Francis Bannerman Son, Inc. records 2185
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Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Francis Bannerman Son, Inc. records 2185
Table of Contents
Summary Information ...... 3 Historical Note ...... 3 Scope and Content ...... 4 Administrative Information ...... 4 Collection Inventory ...... 4 Order Books ...... 4 Outbound letter books ...... 8 Chronological File ...... 9 Alphabetical File ...... 10 Shipping and Order Directions ...... 12 Miscellaneous Accounts ...... 12 Checks and check registers ...... 12 Miscellaneous Subject Files & Reports ...... 13 Trade Catalogs and Publications ...... 15 Family Miscellany ...... 16
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Summary Information
Repository: Manuscripts and Archives Creator: Francis Bannerman Sons, Inc Title: Francis Bannerman Son, Inc. records ID: 2185 Date [inclusive]: 1855-1973 Physical Description: 46 Linear Feet Language of the English . Material: Abstract: The records of Francis Bannerman Sons are typical of a small family business in their lack of formal structure. Basically, they document Bannerman's purchase of military goods from state and federal arsenals and their resale to individuals, with other regular purchases of arms and military antiques made on buying trips to Europe. General account books that would show the performance of the business as a whole are either missing or were never kept at all.
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Historical Note
Francis Bannerman Sons was a major purveyor of military and goods to sportsmen and collectors in New York City over three generations.
The firm was founded in October 1872 by Francis Bannerman (1851-1918) and his wife Nellie Boyce Bannerman as an offshoot of his family's ship chandlery and military salvage business located near the Brooklyn Navy Yard. His father, Francis Bannerman (1820-1872?) had first purchased military goods at scrap prices in the demobilization at the end of the Civil War. The younger Francis began by selling potatoes and apples in season, along with hardware purchased at government auctions. By 1880, he was selling mostly government surplus arms and military supplies. Around 1890, Bannerman acquired the Spencer Arms Company, manufacturers of a repeating shotgun. He moved his store to Manhattan in 1897, where it soon became noteworthy as a museum of modern and antique weaponry and military memorabilia. To store his vast quantities of arms and ammunition, Bannerman bought Pollepel Island in the Hudson River Highlands in 1900 and erected Bannerman's Island Arsenal and a summer residence, patterned after the castles of the family's native Scotland.
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On January 1, 1917, Bannerman turned the business over to his sons Francis (1873-1945) and David (1875-1957) as the partnership of Francis Bannerman Sons. In 1958, David's son Charles S. Bannerman (1905-1976) incorporated the business and became president, but he was a relatively passive representative of the family interest, the day-to-day affairs being in the hands of career employees. The business was downsized and moved to Long Island the following year. Pollepel Island was sold the the state in 1967, but the buildings were gutted by fire in 1969.
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Scope and Content
The records of Francis Bannerman Sons are typical of a small family business in their lack of formal structure. Basically, they document Bannerman's purchase of military goods from state and federal arsenals and their resale to individuals, with other regular purchases of arms and military antiques made on buying trips to Europe. General account books that would show the performance of the business as a whole are either missing or were never kept at all.
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Administrative Information
Publication Statement Manuscripts and Archives
PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library
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Collection Inventory
Order Books, 1886-1954
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Scope and Content
Consists of 118 volumes of order books containing daily sales records, with some gaps, from October 1886 to December 1954. There are an additional 25 volumes of outgoing letterpress books, with the most complete coverage between 1896 and 1904. Incoming letters, invoices and freight bills are arranged in both chronological and alphabetical series. They include numerous catalogs for state and federal auction sales of surplus military equipment and correspondence with other foreign and domestic arms dealers. There are separate files on the Spencer repeating shotgun and on sales of military uniforms, swords, and other gear to theatrical companies.
