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Gouverneur, Kemble, & Co., "Cash Book," Manuscript Business Ledger, 1800-1805
folio, bound in full contemporary sheep, red leather spine label which reads "Cash Book," boards loose, spine chipped, boards and spine rubbed and scuffed, corners worn and rounded. Contents fine, consisting of approximately 363 manuscript pages, in ink, in a very neat, legible hand. Included on the inside front board is a contemporary bookseller's label of "Brown & Stansbury, Booksellers & Stationers, No. 114, Water-Street, Opposite the Old Coffee-House, New York...."
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Double Entry Business Ledger of the New York firm of Gouverneur, Kemble, & Co., dated November 20, 1800 to March 1, 1805.
Gouverneur, Kemble, & Co. was amongst the foremost commission merchants of New York City, and one of the largest firms in Manhattan. Active in the shipping business, with interests in the China Trade as well as many other foreign ports, The firm was founded just after the American Revolution, with the principals of the firm being Nicholas & Isaac Gouverneur, and Peter Kemble (1739-1823), whose wife Gertrude, was the sister of the Gouverneur brothers. Peter Kemble was the father of Gouverneur Kemble (1786-1875), who with his brothers started the famous West Point Foundry Association. Gouverneur Kemble was a lifelong friend of Washington Irving.
Gouverneur, Kemble & Co. was located at 94 Front Street, New York, New York. They were also listed at one point at No. 26 Front Street. Isaac Gouverneur lived a couple of doors from the store at No. 98 Front Street. Samuel G. Ogden, another well-known merchant of that time, served his clerkship at Gouverneur & Kemble (circa 1795). He was a member of the New Jersey Ogden family and his family's name appears throughout the ledger.
Gouverneur, Kemble & Co.'s advertisements appeared daily in the New York papers and their stock in trade varied. They imported St. Ubes salt, teas of almost any variety; souchong, sequin, tonkay, singlo, or bohea. They also imported London Madeira wine, sherry wine from four to ten years old, Teneriffe and Malaga wine, Holland Geneva, in pipes and cases, of high proof. Other items included Brazil sugar, Muscovado sugar, Spanish salted hides, Irish linen and sheetings, and Ticklenburgs, Holland and Russia Duck, all of the very best sort, etc.
This business ledger is kept in the double-entry system, with four columns on each side of the ledger, the left side marked as "Dr." and the right side as "Contra." Three of the four columns designate whether the transactions were on their accounts with the Manhattan Bank, Branch Bank, or York Bank accounts.
The names of the merchants in the ledger reads like a who's who of New York in 1800-1805, with the entries carrying the names of individuals, companies, and ships, well known to New York's history. The Gouverneur & Kemble families were very well known in New York, and among New York's most prominent. Nicholas Gouverneur's brother-in-law was President James Monroe.
Gouverneur, Kemble & Co.'s most famed moment in history arose from their actions as the factor for Louis Le Guen. This seemingly normal transaction wound up being the famous court case argued by Alexander Hamilton (as counsel for Le Guen) in the winter of 1800, in the Court of Errors, Le Guen vs. Gouverneur & Kemble. It was the culmination of eight individual actions and suits arising out of one single transaction (handling cotton and indigo for Le Guen) and involving proceedings in the Supreme Court of Judicature, Chancery, and the Court for the Trial of Impeachments and the Correction of Errors (Court of Errors). The case wound its way through the courts during the five-year period from 1796 to 1800. Aaron Burr also worked with Hamilton on Le Guen's case. Writing on the Le Guen vs. Gouverneur and Kemble case, James Kent (jurist and legal scholar), speaking of Alexander Hamilton in 1832, stated that this case was one Hamilton's best cases where his varied powers were most strikingly displayed. The case was a "...cause celebre in its own time because of the extraordinary amount of damages claimed, because of the commercial importance of the personalities associated with the litigation, and because of the unprecedented publicity and bitterness it engendered."
Kent's appraisal of the importance of the case remains true today as the case has been cited as a precedent over 100 times since 1800.
One of the more famous individuals listed in the accounts is "General Hamilton," i.e. Alexander Hamilton, (who died July 12, 1804 during the period covered in the ledger). It is interesting to note that Gouverneur & Kemble are paying for Hamilton's legal services, presumably holding no grudges against Hamilton for winning the Le Guen case against them.
On March 14th, 1803, Hamilton is mentioned in the ledger providing legal services:
"Dr. Cash for March 1803
14 March 1803. To Alexander Hamilton in full of Messrs. Ogden $32
To David A. & Thos L. Ogden pd Genl Hamilton $440
Deduct Genl Hamilton's accot $32."
Then on the opposite page:
"Contra
14 [March 1803] By Governeur Kemble & Co pd Genl Hamilton
for inspecting Papers of Ship Diana $40
for attending Trial in Case of the Sea Horse $50
By Charles Gobert pd General Hamilton for Services in the Case of the Ship Helen here & at Albany $100
By Suspence Accot pd Genl Hamilton for [Bxxxxrestrow] & Indiana [?] his Accot $250
This ledger covers the period of November 1800 to March 1805 and it shows that the firm was still thriving after the famous lawsuit that they lost and paid substantial damages. On a regular basis the company's book balances show substantial figures for the time.
The present ledger presents a very full account for this period of the company's history, with most pages completely filled, including the rear end papers and inside board. A very detailed look at this well-known and prominent New York business of the Early Republic, documenting the activities of this large firm, which shows their varied business transactions with merchants, ships, and individuals.
