Winterthur is located on Rt. 52 in Delaware, 6 miles northwest of Wilmington; 30 miles southwest of Philadelphia, Pa.; and 5 miles south of U.S. Rte. 1.

Contact Person:
Jeanne Smolensky

Overview:

Hours: Mon to Fri, 8:30 to 4:30

There are no fees to use Winterthur library.

There are no printed catalogs but quite a few unpublished finding aids for individual collections, which must be requested upon arrival at the library.

Most of Winterthur's holdings are included in its on-line catalogue, WinterCat, a compilation of imprints, manuscript and ephemera holdings, photographs, and archival collections, as well as secondary sources owned by Winterthur Library. However, researchers will want to add to their searches of this important electronic medium by searching the finding aids and supplemental materials not yet included in this database. The survey of holdings below is meant to help researchers identify important manuscript holdings in early American economic history, and to cluster certain kinds of resources in ways that will suggest research topics and the wide range of resources at Winterthur available for particular topics in economic history before the Civil War.

Helpful additional aids: E. Richard McKinstry, Personal Accounts of Events, Travels, and Everyday Life in America: An Annotated Bibliography.

 

COMMERCE AND INTERNATIONAL TRADE:

Researchers will be able to find extensive materials concerning colonial and early national American commerce, especially that of the Delaware Valley, in Winterthur collections by using a creative approach when searching for documents. In using the various finding aids at Winterthur, and the online catalogue, a creative approach to using search terms will yield important unanticipated findings. For example, searching for information about prices, by place names or commodity names, or ship routes will be fruitful.

 

Official and Port Records:

Board of Customs and Excise, Ledgers of Imports and Exports, 1697-1767 (51 reels microf.) is an extremely large accounting of goods passing through London and English outports to mainly the North American and Caribbean colonies. The records are kept at the Public Record Office in London, and this microfilm collection comprises one section of the great body of public documents, entitled Part II, State Papers and Departmental Records (a portion of which is alternately referred to as the Customs Office Records).

A continuation of this record of imports and exports concerning several North American ports is in the Board of Customs and Excise, Ledger, 1768-1773. Types of goods, origins, quantities, ship registrations, merchant buyers, and other valuable information is included. Originals are at the Public Record Office in London.

Exchequer Port Books for Bristol, 1740-1758 (1 reel microf.) complements the larger customs collection above, listing exports by goods, destination, consigned merchants received the goods. Originals are held at the Public Records Office in London.

United States Custom House Papers, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1790-1869 (4 reels microf.) is a compilation, though not a systematic record, of goods and ships that entered Philadelphia from other North American places or abroad. The reels are indexed roughly, but a thorough researcher will want to scroll slowly through these reels in order to find gems of information about the goods coming into the city and who is trading them. Originals are at the University of Delaware's Morris Library, Newark, DE.

United States Bureau of Customs, Records of the Collector of Customs at Baltimore, Entrances and Clearances, 1782-1824 (2 reels microf.) is a valuable record of the legal trade passing through this rising port. These are Record Group 36 of the National Archives collection.

Records Concerning Ships Sailing from Salem and Boston, Massachusetts to China, 1784-1823 (1 reel microf.) is a miscellaneous collage of bills of lading, invoices, letters, ship registries, etc. for vessels travelling between Salem, Boston, Marblehead, and China. Included is also an account of Charles Frederick Waldo's trip to Canton in 1802. Originals in the Peabody Museum and Essex Institute, MA.

Ships' Manifests, 1804-1820 (mostly 1806-1808) (1 reel microf.) includes documents listing cargoes coming into Philadelphia from Canton, and conditions of trade in these years leading up to the national embargoes. Originals at HSP.

 

 

Journals, Travel Narratives of Merchants:

Ships' Journals, 1809-1825 (1 reel microf.) is a collection of New England writings from various sources, primarily covering issues related to the weather, condition of vessels, nature of cargoes, and personal observations about voyages to many ports around the world. Many of the ventures were for whaling. Originals are at the Essex Institute, MA.

Sea Journal, 1804 (1 vol.) was kept by a supercargo on the ship, "Confederacy" from New York City to Canton, Calcutta, and Manilla. Early entries are mostly about the weather and ship repair, but later entries cover trade conditions abroad, relations with the Hong merchants, and advice about doing business with China merchants. Goods carried from American ports to China, and goods loaded for the return trip, are listed.

 

Merchants, Partnerships, Companies

One of Winterthur's large commercial collections is that of the Latimer Family, Papers, 1801-1833 (and some items down to 1860) (2 boxes). James Latimer, a founder of Newport, DE in the late 1740s, had eight children, two of whose papers are included in this collection. George Latimer traded through Philadelphia; one of his sons, James, partnered with him in the China trade some time around the War of 1812, and thereafter with his cousin, John. Henry Latimer resided in Newport, where he was a distinguished Continental Army surgeon and then local doctor, followed by a career in national politics. Henry was in commercial business with his nephew, James Latimer; and one of his five children, John. With his cousin James of Philadelphia, the two traded between China and Delaware from 1815 to 1838. Another of Henry, Sr.'s sons, Henry, Jr., farmed most of is adult years and became a director at the Bank of Delaware for 31 years. Half of the family records are household accounts (documented below). The other half are primarily concerned with John and James Latimer's China trade, including imports of fabric, opium, porcelain, and tea. There are numerous bills of lading; two letterbooks covering years after the War of 1812 which list customers and market conditions, a record of ship arrivals and departures at Canton from 1828-1834, and what the ships carried. There are also cash books and daybooks for similar years showing the partners' business at Philadelphia, and order books, price books, and notations about quality and value of goods. Winterthur has a brief finding aid for this collection.

Russell Family, Papers, 1783-1823, contains numerous account books, bank records, travel records, miscellaneous receipts and bills, and household purchase and sales documents. William Russell was both a merchant and financier who circulated in Richmond, VA and New York City circles down to 1798. Accounts for orders of goods, payments, shipping costs, travel expenses for commission business are included. Russell traded mainly cloth and flour (from New York). His wife, Sarah Russell, kept books for household purchases and rental properties. William W. Russell, their son, took over the business affairs of the family after 1798.

Charles Watts, Account Books, 1802-1815 (7 vols.) are the records for a musical instrument makers who came to New York City in 1789 from Scotland, and then migrated to Charleston, only to return to New York in 1803 with his immediate family and four slaves. In addition to making pianoforte's and cabinets, Watts really made his fortune as a prominent post-war merchant and real estate investor. Watts regularly imported shiploads of mahogany and hardware from St. Domingo and Liverpool, which was in turn sold to prominent woodworkers such as Duncan Phyfe and many others in New York, and exported to Glasgow and Charleston. Watts also imported metal wares such as hinges, locks, screws, and other small items from Liverpool, Birmingham, Glasgow, Perth, Edinburgh, and other trans-Atlantic ports. Watts also held numerous bonds and notes. [See also materials of the Watts family held at the New-York Historical Society]

Henry Youngs, Financial Accounts, 1834-1865 (3 vols., totalling over 950 pp.). Youngs was a prominent New York City dry goods importer after the War of 1812. These three books list goods imported, prices, customers in the city, and methods of debt collection. Interestingly, Young continued to accept goods in payment of local debts long after most dry goods importers ceased accepting such barter.

John Jenks, Business and Estate Records, 1783-1817 (1 invoice book, 1 letter book, and probate record of the estate in 1817). Jenks was a Salem, MA merchant who imported dry goods with his brother from England, including a wide variety of textiles and small metal wares. Special orders for teapots, chandeliers, musical instrument parts, and other upper-end items are recorded. The estate inventory gives a room by room records of Jenks' house in 1817. Originals at Court House, Salem, MA.

Thomas Perkins, Letter Books, 1785-1822 (2 vols.) reveal the commerce of this Boston merchant with many other Bostonians and merchants throughout Europe, England, and China. Researchers will find the discussion of China and its existing trade in the 1780s very rewarding, as well as Perkins' observations about Chinese ways of doing business, the various American merchants arriving there, and invoices of the products Perkins brought to China.

Preserved Peirce, Account Book, 1757-1766 (1 vol.), was a merchant in Swansea, MA who traded coastally to Rhode Island and Connecticut with wooden and pewter goods, pottery, and tools for craftsmen. He carried small quantities of imported tea and dry goods, and numerous different agricultural goods from the Swansea area. Peirce keep very good records of his purchases from farmers and craftsmen to fill his vessels for the outbound voyages.

J. Nilis, Letter Book, 1859-1861 (1 vol.), records the wine and tea imports of a New York City merchant, as well as his sundry other imports of dry goods. He was in regular contact with French correspondents and merchants. Nilis retired to the life of a country gentleman farmer by 1861.

Jacob Wendell, Account Book, 1748-1750 (1 reel microf.), was a Boston merchant of rapidly rising stature. John Dolbeare, Bills of Lading, 1718-1740 (1 reel microf.) was also a merchant in Boston, of lesser stature, and a valuable contrast to Wendell. Even further down the social ladder, was struggling Eliphalit Griffin, Account Book, 1753-1760 (1 reel microf.), who sometimes worked as a shipwright.

George Stewardson, Receipts, 1831-1835 (1 vol.), are limited records of a Philadelphia merchant's business.

 

The collection, Abraham Bell & Co., Records, 1821-1893, (3 boxes) is a particularly insightful look at the business activities of this New York based firm of Quaker shipping and commission merchants who traded a variety of commodities, though cotton was its mainstay, through the nineteenth century. The firm also transported thousand of Irish immigrants to New York City during the 1840s potato famine. Abraham Bell (1813- [ca. 1892]) took over the firm in 1835 though it was listed as early as 1804 in New York city directories, and changed the firms names to Abraham Bell & Son in 1844. The collection includes four important volumes as well as miscellaneous correspondence. (1) Accounts Current, 1821-1839 records debits, credits, and interest amassed by firms that did business with Abraham Bell & Co. While many of the entries refer to insurance and freight costs, the volume specifically mentions cotton, linen and whiskey. (2) An Invoice book, 1822-1834, records the firms importation of hosiery, whiskey, muslin, linen and other textiles on consignment, the name of the English and Irish merchants who sent the goods and the name of the vessel on which they traveled. (3). Similarly, an Invoices outward, 1823-1841, records the shipping of cotton, potash, flaxseed, turpentine, tobacco and flour to specific merchants in England and Ireland. Also recorded in the book are entries listing charges associated with exporting the goods. These include fees for bills of lading and clearance, brokerage, insurance, commission, inspection, cartage, storage and wharfage. (4) A Letterpress Copy book for the year 1833 contains about 1000 pages of correspondence from customers to Bell & Co. concerning bills, cargo, and vessels' schedules. Finally, the collection also contain sixteen loose letters addressed to Abraham Bell & Sons, 1833-1854, related to business matters. Firms included in this correspondence are: James Dorr, J. T. Rockwood & Co. of Springfield, MA and Sexton, Seal, & Swearington of Philadelphia, PA. Unpublished Winterthur Finding Aid

 

William Bell, Account Books and Misc. Papers, 1783-1816 (1 reel microf.), was a merchant in New York City who sailed numerous times to China, India, and Mauritius as a supercargo. The collection includes bills of lading, reports on trade conditions and relations abroad, and connections between New York City merchants and those in China. Originals in NYPL.

 

Powell Family, Business Papers, 1724-1778 (Bulk 1730-1739) (2 boxes) contains business papers relating to the mercantile activities of one of the wealthiest and most prominent Quaker families of Philadelphia. Samuel Powell (d. 1756), the first to settle in Philadelphia, and his son Samuel, Jr. (d. 1759) both actively engaged in trade with Europe and the West Indies. The Powell family had commercial and less formal dealings with many respected Quaker families including the Plumstead family. Upon his death, Samuel passed on a large fortune, including ninety houses to his son, also Samuel (d. 1793). Samuel Powell III managed his properties and was active in politics, serving as Philadelphia's last colonial mayor in 1775. The earliest portion of the collection is an Invoice book (1724-1725) owned by the eldest Samuel Powell for goods bought in London. Entries refer to fabrics, needles, threads, shoes, knives and pistols. Many of the assorted bills in the family's papers refer to the management of their vessel, the Tryall , which they seemed to have owned with the Plumstead family during the year 1730. These documents include a letter to the Captain, Samuel Bicknell, which contains sailing orders for a voyage to Barbados. Other bills concern repairs to the vessel, provisions for the voyage, as well as bills for other ship supplies. Several other letters relate to the actions of this vessel during 1730. Finally, the collection contains a receipt book used by Samuel Powell III in Philadelphia during 1776-1778. Many of these entries simply refer to payments to various laborers. Finding aid is available at Winterthur.

