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: Hamilton & Hood.
Title: Financial documents
Dates: 1811-1832
Call No.: Doc. 315
Acc. No.: [various – see detailed
description]
Quantity: 53 items
Location: 31 C 2
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Hamilton & Hood was a Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, firm of grocers and wine merchants in the early 19th
century. John Hamilton and John Hood
were the proprietors. Their store was
located on Market Street.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Consists of bills, receipts, orders, and bank drafts
received by Hamilton & Hood or by John Hamilton. Such items as soap, candles, bed cords, plow
lines, sweeping brushes, nails, bottles, snuff, scales, and wood were purchased
by Hamilton & Hood from other Philadelphia merchants. Most of the orders in the collection are from
Samuel G. Osborn of Head of Chester, Maryland, for coffee, tea, sugar,
chocolate, etc. The merchandise was sent
through the Smyrna packet, a regular method of shipment from Philadelphia to
Maryland and Delaware. Two drafts from
the Bank of New Castle and a Philadelphia bank are also included. In addition, there are bills made out to John
Hamilton from craftsmen for such work as building a hearth, wallpapering, and
laying "entry floor cloth."
John Huneker asked that his bill be settled by receiving credit for
chairs.
ORGANIZATION
Bills and receipts are in folder 1, and letters are
in folder 2. Items are in chronological
order within each folder.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Many
of the items were purchased from Earl Moore.
RELATED MATERIALS
The
Downs Collection holds other bills send to other Mr. Hamiltons. Some of those might belong with this small
group, but there is not enough evidence to make a definitive decision. There were a number of Hamiltons, and several
John Hamiltons, living in Philadelphia at this time.
Special
Collections of the University of Delaware Library holds a small collection of
Hamilton and Hood papers (collection no. 519).
The
Historical Society of Pennsylvania holds a collection of Hamilton and Hood
papers (no. 1427).
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Hamilton, John.
Osborn, Samuel G. (Samuel Groom), 1778-1837.
Hood, John.
Topics:
Business records - Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia.
Wholesale trade - History - 19th century.
Candles.
Cordage.
Beverages.
Soap.
Dwellings - Maintenance and repair.
Grocery trade - Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.
Philadelphia (Pa.) - Commerce.
Bills of sale.
Orders.
Receipts.
Drafts (financial).
Merchants.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 31 C
2
Folder 1 of 2:
Bills and receipts, in chronological order
85x30.29 bill, John Hamilton bought of Taylor
& Wright, Feb.-June 1811: brushes.
76x475 bill,
John Hamilton bought of Harris & Etting, May 24, 1811: tea.
85x30.30 bill, John Hamilton bought of Taylor
& Wright, June 25, 1811: sweeps [brooms].
85x30.31 order to John Hamilton from John
Huneker, Philadelphia, June 25, 1812: for wine, sugar, candles. Asks for credit for chairs and arm chairs.
74x380.2 “sales for account Mr. John Hamilton by
F. Montmollin & S. Moses, auctioneers, July 29, 1813”: chests of tea.
85x30.33 bill, John Hamilton bought of Wm.
Arentrue, July 1, 1814: soap.
85x30.32 bill, John Hamilton bought of John
Porter & Son, Philadelphia, July 14, 1814: sweeping brushes and handles.
76x476 bill, John Hamilton bought of Miller
& Van Beuren, Philadelphia, July 21, 1814: Baltimore chocolate.
76x477 bill, John Hamilton bought of Samuel
Laven & Co., Aug. 23, 1814: tea and soap.
85x29.1 bill, John Hamilton bought of E.
& J. Dallett, January-August, 1814: candles.
85x30.34 bill, John Hamilton bought of E. &
J. Dallett, Dec. 1814-March 1815: candles.
76x478 bill, John Hamilton bought of Hugh Cooper,
Philadelphia, July 25, 1815: Spanish indigo.
85x30.35 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Benjamin & David Reeves, Philadelphia, Nov. 27, 1817: nails.
85x30.38a bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of John
Barnes, Philadelphia, Feb. 14, 1818: pair of scales.
76x472 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Daniel Smith, Philadelphia, March 5, 1818: coffee.
74x387.2 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
T.W. Dyott, Philadelphia, March 25, 1818: window glass.
76x473 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Samuel B. Morris, Philadelphia, May 8, 1818: muscarado sugar.
85x30.37 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of Wm.
Cooke, Philadelphia, May 11, 1818: Scotch snuff.
87x145 receipted bill: Hamilton & Hood
paid the Union Line for freight on chests of Bohea tea shipped on the schooner Pocahontas, May 22, 1818
76x474 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
John Coulter, Philadelphia, Aug. 7, 1818: brown sugar.
85x30.36 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
John W. Rehn, April-Sept. 1818: porter, flour.
85x30.2 bill, Mr. Hamilton owes to John
Kempton, for bricks, laying hearth, lime, sand, scales, and painting at the
store, Oct. 5, 1818.
