Series I. Correspondence, 1906-1911, inclusive
Extent
Scope and Contents
The series includes correspondence between the George P. Butler & Brother firm and its clients and client representatives, such as banks, attorneys, and other investment firms. Most of the letters are outgoing from the firm, either in the form of carbon copies or in sheets in three copybooks. Nonetheless, foldered correspondence also holds many incoming letters and telegrams.
Incoming correspondence generally includes client inquiries or transaction orders. Outgoing correspondence often includes order confirmations and transmittals of payments of interest, dividends and other proceeds, and of stock and bond certificates. Although most of the correspondence is transactional, a number of letters convey information about securities available, and advice about whether or not to acquire particular securities. Bonds and stocks issued by railroads appear to comprise most of the securities referenced in the letters (including, among others, the Manhattan Railway Company), but utility companies also appear.
The bulk of the foldered incoming and outgoing letters are from 1909, with a very few ranging back to 1908 or forward to early 1910. The three copybooks range from mid-1906 to early 1911, but have large gaps in coverage.
The copybooks have indexes of correspondents at the front of the volumes. These, and the correspondence generally, were skimmed by the archivist to identify any especially prominent correspondents, such as a Rockefeller or a J.P. Morgan, but none appeared. The more frequent individual correspondents, some of which are women handling financial matters, are noted in the container list.
Arrangement
The series is arranged with foldered correspondence, which includes both incoming and outgoing letters, followed by three volumes of letterpress copies of outgoing letters.
The foldered correspondence was found in slight disorder when processed in 2020. The archivist arranged it into what appears to be, roughly, its original order, that is, foldering together letters with common coding written on them (e.g., M-1, M-2, M-3). These codes clearly follow an alphabetical sequence (M in this example being correspondents with surname or company name beginning with M), but it is not clear what the numeric code indicates, though letters to/from any particular correspondent seem to be grouped together. The correspondence was not arranged to a finer level, such as by date.
Patrons should be cautious in handling the letters as some are held together with pins that were not removed during processing.
Correspondence A, 1908-1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Charles H. Ayers, Edward D. Adams, and George L. Adams.
Correspondence B (2 folders), 1908-1910, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include James Boyd (and other Boyds) of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Frederick M. Brown of Wallace, Butler & Brown; and various Butlers, including Charles Henry Butler of Washington, DC.
Correspondence C, 1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Judge Alfred C. Coxe of Utica, and A.H.R. Carr & Co. of Belfast, Ireland.
Correspondence D, E, F, 1909-1910, inclusive
Correspondence G, 1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Max Goebel of J.L. Mott Iron Works (NY); Winthrop B. Greene of Second Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, and his wife Louise G. Parsons Greene; and Mary S. Gould of New York.
Correspondence H, 1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Myron T. Herrick of Ohio; Alfred Huger of Charleston, South Carolina; Sarah L. Hayden of Yonkers; and James F. Hughes of Exeter, New Hampshire. The file also includes a detailed business and product proposal for the Rhode Island Electromobile Company.
Correspondence J, K, L, 1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Walter W. Law of Briarcliff Manor, NY.
Correspondence M (2 folders), 1908-1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Margaret C. Munn of Cambridge, Massachusetts; J.H. McClermont of New York; D.A. Mudge of St. Paul, Minnesota; Hannah G. Mynderse of Ridgefield, Connecticut.
Correspondence N, O, 1908-1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Wilbur R. Noxon, and the New York Stock Exchange concerning telephone charges and other facility accommodations.
Correspondence P, 1908-1909, inclusive
Correspondence R, 1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include A.M. Reid of J.L. Mott Iron Works
Correspondence S (2 folders), 1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include Hugo Schmidt of Deutsche Bank, Berlin, Germany; and William Stanley, writing from Charleston, South Carolina, and Clara Stanley, both of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Several documents relate to the Wisconsin Central Railway Company.
Correspondence T, U, V, 1909, inclusive
Correspondence W, Z, 1909, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Frequent correspondents include E. Van Dyke Wight of Westminister Presbyterian Church, Middletown, NY; Judge William J. Wallace of Wallace, Butler & Brown (Cazenovia, NY); D.G. Wild of Brooklyn; and Kurt Zander of Berlin, Germany.
Letterpress copybook (266 sheets). July 11, 1906-May 14, 1908, 1906-1908, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Sheet 198 has a list of Albany & Susquehanna stockholders.