Manuscript Resources on Business History
This guide describes collections documenting business history in the Louisiana and Lower Mississippi Valley Collections (LLMVC) at LSU. It includes the business papers of merchants; manufacturers; planters; factors; commission brokers; and lawyers. It also contains business records of stores; companies; plantations and plantation stores; banks; hotels and inns; restaurants and taverns; and blacksmiths and livery stables. There are also materials on cotton and sugar; national and international trade; and shipping, often by steamboat. Finally, there are materials relating to labor including information about wages, contracts, and conditions.
Formats represented in these collections include account books and ledgers; bills and receipts; business correspondence; and advertising. Most of the collections are from Louisiana and Mississippi, but there are also materials from other areas of the Lower Mississippi Valley. Several collections deal with business relations between the South and the Northeast, and include records of New York, Massachusetts, Maryland, Rhode Island, and Connecticut firms.
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Register records, The, 1948-1980. 13 linear ft. Location: 5:54-66. The Register was published in Baton Rouge from 1949-1980 by Elton Huckabay and edited by his wife Orene Muse. The magazine profiled local social events, prominent individuals, often in the context of fundraising, and events in private enterprise. Records document events and activities of selected Baton Rouge-area individuals, businesses, and social clubs. Orene Muse's activities related to the establishment and promotion of the annual charity event, the Mad Hatters Brunch, are also reflected. Scrapbooks contain photographs, newspaper clippings, correspondence, and ephemera related to The Register, Mad Hatters, and radio and television broadcasts. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3529. |
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Rembert, Frank K. Promissory note, 1862 Jan. 23. 1 promissory note. Location: Misc. Frank K. Rembert of Memphis, Tenn., promises to pay $5,000 to John P. Trenevant in four months' time. Mss. 3907. Referenced in Guides: Business
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Reynaud, Juan. Papers, 1795-1799. 1 item (bound manuscript; 63 pages). Location: A:110. New Orleans merchant. Documents pertain to the legal proceedings of the case of Juan Reynaud vs. Juan Pedro Tauriac, surgeon of Opelousas, Louisiana, for payment of debt. In Spanish. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 367. |
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Rhode Island slave trade document, 1795-1798. 1 item. Location: Misc. Business account of Samuel Chase, master of the Ascension, and the ship's Rhode Island owners, describes the ship's voyages and business transactions while involved in the slave trade from Africa to Spanish America. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3235. |
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Richard, J. N. and family. Papers, 1890-1932. 295 items, 126 volumes. Location: C:55, 36:1-3. Postmaster and druggist of Bayou Goula, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Correspondence and business record books document the management of the post office and of J. N. Richard and Company, the drugstore. Included in the collection are labels for patent medicines. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2563. |
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Richardson, A. Ledger, 1817-1819. 1 vol. Location: G:7. Ledger of A. Richardson, blacksmith-gunsmith of Jackson, La., contains accounts for work on vehicles, farm and household implements, gristmills, guns, and similar items, together with records of payment in cash and by such articles and services as iron, hanks of tobacco, wine, and tailoring. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1100. Referenced in Guides: Business
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Roach, Richard. Ledger, 1832-1835. 9 items, 1 vol. Location: G:7. Merchant of Port Hudson, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Ledger of Richard Roach and loose items of T. L. and S. P. Andrews, attorneys for creditors of Roach. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1100. Referenced in Guides: Business
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Robb & Hoge. Letters, 1846. 3 items. Location: Misc.: R. New Orleans, La., banking and brokerage firm. Letters to Nevins, Townsend & Co., a Wall Street brokerage firm in New York, pertain to bills and accounts. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3572. Referenced in Guides: New Orleans to 1861, Business
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Robb, James, Letter, 1845. 1 item. Location: Misc.:R. Banker, railroad executive, president of the New Orleans Gas Light and Banking Co., 1842-1856. Letter from Robb as president of the New Orleans Gas Light Company to A. R. Splane, attorney of Franklin, La., regarding the assumption by William Sharp of St. Mary Parish of James G. Campbell's 1838 mortgage on 12 slaves Campbell had purchased. The New Orleans Gas Light originally held the mortgage. An extract of the company's board of director's minutes authorizing Splane to act as their agent in the matter is enclosed. The debt was contracted with Campbell by New Orleans Gas Light's predecessor agency, New Orleans Gas Light and Banking Company. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4854 |
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Roberts, Emma A. Records, 1861. 2 items. Location: Misc.:R. An account sheet and invoice for personal items, along with fabric and ribbon purchased at shops in Washington, La. and Vicksburg, Miss. by Emma A. Roberts. Mss. 5298.