Title/Description Instances October 1886 - March 1888 volume 1
January 1890 - December 1890 volume 2
January 1898 - October 1898 volume 3
January 1900 - December 1900 volume 4
January 1901 - September 1901 volume 5
September 1901 - December 1902 volume 6
January 1903 - January 1904 volume 7
February 1904 - December 1904 volume 8
January 1905 - June 1906 volume 9
June 1906 - December 1906 volume 10
December 1906 - July 1907 volume 11
August 1907 - January 1908 volume 12
February 1908 - March 1908 volume 13
April 1908 - May 1908 volume 14
May 1908 - July 1908 volume 15
July 1908 - August 1908 volume 16
August 1908 - October 1908 volume 17
October 1908 - December 1908 volume 18
December 1908 - February 1909 volume 19
February 1909 - March 1909 volume 20
April 1909 - May 1909 volume 21
May 1909 - July 1909 volume 22
July 1909 - September 1909 volume 23
September 1909 - December 1909 volume 24
December 1909 - February 1910 volume 25
March 1910 - May 1910 volume 26
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May 1910 - August 1910 volume 27
August 1910 - November 1910 volume 28
November 1910 - February 1911 volume 29
February 1911 - April 1911 volume 30
April 1911 - June 1911 volume 31
January 1919 - April 1919 volume 32
October 1924 - December 1924 volume 33
January 1925 - April 1925 volume 34
April 1925 - July 1925 volume 35
July 1925 - October 1925 volume 36
October 1925 - December 1925 volume 37
January 1926 - April 1926 volume 38
April 1926 - July 1926 volume 39
July 1926 - October 1926 volume 40
October 1926 - December 1926 volume 41
January 1927 - March 1927 volume 42
April 1927 - June 1927 volume 43
June 1927 - September 1927 volume 44
October 1927 - December 1927 volume 45
December 1927 - March 1928 volume 46
March 1928 - June 1928 volume 47
June 1928 - September 1928 volume 48
January 1929 - April 1929 volume 49
April 1929 - July 1929 volume 50
July 1929 - November 1929 volume 51
November 1929 - February 1930 volume 52
February 1930 - June 1930 volume 53
June 1930 - September 1930 volume 54
September 1930 - December 1930 volume 55
January 1931 - Apri11931 volume 56
April 1931 - July 1931 volume 57
August 1931 - November 1931 volume 58
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November 1931 - February 1932 volume 59
February 1932 - June 1932 volume 60
June 1932 - September 1932 volume 61
September 1932 - January 1933 volume 62
January 1933 - May 1933 volume 63
May 1933 - August 1933 volume 64
August 1933 - December 1933 volume 65
December 1933 - April 1934 volume 66
April 1934 - August 1934 volume 67
August 1934 - November 1934 volume 68
December 1934 - March 1935 volume 69
March 1935 - July 1935 volume 70
July 1935 - November 1935 volume 71
November 1935 - February 1936 volume 72
February 1936 - June 1936 volume 73
June 1936 - October 1936 volume 74
October 1936 - January 1937 volume 75
February 1937 - May 1937 volume 76
May 1937 - September 1937 volume 77
September 1937 - December 1937 volume 78
January 1938 - April 1938 volume 79
April 1938 - August 1938 volume 80
September 1938 - January 1939 volume 81
January 1939 - May 1939 volume 82
June 1939"- October 1939 volume 83
October 1939 - February 1940 volume 84
February 1940 - May 1940 volume 85
September 1940 - January 1941 volume 86
January 1941 - April 1941 volume 87
May 1941 - August 1941 volume 88
August 1941 - December 1941 volume 89
December 1941 - March 1942 volume 90
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March 1942 - July 1942 volume 91
July 1942 - October 1942 volume 92
October 1942 - January 1943 volume 93
January 1943 - May 1943 volume 94
May 1943 - August 1943 volume 95
August 1943 - December 1943 volume 96
December 1943 - March 1944 volume 97
April 1944 - August 1944 volume 98
August 1944 - January 1945 volume 99
January 1945 - June 1945 volume 100
June 1945 - December 1945 volume 101
January 1946 - June 1946 volume 102
June 1946 - December 1946 volume 103
January 1947 - June 1947 volume 104
July 1947 - January 1948 volume 105
January 1948 - August 1948 volume 106
September 1948 - March 1949 volume 107
April 1949 - November 1949 volume 108
November 1949 - May 1950 volume 109
June 1950 - December 1950 volume 110
January 1951 - June 1951 volume 111
July 1951 - December 1951 volume 112
January 1952 - June 1952 volume 113