 

The Jonathan Holmes Ledger, 1749-1754, (1 vol.) was kept by two merchant brothers of New York City who dealt in a typically wide-range of goods including fabrics, clothing, small household items (inkstands, candlesticks, saucepans, etc.) cutlery and hardware. Additionally, the brothers also sold a variety of prints of English country houses, views of London, maps of the world, and books. They held shares in cargo to Virginia and the West Indies; customers' occupation and residence is included, some of whom were craftsmen from Monmouth County, NJ. With this information, scholars may then trace out the complicated networks among New York merchants and craftsmen.

Among Winterthur's holdings of dry-goods merchants is Lane and Asher, Daybooks, 1834-1861 (3 vol.). These volumes, three daybooks spanning the years 1834 to 1861, represent the sales of Stephen P. Lane and Abijah Asher Jr., two merchants in rural antebellum Hollis, MA. The two sold a diverse range of goods, including provisions, copper, lead, agricultural supplies, clothing, textiles, and household goods. The books, then, allow the historian and insight into the daily consumption habits of the merchant's rural customers.

The especially rich and detailed collection, N. B. & N. A. Doggett, Records, 1840-1889, (6 vol. and 4 folders) provides valuable insights into the business operations of mid-nineteenth century hardware wholesale importers. Nathaniel Bradlee Doggett (b. 1818) and Noah Alline Dogget (1821-1869) operated a hardware store at 492 Washington Street in Boston, MA. The financial records fall into three categories. (1) One volume, covering the years 1840 to 1875, is a comprehensive list of customers, hardware they purchased, as well as the price and means of payment. (2) Two volumes, dated 1840 to 1858 and 1840 to 1859, consist of hardware ordered and received from Birmingham, England. (3) The last three volumes, "Waste", "Journal" and "Ledger" all relate to cash transactions with local customers. Perhaps the most valuable of these to researchers may be the Waste volume which is a weekly record of amounts taken in from sales for various categories of goods such as nails, glue, etc. Winterthur has an unpublished finding aid.

Thomas Morton, Business Records, 1799-1827, 1799-1801 (2 vols.) show the activities of this dry goods merchant and tailor in New York City at the turn of the century. Morton imported both bulk goods for retailers in the city, and specific orders for elite city customers. He kept careful records of what individuals ordered, including the clothing specifications they made for the tailoring side of his business, and elaborate notes on the types of fabrics he used. Morton also supplied tailors in the city with imported fabrics.

Mascarene family papers, 1687-1839 (1 reel microf.) documents a Boston family of merchants who conducted a sizeable import-export business. [more on this?] Originals are at the Mass. Histl. Society.

Mann, Vail, & Co., Bill of Lading Book, 1853-1854 (1 vol. 282 pp.), was a forwarding company for merchants in New York City who sent imported wares on the Erie Canal to Buffalo, NY and other points further west. Given the number of filled pages of information for just this one year, Mann, Vail, and Co. was a sizeable company operation. Interestingly, the records also show a sizeable amount of canal traffic at this date, when railroads were becoming more important. Names of shippers and receivers are given, names of vessels to import goods from abroad, and some details about the conditions of goods transferred to the canal vessels. Many of the goods were large items such as wagons, bedsteads, sleighs, containers of roofing, etc.

Godfrey Malbone, Account Books, 1728-1739 (2 reels microf.), was a merchant at Newport, RI where he brought in European goods, southern American goods, and West Indies wet goods; Malbone exported to coastal destinations, and the West Indies, including New Castle coal. Originals at RI Histl. Society.

Edwin J. McKie, Account Book, 1835-1844 (1 vol.), was a wool dealer at Easton, MA who imported wool from a variety of foreign and coastal locations, and shipped it to a Wiliam McKie.

McCurdy, Aldrich & Co., Order Book, 1835-1839 (1 vol.), were textiles importers in New York City who ordered from a number of English and French manufacturers. Elaborate details about the nature and colors of the fabrics wanted, loading ships and instructions to captains, and conditions of commercial relations with other merchants.

James Low, Papers, 1826-1844 (2 vols.) is the record of a New York City shipper whose frieght lists for both ocean going ships and steamboats, and wage and crew lists, which detail voyages inland and abroad.

Parsons Family, Papers, 1764-1873 (mostly 1764-1767) (4 vols.), originated in the family's New York City business importing textiles from London and various North American port cities, and small quantities of metal ware, sewing supplies, seeds, and dry goods. The first volume is a journal, the other three are receipt books named for various partnerships, including Parsons & Willet, John Parsons & Brothers, James & Samuel Parsons, Samuel Parsons, and James B. Parsons.

In one small invoice book dating from 1783, for the Parrish, Pots, Shields, and Company, one can glimpse the activities of this partnership which had members in both England and Philadelphia, and shipped all manner of dry goods and West Indies goods.

Jonathan Holmes, Ledger, 1749-1754 (1 vol., 242 pp.), demonstrates the trade of a New York City merchant in various very fine upper-end items from London, including silks, special-order calicoes and prints, paintings and prints, brass and iron trim wares, walnut chests of drawers, japanware, etc. Holmes sold to customers in Newport and Providence, ventured cargo to Virginia and the West Indies, and interior towns of New York. Customers' names are given frequently, and their occupations.

Isaac Hobhouse & Company, Letters, 1722-1755 (1 reel microf.), is a reproduction of a portion of the records of this large merchant firm from Bristol, England. These letters are mainly written by merchants in America and the West Indies who ordered goods from the English firm. Descriptions of African transports, and southern colonial traffic are included, and documents spell out the conditions of trade between New England and the West Indies during the 1720s and 1730s. Originals in the Bristol Record Office.

Christopher Marshall, Account Book, 1765-1772 (1 vol.) divulges a few years of this Philadelphia importer of drugs, paints, bottles, and sundry spices and oils. A partnership was formed of Christopher Marshall and Son, and then Christopher and Charles Marshall. Shipping, storage, and insurance charges are given in some detail throughout. See also HSP records for a manuscript copy of Christopher Marshall's Diary, covering the revolutionary years, a portion of which was published by William Duane in 1877.

John L. Leuch, Sales Book, 1836 (1 vol.), records the imported dry goods that Leuch sold in his store somewhere in the mid-Atlantic region. It is not exceptional in any way, in that it includes the typical array of goods, with customers' names, prices, and other details about the goods in stock. There is little to connect Leuch to external commerce.

Samuel Morris, Receipt Book, 1769-1781, shows the business and household purchases of this Philadelphia merchant, but there is little about the nature of his commerce, or the goods he traded.

Samuel P. Savage, Ledger, 1742-1749 (1 vol.) covers some of the business transaction of this Boston merchant within the city after imports were made, but there is little in this record about Savage's linkages to the Newport, Providence, London, and New York merchants which whom he notes he does business. Boston craftsmen are named and their specific purchases indicated.

Seaman & Cutts, Invoice Book, 1834-1835 (1 vol.) is another of the small items at Winterthur which is useful mainly in conjunction with other records. The partners were in business in Boston, where they stocked imports of a typical variety of dry goods from abroad, as well as Western Hemisphere products such as chocolate, rice, sugar, and molasses.

J. and J. F. Head, Business Records, 1809-1835 (2 vols.) was a partnership of brothers who were in business mainly from 1810 to 1813, doing business with Cadiz. Joseph Head (the "J" of the partnership) carried on in trade until 1835 after his brother's death. One volume, a letter book, dates mainly from the War of 1812, and includes valuable commentary on insurance for vessels, notes about captures, fluctuations of prices and shortages of goods for sale, conditions of the China and West Indies trade, and difficulties with European ports. The Head's traded in both dry and wet goods. The second volume is a cash book that shows finance charges, fees, pace of debt collections, and other financial affairs of the firm.

Hawthorn & Kerr, Accounts, 1796-1803 (11 invoices and debt lists). This small collection of a cotton and textiles broker partnership is a valuable glimpse at relations spanning from Dublin and London suppliers, through the partners' ships and stores in Philadelphia, to retailers who bought from them in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and to ultimate customers of the goods.

Hamilton & Hood, Financial Documents, 1812-1832 (41 items) is a small collection of a Philadelphia merchant firm's imports of household manufactured goods, and their sale to Philadelphia, Maryland, and Delaware individuals. Samuel G. Osborn, e.g., of Smyrna, DE, bought large amounts of West Indies goods from the partners. Bank documents from the Bank of New Castle, DE and Philadelphia banks are in this collection as well.

Frederick Hammer, Letterbook, 1801-1806 (1 reel microf.) shows a Baltimore merchants imports from Germany, especially glass goods. Originals at the Maryland Historical Society.

Benjamin Greene was a Boston merchant who lived from 1713 to 1776. A Ledger, 1734-1758 (1 vol.) records the business of his company with overseas locations. Account Books, 1755-1799 (1 reel microf.) add to the picture by providing information from two volumes covering overseas trade in partnerships with Boston merchants. Originsals at the Massachusetts Historical Society.

John R[owe] Parker, Expense Book, 1798-1809 (1 vol., 170 pp.) is primarily a set of household accounts for this wealthy Boston (see "Households" below), but there are statements of voyage profits and losses for the West Indies trips his ships made during the early 1800s as well.

Thomas Oxnard, Account Book, 1751-1753 (1 vol.) is a small account of a Boston, MA importer of mainly very fine textiles and lace, which were in turn sold to retailers in Boston and around New England in a coastal trade. Many references to prices, currency valuations, sterling exchange rates in London are given.

John Green, Cargo Manifest and Invoice Book, Empress of China, 1784-1785 (1 reel microf.), is a valuable portrait of the first voyage from America to China kept by the ship master. Included is the ship's log, Green's diary, description of goods taken to China and supplies for the crew. Comments on merchants resident already in China are given as well. Originals at HSP.

Archibald Gracie (1755-1829), Diary, 1815 (1 vol., 152 pp.), traces some of the business of this famous Scottish immigrant to first Petersburg, VA, and then to New York City where he built the Gracie Mansion in which city mayors live. Gracie lived high in the early 1800s, and fell low during the War of 1812. The Jefferson embargoes were his ruin, and it took until at least 1823 to repay debts accumulated early in the century. Gracie not only imported; he was also a city magnate in banking. Most of the diary is about Gracie's trip to Scotland and England in 1815, including visits to factories and his admiration for steam power and cotton manufactures and glassblowing.

John Glassford and Company, Records, 1758-1817 (20 reels microf.). This extremely large collection of documents shows in great detail the functions of a tobacco factoring firm in Glasgow, Scotland that did business in Maryland and Virginia. After the Revolution the factoring stores in the Chesapeake passing into the hands of Americans. Before that, various partnership and firm names appear in the records, including Glassford and Co.; Glassford & Henderson; and Henderson, Ferguson, and Gibson. Typically of such factoring arrangements, the Scottish firms sent manufactured goods to the planters of the Chesapeake, in return for exports of tobacco from some of the very largest planters of the region. Originals in the Library of Congress.

Robert R. Garwood, Account Book, 1846-1850 (1 vol.), shows dry goods importing by this Philadelphia merchant, and his sales of textiles and finished clothing to James Daveraux.

George Folliot, Diary, 1765-1766 (1 reel microf.), concerns the visit of this New York merchant to England to discuss the molasses duty with British officials, and Folliot's efforts to secure a supply contract to deliver hogs and oxen to soldiers stationed in New York, and to secure New York bread and beer for these soldiers as well. The Diary is published as part of the "British Records Relating to American in Microfilm," ed. Walter Minchinton (1979). Originals in Wigan, Manchester, England.

Joshua Fisher & Sons, Account Books, 1784-1788, 1792-1797 (1 reel microf. Of 2 vols.), were Quaker merchants in Philadelphia who imported textiles and dry goods from England.

David Fisher, Account Book and Journal (2 vols.) cover the years 1795-1805 of this somewhat middle-class Irish bleacher's rise to a significant New York City merchant who imported Irish linen and sewing goods. His business failed in 1812, and he moved to Newbugh, NY where he bacame a local craftsman in leather. Fisher did extensive trade between Ireland and New York, but he also sought business in South Carolina and Savannah, GA in 1802.

John Fearing, Account Book, 1756-1803 (1 vol.) comes from a part-owner in numerous Massachusetts ships and sloops, who also may have imported for numerous local farmers and accepted their labor on his country landholding in payment.

Etienne Dutilh, Account Book, 1804 (Jan-April), is a brief portion of this Philadelphia merchant's importing activities. Dutilh arrived in Philadelphia at the end of the Revolution, having laid the basis of his prosperity already as a merchant of Rotterdam and London. In one year, he built up an elaborate trading network with the West Indies, Europe, and Britain. Successive partnerships as Dutilh & Wachsmith, then E. Dutilh, Soulrer, & Co., continued the business until his death in 1810. His family continued on in Germantown, PA. This brief patch of his business concerns insurance coverage for voyages to Jamaica, duties paid on the trip, port fees, and a separate listing of stock held in the Union Insurance Company and the Bank of the U.S.

