Shreve Business and Personal Papers

Items from Series III. Personal and Business Papers include ... is comprised of financial and legal papers and some printed matter mostly related to Shreve's personal finances. The accounts with Phineas Janney refer to Shreve's bankruptcy in Alexandria, Virginia. It is possible that the promissory notes, some of which are signed and dated up to eight years after Shreve's death, did not all belong to Benjamin Shreve (1780-1839) but instead belonged to his nephew Benjamin Shreve (born 1813).

The legal papers are mostly deeds for property in Saco and Kennebunkport, Maine, owned by Shreve and Company; again, as most of these are dated after 1839, it is possible that they are referring to Shreve's nephew, Benjamin Shreve (born 1813). Insurance policies document coverage of Maine real estate. Printed material includes an annual report and report of investigation of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company (1836, 1837), a copy of the Act of Incorporation for Commercial Bank (1819), and a table of the comparative strengths and weaknesses of ropes. This series also includes material relative to James Porter, a businessman from Alexandria, Virginia, who moved to Danvers, Massachusetts, and became unable to manage his own affairs. The James Porter estate papers describe Shreve's efforts to settle Porter's finances in Alexandria.