Referenced in Guides: Business
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Roberts, John A. Letter, 1843 Aug. 26. 1 letter. Location: Misc. John A. Roberts in New Orleans writes Charles E. Hall of Middletown, Conn., discussing commerce in the city. It is written on a semi-weekly summary of commercial statistics from the "New-Orleans Price-Current, Commercial Intelligencer and Merchants' Transcript." Mss. 4097. Referenced in Guides: New Orleans to 1861, Business
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Roberts, Robert. Papers, 1806-1852. 14 items. Location: Misc.: R. Robert Roberts was a joint owner of the cargo ship, EXPERIMENT. Papers relate to the capture of the EXPERIMENT by pirates while en route to Port Montego, Jamaica, and Roberts's claim for government compensation. Other papers pertain to Roberts's claim to a land grant in West Florida that was supposedly awarded by the British government to John and William Williams (July 28, 1836, March 17, 1840). There is also a poem signed by Louisa Duff (Jan. 5, 1852). For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3775 Referenced in Guides: Business
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Robertson, James E. Ledger, 1824-1834. 1 ms. vol. Location: H:20. Storekeeper of Plaquemine, Iberville Parish, Louisiana. Ledger (1824-1834) records sales of merchandise, insurance payments, purchases of goods and lottery tickets, and other business transactions. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2986. Referenced in Guides: Business
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Robinson, John G. Diary, 1857-1865. 1 diary, 5 items. Location: 1:, MISC:R. President of the Pelican Hook and Fire Company Number Four and cotton factor of New Orleans, Louisiana. Diary contains daily entries for 1864 describing chiefly the weather, business and financial transactions, insurance information, and social life and news. There are also ten entries for 1865. Mss. 4177. |
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Robinson, Walter G. Letter, 1853 Oct. 29. 1 letter. Location: Misc. Walter G. Robinson of New Orleans, La., writes the firm of Lawyer, Wallace & Co. of New York, N.Y., regarding the state of the cotton market, recognizing poorer yields and quality when compared against the previous season. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4009. Referenced in Guides: New Orleans to 1861, Business
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Rodewald, Henry. Letter, 1853 November 5. 1 item. Location: Misc.:R. New Orleans tobacco broker. Letter addressed to Messrs. Sayer, Wallace & Co., New York. Rodenwald complains about high exchange rates, but expresses confidence in the market improving soon. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 3416. Referenced in Guides: New Orleans to 1861, Business
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Rolston, William A., Sr. Papers, 1911-1952. 846 items, 63 printed vols. Location: 79:45-48. Sugar technologist and superintendent of the Francisco Sugar Company, Francisco, Province of Camaguey, Cuba; and a native of Baton Rouge. Papers include correspondence, drawings, blueprints, reports, and files related to Rolston's work for the Francisco Sugar Company. Other papers relate to sugar growing and processing, building materials, engineering, and the lumber industry. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 2038. |
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Ronaldson and Puckett Company, Ltd. Papers, 1881-1914. approx. 3,400 items, 22 vols. Location: UU:6-8, O:15. Baton Rouge grocers, commission merchants, and dealers in general merchandise. Business papers and account books of Ronaldson and Puckett; and account books of their predecessor companies, David, Garig and Company; and David, Garig, and Thomas. Also included are records of the New Orleans patent medicine firm, the Minute Man Oil Medicine Company, Ltd. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 1397. |
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Roper, George. Letter, 1826 Nov. 25. 1 letter. Location: Misc. George Roper of Richmond, Va., writes to Hugh Alexander of Baton Rouge, La., regarding the sale of a tract of land in West Baton Rouge Parish, La., belonging to the estate of William O. Winstow. He also mentions affairs of the Second Baptist Church of Richmond. For further information, see online catalog. Mss. 4009. |
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Rosenbaum, Max. Family Letters and Photographs, 1898-1945, undated. 92 items. Location: S:136. World War I veteran and shopkeeper-resident of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Collection includes a series of letters written from Max Rosenbaum to his son, Bert Rosenbaum, who was in Europe serving in the United States Army during World War II. The collection is also comprised of photographs of Ruth (Elgutter) Rosenbaum's German-Jewish immigrant family. Mss. 4878. |