Thomas Rotch Letter from Charles K. Skinner Regarding Sale of Cloth

This letter from Thomas Rotch to Charles K. Skinner includes instructions pertaining to the sale of Rotch's broadcloth and cashmere. Rotch sent samples of his cloth to perspective buyers all over the state of Ohio. Charles Skinner was entrusted with delivering the cloth and also carried additional fabric that he sold to customers along the way. Rotch's market thus reached buyers from Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Dayton, and Zanesville. The letter is one page and measures 8" x 8.75" (20.32 x 22.23 cm). Charles K. Skinner (1792-1875) was born in Connecticut and at a young age worked in a woolen factory. In 1812 he followed his brother Alexander, who was Thomas Rotch's business partner, to Ohio. Charles Skinner remained with Thomas Rotch after his brother moved to Loudenville. After Rotch's death in 1823, Charles Skinner carried on the business of the woolen factory and eventually established a grist mill and woolen factory in Massillon. Thomas Rotch (1767-1823), a Quaker and early settler of Kendal, Ohio (now Massillon), was active in the abolition movement and conducted slaves to freedom on the Underground Railroad. He also served as a correspondent for the Committee on Indian Concerns. The Rotch-Wales Collection comprises several thousand items, including Quaker and abolitionist materials, household remedies and recipes, weather reports and machinery plans, and personal letters of Thomas and Charity Rotch and their family. It contains personal and business correspondence, diaries, documents, accounts, ledgers, and daybooks. A large portion of the collection consists of the personal and business correspondence, documents, and business papers of Arvine Wales I (1785-1854), who accompanied Rotch from Hartford to Ohio in 1811, worked for him, and carried on Rotch's business interests after his death. The papers of his son, Arvine C. Wales (1827-1882), a lawyer and civic leader in Massillon, are also part of the collection