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Collection Data
- Description
- The Bayards, Campbells and Pearsalls were leading merchant and business families of New York who where related by marriage. Several members were Loyalists during the American Revolution. Family members had business interests in England, the Caribbean and South America. The firm of LeRoy, Bayard McEvers sold medicine, silk goods, liquor, earthenware, and tobacco to Peru; and bought and sold timber, spices, food, apparel, and hardware in addition to buying and selling land, managing farms, and performing banking functions. Leading members of the families represented are William Bayard, Duncan P. Campbell, Thomas Pearsall, Samuel Cornell, Herman LeRoy, and Jerome Sillem. Collection contains business and family correspondence; accounts and business papers; and land papers consisting of deeds and maps primarily related to New York City, New York State, and other east coast states.
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1659 - 1898
- Library locations
- Manuscripts and Archives Division
- Shelf locator: MssCol 230
- Genres
- Documents
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: The Bayard, Campbell and Pearsall families were related through marriage. There were members who were merchants as well as Loyalists whose properties were confiscated and sold during the American Revolution, These people were forced to leave the American colonies and flee to Great Britain. However, after the war, they were permitted to return to America if they took the oath of allegiance.
These merchants traded with England, the Caribbean and South America. The firm of Bayard, Le Roy and Mc Evers was a leading mercantile enterprise in New York City. It sold medicines, silk goods, liquor, earthenware and tobacco for the Peruvian market in South America. The merchants also brought and sold timber, spices, foodstuff, trees, apparel and hardware. Besides mercantile activities, they also engaged in the buying and selling of land, management of farms and many of those functions which a bank would perform.
- Content: The family and business papers of this collection are comprised of mercantile papers, land papers, correspondence, accounts, and other miscellaneous materials. Added to the collection are the papers of the Cornell and Le Roy families and the papers of Jerome Sillem, a land agent for the firm of Bayard, Le Roy, and Mc Evers.
The collection is divided into two series; Correspondence which is comprised of business and family letters and Accounts and Papers which contains bank receipts, bills, inventories and shipping documents. They are arranged in chronological order. The land papers have been separated from the latter series. They are arranged geographically by states. The bulk of these papers relates to deeds and maps of New York State; further arranged by counties. The New York City land papers are arranged by streets. The remainder of the papers are from other states Included in this collection are accounts and notebooks; ledgers and a diary written by Catherine Le Roy Webster (1839).
- Physical Description
- Extent: 12 linear feet (36 boxes)
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Identifiers
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12078392
- MSS Unit ID: 230
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 218842b0-ebc4-013c-65d4-0242ac110002
