Papers of the Burrows Family and of Erastus Lee, 1805-1916

The materials in this series consist of letters, household records and other documents found intermingled with the Albert G. Smith papers. These materials come from two distinct sources: the Burrows family, of Albion, New York, and Erastus Lee, of Rochester, New York. The Burrows family was prominent in both industry and banking in Albion for much of the nineteenth century. The family originated in Groton, Connecticut, which also was the hometown of Albert G. Smith. Smith married the youngest of the Burrows siblings, Julia Ann, in Groton on May 12, 1830. Latham A. Burrows, eldest of the siblings, was a partner of Albert G. Smith in some of his business endeavors. His younger brothers, Lorenzo and Roswell, were noted bankers in Albion for much of the nineteenth century. Lorenzo served as receiver for the bankrupt Farmers Bank of Orleans from 1842 to 1860, which is documented in the series on Court Cases. Roswell served as president of the First National Bank of Albion until his death in 1879; the troubles surrounding his estate and the ultimate failure of the bank are documented in the Stewart Family papers (Res. 2019.034).

Regarding the Burrows materials, the Burrows and Judah account book is from Albion, NY, and in very poor condition. It contains printed information about the Merchants' Bank of New York City, and bears the signature of Oliver Wolcott, President. It also contains material on the settling of the estate of Joshua Burrows, 1809-1810. The later Lorenzo Burrows account book, 1839-1884, is also from Albion, NY. It records information regarding farm produce and services.

In contrast, Erastus Lee was a Rochester building contractor. The materials in his hand or addressed to him mostly pertain to work he undertook on Albert G. Smith's Rochester house in 1853.