Scope and Content Note
The papers of John Fisher (fl. 1777-1802) span the years 1777 to 1802, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1779-1782. They consist of financial and mercantile records including correspondence, memoranda, accounts, purchase and delivery orders, receipts, requisitions, invoices, supply lists, inventories, and other items arranged chronologically and bound together in ten volumes.
Volumes one through nine consist primarily of supply requests to Fisher from storekeepers and officers of the Quartermaster Corps. Correspondents include William Betts, Joseph Bowne, Anthony Byvanck, John Campbell, Daniel Carthy, D. Hale, E. Haskell, Udney Hay, Robert Henry, John Keese, Richard King, James McMaster, Christopher Meng, Uriah Mitchell, Richard Norwood, John Palmer, Henry Peckwell, Timothy Pickering, Richard Platt, Leonard Smith, Andrew Taylor, George Trimble, and Timothy Whiting.
Fisher's accounts record the distribution of food and supplies to Continental Army posts in New York state such as West Point, Kings Ferry, Clavarack Landing, Albany, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, and Wappings Creek. The accounts also record deliveries to Connecticut and New Jersey.
Other documents include weekly and monthly salary and clothing reports for employees at Fishkill Landing, 1780-1782; lists of shipping vessels employed in public service, 1780-1782; invoices of supplies used by sloops on the Hudson River, 1778-1780; and a monthly table of depreciation for the Continental dollar from September 1777 to March 1780, dated July 30, 1780. Most of the items from 1783 to 1802 relate to Fisher's activities as a merchant in New York.