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The Henry Carey letter book contains approximately 130 letters that Carey wrote to his father, Mathew Carey, about the family's finances following Mathew's retirement from his publishing firm. The letters primarily concern a dispute over Mathew's expenses, and their effects on the firm's profits.

The Henry Carey letter book contains approximately 130 letters (536 pages) that Carey wrote to his father, Mathew Carey, about finances. Many letters pertain to the financial effects of Mathew Carey's retirement from his publishing firm. The volume consists of loose letters, many accompanied by their original coversheets, which were bound together at a later date.

After Henry Carey and his brother-in-law, Isaac Lea, took over the publishing firm, they and Mathew Carey drafted a contract specifying Mathew's proceeds from the sale of his firm to his son, though his cost of living quickly exceeded his annual allowance and led to a dispute over the amount of money he should receive. The first few pages of letters mainly document Mathew's financial affairs during the 1820s, with a few items dated as early as 1815. Most of the remaining correspondence dates between 1830 and 1835, as Mathew and Henry Carey attempted to reconcile their monetary differences. Henry's formal letters to this father focus on financial affairs, such as the costs of running a household ([March 16, 1830]). In 1835, the matter was handed to Philadelphia lawyer Horace Binney, who successfully arbitrated a satisfactory resolution.

The Leckie family papers document the business activities and relationships of Alexander Leckie and his sons, who traded dry goods between England, the United States, and the Caribbean around 1800.

The Leckie family papers contain 44 letters, 3 ledgers, 2 inventories, and a receipt, spanning 1794-1808. The materials primarily document the business activities of the Leckies, who traded dry goods between the United States, England, Jamaica, and Haiti. The correspondence contains many details on the nature of an ambitious mercantile business and matters affecting it during this period. These include political disruptions that threatened trading, especially in Santo Domingo (August 31, 1797), insurance of cargoes, the suitability of certain kinds of goods for specific markets (August 5, 1797), and the types of materials bought and sold, such as cloth, groceries, soap, and candles. The inventories provide further specifics on types of items and prices.

The letters also reveal family relations and their repercussions on the business. In their correspondence, the Leckie brothers frequently quarreled with and chastised one another. They found particular fault with Alexander, who, according to his brothers, made a number of bad contracts (April 7, 1795), as well as an "unfortunate and premature attachment" to a young woman in Virginia (December 28, 1795). In a letter of February 4, 1802, George discussed Alexander's enormous debts ("Alexander could not be indebted at New providence in any less sum than 100.000 Dollars"). Despite this, all three remained in the business at least until 1808.

William Leckie's letters, in particular, show him to be a keen observer of society. In a letter of August 15, 1802, he described the rapid growth of cotton as a crop, the construction of Washington, D.C., and his views on the American social and political scene. His comments on the growing tensions over slavery in the south would prove prophetic: "I have thought that two circumstances are likely to operate at possibly no very distant day to the disadvantage of this happy Country, the first is the great laxity of morals & religion…The other is the increasing quantity of blacks…who are all natives & many of whom can read & write, these will perhaps prove the bane of all the Southern States & by their struggles for freedom involve nearly one half of the Union in Civil Wars."

Lindley Fisher of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received 59 business letters and invoices concerning the Duncannon Iron Works between 1846 and 1851. His most frequent correspondents included his brother, Charles William Fisher; his father, William Logan Fisher; and his nephew, John Wister. Fisher also received business invoices from Joseph S. Simpson.

Lindley Fisher of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received 35 business letters and invoices concerning the Duncannon Iron Works between 1846 and 1851. Fisher's father, brother, and nephew worked at the factory and provided information related to its finances and to the production of nails, spikes, and bar iron. Charles William Fisher, Lindley's brother, wrote the bulk of the letters between 1846 and 1849, concentrating on the foundry's financial affairs, business relationships, and production figures. Lindley received similar letters from his father and nephew, who discussed some of the day-to-day aspects of running the iron works as well as its larger financial concerns.

The correspondence includes content on labor and labor-management relations, particularly in a letter from C. W. Fisher, dated May 11, 1848. In it, he reacts to the receipt of wage demands from a delegation of organized puddlers. He expressed confusion as to how to respond, noting that to concede to their demands would be "to cover ourselves with disgrace & to acknowledge our weakness." He wrote "I am sorry we attempted the reduction By holding out for a month or two we can conquer them, but this would be destruction - what is to be done? . . . I would almost as willingly fail as yield. Is there no escape - I thought today that I should be able to effect the reduction or find a way of getting out with honour, but I see nothing before me but the most ignominious submission - we shall make ourselves the subject of derision in the neighbourhood & we shall feel the effects of it for a long time to come - If we yield to the Puddlers we must give up the reduction throughout - Oh how I wish for a little independence This is the worst sort of slavery..."

In the spring of 1849, Lindley's correspondents mentioned efforts to establish a new nail-producing facility and discussed some of their business strategies, such as the possibility of offering stock. In his letter of April 2, 1851, William Logan Fisher mentioned the potential purchase of a steam engine, though he feared that the factory's debts might lead to future difficulties. In addition to his family's letters, Lindley Fisher received 3 invoices signed by Joseph S. Simpson, primarily respecting the shipment of nails produced at the Duncannon Iron Works between April and July 1849.