June 1952 - December 1952 volume 114
December 1952 - May 1953 volume 115
May 1953 - November 1953 volume 116
December 1953 - May 1954 volume 117
May 1954 - December 1954 volume 118
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Outbound letter books, 1898-1918
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Title/Description Instances 1882-1886 volume 119
December 1896 - May 1897 volume 120
May 1897 - October 1897 volume 121
October 1897 - March 1898 volume 122
March 1898 - August 1898 volume 123
August 1898 - January 1899 volume 124
January 1899 - July 1899 volume 125
November 1901 - February 1902 volume 126
February 1902 - April 1902 volume 127
April 1902 - June 1902 volume 128
June 1902 - August 1902 volume 129
August 1902 - October 1902 volume 130
October 1902 - December 1902 volume 131
December 1902 - February 1903 volume 132
February 1903 - April 1903 volume 133
Apri1 1903 - June 1903 volume 134
June 1903 - July 1903 volume 135
July 1903 - September 1903 volume 136
September 1903 - November 1903 volume 137
October 1903 - December 1903 volume 138
December 1903 - January 1904 volume 139
January 1904 - March 1904 volume 140
March 1904 - May 1904 volume 141
May 1904 - June 1904 volume 142
1914-1918 volume 143
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Chronological File, 1870-1950 Title/Description Instances 1870s-1898 box 1
1899-1900 box 2
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1900-1901 box 3
1901-1903 box 4
1905-1911 box 5
1912-1921, 1950s box 6
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Alphabetical File, 1880-1950 Title/Description Instances A, 1898-99, 1904 box 7
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). Augusta, 1904 box 7
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). Benicia, 1901 box 7
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). Catalogs box 7
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). Catalogs box 8
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). General box 8
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). General box 9
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). Mare Island box 9
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). Rock Island box 9
Armory Sales. Federal (Army & Navy). San Antonio box 9
Armory Sales. State box 9
Armory Sales. State box 10
Arms Offered to Bannerman box 10
B, 1899-1902 box 10
B, 1902-1904 box 11
Bannerman, W.J., 1883 (Ship Chandler of NY) box 11
Bannerman letterhead and bill samples box 12
Boats box 12
C, 1903 box 12
Coxford, William F. box 12
Cuban Sales, 1898-99 box 12
D, 1898-1903 box 12
Dealers in Antiquities and Curiosities box 12
Dresse Laloux & Co. (Liege) box 12 - Page 10- Francis Bannerman Son, Inc. records 2185
E, 1899-1902 box 12
E/F, 1903 box 12
Employees box 13
Exhibitions box 13
Foreign Governments box 13
Frazier, J.W. box 13
Goldstein, Isidor, 1903 box 13
Graham, C.W. box 13
H, 1899-1903 box 13
H, 1904 box 14
I/J, 1899-1902 box 14
K, 1898-1899 box 14
Kirk, W. Stokes, 1898-1900 (Phila. arms dealer) box 14
M, 1898 box 14
M, 1899-1904 box 15
Magnus, Moritz, Jr. (German arms dealer), 1898-99 box 15
Miscellaneous box 15
O, 1898-99 box 15
O/P,1903 box 15
R, 1901 box 16
Read, William & Sons (Boston arms dealer) box 16
S, 1899-1902 box 16
S, 1902-04 box 17
Spencer Shotgun - Registry book for prize volume 144
Spencer Arms Company (repeating shotguns) box 18
Suppliers of Enhancing Services box 18
Suppliers, Foreign, 1920s-1940s box 18
Suppliers, Foreign, 1950s box 19
T1895-1899 box 19
T/U, 1903-1904 box 19
Theatrical box 19
Uniform Purchases, 1904 box 19
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U.S. Ordnance Dept., 1915 box 19
White, H.K. box 19
V/Z, 1902-04 box 19
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Shipping and Order Directions, 1903-1906 Title/Description Instances 1903, 1906 box 20
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Miscellaneous Accounts, 1870-1919 Scope and Content
Includes accounts with arms suppliers, expense records and the storage location of Bannerman's merchandise. A separate account book for Bannerman's accounts with Magnus Moritz, Jr., a Hamburg arms dealer, contains catalogs of the Gardner Gun Company. There are also household accounts and accounts from the potato business that Bannerman ran during the 1870s.
