Lanman & Kemp records 2328 This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 14, 2021. Description is written in: English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Manuscripts and Archives PO Box 3630 Wilmington, Delaware 19807 [email protected] URL: http://www.hagley.org/library Lanman & Kemp records 2328 Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Historical Note ............................................................................................................................................... 3 Scope and Content ......................................................................................................................................... 4 Arrangement ................................................................................................................................................... 6 Administrative Information ............................................................................................................................ 7 Controlled Access Headings .......................................................................................................................... 7 Collection Inventory ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Foreign Correspondence .............................................................................................................................. 7 Domestic Correspondence ....................................................................................................................... 249 Internal files ............................................................................................................................................. 305 - Page 2 - Lanman & Kemp records 2328 Summary Information Repository: Manuscripts and Archives Creator: Lanman & Kemp Title: Lanman & Kemp records ID: 2328 Date [inclusive]: 1840-1925 Date [bulk]: bulk 1852-1879 Physical Description: 40 Linear Feet Language of the English . Material: Abstract: Lanman & Kemp was a multi-generational family firm of wholesale druggists in New York City. Their records document the operations of the wholesale drug business in the years before the development of modern pharmaceuticals. They also show the importance of New York City as a center for the import, export and re-export business and of London bankers in financing international trade and extending credit. ^ Return to Table of Contents Historical Note Lanman & Kemp was a multi-generational family firm of wholesale druggists in New York City. Lanman & Kemp was founded at 313 Pearl Street in 1808 by Robert J. Murray (d. ca. 1854), a Quaker merchant and member of the family for which Murray Hill is named. His grandfather, Robert Murray (1721-1786) had converted to the Society of Friends in Pennsylvania and with his wife Mary Lindley Murray and brother John Murray (1737-1808) moved to New York in 1753. The Murrays became extremely wealthy as merchants during the boom that accompanied the Seven Years War but were tainted by Toryism after the Revolution. Lindley Murray (1745-1826), who returned to England and became famous as a grammarian, was Robert J. Murray's uncle. His father, John Murray, Jr. (1758-1819) remained in New York as a merchant and was active in Quaker affairs, including abolition and the care of the poor. Robert J. Murray was also active in charitable pursuits and appears to have retired from active business in the late 1820s. He was succeeded by his brother Lindley Murray (ca. 1790-1847). In 1835, Lindley Murray took David Trumbull Lanman (1802-1866) as a partner under the name of Murray & Lanman at 69 Water Street. Lanman was the son of Peter Lanman (1741-1854) and Abigail Trumbull Lanman - Page 3- Lanman & Kemp records 2328 (b. 1781) of a distinguished, Norwich, Conn., family. His uncle, James Lanman (1767-1841) was a Congressman and Mayor of Norwich., and his brother Joseph Lanman (1811-1874) became a rear admiral. On his mother's side, he was a descendant of John and Priscilla Alden of Plymouth Colony, the great-grandson of Colonial Governor Jonathan Trumbull (1710-1785), and grand-nephew of the artist John Trumbull (1756-1843). Lindley Murray died in 1847, and the business was continued at the same address by Lanman alone until about 1853, when George Kemp, a young Irish immigrant, was admitted to the partnership under the style of David T. Lanman & Co. Kemp and his five siblings had been brought to the U.S. by his widowed mother in the 1830s or early 1840s. The firm became D.T. Lanman & Kemp in 1858 and Lanman & Kemp in 1861. Lanman died in 1866, but the business was continued by George Kemp, his brother Edward (ca. 1830-1901), and his sons Edward and William under the old name. It was incorporated as Lanman & Kemp, Inc., in 1920 and moved to suburban New Jersey in 1957. Several of Lanman & Kemp's traditional products are still produced and marketed by Lanman & Kemp-Barclay & Co., Inc. in 2006. Lanman & Kemp engaged in the wholesale drug trade, buying and selling materia medica throughout the United States and worldwide. They sold their own patent medicines as well as those of other producers. Their most popular product was "Florida water," an all-purpose toilet water touted for cosmetic and restorative qualities, its name associated with Ponce de Leon and the Fountain of Youth in company advertising. Florida water was introduced by Robert Murrary on February 14, 1808 and is still sold under its original brand. Lanman & Kemp also dealt in opiates, medicinal and culinary herbs, spices, liquors, flavorings and perfumery extracts, paint and pigments, medical apparatus and glassware. In addition, they acted as purchasing agents for overseas clients and traded in retail shop fixtures, books, guns, harness, and sewing machines. Lanman & Kemp enjoyed a very large export and re-export business, particularly with Latin America, where David Lanman had traveled and retained a wide circle of correspondents. The firm employed traveling agents who covered the territory, taking orders, and also took direct orders by mail. The firm was also a large importer of raw materials from Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean, particularly opium bought through Turkish merchants. This import-export business was financed through London banking houses. ^ Return to Table of Contents Scope and Content The records of Lanman & Kemp document the operations of the wholesale drug business in the years before the development of modern pharmaceuticals. They also show the importance of New York City as a center for the import, export and re-export business and of London bankers in financing international trade and extending credit. The collection is very rich for students of business history. Domestically, Lanman & Kemp's correspondence with other United States firms in the 1850s-1870s demonstrates the wholesale trade - Page 4- Lanman & Kemp records 2328 in drugs and chemicals, especially in New York City; the relationship of New York firms with small- town retailers. In terms of foreign trade, the collection highlights trade connections between New York and the rest of the world. There is much material with which to study banking and credit history, as the archives contain letters both from large banking firms and from countless small businessmen requesting credit or authorizing bank draughts. Businessmen in South America sometimes paid their bills with local produce, especially hides and coffee. Drug retailers in South and Central America can be studied through the letters, which often contain ornate letterhead describing what the store sold, discussions by the writers of their business experiences, and detailed orders naming many of the items required to stock a pharmacy. The large number of letters can also shed light on the material culture of international business: stationery, especially decorative letterhead and mourning stationery, and the use of formal business language. Long, sustained runs of telegraphic correspondence, especially between Lanman & Kemp and bankers in London or merchants in the Middle East, demonstrate the growing importance of telegraphy in the mid-nineteenth century. Many of the telegrams are written in code. Most of the letters are dated by the sender and by Lanman & Kemp, indicating when it was received; this can be used to calculate the time required to send international letters by steamers during this period. There is also evidence of Lanman & Kemp's forays into advertising: records of advertisements in foreign newspapers, and a few trade cards and newspaper advertisements are included. The nature of the Lanman & Kemp business indicates the collection's use for medical history. Thousands of different drugs are mentioned in orders, from simple herbals such as arnica to chemicals such as gold nitrate, as well as preparations such as litargirio and opodeldoc. Many correspondents also request specific medical equipment and tools, and supplies such as bandages, glassware, etc. These letters can give an idea of the medical preparations in demand in South America, and the nature of medical practice and pharmacology in large cities such as Havana as well as tiny towns in Mexico and Colombia. There are some records of orders from North American druggists as well, although generally the letters are not as detailed. Letters for New York State and Wisconsin are particularly