Richard Carne, Invoice Book, 1821-1831 (1 vol.) records the imports of hardware for Alexandria, VA area buyers, Baltimore, MD merchants, and Isabella Furnace masters in Chester County, PA.

Joshua Drisco, Papers, 1814-1902 (mostly 1814-1853) (1 box), is a small collection of mainly personal and household papers of this Portsmouth, NH merchant. His business was primarily coastal.

John Davidson, Daybook, 1781-1783 (1 reel microf.) is another small collection, of an Annapolis, MD merchant who imported coastally all kinds of crafts and agricultural goods. Originals in the Baker Library, Harvard University.

Cuvillier, Aylwin & Harkness, Daybook, 1805-1806 (1 vol) is a small record of a Quebec, Canada partnership that imported a variety of goods from numerous foreign places, including Europe and the West Indies. Little seems to have been exported.

Cortlandt, Billings & Co., Account Book, 1784-1786 (1 vol.) was a New York City partnership that imported for the elite merchants and better-off artisans of the city, mostly household goods ordered specifically for individual customers.

William Constable, Accounts, 1794-1798 (1 reel microf.) is largely one inventory of Constable's house in New York City, taken most likely to have a record of belongings and valuable properties for insurance purposes while away on a trip in London. Originals in NYPL.

Sullivan Dorr, Account Book and Diary, 1801-1858 (2 reels microf.), gives many insights into this China trader's life abroad in the early 1800s, and continuing commerce from Providence, RI after 1805. Accounts enumerate many Chinese liaisons, varieties of tea, and trade relations. Originals at RI Historical Society.

James Dixon and Sons, Letterbook, 1835-1839 (1 reel microf.), covers some of the trade of this Sheffield, England firm with James W. Dixon in New York City. Finished silverware, silver items, and tableware was sent to numerous New York and Philadelphia retailers.

Delaplaine Family Papers, 1720-1810 (1 reel microf. And 1 folder). Joshua Delaplaine (see "Artisans" below) began as a carpenter and ship joiner, but by the 1730s was a rising New York City merchant. He exported his and other artisans' furniture to the Caribbean, and imported indigo and sugar. As he expended, Delaplaine exported more and more flour and butter to coastal locations. When he died in 1771, his three sons carried on the business. Commercial Account Books are supplemented with bills of indenture, receipts for imports of rosin and other carpentry supplies, orders for finished metal goods needed in the family business. Originals at New-York Historical Society.

Andrew Clow & Company, Records, 1784-1795 (40 items) is, on the surface of it, only a small collection of papers, but the range and depth of Clow's commerce is evident from the invoices, letters, and credit documents included. Clow traded throughout Europe, the West Indies, and ports to the south of Philadelphia; he carried all kinds of textiles and metal cutlery which he imported first into Philadelphia and then out again to customers and merchants of other ports. His business with London and Sheffield, England firms was at a high level in 1784, suggesting that Clow established, or re-established, connections with England immediately after the Revolution. Trade to Alexandria, VA is also brisk by the early 1790s.

Rodman Family, Papers 1660-1839 (1 reel microf.) is an extensive record of a Quaker family's migration from England to Barbados in roughly 1670, and the subsequent move to Newport, RI in 1675 of part of the family. The third generation of Rodmans in the Western Hemisphere became prosperous merchants; the fourth and fifth generations carried on through the 18^th century as merchants and bankers in New Bedford, MA. In the second generation John Rodman, Jr. (1653-1731) bought land in both Newport and Flushing, Long Island, and struck up successful business with New York City merchants before long. His son, John, 3^rd (1679-1756) moved to Philadelphia and then Boston, thereby extending the family's merchant business even more; by the 1720s he moved to Burlington, NJ and got out of commerce. Other details of the family's growth and extensive involvement in politics and economics can be gleaned from these records. Pre-Revolutionary papers about commercial networks of the family members are quite important records of the ties between New England and Philadelphia. But much of the documentation concerns legal and political affairs that are not directly related to commerce. Originals in private hands.

 

John Innes Clark lived in Providence, RI but imported from a variety of external ports. His Invoice Book, 1801-1808 (1 vol.) gives a detailed record of ships, goods, destinations, customers, and debts around the world. Customers may have been specifying particular patters of china and types of tea.

James Brobson , Lading Book, 1790-1805 (1 vol.) shipped flour, meal, bread, green chairs, and grain from Wilimgton, DE to West Indies ports and returned with wet goods. Although there is nothing especially distinctive about this commerce, this record is nicely detailed.

Brandon & Dolbeare, Journal, 1739-1748 (1 vol.) covered a period of this dry goods importing business in Boston, MA, and their elaborate distribution system in which imported British goods were sent through the nearby New England countryside.

Blodget & Gilman, Account Book, 1787-1807 (1 vol.) shows another Boston firm's active importing and distribution of goods. Textiles were the primary import, and this firm sent portions of their imports to other merchants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and smaller cities. By the early 1800s, the partners were making a transition to ownership of a small textile manufactory, and there are tantalizing records about the work of weavers, spinners, smiths, etc.

Joshua Blake, Letter Book, 1828-1829 (1 vol.), shows how this Boston importer worked with Greek, Italian, and eastern Mediterranean wholesalers to acquire goods. Letters to captains are also included, as well as arrangements for insurance, directions about the disposal of cargo, and correspondence with bankers.

John Besson, Notebooks, 1813-1857 (5 vol.) is a lengthy personal record kept by a dry goods merchant in Philadelphia that is, unfortunately, devoid of economic material about his business. Most of the entries are ephemera and human interest items.

Peter Baynton, Ledger and Letterbook, 1721-1727 (1 reel microf.), was kept by a Philadelphia merchant who imported rum, textiles, small metal goods, sugar, and earthenware. See HSP records for more.

Jacob Babbitt, Waste Book, 1814-1816 (1 vol.), includes a record of insurance, consignment arrangements, fees, labor costs, repairs, and supplies to run his ships, as well as the goods he imported and exported.

Adee & Schell, Day Book, 1835-1839 (mostly 1836), records the business of a New York City textiles importer and distributor. In 1836 Richard Schell assumed full operation of the company's affairs.

Whitman, Beane & Co., Account Book, 1804-1817 (1 vol.) [also known later as Beane and Chandler] hailed from West Yarmouth, MA and sold imported household goods of all varieties, including cleaning supplies and tailoring supplies.

Winslow Family, Waste Book, 1773-1779 (1 vol., 96 pp.), covering the business of brothers Isaac and Joshua especially, gives valuable insights into the American Revolutionary years in the Boston area. Up to 1775, business was brisk with British ports, and thereafter most trade was coastal.

William Wilson, Letters and Order Books, 1757-1760 (1 reel microf.), shows a Philadelphia merchant's order to England for dry goods, clothing, household furniture, etc. Originals in NYPL.

H & G Vail, Day Book, 1810-1812, 1814-1824 (2 vols.), show the importing of two brothers, Henry and George, of textiles, clothing, rug and carpeting, and women's outer wear in particular. The Vails were in Troy, NY and imported through NYC merchants as well as their agents in New York who placed orders abroad.

Daniel Tyson, Papers, 1771-1773 (1 folder), is a small collection of letters to Tyson from country buyers in Bucks County, PA and his foreign suppliers mainly in England. A few invoices also list the goods shipped to Philadelphia to Tyson, consisting primarily of dry goods, paper supplies, and small sundries.

Charles Treadwell, Receipt Book, 1758-1767 (1 vol.), shows imports of tea and rum at Portsmouth, NH, but the document is less useful than those which include more detailed information.

William Taylor, Invoice Book, 1818-1839 (1 vol., 114 pp.) is the receipts of this Boston merchant for metal wares imported from Sheffield and Birmingham for both household and business uses. Not only the invoices of particular goods, their prices, and the customers who purchased them are included; there are also extensive records of import duties, insurance premiums, commissions to agents, freight charges within England and New England, and other such business fees.

Thomas Symmes, Record Book, 1839-1848 (1 vol.) shows the imports of textiles and dry goods to this merchant in Charlestown, MA, including numerous different kinds of cloth and tailoring supplies. Most sales are in cash, with customers names often noted.

Richard Somers, Ledger, 1773-1787 (1 vol.) includes the financial transfers of this New Jersey merchant, with names of sloops and shiops, charges for unloading and storage, wharfage fees, insurance, and the like. Some of his customers are named.

William Smith, Letter and Record of Vendue, 1786, 1791 (2 items) is a small but valuable collection. A letter from Isaac Polock of New York City in early 1786 discusses a shipment of flour and cornmeal. A record of estate sale for 1791 shows that area merchants purchased Smith's goods in bulk quantities, much of it dry goods that had been imported, but also livestock and leather goods.

Pasal N. Smith, Letterbook, 1775-1781 (1 reel microf.) is the large collection of letters from and to this New Haven, CT merchant who later moved to New York and then Boston. Smith was in a partnership as Sears and Smith, which traded to both England and coastally; the partners were privateers during the Revolution and the outfitting records for their vessels are included in this collection. Many letters to captains are included, with instructions for exports to be taken to many different ports of call. Numerous famous Revolutionary figures correspond with Smith during the Revolution. Originals are in private hands.

Smith Family Papers, 1764-1833 (1 box, ca.150 items). This is another large collection, of Edward Smith of Salem, MA and then York, ME, a merchant of extensive activities. Smith owned and part-owned a number of small trading vessels during the Revolution, which plied to and from the West Indies through the Revolutionary years and to at least 1789. Some ventures were directed by his son Edward, Jr. Upkeep and supplying of the sloops and schooners is detailed in these records, and there are numerous lists of cargo, writs of attachment, and port documentation. By the early 1800s, the residence in York, ME became more and more of a gentleman's rural estate, with some livestock, corn, and lumber processing.

 

Robert Waln, Daybook, 1816-1821 (1 vol., 270 pp.), covers some of the commercial affairs of this Philadelphia merchant who speculated in sugar and coffee, and invested with or through Stephen Girard, the famous banker of Philadelphia. Numerous household expenses are also indicated.

Glen-Sanders Family Papers, 1674-1957 (18 reels microf.). This very large collection involves a network of fur exporters and British manufactures importers, mainly during the colonial period of New York's history. The Glen's of the Albany and Schenectady, NY areas traded down-river with the Sanders family of wholesalers. Originals are at the New-York Historical Society; Winterthur has a summary of contents on each reel.

 

Vernon Family Records, 1738-1829 (1 box, ca. 240 items), is the large collection of a prominent merchant family including William, Samuel, and Thomas Vernon from Newport, RI. Their fortunes were built on sending rum to Africa, bringing slaves to the West Indies, and carrying molasses for rum distilling into New England. During wars, the family privateered actively. The collection is an especially rich repository of commercial import and export documents, orders for customers, long lists of goods carried coastally, import fees, profits from ventures, problems with debtors and with paying their own bills, seasonal and particular voyage difficulties, and similar themes in the lives of typical great wholesalers. Researchers are encouraged to use the finding aid for this collection of loose items.

 

 

Jacob Ritter, (b.1784), Autobiography, 1836 (1 reel microf.), is an interesting account of a supercargo-turned-shopkeeper. Ritter travelled to Batavia, Bartholomew, St. Thomas, and many other foreign locations before settling down with his brother to keep a stationary store in Philadelphia.

 

The Wistar Family Papers, 1739-[ca. 1854] (7 cu. ft.) contains both a set of bills, receipts, and deeds, as well as account books, bankbooks and checkbooks of various Wistar family members. John Wistar (1708-1789) emigrated to America with his brother Caspar Wistar (1696-1753) where he owned a glasshouse in New Jersey. John Wistar eventually settled in Philadelphia as a merchant and real estate investor, a Receipt book for the years 1739 to 1746 relates to his many of his transactions during this time. Two account books from John's son William Wistar (1746-1800) for the years 1773-1776 and 1792-1795 reveal the business activities of this prominent and wealthy Revolutionary Era Philadelphia merchant. William formed several partnerships during his business years including the firm Wistar, Price & Wistar (his son John Jr. would later join the partnership which continued after William's death). Several scattered account books, journals and receipt books-mostly from 1797 to 1825-allow for reconstruction of these firms involvement in the textile trade. A brief partnership between William and Samueal Miles (Miles & Wistar) is documented only by a Receipt book (1771-1781) which provides few details on the nature of their trade. Similarly, an account book (1787-1789) shows a partnership named Wistar & Ashton. However, this book provides few details because goods sold are simply listed as "sundries" or "merchandise". A set of bankbooks , notes, bonds and stocks spanning 1800-1837 relate to the administering of William's estate by his son. The fire insurance policy, 1825, for John Wistar is also present.

The records also include a few scattered volumes relating to the mercantile activities of another Wistar family member, Daniel Wistar. These documents include an Order book, 1762-1768, for textiles, hardware, metal-wares and other goods as well as another Order book (1771-1774) for the firm Miles & Wistar containing similar entries. Another similar, but apportioned Order book (1784-1789) contain textile entries.