Title/Description Instances Account Book, 1897 box 21
Account Book and Correspondence - Magnus Moritz, Jr., box 21 Hamburg, Germany arms dealer (includes catalogs of the Gardner Gun Company, London)
Accounts with Reed & Auerbach Co., 1905-1909 box 21
Daily Sales, 1902 box 21
Expense Book, 1919 box 21
Household Purchases and Sales, 1870-1876 box 21
Merchandise Location box 21
Potato Sales, 1872-1875 (2 vols.) box 21
Order Book, 1906 box 21
Merchandise Location volume 145
Sales Daybook, 1896-1897 box 22
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Checks and check registers, 1890-1938 - Page 12- Francis Bannerman Son, Inc. records 2185
Title/Description Instances Cancelled Checks - Corn Exchange Bank box 22
Cancelled Checks - Pacific Bank box 22
Check Registers, 1890-1938 (3 vols.) box 22
Check Registers - Corn Exchange Bank, 1902-1905 (4 vols.) box 22
Check Registers - Pacific Bank, 1912-1914 box 22
Deposit Books - Corn Exchange Bank, 1921-1924 (3 vols.) box 22
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Miscellaneous Subject Files & Reports, 1884-1973 Scope and Content
Includes auction schedules for armory sales, scattered financial statements, and insurance records. There are legal papers concerning several lawsuits in which Bannerman was involved, including a dispute with the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a contractual dispute with the Remington Arms Company, and a negligence suit brought against Bannerman on behalf of a child who was injured while playing with explosives in a lot adjoining one of Bannerman's warehouses. There are also records of a suit growing out of the Navy's unauthorized seizure of Bannerman's Island at the start of World War I. The file includes correspondence with his counsel, Charles Evans Hughes, and with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt. A scrapbook of photographs and sketches shows how Bannerman incorporated details from a variety of buildings seen in pictures or on his European travels into the design of his island arsenal.
There are pocket diaries and memorabilia from a number of Bannerman's foreign business trips. The file on a 1904 trip to the Orient includes menus and cards from the Pacific Mail steamer CHINA, a Japanese railway guide, Methodist missionary literature from China and cards from various hotels enroute. A collection of Chinese and Japanese postcards has been transferred to Pictorial Collections.
Title/Description Instances Auction Schedules for Federal Armory Sales, 1899-1910 box 23
Financial Statements, 1883-1885 box 23
Financial Miscellany (includes statements and several minutes of box 23 Craiginch Corporation)
Insurance box 23
Legal Papers. Claim - Brooklyn Navy Yard, 1884 box 23
Legal Papers. 1918 Controversy (U.S. Navy's seizure of Pollepel box 23 Island, April 1, 1918)
Legal Papers. Remington Dispute, 1917 box 23
Legal Papers. Travell v. Bannerman, 1903 (child injured by box 23 discarded gunpowder)
Miscellaneous Notes and Orders box 23
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Pocket Diary, 1887 box 23
Pollepel Island Scrapbook, primarily sketches of castles volume 146
Pollepel Island Scrapbook - loose material removed from volume box 23
Real Estate. 14 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn box 23
Real Estate. 43 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn box 23
Real Estate. 1570-1572 Bergen Street, Brooklyn box 23
Real Estate. 118 Broad Street, New York box 24
Real Estate. 579 Broadway, New York box 24
Real Estate. 1114 Butler Street, Brooklyn (residence) box 24
Real Estate. Erie Basin, Brooklyn box 24
Real Estate. 27 Front Street, Brooklyn box 24
Real Estate. General box 24
Real Estate. Hotel Margaret, Brooklyn (includes book of box 24 regulations)
Real Estate. Little Street, Brooklyn box 24
Real Estate. Manhattan Real Estate box 24
Real Estate. Pollepel (Bannerman's) Island (includes. The Story of box 24 Bannerman's Island, 2nd ed. with note by Charles S. Bannerman, 1973, 52 pp.)
Real Estate. Sale of Business box 24
Real Estate. Sketches box 24
Travel. England - Diary, 1911 box 24
Travel. England - Diary, 1912 box 24
Travel. England, 1915-1916 box 24
Travel. European Trip, 1900 box 24
Travel. European Trip, 1903 box 24
Travel. European Trip - Notebook box 24
Travel. Japan and China, 1904. Menus and cards for SS China of box 25 Pacific Mail SS Co.
