Scope and Content Note
The records of R. Hoe & Company span the years 1831-1948 and include Hoe family papers as well as corporate records. The bulk of the material spans the period 1855-1870.
R. Hoe & Company was founded as Smith, Hoe & Company in New York City in 1805 by Matthew Smith II (d. 1820), Peter Smith (d. 1823), and Robert Hoe (1784-1833), who had emigrated from England in 1803. Following the death of the Smith brothers, Robert Hoe, who had married their sister, Rachel, continued and expanded the business under the name R. Hoe & Company. In 1830 the company passed into the hands of Hoe's oldest son, Richard March Hoe (1812-1886), and nephew, Matthew Smith III. Richard M. Hoe's brothers, Robert Hoe (1815-1884) and Peter Smith Hoe (1821-1902), also became active in the family business. During the years under Richard M. Hoe's direction the firm greatly expanded and prospered. When he died in 1886, control of the firm passed to his nephew, Robert Hoe (1839-1909), who was in turn succeeded by other family members.
The Family Correspondence consists chiefly of letters between Richard M. and his brothers Robert and Peter Smith Hoe during various European travels conducting business for R Hoe & Company overseas. The largest group of these letters, 1856-1859, documents the period of expansion leading to the establishment of a manufacturing plant in London and the purchase of the Isaac Adams Press Works in Boston. Schedules of orders and account sheets accompany the letters. The correspondence also includes travel descriptions of mid-nineteenth-century Europe, as well as itemizations of the art objects and luxury items purchased by them and sent back to the United States. Correspondence from 1860 to 1870 includes references to the efforts of brothers Richard M. Hoe and Robert Hoe to obtain from the U.S. Congress extension of patent rights to their printing press inventions.
The Business Correspondence contains few letters prior to 1850, due in part to several fires in the Hoe establishment. Some of the earliest letters are from Sereno Newton, an early associate in the firm. Despite the limited number of business letters, the file documents some of the day-to-day business transactions between customers, trade suppliers, and branch offices in Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and London.