From small dry goods stores, commission merchants and tradesmen to large banks and shipping firms, business records make up an enormous segment of the collections and document New York’s growth as an economic center from the 17th into the 20th century. Noteworthy collections include correspondence of New Amsterdam merchant Govert Loockermans, and mercantile records of the Beekman, Hendricks and Leverich families, as well as Quaker merchant Isaac Hicks, Ogden, Ferguson and its related partnerships, Brown Brothers Harriman, John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company, and the records of the American Institute of the City of New York for the Encouragement of Science and Invention.