[3] Howe, together with banker David Nevins, previously bought the mill at an auction for $325,000 and reorganized it as Pemberton Manufacturing Company.
[6] According to later court testimony reported by The New York Times, Howe escaped just as the structure was falling.
[1] During Howe's weekly inspection of the workrooms on the day of the disaster, he recalled, "we discovered at once the columns were falling towards ourselves; the beams were sinking; we then turned around to make an escape; I deemed it extremely doubtful whether we should get out; but we fortunately did.
Business records include correspondence and letters, account books, 1828-1856, sales ledgers, 1828-1861, real estate notes, deeds, fabric samples, invoices, receipts, and memoranda books.
Also includes ship agreements, 1819-1822, pertaining to trading voyages on the ship Mentor to China, the Pacific, and the western coast of the United States, listing name and rank of crew, duties and restrictions, and wages.