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Contact information: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/address.html
Text converted and initial EAD tagging provided by Apex Data Services, 1999 January; encoding completed by Manuscript Division, 2000
Finding aid URL: http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms998013
Latest revision: 2004-12-07
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
The records of the firm of Alex. Brown & Sons were given to the Library of Congress in 1954 by Benjamin H. Griswold III on behalf of the firm.
The records of Alex. Brown & Sons were initially processed in 1954; the collection description was revised in 2000. Containers 125, 198, and 242 were microfilmed and returned to the firm in 1954.
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Alex. Brown & Sons is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.)
A microfilm edition of Containers 125, 198, and 242 is available on one reel. Consult a reference librarian in the Manuscript Division concerning availability for purchase or interlibrary loan.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: Container number, Records of Alex. Brown & Sons, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Date | Event |
| 1800 | Firm established in Baltimore, Md., by Alexander Brown (1764-1834) |
| 1804 | Alexander Brown (1764-1834) organized Baltimore Water Co. |
| 1810 | William Brown (1784-1864) sent to London, England, to establish firm of Brown Shipley & Co. |
| 1818 | John A. Brown (1788-1872) sent to Philadelphia, Pa., to found Brown Brothers Harriman and Company |
| 1825 | James Brown (1791-1877) sent to New York to found firm of Brown Brothers & Co. |
| 1827 |
Alexander Brown (1764-1834) helped organize
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Brown v. Maryland decided in favor of Alex. Brown & Sons |
| 1834 |
Alexander Brown (born 1764) died George Brown (1787-1859) named senior partner |
| 1839 | Alex. Brown & Sons became separate banking concern |
| 1859 | George Stewart Brown (1834-1890) named head of Baltimore, Md., house |
| 1890 | Alexander Brown (1858-1949) named senior partner |
| 1924 | Benjamin Howell Griswold (1858-1949) named head of firm |
| 1946 | Alexander B. Griswold (1907- ) succeeded his father as senior partner |
The records of Alex. Brown & Sons span the years 1796-1908, with the bulk of the material dating from 1796 to 1884. Included are business records of successor companies, subsidiaries, and allied business. The records document the commercial and financial activities of Alexander Brown, his sons, and their successors, showing the development of their banking house in conjunction with extensive import-export operations, the building of ships and worldwide trade activities, and the building of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. They also reflect the company's change from a mercantile to an international banking house having connections with Brown, Shipley & Company of Liverpool, and with Brown Brothers & Company, of New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. The records are organized into the following series: Lettercopy Books, Letterpress Books, Daybooks, Cashbooks, Ledgers, Sterling Ledgers, Ledger Sight Bills, Journals, Sales Books, Waste Books, Accounts Current, Blotters, and Miscellany.
The firm of Alex. Brown & Sons was founded by Alexander Brown, an Irish immigrant who came to Baltimore in 1797 and engaged in the mercantile business as an importer of Irish linen. The records are largely confined to the operations of the firm's outlets in Baltimore, which served as the American headquarters for the firm's chain of offices from 1800 to 1840. Lettercopy and letterpress books generally provide a continuous, daily record of the branch's outgoing correspondence with other offices in the organization and with the branch's out-of-town customers from 1800 to 1879.
Letterbooks, in the collection contain detailed information concerning political, civil, and military affairs affecting the firm. The Lettercopy Books series, consisting of letters sent, includes records of the Falls and Brown Company, 1803-1804. The Letterpress Books series is organized into three subseries. Set A includes records similar to those in the Lettercopy Books series and is distinguished from them chiefly by the copying method. Set B is comprised of letterpress copies of letters sent to Brown Shipley & Company, London, England. The letterpress copies in Set C are of letters sent to Brown Brothers & Company, Boston, New York, and Philadelphia offices.
The collection also includes financial records in a variety of formats. Daybooks are daily journals of business transactions in the order of their occurrence. Cashbooks record money received and paid out, showing date of transaction, name of customer or client, description of the transaction, and amounts received and expended. Ledgers contain postings to accounts receivable and accounts payable; they include ledgers of Falls & Brown, Baltimore, 1796-1810. Sterling Ledgers contain postings to accounts receivable and accounts payable of Alex. Brown & Sons sterling operations. Ledger Sight Bills contain a record of journal postings by bill number. Journals contain daily entries from daybooks and blotters. Sales Books appear to be logs of customer sales. Waste Books are daily journals of business transactions in the order of their occurrence; one book is from Stewart Brown, Philadelphia, and Falls & Brown, Baltimore. Accounts Current appear to be summaries of accounts receivable and accounts payable. Account entries include account name, transaction date, and description. Blotters are daily journals of business transactions.
The Miscellany series includes journals and ledgers of the Union Railroad Company sinking fund, credit rating and statements books, minute books of the Aransas Pass Harbor Company of which Brown and Sons Company was a bondholder and trustee, and of the Female Orphan Asylum, Baltimore. Also in the series is a book containing signatures of persons authorized to conduct business with Brown & Sons Company.
The collection also includes records of other Brown family firms, such as the firms of Stewart Brown, of Philadelphia, an older brother of Alexander Brown, 22 April 1796- 30 May 1797; and of Moore Falls and Stewart Brown of the firm of Falls & Brown, of Baltimore, 1797-1810. These records are not necessarily noted specifically in the descriptions below
The collection is arranged in thirteen series:
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