William's nephew, Charles Jones Wistar (1782-1865) was a Philadelphia merchant interested in scientific pursuits such as botany and mineralogy. The collection contains a wide variety of bills and receipts relating to his business and personal expenses between 1802 and 1839, a set of bankbooks spanning the years 1803-1810, 1817-1834. The collection also includes bills and two Memorandum books for 1850 relating to his firm, C. J. Wistar & Co. (1840-1860) which probably included his son, Charles Wistar, Jr. (1822-1910).

An Account book, 1813, probably belonging to A. Konigmacher & Co., and a book recording goods received from this company and to whom belonged, to whom delivered and when delivered lists a wide variety of hardware distributed to both individuals and other firms.

Finally, the Wistar Papers contain an assortment of seemingly unrelated documents. Agricultural historians would be interested in the Account book and diary (1822-1825) of John M. S. Hoxie of Florida which describes the planting of oranges and cotton on Hoxie's Florida farm. Entries also relate to Hoxie's involvement with a sugar cane factory, a salt works and with timber.

The Wistar collection also contains some shipping records. The records for the Brig Susan & Elizabeth , 1825-1827, as well as an account book of the firm William Rotch, London & New Bedford (1785-1801) and an account book (1822-1826) for J. H. Stevenson & Co, William Gill shipping. The records for the Brig Susan & Elizabeth, Captained by Mark Warner, owned by John H, Stevenson. This vessel, trading in Newcastle, Vera Cruz, Philadelphia, carried wine, hides, and logwood. The book contains a wide variety of information ranging from wages paid to men to load the vessel, to the pilot in Vera Cruz, the captains wages, seamen's wages, as well as the provisions and supplies procured on the voyage.

The Account book for the firm William Rotch, London & New Bedford documents the shipping activities of the transatlantic trade of this trading company based in the growing Massachusetts seaport of New Bedford, MA. The document names twelve vessels and enumerates the expenses incurred outfitting and managing the vessels. Costs listed include those for provisions, supplies, repairs, and workers' wages. There are ,also frequent allusions to whaling ships including the purchase of harpoons and lances; New Bedford would become the world's dominant whaling port by mid nineteenth century. The book also contains an elaborate description of changes to be made to a vessel dated 1791 in the back of the volume. Winterthur has an unpublished finding aid for this collection.

Richard Wistar, Business and Personal Papers, 1743-1772 (mostly after 1759) (1 reel microf.), is a reproduction of this Philadelphia merchant's accounts with English firms during the colonial era, including numerous letters ordering goods and transacting exchanges for unwanted and damaged goods. Originals are in private hands.

Shipping Records, 1708-1892 (mostly 1790-1820) (5 boxes), is a very large collection of all manner of commercial records. Included are certificates of ownership and insurance, bills of lading, manifests, invoices, accounts, lists and letters relaying to shipping and trade. Most relate to trade in the Northeastern port cities, including Philadephia, Boston, New York as well as southern ports such as Savannah, New Orleans and Charleston. Documents also relate to several foreign ports such as London; Bremen; Utrecht; St Sebastian, Spain; Kingston, Jamaica; Honduras; Curaçao, Manilla, Canton, Havana. Goods represented are cotton, furs, logwood, pottery, glassware, hardware, firearms and provisions. Scholars could use many of the documents to infer freight and insurance charges. Additionally, the letters reflect the balance between formal and informal relationships common along merchant networks. Many of these letters deal not only with business but also political, economic and personal matters. The letters could be used as a valuable source for better understanding the instructions that merchants gave their agents and captains. Multiple documents relating to the activities of Philadelphia merchants John Archer, Enoch Hobart, Mordecai Lewis, Robert McCall, and Samuel Chase are present in the volume. Items of note include a 1706 petition from the residents of New Castle requesting funds for the erection of a fort (the petition is signed with 53 names of early New Castle residents. The file also contains a partially filled out receipt book (1735) belonging to Wilmington merchant, James Knowles, it which he has listed outbound cargoes, their destinations, their prices, the merchant to whom sent and the name of the vessel on which they were sent. Most of these vessels originated in Christiana creek and carried various grades of flour to ports such as Charleston.

There is an extended list of the "Prices of Sundry Goods at London" on March 15, 1745. This list includes mostly provisions, but also includes whale oil, textiles, coffee and tea as well as various spices. The author and recipient are unclear but an analysis of the market for rice, as well as shipping and insurance costs for voyages from the Carolinas to London seem to indicate that the list was prepared for a Charleston agent of a London merchant. The letter contains detailed instructions reminding the recipient of how many copies of various ship papers to send as well as instructions concerning the best means to obtain insurance. Researchers may find the analysis of the potential rice market helpful in determining the nature of the information merchants had available to aid them in decision making, Moreover, the letter, probably from a London merchant to his Charleston agent, can inform scholarship on the levels of asymmetric information present in transatlantic trade.

A receipts dates June 1764 relates to the sale of flour, rum, and about 100 "new" slaves to a firm called, Crookshanks & Spears.

A 1766 letter from Jamaican merchant John Wright Slanty to Philadelphia captain Enoch Hobart related to shipment of a quantity of board as well as flour. The letter's value, however, may be in Slanty's reaction to the repeal of the Stamp Act and his hope the Philadelphia will return to tranquility. Further, Slanty identifies with plight of American merchants during the crisis.

There are several scattered and loose pages of an account book (1777) owned by Curaçao merchant Isaac Gouvernor relating to trade with several Philadelphia merchants including Nicholas Law,

There is an early printed copy of Tench Coxe's 1792 "Abstract of Good, Wares, and Merchandize exported from each state".

Several insurance manifests reveal the number of merchants that invested in single voyages.

A couple ship inventories which describe the contents and condition of the ship for insurance purposes would give historians a clear picture of an eighteenth century sailing vessel.

There is a relative complete file of documents relating to the arrival of the Ship Weymouth, captained by John Gardner to New York Harbour in 1810. The documents concern duties paid on the cargo which included a variety of dry-goods including textiles and clothing.

There is a file of prices current in Liverpool, 1802-1812 that includes import duties.

A variety of documents relate to the building Chinese trade during Jackson's Presidency in the late 1820s and also extending into the 1830s.

Notes:

Some ephemera including textile swatches exists in the collection.

Some documents are in Dutch and German

As a note to researchers, there are a variety of record sin this collection that are only loosley tied to shipping. For example, there is a page from the account book of Captain William Paul that relates to his trade of beaver pelts, but these entries seem to apply to his own account.

Winterthur has created a searchable database with a name index

 

Miscellaneous Accounts, 1677-1894 (2 cu. ft.) is a large collection accounts, invoices, orders, and promissory notes dating mostly to the eighteenth (40 percent of the collection) and nineteenth (60 percent) centuries. Together, the accounts document goods and services associated with the home and personal products. Items such as house furnishings, foodstuffs, clothing, clocks, pottery, books, and sewing are highlighted. The boxes are organized alphabetically by name when possible.

Several documents in the collection elate to the wages paid to laborers and journeymen for a variety of work, including farm work.

The 1809 account book kept by James P. Parke for the purpose of executing the will of prominent Philadelphian and Library Company member James Pemberton.

A significant number of the documents relate to Philadelphia and New York manufacturers and merchants.

Note: Winterthur has created a searchable electronic finding aid allowing one to search the collection by buyer, seller, worker, or item.

 

Captains and Supercargoes:

Generally, there is a great deal of valuable information about captains and their relationships to merchants and crews that can be found in many of the "Commerce" entries above. Researchers will find it especially useful to peruse the records of the large collection called "Shipping Records" outlined above. In addition, a few of the important individual collections produced by captains themselves include:

John Haskell, Papers, 1818-1825 (1 box) includes the records of a Gloucester, MA captain who traveled frequently to China and the East Indies. The account books, ledgers, and miscellaneous documents in this collection provide a valuable, and rare, view of how cargoes were arranged, packaged, and enumerated on several different ships. Also included is a journal of a 1799 voyage from Boston to Liverpool, and back by a writer named W. Gilbert.

Philip Dumaresq, Letterbook, 1831-1840 (1 vol.), wrote letters to merchants in Philadelphia and New York about his trips to China, carrying their tea.

Francis Browne, Account Book, 1706-1716 (1 reel microf.) was a captain who transported primarily household goods and furniture coastally, mainly in the Connecticut area.

John Brown, Account Book, 1772-1775 (1 vol.) was a captain in the mid-Atlantic region. These records are for maintenance and sailing the schooner under his command.

John Breese, Journal of a Voyage from Newport to the East Indies, 1802-1803 (1 vol, 147 pp.), records how his ship took flour and agricultural goods to Mauritius, and returned with coffee, sugar, and saltpeter. This is mainly a record of the ship's progress, and encounters with other vessels on open water.

[Anon.], Letterbook, 1829-1835 (1 vol.) is, although anonymous, a very good recording of American trade with far-flung parts of the world by the supercargo who ran the vessel. Letters sent to and from Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Canton, Batavia, Manila, Valparaiso, Lima, London, and elsewhere document the cross-fertilizing of trade in Chinese goods, opium, South American metals (copper esp.), linen and other textiles, and a range of other goods.

William Law, Account Book, and Letters, 1815-1816 (1 reel microf.) is the records of another supercargo, who traded between New York and China for dishware. Originals in NYPL.

Benjamin Gerrish, Log Book and Notebook, 1716-1725 (1 reel mincrof.)

 

Records of Individual Vessels:

In the many collections outlined in this survey, there are numerous names of particular vessels, their registration information, sizes, types of cargo, and other important information about their commercial comings and goings.

For examples, see:

Records of the Sicily (a Brig), Gershon Bradford, Master, 1822-1823 (1 folder with 50 items). This a compilation of documents relating to the fourth voyage of this brig from Boston to Trieste, Italy and Messina, Italy. Supplies for the outgoing voyage and repairs during its long absence are included in the records; a bill of health, list of crew members, their wages, lists of assignments on board, and several freight lists are also in this folder. Most of the cargo consisted of sugar, coffee, cod liver oil, pepper, logwood, and indigo to Italy. The return trip brought mostly lemons and oranges.

Or, records of the Leader (a Brig), Account Book, 1815-1820 (1 vol.) contains records of fees, wharfage, port duties, provisioning costs, size and wages of the crew, freight lists, and other details of coastal trading at every major port from Lubec, ME to Mobile, AL, as well as foreign ports in Sweden, Germany, Denmark, and Scotland.

Or, Mount Vernon (Ship), Disbursements, 182-1803 (1 reel microf.)

 

 

Trade by Land:

[Anon.], Daybook, 1854-1868 (1 vol., 273 pp.), is an especially rich late-antebellum period record of shipments sent by short coastal transport and overland from Newburyport, MA to other New England locations, especially to Boston. Weights of goods, prices, customer names, fees for cartage and wharfage, destinations, and other valuable information is included. All kinds of goods from local farmers and craftsmen were transported; the keeper of the records probably had a long-term relationship with a few Newburyport craftsmen who ordered raw materials and then sold their finished goods (furniture and house parts mainly). But regular transports of milk and flour are included as well.

 

Inland Transportation:

Samuel Cumings, Account Book, 1793-1795 (1 vol.) was a Boston, MA retailer who stocked mainly books and writing supplies. But he was somehow also involved in the Leominster-to-Boston stage coach line, and this volume contained entries for passengers and fares during these years. Elisha Colborn conducted the line.

James Low, Papers, 1826-1844 (2 vols.) gives information about a number of steamboat trips, including wages and sizes of crews, and cargo, destinations, and outfitting of the steamboats. See also, James Low, above.

 

Public works

Roads and canals and steamboats

Railroads

Technologies

 

Manufactures

Winterthur holdings include dozens of promotional pamphlets, tracts and treatises on early manufacturing, and scholarly monographs on manufacturing topics. The library has numerous advice books and manuals for starting in trades and acquiring the credit and equipment for small manufactures. For example, see Thomas Mortimer, "A Grammar Illustrating the Principles and Practice of Trade and Commerce, for the Use of Young Persons Intended for Business," (London: 1810); and John Nicholson, "The Operative Mechanic, and British Machinist," (Philadelphia: 1826). Practical guides for doing particular aspects of a manufacturing process are also plentiful at Winterthur; for example, John Rauch, "Receipts on Dyeing, in a Series of Letters to a Friend, . . . Cotton & Woollen Goods . . . ." (New York, 1815; 98 pp.).

 

In addition to works about building and operating manufactories, Winterthur also holds a few valuable accounts of factory workers. For example, Daniel Rodman, Account Book, 1828-1845 (1 vol.)

 

Mills

Moses Munson, Account Book, 1805-1825

Henry McElwee, Account Book, 1827-1843 (cider milling) - see agriculture, below.

Joseph Weaver

G. G. Curtiss

Haskell & Chapin, Account Book, 1860-1862 (1 vol.) is the records of a saw mill in Vermont.