85x30.3 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Francis Kilpatrick, Oct. 12, 1818: candles.
85x30.4 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
E. & J. Dallets, Dec. 3, 1818: molded candles and a keg of suet.
85x30.5-6 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Alexander Cook, Dec. 4, 1818: molded candles and soap. [two bills for same purchase]
85x30.38b bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Grants & Stone, Philadelphia, Dec. 21, 1818: a barrel of cam wood
85x30.39 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Gavin Hamilton, Philadelphia, Oct. 20, 1820: Scotch snuff.
85x30.1 receipt, Joseph He[illegible],
Pottsgrove, received money from Mrs. Hood, by hands of Andrew Hemphill, for
quarrying stone for her husband in Limerick, Dec. 29, 1821[?]. Joseph signed the receipt with his mark.
85x30.7 bill, John M. Hood bought of George
D. Wetherill & Co., Philadelphia, Jan. 18, 1822: paint supplies: copal
varnish, Spanish brown, white lead.
85x30.28, 41 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of Michael
Weaver, April-Nov. 1822 and April 26, 1822: bed cords, plow lines, oakum,
traces.
85x30.11 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Francis Kilpatrick, May 2, 1822: candles and soap.
85x30.40 bill, Hamilton & Hood bought of
Moody Weyman & Co., Philadelphia, May 10, 1822: castile soap.
85x30.8 bill, John Hamilton bought of John
Van Meter, April 9, 1823: wallpaper and border, plus charges for hanging them.
85x30.9 bill, John Hamilton had George Taylor
do work for him, Feb.–Nov. 1824: bottoming boiler, repairs to coffee pot and
roaster, sundry repairs.
85x30.10 bill, John Hamilton bought of J.
Macauley, Philadelphia, May 4, 1825: entry floor cloth and laying it.
Folder 2 of 2: Letters:
85x30.13 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, Dec. 3[?], 1817 [postmarked Dec.
4]. Orders molasses and coffee. Have the feathers been sold? Mentions several men who have bought his
feathers in the past.
[Head of Chester was the
original name of Millington, Maryland, which is on the Chester River.]
85x30.12 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, Dec. 17, 1817. Requests that brown sugar, loaf sugar,
coffee, and tea be sent him by the Smyrna Packet. Is sending them feathers.
85x30.17 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, May 7, 1818. Has sent feathers and orders lump sugar. Is ordering lawn from James & P. Wilmer,
which can be sent with the sugar.
85x30.15 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of Chester,
to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, June 5, 1818. Coffee has not arrived. Also orders brass cocks and tea.
85x30.19 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, June 17, 1818. Encloses drafts for payments. Orders brown sugar (which he hopes will be
better than last sent), coffee, molasses, rice, chocolate, pepper, scythe
stones, porter, whiskey, sugar, brown soap.
85x30.16 letter, Wm. Newman & Co., Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, June 28, 1818. Encloses a draft from Masden & Bunker and
dollars of Smyrna paper. Orders brown
sugar and a box of chocolate.
85x30.18 letter, Wm. Newman &Co., Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, June 29, 1818. Encloses money.
85x30.25 letter, Eben. Blackinston, Comml. Bank
of Delaware, Smyrna, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, July 9, 1818. About exchange of money.
85x30.14 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, Sept. 5, 1818. Orders lump sugar and coffee. Will send feathers next week.
58x1 letter, Samuel L. Howell, Fancy
Hill, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, May 20, 1819. Encloses money and a check and needs more
time to pay the rest.
58x2 letter, Samuel L. Howell, Fancy
Hill, [endorsed Fancy Hill Fishery], to
Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, May 18, 1820. About a debt he owes, which is hard to pay
because of the poor prices received this fishing season.
[The Fancy Hill Fishery was
started by Joshua Ladd Howell in 1793 and was located in New Jersey. After his death in 1818, it was run by his
son Dr. Samuel Ladd Howell 1818-1822.
Shad fishing was the chief order of business.]
85x30.26 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, May 27, 1820. Orders sugar and coffee. Please return empty feather bags as have more
to send.
85x30.27 letter, Samuel G. Osborn, Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, Jan. 7, 1822. Needs twine.
Please send to Robert Keddy in Wilmington.
85x30.24 letter, Ganett Garrettson & Co., Head
of Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, Jan. 12, 1822. Orders twine, to be sent by stage.
85x30.22 letter, Jackson & Peacock Head of
Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, Jan. 29, 1822. Encloses a draft.
85x30.23 letter, G. Garrettson & Co., Head
of Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, July 6, 1826. Orders sherry, lemons, oranges, raisins, and
almonds[?].
85x30.21 letter, G. Garrettson & Co., Head
of Chester, to Hamilton & Hood, Philadelphia, Aug. 29, 1826. Has the latest shipment of feathers by the
Smyrna packet arrived?
85x30.20 letter, John Cummins, Smyrna, to John
M. Hood, Philadelphia, Oct. 1, 1832.
Returning timothy seed because it cost too much.