Scope and Contents:
This collection consists of correspondence concerning the business affairs of Daniel Elston, a nineteenth-century merchant in Chicago.
Daniel Elston was an English merchant who came to Chicago in 1833. Here, he manufactured soap and candles and later erected a small distillery and brewery. Elston served as a school inspector and alderman, but he was relieved of civic and honorary offices when his lands were removed from the city bounds by the legislature in 1844.
The collection includes 36 items, 20 of which are letters written by Elston in Chicago to Harry Surman, his friend and solicitor in London. The correspondence deals mainly with Elston's business affairs in England, but also comments on business conditions and developments in Chicago.
The collection was acquired by the Illinois Historical Survey, predecessor to the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections, before 1976.
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