Miles Godard, Account Book, 1814-1850 (1 vol.) shows the activities of a saw miller.

Joseph Comings, Account Book, 1829-1865 (1 vol.) was another saw mill operator, in New Hampshire

 

Phineas Chapin, Account Book, 1782-1812 (1 vol.) documents a Springfield, MA saw mill enterprise and a tavern very nearby. Chapin was often paid in goods and services by local customers.

An anonymous Account Book, 1717-1740 (1 vol.) for Duxbury, MA shows a large amount of oak milling for farm buildings and homes in this small community.

Stoney Grove Mill, Daybook, 1810-1811, 1817-1821 (1 vol.) documents a lumber and paper mill operation in Chester County, PA that was owned by Josiah Kirk, and then Lewis Kirk, and finally Timothy Kirk. The mills were initially supplied with goods from Lancaster and Philadelphia merchants, and did business with Wilimgton, DE merchants over the years. Customer names, methods of payment, and goods received are listed carefully, and the kinds of paper available for sale is occasionally inventoried. Debts were sometimes paid in rags and wood.

 

Ebenezer W. Town, Account Book, 1830-1832, 1836-1838 (1 vol.) shows the activities of a Greenfield and Enfield, MA operator of a woolen textile factory. Although records were kept in abbreviated form, with little annotation, it appears that these are largely records of wages and employee-related assignments in the factory. Later years' accounts are more clearly those for weaving, dyeing, finishing cloth, sewing and tailoring services provided by Town's workers on the side, and other textile-related labor.

Wolcottville Manufacturing Company, Records, 1833-1850 (1 vol., 580 pp.), of Torrington Township, Litchfield CT was one many companies in that town during the era, and processed wool in all of its stages to the finished textiles, and ran a retail store for the company. Wage accounts and store accounts comprise the bulk of the company's extant records, and records of hours spent at weaving monthly

An anonymous Account Book, 1812-1816 (1 vol., 224 pp.) shows the manufacturing activities of a very early woolen factory that combed, carded, spun, and wove under one roof, to make cloth, dyedit, dressed it, and sold the resulting broadcloth and flannel.

Of significance to researchers is a set of reports written by Jean-Frederic Phelypeaux, Comte de Maurepas, 1731-1743, (11 items) revealing much about the trade between England and the Levant in cloth, production and sales of woolen cloth between Rouen and Spain, and southern France and the West Indies. Details about the sale of English woolens to Turkey are included, as well as reflections on the competition between France and England for textiles markets. Sales figures are offered, and common prices for different kinds of cloth. Underlying all of the reports and figures seems to be French efforts at mid-century to compete against the English for sales in Spain. For translations of these documents, see also the Florence Montgomery Papers, Winterthur.

Other small woolen manufactories include LeGueult & Dulongraix, Letters, ca. 1800 (1 vol.); Henry Yost, Account Book, 1824-1839 (1 vol.);

In one interesting Memorandum Book, of C. L. Deacon, 1859-1868 (1 vol.) that was kept by the foreman of the S. W. Nichols woolen mill near Philadelphia, are detailed records of fabric delivered for dying, purchases of new machinery, orders received and sent for finished cloth, and employee hours and wages. Descriptions of equipment would be of use to historians of technology, and valuable recipes for colors of dye are appended as well.

William Tinkham, Ledger, 1846-1847, 1869-1874 (1 vol., 239 pp.), shows the activities of a Harrisvile, RI woolen miller who had dozens of looms. The volume mixed personal accounts and business records.

The Pearson Family, Account Books, 1684-1797 (1 reel microf.) shows a Newbury and Rowley, MA complex of fulling mills, plus a grist mill and saw mill. Two account books are included on this film. Most of the accounts are for family and mill purchases, and construction. Originals in the Baker Library, Harvard University.

 

See also, under Craftsmen, information about collections concerning weavers, dyers, fullers, and other textiles-related trades.

 

A Yorklyn, Delaware snuff mill that was in operation since 1782 is documented in William Evans Garrett, Mill and Farm Accounts, 1833-1845 (1 vol.), the third-generation owner of the mill. William's father Levi kept a retail store in Philadelphia to sell the family product. The volume includes a short family history, description of irrigation efforts to enhance the mill's productivity, lists of household items as well as snuff sales, and work and wage records for apprentices and the local manager Andrew Ralph.

William Hovey, Account Book, 1809-1830 (1 vol.) owned a saw mill and weaving trade in Attleborough, MA, Whitestown, NY, and Trenton, NY. His associations and activities were quite diverse.

John Firebaugh, Acount Book, 1848-1862 (1 vol.) was a Waynesborough, VA grist and saw miller who kept accounts with his area importing merchants.

 

Joseph Weaver, Account Book, 1807-1823 (1 vol.) was a flour miller in Columbia, PA, who bought and sold help, wheat and flour, and other grains.

Jonothan Rogers, Account Book, 1864-1866 (1 vol.) shows work at an Ephrata, PA grist mill for a number of area farmers. Rogers made wheat and corn flour, and he hired numerous workers to plant and harvest his farm lands.

 

Metal manufactures and Iron furnaces and forges

Pine Grove Furnace (Broad Creek, DE), Business Records, 1787-191 (2 vols.), [do this one]

A small Diary, for half of 1810, shows activities at complex of forges at Haverstraw, NY. The plantation had at least an anchor shop, smithing enterprise, grist mill, and saw mill in addition to three forges. Numerous workers are recorded for carpentry, smithing, and general labor and hauling.

Robert May, Papers, 1765-1809 (7 vol.) record the activities of the iron furnaces at Elk Forge in Cecil County, MD. Robert May (b. 1750) of Philadelphia County served as supervisor of the iron forge at Elk Forge, from 1781 to 1790. His brother Thomas-as Wilmington, DE merchant and iron master-operated this forge until his death in 1792. Within two years, Robert had formed a partnership with John and Stephen Hayes and Joshua Seal to operate the forge under the name, Robert May and Company. The seven volumes consist of only two pertaining directly to the forge, plus an inventory of the Elk Forge upon Robert's death. One account book records cash inflows and outflows for 1781 and another lists daily transactions for 1781-89; together, they document the production of several types of iron (bar, rod, flat), steel, and hollowware, Dutch ovens, pots, skillets, and more. The entries also contain information that indicates the price of various goods produced. Scholars interested in labor history would find this collection valuable, as payments for workers are listed, including many payments to the wives of workers, for the husband's labor. Of interest are also several entries that indicate purchase of material for "Negroes" that the company presumably employed. Unpublished Winterthur Finding Aid is available.

I. & J. Pratt Co., Records, 1813-1837 (6 cu ft.) include letters and bound manuscripts relating to the Pratt's iron business and store, as well as several shipping accounts. Isaac and Jared Pratt of Wareham, MA, operated a cotton factory, an iron foundry, and a general store before moving to Harrisburg, PA. Once in Harrisburg the brothers, and Jared's son Christopher, opened the Fairview Iron Works. Letters in the collection, probably authored by commission merchants, contain orders for nails and hoops. These letters, mostly from New England but also from Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans, detail business conditions and prices of commodities. Additionally, the letters also offer information about the dismal financial conditions in America during the late 1820s. The bound volumes in the collection relate mostly to operation of their general store, which stocked not only goods from the forges, but necessary imported and locally processed goods for the workers' families. Finally, these records contain shipping accounts reflecting the Pratts' interest in several vessels. See related records at Hagley, and Winterthur's unpublished Finding Aid.

Robert Jenkins, Account Book, 1823-1845 (1 vol.) documents work performed at the Windsor Forge in Caernarvon Township, Lancaster County, PA. The forge operated since the early 1700s, and was held by Robert Jenkins from 1773 to 1848, though it stayed in the family two more years before closing. The account book is for sales of finished forged items, most of them small in size, and contains copies of letters to Jenkins' raw materials suppliers and wood suppliers. Jenkins rented company housing to forge workers, and kept a few grain fields nearby to feed them. He also subcontracted his

hired hands to the township for building roads and bridges. [See also cashbook and related materials at HSP]

Account Book, 1765-1767 (1 vol.), is an anonymous volume, probably kept by one of the blacksmiths at Coventry Forge which was owned by the Potts family. The smith did a variety of small jobs, and received agricultural goods in payment.

Samuel Wetherill and Sons, Ledger, 1777-1788 (1 reel microf.) was one of Philadelphia's earliest manufacturers of iron wares and initiator of numerous schemes for manufacturing white and red lead. This ledger appears to cover only sales from the city factories. [See HSP and Hagley holdings; original papers for this reel at Winterthur is at the Industrial Research Dept., Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania]

In the Whittemore Family Papers, 1812-1860 (3 cu. ft.) are records of Amos Whittemore, a gunsmith born in 1759 who went on to patent a number of inventions, including a loom for weaving duck cloth, a machine for cutting nails, and several different machines to produce cards for wool or cotton. Numerous loose papers pertaining to metal working are present as well.

Robert Coleman, Account Book, 1810-1848 (1 vol.) was an ironmaster in Lancaster County, PA. Coleman started out clerking at forges of Curtis and Grubb; he assumed the least at the Elizabeth Furnace on the eve of the Revolution; and supplied cannon and shot to the patriots; and then purchased shares in a number of Lancaster-area furnaces. Most of this account book is devoted to records kept of household labor, servants and slaves, and masons. [See also records at Hagley]

Penbroke Iron Works, Daybook, 1850-1851 (1 vol.), near Roxbury, MA, was owned by Robert Watts. The book documents workers' hours and pay, goods produced and sold to area retailers, insurance payments and shipping arrangements, and other related activities of running a fairly large iron business.

The Lenox Iron Works, Inventories, 1843-1869 (1 vol.) show a sizeable complex of buildings, including smithing shops, grist mills, a saw mill, boarding houses for workers, a company store, and the furnaces. Probably coming from the Lenox, MA or Troy, NY location of the furnaces, the volume is especially valuable for its detailing of how workers were supplied with necessitites, and how the furnace masters acquired food from the area's farmers.

Charles Warner, Day Book, 1862-1866 (1 vol., 177 pp.) shows how a spoonmaker bought scrap metal, melted it down, added lead and antimony to the basic tin, bought polishes and acid washes, and built networks of customers for his "British tea and table spoons." The business was in Canada, but most sales are to New York and Connecticut retailers and householders.

John Beach & Company, Daybooks, 1850-1852, 1857-1861, manufactured carding and wire products in Hartford, CT, including sieves, corn poppers, wire for small hand-made tools and clocks, and piano wire for numerous manufacturers and retailers throughout the North.

John Hamtramck, Papers, 199-1800 (1 reel microf.) show the work and sales of a Pittsburgh glass manufacurer of windows and tableware.

 

Winterthur does not hold extensive iron furnace and forge records, but there are valuable complementary sources for this topic. For example, Robert May, Papers, 1765-1809 (7 vols.). May married into the Potts family of iron masters and furnace owners, and became a partner in the Joanna Furnace at Hay Creek near Philadelphia. He also owned an interest in Coventry Mill furnace. His brother Thomas May became an ironmaster and part-owner of iron furnaces at Elk Forge in Cecil County, MD during the 1780s; when Thomas died in 1792, Robert formed a partnership with a number of local Maryland and northern Delaware men as Robert May and Company. Four of the seven volumes in this collection are primarily concerned with the Elk Forge operations from 1781-1790. Details of the relationships with the Potts and Garrett families are included in certain volumes. By the early 1800s, the Elk Forge was making bar, rod, and flat iron, hollowware, ovens, pots, skillets, and distilling equipment. Slave and free African-American laborers worked at the furnace.

 

Leather and tanning

The Corbit Family, Account Books, 1795-1830 (6 v. on 1 microfilm reel) contain documentation of the family's tannery in Odessa (Cantwell's Bridge), DE, between 1767 and 1854. After serving as an apprentice in Philadelphia, William Corbit opened the tanning yards, which passed to his son, Pennell (1776-1820). Upon Pennell's death, his half-brother, Daniel (1796-1877) who had been a merchant, assumed control of the tannery until it became unprofitable and closed in 1854. The account books contain a wealth of valuable information such as an inventory of the tannery, accounts for wages, food, storage, tanning hides and the exchange of bark and/or hides and skins for finished leather. Additional accounts for a general store owned by John Starr and Samuel Thomas are also contained in one of the volumes. Unpublished Winterthur Finding Aid available.

 

Wood manufactures

See Charles Watts, "commerce."

Abraham Vreeland, Account Book, 1818-1828 (1 vol.) was a maker of architectural external and internal woodwork such as sashes, glazing, cabinets, fans, chests, blinds, and the like in New ork and Savannah.

Samuel Kendrick, Account Books, 1816-1843 (2 vols.) glimpse the work and range of customers for his manufactured carding machines. Made of pine, maple, and ash, Kendrick's machines were exported to distant markets or set up personally by him for local textile manufactures in Essex County, MA. Kendrick apparently used his lathes to turn small wooden household items as well.

