Scope and Content Note
The records of Whitney & Burnham, a New Orleans, Louisiana, cotton mercantile firm run by Israel Whitney and William A. Burnham, span the years 1835-1851 with the bulk of the material dated between 1841 and 1846. The collection consists of a diary, correspondence, letterbooks, bills, receipts, invoices, notebooks, purchase orders, and rent statements documenting the firm’s activities in the international cotton trade. The firm worked primarily through the ports of New Orleans, Mobile, and Boston. Also included are items relating to the cotton gin, labor disputes, and relations between of cotton mill owners.