Elisha Babcock receipts 1788-1825.

Format:

Manuscript

Author/Creator:

Babcock, Elisha, 1753-1821.

Contributor:

Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

E. Babcock & Son.

Printing--Connecticut--18th century.

Printing.

Printing--Connecticut--19th century.

American newspapers--History--18th century--Sources.

American newspapers.

American newspapers--History--19th century--Sources.

History.

Connecticut.

Genre:

Receipts (financial records)

Correspondence.

Manuscripts, American.

Sources.

Penn Provenance:

Sold by Nancy Howell (Sacramento, California), 2016 (eBay).

Physical Description:

65 items (65 leaves)

Contained In:

Miscellaneous Manuscripts. Box 23 Folder 6

Place of Publication:

1788-1825.

Biography/History:

Elisha Babcock was born one of ten children to John Babcock (1731-1796) and Rachel Adams (1732-1813) in Milton, Massachusetts. Elisha was a printer by trade. His brother John Babcock, Jr. (1764-1843) worked with their father under the firm Babcock & Son, who were publishers and wholesalers to booksellers. Elisha Babcock settled in Springfield, Massachusetts where he published the Hampshire Gazette for several years. Babcock served in the Revolutionary War earning the rank of Major and was often referred to as Major Babcock. In 1784, following the war, and upon the solicitation of Joel Barlow (1754-1812), Babcock left Springfield for Hartford, Connecticut where Barlow and Babcock published a weekly newspaper entitled the American Mercury. In addition, Babcock and Barlow opened one of the first major paper mills in Connecticut. Barlow left eventually left the paper and Babcock continued to publish the American Mercury for thirty-seven years under the company name E. Babcock & Son. It was one of the leading democratic papers of Connecticut. Elisha Babcock met his wife Dorothy Welles (d. 1832), known as Dolly in Hartford and they had six children.

Summary:

A small collection of papers comprising receipts relating to the distribution of the American Mercury newspaper and some personal receipts of Elisha Babcock spanning the years from 1788 to 1825. A majority of the receipts concern the American Mercury and are payments made to E. Babcock & Son by carriers to deliver the weekly newspapers. There are a few letters of introduction for newspaper carriers. Other receipts are payments made by Babcock to local merchants for farming and household items such as peach and apricot trees, rye and wheat flour, and boots and hats. There are some posthumous receipts from the years 1821 to 1825 regarding the newspaper and one paid by the estate of Elisha Babcock.

Notes:

Other items in this small collection can be found in Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Elisha Babcock receipts Misc Mss Box 22 Folder 40.

OCLC:

968782993