 

Paints, Dyes, Varnish

C. Schrack & Company, Business Records, 1827-1888 (ca. 155 items), document the manufacturing of paint, varnish, and other commodities for the building trades, shipbuilding, and carriage makers. By the 1850s, the partnership of Schrack and Joseph Stulb made artists' supplies and colored glass; the company continued to sell more varnish, however, than any other item. The partnership, and then corporation, expanded over the years, and marketed its goods far into the South and the frontier until well after 1900. Records are for purchases of raw materials, workers' records, customers orders and deliveries, and other details of manufacturing. [Complementary materials are at HSP and Hagley]

 

Foods

Edmund Baker, Account Book, 1792-1822 (1 vol.), began making chocolate in 1772 at Dorchester Lower Mills, MA, where he bacame very prosperous in the years following the Revolution. His son continued the business after Edmund's death in 1824, until the company was purchased by General Foods in 1927. Records in this volume relate to the purchase of ingredients, buildings, boxing materials, machinery, and transportation for sales. [Additional materials can be read at the Walter Baker Collection, Baker Library, Harvard Business School]

An anonymous Account Book, 1816-1846 of a southeastern Pennsylvania brewer (1 vol.) records the debts and credits for wheat, flour, and beer in kegs, barrels, and other containers. The account keeper paid rent for the cooper's shop, brewery, stable, and house nearby.

Nicholas Thomas, Accounts, 1680-1690 (1 vol.) also shows the work of a brewer, this one from New Hampshire, including purchases of malt, and sales of barrels of beer. [see another Nicholas Thomas, a weaver, above; the men were related]

William Shipley, Account Book, 1756-1793 (1 vol.) complements the other Shipley records held by Hagley and HSP. In this volume are kept the debts and credits for a family brewery in Wilmington; it appears that most transactions are conducted with book credit and barter for farm goods such as malt, barley, and flour.

 

Artisans, craftsmen, master mechanics

Among the large bodies of rich manuscript materials at Winterthur are the hundreds of account books and small correspondence collections from the businesses of Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic artisans during the years of this study. A fuller list of holdings would start with the records of dozens of cabinetmakers, blacksmiths, housepainters, ship joiners, furniture makers, tinsmiths, sawyers, shoemakers, whitewashers, plasterers, hatmakers, watchmakers, potters, tailors, chandlers, tanners, fullers, and other craftsmen. We offer only a brief glimpse at this treasure trove of Winterthur holdings, in an effort to provide a cross-sectional view of the variety of opportunities for research in early labor, business, community, household, and other areas of special interest. A few examples are listed below from the much larger number of records at Winterthur; the examples are primarily derived from the eighteenth-century area of the collections; during the early nineteenth century, craftsmen's records -- both those kept and those that have endured as a proportion of the former -- proliferated. Common laborers, draymen, and wagonmen are not surveyed for Winterthur, although researchers will find ample information about these occupations for the New England and Pennsylvania regions in the general accounts of merchants, farmers, and craftsmen.

 

See also Thomas Fletcher Papers (below)

 

Weavers:

Winterthur's records involving weavers in the mid-Atlantic complement those of Hagley and HSP. In addition, the records of storekeepers and artisans elsewhere in this Winterthur chapter often show accounts with weavers with whom they did business, or the manufacture of weaving equipment.

Nicholas Thomas, Accounts, 1732-1779, is a record of a Rehoboth, MA weaver tucked in a longer account book under this name. Thomas wove a variety of textiles, including flannels, worsteds, crape, and cotton.

Sam W. Kingley, Account Book, 1824-1844 (1 vol.) shows the relationship of a southeastern Pennsylvania weaver with companies for which he worked in return for room and board; a few pages are devoted to the records of Ebenezer Allen who kept the same relationships.

Johannes Dettman, Account Book, 1811-1823 (1 vol.; in German) gives a rare view of a flax linen and cotton weaver with English-speaking and German-speaking customers. The account book of Detrich Gushart, 1805-1816 (1 vol.) records similar activities, though the precise location of his business is unknown. Gushart sold cotton, linen, woolens, and half-linens, along with his own wheat and corn in small quantities; at times Gushart loaned cash to neighbors.

Abraham Serff, 1792-176, Account Book and Weaving Pattern Book, 1843-1868 (1 reel microf.) records the work of a coverlet and carpet weaver from York, PA [Original mss. are at the Historical Society of York County]

See Elisha Hughes entry, below

 

Winterthur holds a number of records for weavers who resided in Massachusetts. Elisha Ilsley, Account Book, 1672-1879 (1 vol., most 1672-1740) provides important information about a very early weaver in Newbury, MA who worked from his home for customers who paid in goods but whose records were keep in currency amounts; Ilsley received farm produce for most of his work. His son, Joseph, continued the family weaving business after about 1690.

Another early weaving record, the Henry Lake, Account Book, 1675-1798 (1 vol., most 1675-1700), comes from Salem and Topsfield, MA. Lake was one of the most prosperous producers in his region, and he seems to have produced prodigious amounts of cloth, hoods and gloves, cotton and woolen textiles of all sorts. His records do not divulge whether he dyed fabrics, or whether he followed particular printed patters or strove to produce particular kinds of weaves. Lake took in spun yarn from local women, and accepted work and goods in payment.

Robert Ward, Account Book, 1694-1697 (1 vol.) comes from Dedham, MA and records Ward's work as both a spinner and weaver.

Hezekiah Fuller, Account Book, 1693-1803 (1 vol.) also hailed from Dedham, MA. He spun and wove shirting, woolen fabrics and sheeting, and kept cattle herds and planed timber products as well. Household expenses are records occasionally.

John Fearing, Account Books, 1692-1737 (2 vols.) show the work of a weaver in Hingham, MA involved in producing cotton household goods in return for wood, candles, butter, and other foodstuffs, or work time. Fearing's customers were primarily the many women in community households nearby.

Into the early eighteenth century, there is an anonymous Weaver's Account Book, 1739-1777 (1 vol., mostly 1739-1741) shows the work of a carpet and household furnishings weaver; there are only a few customers indicated and some payments were made by drawing on bills of exchange or local bonds.

The Samuel Brown, Account Book, 1707-1756 (1 vol.) shows the work of a specialized weaver of textiles and flax dressing; he subcontracted work in building and repair of the weaving equipment and his home to local craftsmen; Brown hired farm labor as well. He resided somewhere in Essex County, MA.

Somewhat later, other records continue this valuable collective picture of weaving. The Hannah Matthews, Account Book, 1790-1813 (1 vol.), shows work done in Yarmouth, MA in her home as a comber and weaver of worsteds, spinning of linen yarn, and her exchanges with local people for foods, candles, mowing labor, and cash. [is more information on this at Winterthur]

The Zaccheus Atwood, Account Book, 1791-1827 ( 1 vol., 318 pp.) reveals this Barre, MA weaver's debits and credits for trimming, dressing, "blanket-making," cutting cloth and gloves and shoes. Atwood may have been a small-time weaver, given that nearly as many activities involved farm production and sales of butter and small quantities of farm goods.

The Ware Family, Account Books, 1813-1824 (2 vols.) recount the work of Azariah and Otis Ware, who were both dyers and weavers outside of Worcester, MA. Among the dyes they purchased from great distances, through local vendors, were indigo, logwood, and vitriol; the account books record color names, and the types of items they dyed, including fabrics, yarns, and finished clothing. The family probably owned a saw mill and local store; both men traveled as itinerant salesmen of their goods, too.

An anonymous Weaving Book, 1830-1837 (1 vol.) from Fitchburg, MA seems to record a middleman's dealings with local weavers who produced a variety of fabrics that he then contracted to be taken to Boston for delivery and sale. Business transactions with Bigelow & Whitcomb, for example, of Boston are occasionally recorded, as well as the names of a few chapmen.

Anna Bond was a weaver in Tioga and Berkshire, New York during the 1780s and 1790s. Her lengthy records with local farmers and craft families may be found in the John Brown Account Book, 1783-1862 (see below).

 

From Norwich, CT, Isaac Huntington, Ledger, 1732-1743 (1 vol.), are records of a cotton and wool weaver who probably began business in this area long before 1732. Huntington may have produced his own wool, since this ledger shows sales of mutton as well, and occasional references to home dyeing, reproduction of his patterns on paper, renting of outbuildings and rooms in the house, and numerous local services as a Justice of the Peace. He received payments in work, commodities, and cash.

Joseph Downs, Accounts, 1801-1837, from Fairfield, CT, reveal a weaver's assignments from the firm, Merchant Company. Interestingly, Downs seems to have been in the middle of a series of transactions, beginning with the spinning, yarn, and deliveries made to him by local women, and Downs subsequent deliveries of finished woven cloth to both company agents and individuals who placed orders for blankets, check, linen, bedding, flannels, carpeting, "fine wool," broadcloth, and plaids. Payments were made in cash, credits, and farm goods through at least 1815.

For accounts of John Wells, a farmer, day laborer, and weaver of northwestern Massachusetts, see the John Wells Account Book, 1819-1827 (below).

A third Connecticut weaver's records at Winterthur, Hatch Nichols & Company, Day Book, 1831-1860 (1 vol., mostly 1840s) shows typical weavers' transactions, taking in raw materials, producing cloth, sales to local people for cash, work, and food, as well as Nichols' purchases of dyestuffs and weaving equipment.

Kimball Kennedy & Company, Account Book, 1831-1841 (1 vol.) reveal the work of weavers in Plainfield and Windham, CT, along similar lines s the Nichols company; in addition Kennedy recorded amounts of fabric produced in given months, and his records of goods received in payment, as well as household expenses, are more detailed; Kennedy may, in addition, have kept his own flocks of sheep which produced hides and finished leather sold locally.

 

In Queensbury, New York Jonas Green, wove during the early nineteenth century for people in this frontier area. The Account Book, 1803-1865 (1 vol., mostly 1804-1812) shows production of blankets, flannel, bed ticking, coverlets, and heavy wool fabrics. Green was paid in farm goods and work. After his death in 1819, son Benjamin rented out the weaving equipment and homestead.

Dating from roughly the same period in Pompey, New York, weaver Stuttson Benson produced cloth on a "bespoke" basis for his neighbors and supplemented with extensive farming activities. The Account Book, 1807-1848 (1 vol., 90 pp.) records orders, production, and deliveries, but says relatively little about the nature of the cloth.

Cape May, New Jersey weaver Robert Dare, Account Book, 1800-1819 (1 vol.) indicates the range of customers for this producer and quantities he produced in typical orders, but little else about his business. In Gilmanton, New Hampshire, weaver-carpenter Micajah Kelley, Account Book, 1783-1811 (1 vol.) also reveals the mixed nature of farming, woodworking, and weaving at different times and according to local demand. Kelley wove blankets, towels, and households cloths of various sorts, but spent probably equal amounts of time as a carpenter (see Carpenters and cabinetmakers, for Winterthur).

 

Winterthur also holds numerous pattern books, thread sample books, weaving instruction manuals, and swatchbooks dating from the decades of this study

 

Tailors, dressmakers, hatters:

Ledger, 1836-1850 (1 vol., 186 pp.)

Polly Green Wiley, Account Book, 1815-1829 (1 vol.)

Charles Coes, Dybook, 1843-1847 (1 vol.)

 

Chandlers:

Stephen Luce, Account Book, 1785-1804 (1 vol.), shows the work of outfitting and provisioning ships, repairing parts of ships and their sailing equipment, making rigging, painting vessels, acquiring captain's goods and crew necessities, etc.

 

Carpenters and cabinetmakers, furniture makers:

This area of early American craft records is represented at Winterthur by an extensive number of collections from numerous urban and rural, seventeeth- and eighteenth-century locations. Only a small number are listed here.

A valuable example of cabinet making is in the Robert Scadin Daybook, Ledger, and Miscellaneous Papers, 1829-1831 (1 reel microf.). The daybooks and shop inventories of this Cooperstown, NY craftsman include customer orders, and repair records.

David Haven, Account book, 1786-1825 (1 vol.)

Martin Sampson, Account Book, 1809-1829 (1 vol.)

Ashton Family Papers, 1708-1860 (400 items, mostly 1790s)

Account Book, 1767-1777 (1 vol.)

Account Book, 1694-1696 (1 vol.) -- begins in Scotland

Samuel F. Ware, Account Book, 1826-1848 (1 vol.)

William Wagner, Account Book, 1813-1818 (1 vol.)

Samuel Way, Account Book, 1832-1845 (1 vol.)

Asa Jones, Account Book, 1790-1840 (1 vol.)

Richard Smith, Account Book, 1797-1811 (1 vol.)

David Zeller, Account Books, 1823-1857 (2 vols.)

John Mehargue, Account Book, 1825-1848 (1 vol.)

Richard Owens, Account book, 1845-1856 (1 vol.)

