Correspondence, 1793 - October 1810

Family and business correspondence, journals, record books; reports from ship captains and agents; ledgers; household accounts, bills, receipts, bankbooks; logbook (1847-1850) for the schooner Sarah; legal documents, manifests, and other papers, relating chiefly to the business activities of Thomas Robison (ca. 1742-1806), a distiller and merchant in the Atlantic Triangle Trade out of Portland, Me., and of his grandsons, Anson Smith Robison (1818-1844) and Robert Ilsley Robison (1808-1868?), also merchants in Portland. Includes material on the capture (1796) of Thomas Robison's ship Eliza by the British ship Unicorn and the legal action to regain her; and family matters. Includes materials documenting Robison’s efforts to skirt American and West Indies law pertaining to the trade of enslaved people, specifically via the ship Eagle, outfitted at Portland, in which Robison was part owner.