This collection is made up of 17 incoming letters to New York merchant and banker Charles P. Leverich, almost entirely from factors (including his brothers) in New Orleans between 1835 and 1849. They pertain to orders and accounts of pale sherry, cotton, sugar, rum, molasses, Goshen butter, Goshen cheese, tea, figs, Barstow's oil, palm oil for making soap, beef, smoked and pickled tongues, coffee, and potash. The writers include cotton agents like J. B. Byrne & Co. and wholesale grocers like Peters & Millard. Additional content includes discussions of banking and insurance, cotton and sugar markets, weather, health (news of a leg amputation, March 16, 1843), and news of the possibly fatal illness of William Leverich's son and increased fears of scarlet fever more so than yellow fever (July 28, 1840).
One outlier is a letter to Michael Bozeman on April 25, 1849, from New Orleans, respecting his work as agent for land sales in Clarke County, Arkansas.
Charles Palmer Leverich was born on July 17, 1803, in Queens County, New York. He was one of at least four brothers, including Henry S. Leverich, William E. Leverich, and James H. Leverich. The brothers established mercantile and banking firms in New Orleans and New York City, trading in Southern and imported goods such as cotton, sugar, groceries and wine, household products, and industrial goods. Leverich had a 36-year connection to the Bank of New York, serving as director from 1840-1853, vice-president from 1853 to 1863, and president from May 11, 1863, until his death on January 10, 1876.
Charles Leverich married Matilda Duncan Gustine (daughter of James Gustine of Natchez, Mississippi) in Philadelphia, September 17, 1839, and the couple had at least four children.