Abraham Vreeland, Account Book, 1818-1828 (1 vol.)

Albert Tobey, Daybook, 1830-1876 (1 vol.)

James B. Hanson, Account Book, 1847-1859 (1 vol.)

Philip Filer, Account Book, 1798-1838 (1 vol.)

Peter Forney, Papers, 1847-1862 (4 vols.)

Joshua Delaplaine, Daybook and Business Papers, ca. 1720-1778 (1 reel microf.) began as a cabinetmaker in New York City, but rose to prominent stature and became a city merchant of some note by the mid-1730s. See "Commerce" above.

Joseph Griswold, Account Books, 1798 to 1851 (5 vol.) come from Buckland, MA. Three account books (1798-1804, 1804-1813, 1816-1844) and a daybook (1816-1843) document payments and expenses for Griswold's framing, board fitting, house building, and furniture. The books indicate how many days Griswold worked at each task and that he was paid in the form of weaving plowing and other farming tasks.

 

J. M. Studley, Papers, 1852-1867 (12 vols.) [did Christian do this?]

 

Pewterers:

Danforth Family Papers, 1739-1856 (mostly 1809-1834) (1 box)

 

Turners:

Herman N. Hull & Company, Account Book, 1836-1846 (1 vol.)

 

Tailors:

Account Book, 1713-1728 (1 vol.), includes not only types of tailoring done in these early years, but also household expenses and purchases of materials for his trade.

 

Sawyers:

Miles Godard, Acount Book, 1814-1850 (1 vol.)

Joseph Comings, Account Book, 1829-1865 (1 vol.)

 

Doctors:

John Vaughan, Papers, 1797-1802 (2 vols.)

 

Carriage and wagon makers:

Ethan Fay, Ledger, 1834-1849 (1 vol.)

Abraham Seigle, Account Book, 1829-1845 (1 vol., 114 pp.)

Israel Houghton, Account Book, 1817-1847 (1 vol.)

 

Potters:

Joseph Dodge, Records, 1776-1851 (1 large box of loose materials)

Josiah Swank, Account Book, 1850-1853 (1 vol.)

 

Silversmiths and jewelers:

The Thomas Fletcher Papers, 1815-1867, consist of numerous letterbooks and loose correspondence, ledger books (1841-1843), and loose business papers and trade cards for this prominent Boston and Philadelphia silversmith. In partnership with Sidney Gardiner for awhile, and then brother Charles Fletcher, and finally Calvin W. Bennett, Fletcher expanded his shop and manufactory steadily during the 1820s. Customers placed orders from Mexico, France, England, and French West Indies islands until well into the 1830s, when Fletcher ran into money problems during the Panic. The business was put up for auction in Philadelphia in 1842, and Fletcher moved to the New Jersey countryside. A finding aid further discusses the 1600-plus letters in this large collection.

Joseph Edwards, Account Book, 1786-1797 (1 vol., 186 pp.) [finish]

See also:

David Austin, Account Book, 1858-1861 (1 vol.)

Metal trades and blacksmithing:

Metalsmith John Greene & Company, Daybook, 1841-1845 (1 vol.) documents daily transactions of this Freetown, MA business in hoes, knives, axes, hammers, anchors, nails, and other smithed items. Greene also performed numerous local services to farmers and craftsmen, such as horseshoeing, repair of locks and hinges, reshaping of kitchen wares, and the like.

See also:

Dennis Hedges, Account Book, 1822-1832 (1 vol.)

Eggert & Son, Account Book, 1854-1856 (1 vol.) -- instrument makers

 

Leather working and saddlers:

Luke Washburn, Account Book, 1795-1803 (1 vol.)

Philip Oyler, Account Book, 1866-1871 (1 vol.)

Samuel Garrett, Ledger, 1807-1817 (1 vol.)

George Barrows, Account Book, 1835-1852

Abraham Jewett, Account Book, 1661-1690

Jacob Kline, Account Book, 190-1811

Wilcox Family Papers, 1833-1893

 

Perine Pottery, Records, 1798-1886 (4 reels microf.) is a collection of materials related to the firms of Peter Perine, David Maulden Perine, and Samuel Thomson, all of the Baltimore area. The collection consists of 12 daybooks for 1839-1886. These daybooks list day-by-day pottery sales. Each entry records date of transaction, name of purchaser, often their address, as well as a description, quantity and price of each object purchased. Sales appear to be both retail and wholesale. Two ledgers (1789-1829, 1842-1845) record personal and business accounts. These ledgers contain pottery-making formulas, as well as orders by individuals. One portion of the earliest ledger divides sales into retail and wholesale categories. Meanwhile four workbooks (spanning 1847-1857, 1859-1872) record workmen's names, tasks preformed, days worked, cash or goods received, as well as cash drawn against work. In all, these are rich records for the study of a long-lived business with extensive contacts. [Originals are at the Maryland Historical Society]

 

Shoemaking:

There are numerous references to shoemaking in various account books and letter books throughout the Winterthur collections. Specialists also abound in the records. See e.g.:

Annie M. Sick, Account Book, 1851 (1 vol.)

Augustus Richardson, Daybook, 1837-1857 (1 vol.)

David Carleton, Account Book, 1816-1826 (176 pp.)

Levi Libbey, Account Book, 1845-1858 (1 vol.)

Hiram Prier, Daybook, 1842-1861 (107 pp.)

Solomon Emerson, Account Book

 

Broommakers:

E.g., Homer Wilcox, Ledger, 1845-1860 (202 pp.)

 

 

Printers:

David Hall, Correspondence and Business Papers, 1745-1772 (2 microfilm reels) document the business operations of this mid-eighteenth century Philadelphia printer. Hall (1714-1772), after learning his skills from London printer William Strahan, received financial assistance from Strahan, as well as a partnership with Benjamin Franklin, established a lucrative printing and bookselling business in Philadelphia. Winterthur's holdings-filmed from a much larger collection at the American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia-consist of fragmentary account books, receipt books, and shop books. The best records are for the 1760s. Also included are a letter book for 1759-1764. Information contained in the documents include wages paid to workers, orders for books in London and elsewhere, as well as transactions concerning the purchase of paper. Benjamin and William Franklin are among individuals reoccurring in the account book.

[Cited: Unpublished Winterthur, Prospectus for study]

 

 

The records of a large Boston rope yard and warehouse owned by John Box and Benjamin Austin include 2 volumes of ledgers, 1746-1774. The ledgers cover years of supplying the British Navy before Boston's great fire of 1760, and its relocation to Beacon Hill thereafter. Merchants of all wealth levels ordered cable, yarn, cordage, deep sea line, rope, twine, and other commercial products from Box and Austin; on occasion, the partnership outfitted fishing vessels with supplies and food; the partners also owned shares in various Boston ships and served as bankers to local commercially-invested individuals.

 

Manufacturing societies and promotion of enterprise

 

Peddlers:

[Anon.],Diary, 1859 (1 vol.), offers a Richmond, ME peddler's records of door-to-door trade of barrels, small tools, and metal wares. He also did repairs, and in summertime, was a farm laborer.

Pardon Sheldon, Account Book, 1830-1867 (1 vol.) documents sales of clocks and watches around the Hartford, CT area. Sheldon received goods and labor in payment, and resold goods on his rounds. In the later years of the record, Sheldon may have opened up a general store and purchased a small farm in the same area.

 

Jacks of all trades:

Nathaniel Jenne, Account Book, 1809-1826 (1 vol.), shows a man in Harland, VT doing a variety of sawmill-related odd jobs, mowing, weaving, carpentry, farming, gravedigging, and other chores for local families. Payments came in shillings and dollars, and occasionally traded labor. Jenne probably also owned livestock and land in the area.

John Austin, Account Book, 1766-1834 (mostly 1775-1799) (1 vol.), shows a rural MA laborer's itinerant work as a joiner and cabinetmaker, logger, sawyer, shoemaker, and other jobs.

 

Agriculture

The account book of Joseph Stebbins, Jr., running from 1702-1851 (mostly 1702-1729 and 1759-1774) and in 1 volume of 136 pp., gives a very good portrait of farm laboring during the colonial period in Springfield, MA. Stebbins mowed, carted, plowed, reaped, cobbled, tanned, and delivered myriad kinds of goods for neighbors, and kept these records of charges and payments for the work in great detail.

Eliphalet Wakeman, Account Book, 1767-1783 (1 small vol.) shows the activities of this Fairfield, CT farmer in selling farm produce and various meats, as well as work activities for neighbors.

Jeremiah Hall, Account Book, 1768-1785 (1 vol., 104 pp.), includes a Wallingford, CT farmer's debits and credits for work at fencing, digging, plowing, haying, pasturing, keeping orchards, splitting fence rails, and other season and daily farm activities.

John Rogers, Account Books, 1852 to 1871 (8 vol.), shows an East Boston, MA, farmer's records of farm accounts and activities. Rogers sold wheat, rye, yellow meal, oats, barley, and hay to area merchants. Also noted in the volumes are costs associated with transporting the goods to Boston as well as fees paid to use bulls and cows. Rogers recorded payments that he made to individuals who preformed general labor, planting, as well as woodwork and carding wool. Finally, the account books contain his household expenditures including shoes, nails and fabrics.

 

Nathaniel Bushnell, Account Book, 1782-1837 (1 vol.), represents the records over a longer-than-usual period of farming and storekeeping at this Saybrook, CT location for 1782-1807, and continues with Bushnell's son, Elisha, over the years 1807-1836. Aside from the Bushnells' normal activities of raising livestock and farm produce, records indicate they sold wood of many types to local sawmills, and that they produced flaxseed. The elder Bushnell did carpentry on the side, and kept extensive records of wood products he used.

John Brown, Account Book, 1783-1862 (1 vol., 550 pp.). This Stockbridge, MA farmer and handyman kept extensive accounts of his wage earnings for marketing a variety of farm goods, carting, pruning, plowing, carpentry and coopering, butchering, threshing, shoemaking, and general repairwork. See also "Weaving" by Anna Bond, for additional accounts in this volume.

Lebbeus B. Guile was another handyman and mechanic whose Ledger, 1832-1860 (1 vol.) covers a long span of work years.

Isaac Byington, Journal, 1786-1800 (1 vol.), hailed from Bristol, CT during the years he kept this journal and before he moved South. Byington kept a farm and worked as a house and window framer. The family farm kept oxen and cattle; grew hay, rye and wheat; processed dairy goods; and processed wood at either their own or neighborhood mills. Recipes for varnishes, dyes, making lighting oils, finishing various types of woods, etc. are also written out in the volume. An inventory of household items is written out as well, possibly from his father's house, which was settled in 1798.

Abraham Williamson, Account Book, 1791-1812 (1 vol.) documents activities of a landlord and gentleman farmer from Montclair, New Jersey.

Another gentleman farmer, Aaron Leaming, left an Account Book, 1764-1785 (1 vol.) of activities at Capte May, NJ for pasturing, mowing, harvesting crops, renting outbuildings, renting out a sawmill, hiring apprentices and tutors, and various household expenditures.

Nathan Howard, Account Book, 1791-1833 (1 vol.), shows in detail the farm activities of planing wood, making shingles, pasturing, making nails, pulling and flailing flax, hoeing, churning butter, butchering, etc.

The account book of Edward Swift, covering 1796-1905 in general, shows farming activities over the years 1799-1814 when Swift died. He sold various grains, butter, potatoes, pork, and lumber goods.

Coolidge Forbush, Account Book, 1808-1820 (1 vol.), comes from Westborough, MA, mirrors many of the activities of Jeremiah Hall (above) for a later date, and the style of bookkeeping and debt settlements appears to have been the same as well.

John Wells, Account Book, 1819-1827 (1 vol.), covers a period of activity of this farmer in northwestern Massachusetts, including herding, haying, churning butter, orchard harvesting, and day labor for neighbors. See also "Weaving," above.

Nicholas Kingsley was a farmer in Swanzy, NH whose farming records are tucked into the Nicholas Thomas Account Book (see above). From 1813-1837 Kingsley keep farming records for shearing sheep, hoeing, milling, carting wood, plowing, repairing wagons and making wheels, and other typical farm activities.

George D. Holcomb, Ledger, 1814-1847 (1 vol.), covers important years in the life of a Stephentown, NY farmer and outworker who sold his labor to area community farmers. Much of his work as done as labor time and barter for necessary goods; Holcomb seems to have spent much time hauling goods and wood for neighbors, and repairing small metal goods.

 

Other farm records at Winterthur abound. See, e.g.:

 

William Law Account Book and Correspondence, 1815-1816 (1 reel microf.)

Isaac Hobhouse & Company, Letters, 1722-1755 (1 reel microf.)

Box & Austin, Ledgers, 1746-1772 (2 vols.)

Stephen Luce, Account Book, 1785-1804 (1 vol.)

J & J.F. Head, Business Records, 1809-1835 (a few items)

Philip Filer, 1798-1838, Account Book (1 vol.)

