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No restrictions. Open for research.

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Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Carhart & Roff Letterpress Copybook #5350-z, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Carmen D. Valentino Booksellers in July 2007 (Acc. 100719).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: Martin Gengenbach, November 2010

Encoded by: Martin Gengenbach, November 2010

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Carhart & Rolf (Macon, Ga.)
• Carhart, Elijah H., 1827-1885.
• Enslaved persons--Employment--Georgia--History--19th century.
• Georgia--Commerce--History--19th century.
• Macon (Ga.)--Economic conditions.
• Macon (Ga.)--History.
• Merchants--Georgia--History--19th century.
• Roff, Aaron A., 1815-1880.
• Savannah (Ga.)--Economic conditions.
• Savannah (Ga.)--History.
• Slavery--Georgia.
• Whiskey--Georgia--History--19th century.

Carhart & Roff was a merchant firm based in Macon, Ga., founded in 1841. The firm operated a wide-ranging general supply trade throughout Georgia. Carhart & Roff was named for its originators and principal investors, Elijah H. Carhart (1827-1885) and Aaron A. Roff (1815-1880), both of whom hailed from New Jersey. Elijah H. Carhart had several brothers who worked as grocers in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The collection consists of a letterpress copybook maintained by Carhart & Roff in its business from 13 September 1854 to 27 January 1855. The firm dealt in a wide variety of goods with parties across Georgia. Letters are frequently directed to merchants in Savannah, Ga., with whom Carhart & Roff appear to have numerous dealings; there are also letters to a number of customers with regular accounts. The letters often indicate shipment of goods, receipt of payment, the need for cash remittance, or payment overdue. Topics addressed in the letters include yellow fever in Savannah, the difficult economic environment, and the purchase or sale of whiskey. There are a small number of references to the use of slaves in business dealings. There are also numerous, regular letters addressed to a Mr. F.J. Ogden of Savannah, who was possibly the firm's purchasing agent there. The letters urge him to send goods quickly and regularly direct him to invest amounts of money on the New York Stock Exchange, with further directions to remit payments to Carhart Brothers and Co., likely the grocery owned by the brothers of Elijah H. Carhart in Brooklyn, N.Y.