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Lindley Fisher correspondence, 1846-1851 (majority within 1846-1849)

59 items

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.