Abraham Bell and Co. was a firm of Quaker shipping and commission merchants in New York City. It had trading contacts in Belfast and Dublin, Ireland, and Liverpool and London, England, as well as in the United States. Although the firm imported and exported a variety of commodities, cotton appears to have been its mainstay. During the potato famine of the 1840s, Bell transported thousands of immigrants from Ireland. In 1844, the company name changed to Abraham Bell and Son.

Abraham Bell was born in 1813 and appears to have taken charge of the firm around 1835. While the earliest listing of the firm in New York city directories is 1804-1805, in 1835 the company location moved to 117 Fulton, which was also Bell's home. Later, the Bells resided in Yonkers, New York, and had another home at Narragansett Pier, Rhode Island.

Little is know about the personal lives of the Bells. The collection may contain papers from different branches of the family, as some Bells lived in Yonkers while others lived in Bayside. Eliza Bell lived in Bayside, was born in 1813, and made quilts, comforters, and pin cushions for family and friends. In 1890, she presented one of her comforters to Mrs. Benjamin Harrison while they were both visiting Cape May, New Jersey. Melissa Bell may have been Eliza's daughter-in-law.

The material in this collection provides a record of vessels, customers, cargoes, shipments of goods, costs, and profits associated with Abraham Bell & Co. and its successor, Abraham Bell & Sons. Such products as cotton, potash, flaxseed, turpentine, tobacco, textiles, woolen goods, shawls, buttons, glassware, Irish whiskey, earthenware, sheathing cooper, and watches and watch glass are represented in three account books, one letter press book, 16 miscellaneous pieces of correspondence, bills, receipts, and drafts. Three of the bound volumes contain the label of Prior and Dunning, stationers, New York, N.Y. The fourth contains the label of Prior and Browne.

Also included is material related to the Bell family, including eighteen of Abraham Bell's diaries, Eliza Bell's account book, and a memorandum book kept by Melissa Bell. Documents pertaining to the Bell family home include a list of furniture burned in an 1835 fire and specifications for building a house in Bayside, New York, in 1870.

The collection is housed in seven boxes. Box 1 contains the Bell family diaries. Box 2 contains the letterpress book, account book, and an invoice book. Box 3 contains another invoice book, documents pertaining to houses (both the house in Bayside and the one on Fulton Street which burned), and the books of Eliza and Melissa Bell. Box 4 holds correspondence, mostly business letters, but a few contain personal news as well. Boxes 5-7 contain financial and shipping records, including receipts, bank books, checks, etc. Some of the receipts are for household expenses. The shipping records included charges for pilots, quarantine, wharfage, and bills for repairs and supplies.

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OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Repository code: DeWint File name: col194.xml Abstract: Abraham Bell and Co. of New York imported and exported a variety of commodities, trading mostly in Ireland, England, and the United States. In addition to business correspondence, there are personal papers of members of the Bell family. Extent: 1.3 linear feet Date range: 1821-1893 Related materials: Language: English Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera Winterthur, DE 19732 (302) 888-4853 Abraham Bell and Co. Papers Col. 194 Creator: Abraham Bell and Co. Title: Records Dates: 1821-1893 Call No.: Col. 194 Acc. No.: 58×5, 75×238, 76×303, 76×461, 77×528, 77×567, 77×583, 84×126, 84×127 Quantity: 3 boxes Location: 14 C 3