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E. E. Hilliard and Company Records

An inventory of its records at Syracuse University

Overview of the Collection

Creator: E. E. Hilliard and Company.
Title: E. E. Hilliard and Company Records
Inclusive Dates: 1835-1947
Quantity: 8.3 linear ft.
Abstract: Records of a Connecticut textile firm, including material on its branch operations, Charter Oak Company and Eagle Mill Company; correspondence and letter books (1843-1905); financial records, including bills and receipts, cash books, checkbooks, and time sheets (1837-1939); legal papers, including incorporation papers, 1893; references to a strike, 1934; and ledgers (1857-1937).
Language: English
Repository: Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries
222 Waverly Avenue
Syracuse, NY 13244-2010
https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

E. E. Hilliard & Company, a woollen goods manufacturer, was established in 1794 by Aaron Buckland. Elisha E. Hilliard became part owner of the mills in 1831 and became sole owner in 1842. Aaron Krock purchased the buildings in 1940 and the site was used to manufacture aircraft parts for Pratt and Whitney during World War II. In 1949 the site was purchased by the Bezzini family and became a manufacturing plant for their Old Colony Furniture Company.

The site was re-acquired by Hilliard Mills LLC in 2006 and renovated as a "premiere location for business," leasing office and business space. It is a nationally listed historic site (see their website at http://www.hilliardmills.com for more information).

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The E. E. Hilliard & Company Records consist of correspondence, financial material, miscellaneous material, and ledgers.

The bulk of the Correspondence and Financial material (checkbooks, time books, bill and receipts) deals with the years 1850-1935, when the factory was at its peak production. Several papers also concern smaller branches of the company, including the Hilliard Mills, the Charter Oak Co., the Eagle Mill Co., and the Vernon Mills Co.

The Miscellaneous material includes notes on the history of E. E. Hillard & Co. as well as some specific notes on papers in the collection. Of particular interest is the sample book, containing swatches of different woollen goods with notations, dated 1884. There is also a set of dye formulas with representative samples, dated 1885.

Ledgers span more than eighty years of the company and include a few from the smaller branches.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Material is in alphabetical order by type of material; within that, most material is organized chronologically.

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Restrictions

Access Restrictions

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

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Subject Headings

Corporate Bodies

Charter Oak Company.
E. E. Hilliard and Company -- Archives.
Eagle Mill Company.

Subjects

Manufactures -- United States.
Manufacturing industries -- Accounting.
Textile industry -- United States.
Textile workers -- Connecticut.

Places

Connecticut -- Manufactures.

Genres and Forms

Cashbooks.
Checkbooks.
Correspondence.
Ledgers (account books)
Letter books.
Receipts (financial records)
Sample books.
Time sheets.

Occupations

Business.

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

E. E. Hilliard and Company Records
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Finding Aid Information

Created by: CAK
Date: Jun 1979
Revision history: 25 Nov 2009 - converted to EAD (MRC)

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Inventory

Correspondence
Box 1 Business 1843-1896, 1904-1905 (2 folders)
Box 1 Letter books 1889-1891 (2 folders)
Box 1 Miscellaneous
Financial material
Bound material
Oversize 1 Account book 1835-1847
Box 1 Batch book 1874-1876
Box 1 Cash books 1873-1882 (3 folders)
Box 1 Checkbooks (used) 1934-1938 (3 folders)
Box 1 Cloth book 1840-1846
Box 1 Company time book 1935-1938
Box 1 Contract and time book 1846-1851
Box 1 with Account book (in verso) 1864-1873
Oversize 1 Day book 1871-1886
Box 2 Departmental time books 1875-1877, 1914-1917, 1936-1938 (5 items)
Unbound material
Box 2 Bills and receipts 1837-1838, 1840-1888, undated (6 folders)
Box 2 Inventories 1869-1878
Box 2 Ledger pages 1857-1874
Box 2 Liquidation and taxes 1941-1942
Box 2 Notes and loans 1844-1887
Time sheets
Box 2 1906, 1914, 1934-1936 (6 folders)
Box 3 1936-1939 (4 folders)
Miscellaneous
Bound material
Box 3 Catalog of assets from liquidation sale 18 Dec 1941
Box 3 Record book 1893-1942
Box 3 Sample book 1884-1886
Box 3 Secretary's book 1849-1882
Unbound material
Box 3 Bunce Mill 1852
Box 3 Charter Oak Co. 1849-1870
Box 3 Clark, Francis 1882
Box 3 Collection notes 1951
Box 3 Dye formula circa 1885
Box 3 Eagle Mill Co. 1849
Box 4 Easkett & Bishop 1882
Box 4 Eassins, Jo 1853
Box 4 Employee records 1895-1937
Box 4 Exchange Co. 1849
Box 4 Fragments
Box 4 Incorporation papers 1893
Box 4 Labor strike 1934
Box 4 Machinery 1931-1935
Box 4 Minow, Joseph 1862
Box 4 Miscellaneous (2 folders)
Box 4 Orders 1846-1847
Box 4 Otis, John L. 1856
Box 4 Personal business 1866
Box 4 Real estate 1893, 1939[?] (2 folders)
Box 4 Ridgely, David 1861
Ledgers
Oversize 1 1857-1874
Oversize 1 Charter Oak Co. 1869-1879
Oversize 1 1871-1878
Oversize 1 Eagle Mill Co. 1879-1880
Oversize 1 Charter Oak Co. 1880-1882
Oversize 1 1882-1911, 1913-1928, 1931-1937 (25 volumes)

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