The Allaire papers contain business correspondence, legal documents, and financial documents related to New York City resident Peter Alexander Allaire and his children, Calicia Allaire Wood and George Young Allaire. The collection also includes an anonymous account book from the 1830s, possibly kept by Pennsylvania merchant Thomas Wood.
Several early items in the collection relate to the post-Revolution business and legal affairs of Peter Alexander Allaire, and include a French document authorizing the shipment of several ingredients, including alkali and soap, for the manufacture of white lead (1783). The majority of the collection consists of material related to the financial interests of Calicia Allaire (m. Thomas Wood) and George Young Allaire. Many of these items reflect ongoing financial disputes between the siblings and Calicia's husband, and involved a third party, Cornelius Bogart. In addition to correspondence, financial records, and indentures related to the Allaire family, the collection includes scattered personal items. Also part of the collection is an account book, possibly kept by Thomas Wood, in which the author recorded financial information, including several accounts for everyday goods, "Farming Concerns," and items "Arrived from Foreign Ports." Many of the book's accounts relate to wood and a few mention stock held jointly with George Young Allaire.
Peter Alexander Allaire was born in New York City on March 12, 1740. Early in the Revolutionary War, Allaire traveled between England and France, acting as a spy for the British. He later fell out of favor with Benjamin Franklin, and was imprisoned in the Bastille for several months in 1780. After his release, he continued to live in France, until returning to America in 1784. He had at least two children, Calicia Allaire (m. Thomas Wood) and George Young Allaire. Peter Alexander Allaire died on September 2, 1820.
