Joseph Lewis Cunningham

Joseph Lewis Cunningham (1784–1843) or J. L. Cunningham worked as an auctioneer in Boston, Massachusetts, in the first half of the 19th century. Among the many lots he sold were birds, horses, real estate, furniture, sea captains' charts, telescopes, American and European artworks, fishing line, feathers, fabric, guns, musical instruments, fruit trees, flower seeds, printers' equipment, and books. Biography His business partners included John J. Linzee (Linzee & Cunningham, India Wharf) and Lemuel Blake (Blake & Cunningham, "respectable auctioneers and commission merchants"). In the early 1820s he conducted his auctioneering from nos. 2-3 Liberty Square; a fire in 1825 forced him to move. In 1826 he built Corinthian Hall, at the corner of Milk Street and Federal Street, and used "the first floor of the building for his extensive auction rooms." "Mr. J. L. Cunningham has erected a noble building... where formerly stood the mansion... of Judge Paine. It has a number of fine halls in the second and third stories, and on the lower floor, is a spacious and commodious auction room; adjoining which, on each street, are several neat and elegant shops. The halls will be much wanted, and Mr. Cunningham is entitled to some thanks for thus arranging his costly building to the public convenience and accommodation."