Papers, 1838-1866.

Format:

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Colwell, Stephen, 1800-1871.

Contributor:

Atkinson, Edward, 1827-1905.

Bigelow, Erastus B. (Erastus Brigham), 1814-1879.

Blodget, Lorin, 1823-1901.

Elliott, E. B. (Ezekiel Brown), 1823-1888.

Hayes, John L. (John Lord), 1812-1887.

McCulloch, Hugh, 1808-1895.

Richelot, Henri, 1811-1864.

Wattson, Louis T.

Wells, David A. (David Ames), 1828-1898.

Wines, E. C. (Enoch Cobb), 1806-1879.

National Association of Wool Manufacturers.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States. Revenue Commission (1865-1866).

United States.

Tariff--United States.

Tariff.

Internal revenue.

Physical Description:

2 boxes

Place of Publication:

1838-1866.

Biography/History:

Iron manufacturer and economist who served on the U.S. Revenue Commission following the Civil War.

Summary:

The collection consists of three series. The first, Correspondence (16 folders), primarily comprises correspondence to and from Colwell (15 folders). Among the senders are Lorin Blodget, assessor-at-large for U.S. Customs; E. B. Elliott, secretary of the U.S. Revenue Commission; members of the National Association of Wool Manufacturers, including inventor Erastus B. Bigelow and secretary John L. Hayes; Henri Richelot, French minister of agriculture, commerce, and public works; Louis T. Wattson, president of a coal mining company; and Presbyterian minister E. C. Wines. Recipients include Hugh McCulloch, secretary of the U.S. treasury; and David Ames Wells, chairman of the U.S. Revenue Commission.

As Colwell's areas of investigation for the Commission were the wool, iron, steel, and coal industries, much of the correspondence touches on these areas. There is also one folder of third-party correspondence arranged chronologically, including two letters to the cotton manufacturer Edward Atkinson, who served as an advisor to the Commission. A few earlier letters concern the accumulation of Colwell's library of works on economics. The second series, Personal Papers (3 folders, 1 oversize item) consists of four notebooks and some loose notes from the late 1830s and 1840s, all dealing either with economics research or acquisition of works on economics. Colwell's checkbook for November 1858 through November 1860 also is in this series. The third series, Revenue Commission Papers (4 folders, 3 oversize items), consists of notes, reports on financial data for various industries (paper, liquor, iron, matches) in the early 1860s, office records, and printed Internal Revenue decisions.