Please note when the library recently updated our online catalogs, the links in the below guides broke. We are working actively to fix this problem. In the meantime, you can search for materials referenced by consulting the library catalog and our catalog of archives and manuscript materials.

The business records housed in Special Collections, chiefly Maine enterprises, cover many types of businesses: medical, retail, publishing, shipping, manufacturing, etc. Dating from the late 18th through 20th centuries, some files document only a few months or years, while others cover the lives of the businesses.

Other isolated, brief, or fragmentary records, too incomplete to be detailed here, also appear in various manuscript collections.  For example, there are unrelated 17^th- to 19^th-century receipts, notes, and bills of lading in the Howell Document Collection, and some brief information on the founding of Florida's Ocala and Silver Springs Railroad in the Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Collection. Consult collection guides or check with the staff for more information.

Agriculture (including farming and ranching) | Building and building trades | Commerce | Insurance | Law

Lumbering |  Manufacturing | Medicine | Printing and publishing | Railroads | Shipping and shipbuilding

Building and building trades

Agriculture (including farming and ranching)

• Davis, Marshall. Farm and household account books, 1892-1954. 8 v. (M194 .D3856)
• Hamlin, Hannibal, 1809-1862. Waterford, Maine, farm account book, 1833-1836. 1 v. (Abbott Memorial Collection M1.5 volume 1)
• Simpson, Josiah, 1750-1819. Simpson's Point, Brunswick, Maine, farmer's account book, 1788-1818. 1 v. (M194 .S567)
• Hubbard, Emma Gardiner, 1834-1877 and Hubbard, Sarah Hodge Barrett, 1796-1891. Hallowell, Maine, farm account books, 1868-1874, 1878-1879, 4 v. (Hubbard Papers M95.2 volume 1)
• Hubbard, Thomas, 1838-1915. New York, NY law practice records and records concerning his other business interests, including a Glendive, Montana, cattle farm and the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad Co., 1854-1914, 8 b. (Hubbard Papers M95)

Commerce

• Cleaveland, John A. Brunswick, Maine, [storekeeper's ?] ledger, 1844-1847. 1 v. (Cleaveland-Chandler Papers M35.3 v.2 Folio)
• Curtis, Samuel, Jr., d.1845. Wells, Maine, leather and shoe merchant's account book, 1773-1791. 1 v. (M194 .C878)
• Estabrook, Thomas S., 1777-1859. Brunswick, Maine, day book recording business transactions for Estabrook's Tavern, 1815-1817. 1 v. (M194.E376 Folio)
• Perkins, Nahum, 1787-1865. Topsham, Maine, store owner's daybook, 1828, 1843-1847. 1 v. (M194 .P475 D3)
• Purinton Family. Brunswick-Topsham account books of P.P. and W.B. Purinton, Charles and George Mustard, and John and William Owen, 1740-1867. 10 v. (M194 .P875 Folio)
• Smith, Ezra, 1764-1846. Topsham, Maine, merchant's ledger, 1797-1801. 1 v.
  (M194 .S658 E9)
• Tebbets, I.P. and J.R. Topsham, Bath and Cundy's Harbor, Maine, merchants' account books, 1849-1872. 4 v. (M194 .T432 J6 Folio and M194 .T433)
• Townsend, Charles. Brunswick, Maine, merchant's ledger and day books, 1862-1885. 29 v. (M194 .T696 Folio)
• Vaughan, Charles. Boston, Mass., and Hallowell, Maine, merchant and exporter's correspondence, as well as reports and accounts, 1795-[1800?], including information on his bankruptcy [ca. 1798]. Together with scattered material relating to his occupation as a Maine landowner and entrepreneur. (Charles Vaughan Papers M180)
• Waste, B. Bath, Maine, ship-supplier or store owner's account book, 1808-1809. 1 v.
  (M194 .W378)
• Wood, Abiel, 1772-1834, and Wood, Wilmot, 1796-1865. Wiscasset, Maine, merchants' account book, 1806-1819, 1847. 1 v. (Stetson Papers)

Insurance

• Chamberlain, T.D. Bangor, Maine, N.Y. Life Insurance Co. Agent's account book, 1874-1891. 1 v. (M27.5 volume 2)
• Dodge, John Calvin, 1810-1890. Boston, Massachusetts, maritime law office records, 1831-1911 (bulk 1843-96), largely consisting of documentation of 28 maritime cases dealing mostly with admiralty and maritime insurance. 2 linear feet (M46).

Law

• Chandler, Peleg Whitman, 1816-1889. Boston, Massachusetts, law practice day book, 1846-1849, 1 v. (Cleaveland - Chandler Papers M35.3 volume 1)
• Dodge, John Calvin, 1810-1890. Boston, Massachusetts, maritime law office records, 1831-1911 (bulk 1843-96), largely consisting of documentation of 28 maritime cases dealing mostly with admiralty and maritime insurance. 2 linear feet (M46).
• Foote, Erastus, 1774-1856. Wiscasset, Maine, lawyer's account book, ledger, day book, 1810-1856. 4 v. (M194 .F6684 D3)
• King, Cyrus, 1772-1817. Saco, Maine, lawyer's ledger and account book, 1805-1811, and miscellaneous business papers, 1794-1816. 1 b. (Cyrus King Papers M102)
• Hubbard, Thomas, 1838-1915. New York, NY law practice records and records concerning his other business interests, including a Glendive, Montana, cattle farm and the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad Co., 1854-1914, 8 b. (Hubbard Papers M95)
• McArthur, Arthur, 1790-1874, and McArthur, William M., 1832-1917. Limington, Maine, law practice accounts and receipts. 1 b.& 2v. (McArthur Papers M116)

