Archive of incoming correspondence and ephemera of Benajah Pratt, of Oxford, Maine, including letters from the family of Boston merchant John Welch, founder of Welchville, Maine, 1812-1939

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by Pratt, Benajah

No Binding. Very Good. 679 letters, 1181 manuscript pages, dated 1812-1939, with about half dating from 1840s-1860s, plus approximately 1,750 pieces of paper ephemera as follows: 1285 pieces of receipts for goods, or services, foodstuffs, property taxes, various accounts, etc., as well as 465 legal documents such as court writs, warranty deeds, mortgages, quit claims, promissory notes, contracts/agreements, property assessments, affidavits, as well as school report cards, newspaper clippings, memorandum notes, used envelopes, verse, genealogy pages, plat maps, (truncated) and one photograph. The letters from the period of 1840 to 1870 are mostly incoming letters written by members of the Welch family and various other individuals to Benajah Pratt, Jr. The letters are written by business associates of Pratt, attorneys, or by friends and family. Pratt also writes several letters, some are copies. The main correspondents are: 228 letters, 382 pp., of the family of John Welch, dated 1841-1863. The collection includes the father John Welch (138 letters, 214 pp.), his sons George W. Welch (37 letters, 80 pp.) and Wilson Jarvis Welch (45 letters, 79 pp.), and his wife, Elizabeth Hunt Welch (8 letters, 9 pp). The letters are mostly sent from Boston, Massachusetts by the Welch family to Benajah Pratt, Jr. at Oxford, Maine. There are several letters that were not sent to Pratt. John Welsh writes to Pratt from 1841-1850. His wife Elizabeth writes to Pratt between 1849-1851. George W. Welch writes to Pratt from 1845-1858, with Wilson J. Pratt writing to him between 1843 and 1863. Elizabeth Welch writes to Pratt about looking out for her son George, as well as asking about sending her money, or looking out for family property and goods. Pratt, a lawyer, appears to have been overseeing the Welch family property, and more so after the death of John Welch in 1851. He appears to work for them, as well as being a family friend. Wilson J. Welch is an attorney based in Boston and George W. Welch, like his father, appears to be a merchant and also based in Boston. John Welch was a wealthy Boston merchant who purchased considerable property in the Oxford, Maine area, with a town springing up around it, given the name ""Welchville,"" and which was eventually incorporated into Oxford. 12 letters, 19 pp., of Benajah Pratt, Jr, 1844-1869, with several of the letters being copies. The letters are written to various individuals some being: John Welch, S. Greenley, the President and Directors of the Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad, W. McIntire, Pratt's son H. P. Pratt, a Mr. Megall, and others. Benajah was located either at his home in Oxford, Maine, or was traveling to Boston, Ipswich, Woburn, and other locations. 5 letters, 7 pp., of Randolph A.L. Codman, of Portland and Paris, Maine, dated 1845-1850. Codman was one half with Edward Fox of the law firm of Codman & Fox, which operated in Portland, Maine from about 1837 to 1847. Codman was the son of James Codman and Elizabeth Waite of Portland and was born in 1793. His father had a farm at Gorham, Maine. Codman lived and died in Portland and was considered a ""prominent"" attorney of the city. He died in 1853 and was buried at the Western Cemetery in Portland. 16 letters, 24 pp., of Codman & Fox, dated 1841-1846. Codman & Fox was a Portland, Maine law firm, which operated from 1837 to 1847, the partners being Randolph A.L. Codman and Edward Fox, both natives of Portland. The letters are mostly written to Benajah Pratt, Jr, at Oxford, Maine, or at Welchville, Maine. Two of the letters are written to attorney Wilson Jarvis Welch at Oxford, Maine. Wilson was the son of John Welch. 3 letters, 3 pp., of Edward Fox, dated 1848-1849. Fox was born at Portland, Maine in 1815. He graduated from Harvard College in 1834, pursued his preparatory legal studies in the office of Willis & Fessenden in Portland, and at the Dane Law School, taking the degree of L.L.B. in 1837, and admitted to th (Inventory #: 030219)

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Michael Brown Rare Books

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Michael Brown Rare Books

4421 Osage Ave.
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mbamericana@mindspring.com

(215) 387-9808

Specializing in Americana: Books, Pamphlets, Broadsides, Manuscripts & Ephemera 17th-19th Centuries

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Archive of incoming correspondence and ephemera of Benajah Pratt, of Oxford, Maine, including letters from the family of Boston merchant John Welch, founder of Welchville, Maine, 1812-1939

Michael Brown Rare Books

Pray for the Jews! A Sermon Preached at the Thursday Lecture in Boston, August 15, 1816. Published for the Benefit of the Female Society of Boston and the Vicinity for Promoting Christianity Among the Jews.

Group of Four Autograph Letters Signed by the Marquis de Lafayette, written from La Grange 1822 - 1824, plus two letters written by his son, Georges Washington Lafayette, 1823 and 1827

The ABAA Promise

The ABAA
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