Travel. Japan and China, 1904. Menu from Astor House Hotel, box 25 Shanghai
Travel. Japan and China, 1904. Brochure for Palace Hotel, San box 25 Francisco
Travel. Japan and China, 1904. Brochure for The Raymond, box 25 Pasadena
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Travel. Japan and China, 1904. "Tedzuka's Railway and box 25 Steamship Guide" for Japan, November 1904
Travel. Japan and China, 1904. Card for Alexander Young Hotel, box 25 Honolulu
Travel. Japan and China, 1904. Vol. VIT, No. 1 of the West China box 25 Messenger (Methodist Episcopal Church), 1908
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Trade Catalogs and Publications, 1885-1966 Scope and Content
Includes a good selection of Bannerman's catalogs from 1904 to 1966, the last containing a history of the business and biography of Bannerman. The non-Bannerman catalogs represent both suppliers and rival dealers in military goods, saddlery, flags, and lodge regalia. There are also tear sheets of articles by and about Bannerman and his business.
Title/Description Instances Bannerman Catalogs, box 25 1904191019251927193119361937193819401943194519551966
Bannerman Catalog Fragments box 25
Bannerman Catalog Preparation. Advertising box 25
Bannerman Catalog Preparation. Printing and Engraving box 25
Bannerman Catalog Preparation typesheets and circulars, box 25 1937-1940
Miscellaneous, Catalog and Circular Sales Sheets, box 26 1924-19281932-19371944
Non-Bannerman Catalogs. Fencing Gear - Souzy & de Lecam box 26 (Paris)
Non-Bannerman Catalogs. Flags - Annen & Co. (New York) box 26
Non-Bannerman Catalogs. Flags - Italo-American Flag Co. (New box 26 York)
Non-Bannerman Catalogs. "How to Incorporate Your box 26 Business" (Arizona & New York)
Non-Bannerman Catalogs. Medals, Antiques & Curios box 26
Non-Bannerman Catalogs. Military Goods - Miscellaneous box 26
Non-Bannerman Catalogs. Military Goods - N.S. Meyer, Inc. box 26 (New York)
Regalia. Order of Eastern Star box 26
Regalia. Knights of Pythias box 26
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Saddlery. The Buckeye Saddlery Co. (Columbus, Ohio) box 26
Saddlery. The Mehlbach Saddle Co. (New York) box 26
Sporting Goods. H.&D. Folsom Arms Co. (New York) box 26
Sporting Goods. J.N. Lav & Co. (New York) box 26
Sporting Goods. Klein's Sporting Goods (Chicago) box 26
Sporting Goods. Miscellaneous box 26
Sporting Goods. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (Chicago) box 26
Sporting Goods. Ernst Steigleder (Berlin) box 26
Sporting Goods. Von Lengerke & Antoine (Chicago) box 26
Publications. Ancient and Modern Methods of Arrow Release, box 26 Edward S. Morse, 1885 (Essex Institute)
Publications. Articles About Bannerman box 26
Publications. Journal of the Royal Service Institute, Feb. 1891 box 26
Publications. The Philatelic West and Collector's World, box 26 1911-1912
Publications. Tear Sheets and News clippings box 26
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Family Miscellany, 1855-1922 Scope and Content
Includes family bibles, religious tracts, and Sunday school texts reflecting the Bannermans' deeply ingrained Scotch Presbyterianism. There are also several mid-19th century school books and school copy books used by members of the Bannerman and Boyce families.
Title/Description Instances Francis Bannerman, two Bibles box 27
"An Earnest Invitation to Sinners to Turn to God" box 27
The Life of the Rev. John Newton, Rector of St. Mary Woolnoth, box 27 an authentic narrative written by himself, The Religious Tract Society, London
The Westminster Graded Lessons International Course box 27 Modified, Intennediate Series, Second Year, Part m, Pupil's Textbook - Leadership for God, prepared by E. Morris Ferguson (Philadelphia: The Presbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath School Work,1914)
Ellen Boyce - School Copy Books box 27
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Sanders' Union Reader. Number One, for Primary Schools box 27 and Families, Charles W. Sanders, A.M. (New York: lvison, Blakeman, Taylor & Co., 1861)
The School Reader. Fifth Book, designed as a sequel to Sanders' box 27 Fourth Reader, by Charles W. Sanders, A.M. and Joshua C. Sanders (New York: lvison & Phinney, 1855) - autograph of Frank Bannerman
The First Six and Eleventh and Twelfth Books of Euclid's Elements box 27 with Elements of Plane Trigonometry and an Appendix in Four Books, by James Thomson, U.D.. Part First (Belfast: Simmons and M'Intyre, 1869) - autograph of Henry Boyce
David Boyce Bannerman - Notebook box 27
Notebook - Newspaper Clippings/Auction Proceedings box 27
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