. Cobb was among those whose name appears at the end of this memorial.

 

 

Folder 24: Silk Association of America

 

            .71       Sixth annual report, Wed., May 8, 1878.

                                    On front cover, someone, perhaps Cobb, listed expenditures on catalogues and commencement dinners.

 

 

Folder 25: periodical

 

            .72       Fessenden’s Practical Farmer, and Silk Manual.  Vol. 1, no. 1, 3-12; v. 2, no. 1-5.

                                    Many of the issues are inscribed with the name J. H. Cobb.

                                    The issues have been tied together and have wallpaper covers.

 

 

Folder 26: Labels

 

            Mounted labels from an exhibit at the American Textile History Museum, including reproduction of the tintype of Cobb (.53) and the advertisement for Boynton’s exhibition (.49).

 

 

Folder 27: photocopies of newspaper articles

 

            Original newspapers are in oversize box

 

 

Oversize materials, in map case

 

Folder 28: manager’s report and advertisements

 

            .73       Manager’s report, Oct. 8, 1838, on back of “Advertisement: Superior American Sewing Silk,” signed J.H. Cobb.  (ad printed on yellow paper);

                        For additional manager’s reports, see 2017x87.40; those are also written on the back of this advertisement, but cut down so none of those have the full text on the back

 

            .74       advertisement: “One Million Italian or White Mulberry Trees, and 20 Thousand Morus Multicauli or Chinese Mulberrytree [sic].”   Signed Brown & Lee, East-Granby, (Conn.) Sept. 10th, 1836.

 

 

Folder 29: box lid

 

            .75       lid to box which once held Superior Quality Ladies’ Pure Linen Cambric Hkfs. [handkerchiefs], 2d half 19th century, 30x30 cm.

                        Written on sides: mourning.

                        Picture on lid: priest reading to four girls, with bookcase in background.

 

 

Folder 30: newspapers (see folder 27 for photocopies of newspapers)

 

            .76       Philadelphia Price Current, and Commercial Advertiser, Saturday morning, July 28, 1832 (vol. III, no. 60).

                        With notice “American Manufactured Silk,” signed J.H. Cobb, in second column, just below the fold.  Lists kinds of silk goods and thread available from Cobb.

 

            .77       The United States Gazette, Philadelphia, Wednesday morning,January 4, 1843 (vol. 61, no. 14,659).

                                    With notice: “New England Silk Company,” bottom of fifth column.  The company announced it was prepared to manufacture sewing silk.

 

            [no number]     “First N.E. Industrial Exhibit 89 Years Ago,” probably a Boston newspaper, August 1926.  Brittle – use photocopy in folder 27.

 

            [no number]     “The Silken Reputation of America Grows Apace,” Boston Evening Transcript, Feb. 7, 1923.  Brittle – use photocopy in folder 27.