Lumbering

• Chamberlain, J. Lumber business account book, 1846-1852. 1 v. (Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain Collection M27.5 v.1)
• Benson, A.M. Portland, Maine, lumber business records, July - December, 1875. 0.25 linear feet. (M11)

Manufacturing

• Adams, Isaac, 1836-1911. Correspondence (typescript copy) including miscellaneous letters pertaining to Adams Nickel Plating and Manufacturing Co., South Windham, Connecticut, 1871-1884 and New York Nickel Plating Co., 1874-1887. 1 v. (M194 .A336)

Medicine

• Drummond, Charles Elmer, 1839-1894. Bedford, N.Y., medical business ledger, 1875-94. 1 v. (M194 .D786)
• Ela, Charles Clark, 1834-1868. Conway, N.H., physician's account book, 1867-1868. 1 v. (M194 .E433)
• Gould, Levi, 1800-1850. Dixmont, Maine, and Stoneham and Wilmington, Mass., physician's account book, 1835-1841. 1 v. (M194 .G685)
• Hubbard, John, 1794-1869. Hallowell, Maine, medical account books, 1828, 1848-1854, 1860-1865, 4 v. (Hubbard Papers M95)
• Kyes, Preston, 1875-1948. Medical journals, notebooks, and lectures, 1898-1947 (Preston Kyes Papers M285)
• Lincoln, Isaac, 1780-1868 and Lincoln, John Dunlap, 1821-1877. Brunswick, Maine, Physicians' account books, ledger, and day books, 1804-1876. 12 v. (M194 .L5635)
• Lovell, Joseph, 1788-1836. Letterbook of Dr. Joseph Lovell as Surgeon General, U.S. Army, 1819-1822. 1 v. (M194 .L684)
• Maddan, Martin Crowell, 1869-1952. Old Town, Maine, physician's account books, 1912-13, 1923-24 and 1933-37. 3 v. (M194 .M3333)
• Mitchell, Ammi Ruhamah, 1762-1824. North Yarmouth, Maine, physician's ledger, 1798-1823. 1 v. (M194 .M5833 Folio)

Printing and publishing

• Anthoensen Press Work Orders. Portland, Maine, publisher's work orders, 1925-1951. (This is complemented by a large collection of the Press's publications.) 109.5 linear feet (M197)
• Anthoensen Press Business Records. Portland, Maine, publisher's business records, including letters, bills and receipt, and forms, 1918-1949. 0.75 linear feet (M220)

Railroads

• Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad. Records of the railroad which ran from Portland, Maine, to Montreal, Quebec., 1844-1894. 2 linear feet (M6)
• Hubbard, Thomas, 1838-1915. New York, NY law practice records and records concerning his other business interests, including a Glendive, Montana, cattle farm and the Charleston, Cincinnati and Chicago Railroad Co., 1854-1914, 8 b. (M95)

Shipping and shipbuilding

• Bibber & Randall Co. Bath, Maine, shipbuilding company's ledger, letterbook, documents, and William G. Randall's design notebooks, 1855-1863. ca. 50 items. (M123)
• Carleton, Moses and Foote, Erastus (1777-1856). Documents, correspondence, bills, crew lists, and other ships' records (1792-1907) relating to more than a dozen ships owned by Carleton, Foote, and other members of the Foote family. 3 b. (M171)
• Dodge, John Calvin, 1810-1890. Boston, Massachusetts, maritime law office records, 1831-1911 (bulk 1843-96), largely consisting of documentation of 28 maritime cases dealing mostly with admiralty and maritime insurance. 2 linear feet (M46).
• Kimball & Co. Bath, Maine, shipping business, includes correspondence and ephemera, 1850-1864. 24 items. (M194 box 4)
• Magoun & Clapp Papers. Bath, Maine, shipping business, includes account books, bank passbooks, ships' papers, etc., 1840s-1870s. 11.5 linear feet (M121)
• Patterson Papers, 1815-1874. Correspondence (1820-74), shipping documents (1820-60), financial records (1820-62), a log book (1848), and other material relating to two brothers, Acton Paterson (1791-1869), a shipmaster from Kennebunkport, Maine, and Benjamin Patterson (1798-1877), a shipmaster from Saco, Maine. 1 b. (M144)
• Thomas, John, 1783?-1832. Bowdoinham, Maine, papers including ships' account book, 1807-1832, and ships' records, 1815-1832. 1 b. (M175)
• Titcomb Family Papers, 1824-1855. Collection of letters and related papers documenting the commercial maritime ventures of ship-builder James Titcomb (1783-1844) of Kennebunk, Maine. 1 b. (M334)
• Tucker Papers. Wiscasset, Maine, shipping business, includes cashbooks, freight lists, crew accounts, shipping records, ships' records, etc., 1840s-1870s. 14 linear feet (M177).
• Vaughan, Charles. Boston, Mass., and Hallowell, Maine, merchant and exporter's correspondence, as well as reports and accounts, 1795-[1800?], including information on his bankruptcy [ca. 1798]. Together with scattered material relating to his occupation as a Maine landowner and entrepreneur. (Charles Vaughan Papers M180)
• Waste, B. Bath, Maine, ship-supplier or store owner's account book, 1808-1809. 1 v.
  (M194 .W378)