This collection contains 106 incoming business letters to the Madeira merchant firm Newton & Gordon (also Newton, Gordon & Johnston and Newton, Gordon & Murdoch). Correspondents from New York and Virginia discussed international trade, finances, and the prices of foodstuffs and wine.
The first group of letters (56 items, October 24, 1762-July 29, 1775) is comprised of incoming correspondence to Newton & Gordon from agents and business associates in New York and Virginia, including Thomas Newton in New York City. The second group (50 items, April 7, 1787-December 31, 1819) consists of the firm's incoming correspondence from agents and associates in Virginia and New York. Thirty-seven of these letters are dated after the War of 1812. Correspondents addressed Newton, Gordon & Johnston between 1783-1791; Newton, Gordon & Murdoch between 1794-1803; and Newton, Gordon, Murdoch, & Scott between 1813-1819. They wrote about the trade of goods such as flour, wheat, vegetables, and wine; discussed recent shipments; commented on shipping and consignment arrangements; and reported local prices. Other topics of discussion included high duties on imported wine coming to the United States (June 19, 1764), the effects of the American Revolution (April 7, 1787), the resumption of regular commerce after the War of 1812 (May 29, 1815), and Napoleon Bonaparte's return to France (April 27, 1815).
Around 1745-1748, the merchant Alexander Johnston sent Francis Newton (d. 1805), a clerk, to the island of Madeira, where Newton established a wine-trading firm. Around 1758, Newton entered into a partnership with Thomas Gordon, another of Johnston's protégés. Other partners included William Johnston, Thomas Murdoch, and a man by the name of Scott. Their agent Thomas Newton was based in New York City in the 1760s and 1770s. The firm was later known as Newton, Gordon, Cossart & Co. and Cossart, Gordon & Co.
