An Early Sedentary Merchant in the Middle West: Records Available for a Study of the Career of Henry Shaw

Extract

Over a century ago Henry Shaw climbed the business ladder in St. Louis, and in his later years he did much for the culture of his adopted city. Shaw left behind many records of his career. Those pertaining to his business have been deposited in the Baker Library at Harvard University. The records are voluminous and as yet unused, except in so far as they have been examined for the purpose of the following tentative statement. The collection includes personal accounts, real estate records, family correspondence, and business records, such as waste books, journals, ledgers, invoice books, and bank balances. The collection of letters is particularly significant and valuable, for it deals with many subjects, including importing and exporting, and covers the whole period of Shaw's activity in America.