TABLE OF CONTENTS

Overview of the Collection

History

Scope and Content

Arrangement

Restrictions

Index Terms

Related Material

Administrative Information

Detailed Description

Series I: Meriden Britannia Company, undated, 1853-1899

Series II: Rogers Manufacturing Company, undated, 1885-1900

Series III: Other ISC Predecessors, ca. 1880-1901

Series IV: International Silver Company, undated, 1899-1931

Series V: Unidentified Volumes, undated, 1875-1906

Series VI: Non-ISC Volumes, undated, 1899-1916

International Silver Company Records

History

The International Silver Company was organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey on 19 November 1898. Immediately upon organization, the company bought the total capital stock of the following companies: Barbour Silver Company (Hartford), *Holmes & Edwards Silver Company (Bridgeport), *Manhattan Silver Plate, (Lyons, New York), *Meriden Britannia Company (Meriden), *Norwich Cutlery (Norwich), *William Rogers Manufacturing Company (Hartford), Rogers Cutlery (Hartford), Rogers and Brothers (Waterbury), Rogers and Hamilton (Waterbury), Wilcox Silver Plate (Meriden), Watrous Manufacturing Company (Wallingford), Standard Silver Company, Ltd. (Toronto, Canada).

During the first six months of 1899, an additional four companies were purchased. Derby Silver Company (Derby), Simpson, Hall, Miller & Company (Wallingford), Simpson Nickel Company (Wallingford), Middletown Plate Company (Middletown).

In January of 1903, the stock of the United States Silver Corporation was acquired, thereby gaining indirect ownership of: *C. Rogers & Brothers (Meriden).

Thus, in the space of a few years, there came into being a large industrial corporation, worth $20,000,000 at organization, which, with its operations centered at Meriden, Connecticut, would prove to be the major producer of silver products in the United States.

(*) indicates companies represented in this collection.

Return to the Table of Contents

Scope and Content

With only a few exceptions, the collection consists of bound volumes of financial records and other materials relating to the business of silver products manufacturing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The record is by no means complete. In addition to financial matters, researchers may find materials of interest to broader social history in the Rogers Manufacturing Company correspondence volumes, and the time records and advertisements of the Meriden Britannia Company.

Return to the Table of Contents

Arrangement

Series I: Meriden Britannia Company (undated, 1853-1899) consists of 38 volumes including financial records (blotters, cashbooks, ledgers, and indices), time records, advertisements/catalogues, and memoranda. Although gaps appear in the cashbook collection, nonetheless, a reasonably complete record is provided in this category for the period 1853-1874, with an additional volume for 1893-1899.

Series II: Rogers Manufacturing Company (undated, 1885-1900), consists of 16 volumes of financial records (ledgers and journals), records of the New York store, correspondence, and one volume of electrotypes illustrating Rogers' products. As mentioned above, the correspondence is illustrative of the business conditions of the period and consists of copies of outgoing letters from the company officers.

Series III: Other ISC Predecessors (ca. 1880-1901), consists of a few volumes from four companies which later became part of International Silver: Manhattan Silver Plate Company, (1 volume, cash book 1880s), Holmes and Edwards Silver Company, (1 volume, scrapbook, 1890s) Norwich Cutlery Company, (2 volumes, cashbook and daybook, 1890s), and C. Rogers and Brothers, (1 volume, private ledger, 1899-1901).

Series IV: International Silver Company (undated, 1899-1931), consists of 4 volumes from the early years of the company including order books and circulars.

Series V: Unidentified Volumes (undated, 1875-1906), consists of 8 volumes of material which cannot be identified as to origin. It appears that much of this may be from Meriden Britannia, but precise identification has not been possible.

Series VI: Non-ISC Volumes (undated, 1899-1916), consists of 5 volumes from silver manufacturing companies which do not appear to have been a part of International Silver Company. Represented here are Oneida Community Silver Company, (2 scrapbooks, 1910s, from the publications Jewelers Circular and Keystone), Maltby Henley Company, (2 volumes of financial records, 1900s), and E. G. Webster & Son, (1 volume of electrotypes, undated).

Return to the Table of Contents

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

There are no access restrictions on this collection.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish from these Papers must be obtained in writing from both the University of Connecticut Libraries and the owner(s) of the copyright.

Return to the Table of Contents

Related Material

Archives & Special Collections has a substantial collection of Connecticut business records. For detailed information on these collections please contact the curator or ask at the reference desk.

Return to the Table of Contents

Index Terms

This record series is indexed under the following controlled access subject terms.

Organizations:

Document Types:

Occupations:

Return to the Table of Contents

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

[Item description, #:#], International Silver Company Records. Archives & Special Collections at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, University of Connecticut Libraries.

Acquisition Information

The collection was transferred to the University of Connecticut from Yale University in three shipments that were completed on 15 January 1980.

Return to the Table of Contents

Detailed Description

[The majority of the collection is shelved by volume number, only the volumes with a box number indicated are located in boxes.]