Business activities in New Jersey, the Midwest, and Brooklyn, New York, as recorded in the estate papers of John S. Noble, a native of New York City who spent most of his working life in Brooklyn, New York, New Jersey, and the South, before returning to Brooklyn for his later years. Included are Noble's letters to his wife, with her return correspondence, business letters to Noble, letters to Mrs. Noble from her relatives, deeds and legal documents, and printed ephemera, including four pamphlets that appear to be unlocated on OCLC, approximately 125 items, all more fully described below.

Trenton, NJ, Brooklyn, NY, and various places in New England and the upper Midwest: 1839-1887. Some storage wear and soiling to some of the items, but a very good lot of papers relating to the life of a significant Brooklyn personality. Most of the material was once bound into a manuscript album, with traces of mounting remaining. (9848). Item #63209

The archive comprises: (1) Noble, John S. 23 autograph letters, signed, 1839-1863, to his wife, Eliza Noble, 20 of them written on a business trip through New England, Canada, and the Midwest, June - August, 1857, including stops in Boston, Portland, Bangor, Montreal, Buffalo, Toledo, Detroit, Milwaukee, "Steamer Milwaukee, Mississippi River," and Burlington, Iowa, among other places, each letter relating incidents from the travel, business activities, sights, etc., with one letter from his wife included here, sent just at the beginning of the trip (75 pages, approximately 15,000 words). (2) Other family correspondence, including an 1852 letter from the Nobles' son to them from Le Havre, France, two letters from Mrs. Noble to relatives, and 10 letters from a sister and two nieces to her. (3) A group of 20 business letters to Noble from associates, 1843-1857, and two retained letters by Noble on business matters. (4) A file of six deeds and other legal documents, 1863-1872, several involving large land or business purchases in Trenton, New Jersey. (5) A group of 10 business letters from Richard Smith, President of the Union Mutual Insurance Company in Philadelphia, on company letterhead, 1853-1857; accompanied by three other business letters from individuals representing three other insurance companies. (6) Five 1841 documents generated from Noble's duties as Inspector of the Customs for the Port of New York. (7) 20 pieces of printed ephemera, 1839-1878, including a stock certificate, two maps, business cards, broadsides, billheads, a masonic cabinet card photograph, a Civil War pass, a railroad pass, an embroidered bookmark, and printed business circulars. (8) An 1847 manuscript document appointing Noble "Police Marshal of the City of Brooklyn" signed by the Mayor of Brooklyn, Francis B. Stryker. (9) Four pamphlets that appear to be unlocated on OCLC: Noble, John S. "An Address Delivered on the Evening of June 9, 1840, before National Lodge, No. 30, I.O. of O.F. [Stationer's Hall Press, 1840; 15 pp.]; Noble. "Marine Insurance Considered in Reference to Profitable Investment of Capital" [caption title. NP, 1858; 11 pp.]; "Constitution and By-Laws of Washington Division No. 4, of the Sons of Temperance of the State of New York. [NY: John W. Oliver, Printer, 1845; 19 pp.; signed by Noble on the outer wrapper]; "Charter of the Pacific Mutual Insurance Company, of the City of New York. [New York: Oliver & Brother, Steam Job Printers, 1852; 11 pp.]. (10) A file of miscellaneous business receipts and other pieces (15 items). John S. Noble, sent away to live with a relative when his father died in 1815, was eventually apprenticed to a bookseller and binder in New York City, entering that trade in Paterson, N.J, when he reached 21, moving to Brooklyn in 1839 to take over a stationery store, but giving that up to enter public service in 1841. For a while after that he was editor of a newspaper in Brooklyn and then took work with an insurance company, rising to president of the Reliance Marine Insurance Company by 1860. With the outbreak of war, Noble moved to Trenton, N.J., in 1861, starting a manufacturing company. In the late 1870s Noble began several manufacturing businesses in Virginia, but those failed and he returned to Brooklyn in 1882, following the death of his wife, to live out his final years with his family.

Price: $1,500.00

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