 As a result of this family connection, Corning and Pruyn were often partners in Corning's businesses and investments.Erastus Corning & Co. bought and sold all manner of iron products, including tools, nails, stoves, farming implements, and eventually railroad track rails and railroad car parts.The company had a wharf and warehouse on the Hudson River in Albany, and the store itself served not only Albany and the surrounding towns, but hundreds of large customers from the west who visited Albany only two or three times a year to buy and sell products, restock their own supplies, and see what new was for sale.