B. B. Dumont, Account Book (covers most of 1860s, 1 vol.)

Jesse Kitchell, Account Book, 1820-1828 (1 vol.)

Joseph Comings, Account Book, 1829-1865 (1 vol.)

[Anon.], Account Book, 1694-1696 (1 vol.)

Dennis Hedges, Account Book, 1822-1832 (1 vol.)

Samuel E. Ware, Account Book, 1826-1848 (1 vol.)

George Landon, Account Book, 1813-1831 (1 vol.)

George Barrows, Account Book, 1810-1820 (1 vol.)

Asa Jones, Account Book, 1790-1840 (1 vol.)

John Rogers, Account Book, 1852-1871 (1 vol.)

Joseph Dodge, Account Book, 1776-1851 (1 vol.)

Luke Washburn, Account Book, 1795-1803 (1 vol.)

Jacob Schnotterly, Account Book, 1821-1831 (1 vol.)

Bille Turner, Account Book, 1828-1842 (1 vol.)

Lane & Asher, Account Book, 1834-1861 (1 vol.)

Gillett Family Papers, Farm Account Books,1783-1878 (3 vols.)

John Fearson, Account Book, 1848-1850 (1 vol.)

M. W. Graham, Account Book, 1830-1849 (1 vol.)

Zecariah Robins, Account Book, 1771-1794 (1 vol.)

Robert Crane, Account Book, 1763-1797 (1 vol.)

John Wells, Account Book, 1819-1827 (1 vol.)

William Collison, Account Book, 1763-1816 (1 vol.)

Samuel Hollis, Account Book, 1769-1772 (1 vol.)

Willaim Bently, Account Book, 1812-1827 (1 vol.)

John Doolitle, Account Book, 1816-1843 (1 vol.)

William Wyman, Account Book, 1837-1862 (1 vol.)

Joseph Beal, Account Book, 1773-1779 (1 vol.)

Zaccheus Atwood, Account Book, 1791-1827 (318 pp.)

Solomon Banks, Account Book, 1787-1811 (ca. 190 pp.)

George Merrifield, Account Book, 1831-1843 (1 vol.)

David Carleton, Account Book, 1816-1826 (ca. 175 pp.)

Bartholomew Akin, Account Books covering 771-1800

Peter Darby, Acount Book, 1808-1830 (1 vol.)

Edwin Hall, account book, 1814-1822

Flavius Pease, Ledger, 1804-1841 (441 pp.)

Samuel Greeley, Accounts Books, 1832-1881 (2 vols.)

Levi Libbey, Account Book, 1845-1858 (1 vol.)

Nathaniel Clapp, Account Book, 1809-1830

Samuel Nash, Account Book, 1781-1852 (1 vol.)

Ezekiel Bennett, 1784-1821

Brainerd Stebbins, 1813-1824 (1 reel microf.)

Farm Record Book, 1802-1822 (1 vol.)

Cornelius Rodgers, Account Book, 1852-1870 (1 vol., 141 pp.)

William Smith, Letter and Record of Vendue, 1786-1791 (2 items)

Edward Bennet, Daybook, 1829-1830

Joseph Bulkeley, Account Books, 1800-1817 (2 vols.)

Reuben Haun, Account Book, 1843-1854

True Currier, Account Book, 1817-1846

Phineas Bronsdon, Account Book, 1816-1843

Joseph Weston, Account Book, 1774-1793 (1 vol.)

Nathaniel Howland, Account Book, 1766-1805

Noah Day, Account Book, 1815-1824 (1 vol.)

Elijah Pember, Account Book, 1756-1811 (1 vol.)

William Johnston, Diary, 1785-1786 (52 pp.)

G. G. Curtiss, Diary and Account Book, 1857-1899 (166 pp.)

Thomas Pratt, Account Book, 1730-1768 (1 vol.)

Abner Taylor, Account Book, 1806-1832 (145 pp.)

Hiram Taylor, Account Book, 1828-1855 (1 vol.)

Nelson Talcott, Daybook, 1839-1848 (1 vol.)

Gillett Family, Account Books, 1783-1878 (3 vols.)

Marshall Peterson, Account Book, 1823-1830 (1 vol.)

Josiah Briggs, Account Book, 1823-1832 (193 pp.)

Edmund P. Dennett, Account Book, 1821-1841 (179 pp.)

Samuel Greeley, Account Books, 1832-1881 (2 vols.)

Amos Moser, Account Book, 1848-1857 (146 pp.)

Roberts Family Papers, 1838-1921 (1 box.)

Solomon Emerson, Account Books, 1805-1840 (3 vols.)

Ebenezer Hazard, Journal, 1777-1778 (1 reel microf.)

Abner Dickinson, Papers, 1815-1884 (1 vol, 1 folder)

Freedom Merrill, account Book, 1808-1854 (192 pp.)

James Pemberton Morris (1795-1834), Diary, 1823-1825 (1 vol.), discloses the activities of an important area gentleman farmer from Bucks County, PA, probably near Bristol. Morris was President of the county Agricultural Society during the 1820s. His diary kept track of the weather and planting schedules, work of hired laborers for regular farm duties, amounts of grain sent to mills, orchard production, and goods sent to Philadelphia markets. Descriptions of a barn raising, digging a cellar, and other occasional farm work are also included.

 

A Farm Record Book, 1802-1822 (1 vol.) from Kettett Square, PA contains 41 pages of entries of a livestock and swine farmer, including breeding records. This anonymous farmer also planted and harvested wheat, corn, rye, oats, barley, flax, potatoes, various vegetables and fodder grasses. The same hand records activity for large apple, cherry, and pear orchards as well.

 

Farm laborers and hired agricultural work and farm household accounts:

The Ira Loveland, Account Book, 1832-1841 (1 vol.) comes from Southampton, CT and covers a typical range of household income and expenses on a diversified farm.

William Spier, Account Book, 1832-1848 (1 vol.), parallels many earlier accounts of a similar nature for this later period. Spier worked at plowing, planting, marketing produce, sawyering, and various other odd jobs, and kept these records of charges and payments over the years.

Marshal Peterson, Account Book, 1823-1830 (1 vol.), was an agricultural laborer from Duxbury, MA who kept personal records of mowing, shearing, butchering, hauling, plowing, planting, and the like.

Lewis Chandler, Account Book, 1814-1826 (1 vol.), from Bernardston, MA, is for a laborer who made shoes, repaired farm equipment and mills, hired out horses and hauled items, and repaired wagons.

 

Henry McElwee, Account Book, 1827-1843 (1 vol.), shows how a Bath, New York commercial farmer ran a large set of buildings and significant diversity of farm production, including raw wool, timber products, wheat, and milling activities for cider and flour. Workers accounts are included, and the kinds of tasks they were assigned.

 

Robinson & Staniford, Account Book, 1837-1881 (mostly 1856-1881), 1 vol., 104 pages. This Bennington, NY store set up its inventory in 1837, and carried a large variety of textiles and dry goods for nearly 30 years covered in this account book. The partners also farmed a large estate and hired labor seasonally.

 

John Ferson, Account Book, 1848-1850 (1 vol.), shows the activities of a dairy and poultry farm in northern New England, possibly near Bennington, New Hampshire.

John Scheaffer, Account Book, 1854-1858 (1 vol.) comes from Intercourse, PA, and includes this farmer's stock raising accounts, as well as trips to Philadelphia with meat and small amounts of other goods. During spring and summer, Scheaffer kept various boarders, and includes a list of their daily meals and agreed-upon pay.

 

Among the most prosperous gentlemen farmers of the Lebanon County region was Christian H. Shank. This Diary and Account Book, 1858-1867 (1 vol.) give a fair look at farming and retail store business in dry goods at Annville, PA. The Diary enumerates daily activities such as timing of planting and harvests; weather conditions; managing laborers, costs and conditions of lime, wheat, corn, clover; raising cattle and breeding horses; putting up fences and clearing fields; repairs to farm buildings; etc. Shank's interests ran quickly and deeply toward farm management and matters of improving efficiency, and he made many notations of new equipment and inventions. During the Civil War he visited Gettysburg after the great battle, and he was a local agent for purchasing troop replacements. Shank ran a dry goods store at Annville with a Horst, which stocked a wide variety of commodities obtained from Harrisburg and Philadelphia, and a cellar for storing local goods received in payment.

For another wealthy farmer, see the records of Anthony Morris, Account Books, 1794-1797, 1802-1806 (2 vols.)

 

In addition, Winterthur holds a number of treatises and pamphlets about landscaping, gardening, hybriding, and farm tools. And there are a few dozen books published during the early 1800s that stemmed from the activities of agricultural societies. See e.g., Albany County Agricultural Society, Papers, 1793-1819 (1 folder).

Winterthur also has a good run of "The American Agriculturalist," 89 vols., starting in 1842.

 

Storekeeping and retailing

Retailing, as distinguished from wholesaling, . . . .

Winterthur guides tend to list all importers, retailers, and general storekeepers as "merchants." Distinctions are made in this survey based on the activities indicated in the individual collections. In addition, success and failure is expressed in the Winterthur records over a wide range of places, times, and degrees individually. Some storekeepers barely made a living during the years of this survey, some branched out to become jacks of all trades, and some became successful enough to move into gentleman farming or merchant activities in their mature years.

 

Records of general stores in far-flung places are numerous at Winterthur. Of the dozens of collections housed there, see, for example:

Daybook, 1829-1830, for Vermont

Daybook, 1831-1835, for Richmond, Rhode Island

Account Book, 1837-1881 of Robinson & Staniford of Bennington, VT

Daybook, 1843-1846, for New Hampshire

Daybook, 1857-1858, for a Northampton, Massachusetts hardware store

Account Book, 1831-1835, for an Ontario, Canada storekeeper.

Account Book, 1784-1789, for a Williamsburg, VA local retailer.

Ledger, 1764-1765, for Newport, RI

 

[Anon.], Account Book, 1752-1755 (1 vol.) is an early general store record from Portsmouth, NH that carried a great variety, though small quantities, of goods from local and far-flung locations. Prices and quantities are all listed carefully. Many goods are paid for in cash, though the retailer took sugar and flour in payment on occasion.

Olney Winsor, Letters, 1786-1788 (1 reel microf.) shows two years of a Providence, RI merchant's business in Virginia at a store.

Benedict Darlington, Daybook, 1826-1833 (1 vol., 272 pp.) shows the business activitites of a West Chester, PA dry goods retailer who sold primarily women's clothing and household notions. Names of customers are given, with quantities and prices of goods acquired, descriptions of the articles in some detail (especially fabrics), including prominent citizens of Philadelphia and the area.

Richard Dampman, Bills and Accounts, 1841-1843, 1856-1860 (1 vol.) records the sales made in Chester County, PA of goods acquired from a variety of merchants in Philadelphia. A wide variety of farming and household goods were carried in his store. Dampman took agricultural supplies to Philadelphia, and articles of clothing made by his wife and daughters.

Micajah Currier, Daybook, 1808-1818 (1 vol.) covers a brief period of a general store's operation in Berwick, ME. Aside from the myriad items sold at the store, the nature of operations was not unusual, even though the store was remote from market networks.

Lane & Asher, Daybooks, 1834-1861 (3 vols.) is a long record of store sales by Stephen P. Lane and Abijah Asher, Jr., of Hollis, MA. The took in and sold locally a great range of dry goods and wet goods, local agricultural and distant exotic goods.

The Ralph John Daybooks, 1815-1816, 1820 (2 vols.) come from Belfast, ME, shows extensive detailed activity daily in this remote store, where John took special orders from local customers and received farm produce in payment.

Abel Bissell, Account Book, 1828-1832, 1852-1853 (1 vol.), shows activity in a general store in Hebron, CT. Bissell did most of his buying for customers at Hartford and New York City, and merchants from both cities are named frequently.

Vincent & Nelson, Bills, 1815-1835 (3 folders), is otherwise unremarkable except that scholars might trace the origins of goods to this Fair Haven, MA store from their points of origin abroad and their importation by ship, including merchants in Boston, prices, and sometimes the reasons for the orders.

Isaac Van Scoy, Daybook, 1833-1834 (1 vol., 424 pp.), shows the retailing business of this East Hampton, Long Island, NY general store owner with two categories of customers: the island's wealthiest homeowners, and the local whalemen.

Samuel Townsend, Ledger, 1804-1811 (1 vol.) covers the business of a general store and forge owner at River Head, Long Island, NY. Townsend had a smithing business beside the store, where he took in old iron from store customers in payments.

H. C. Woodorth, Account Books, 1848-1851, 1876-1888 (4 vols.), records activities from Lyons, NY, mostly in dry goods importing.

John Henry Berdan operated a general store in New York City. In the Family Papers, 1831-1852 (62 items), there is a daybook showing dry goods trading and hardware sales.

Samuel Erwin, Daybook, 1831 (1 vol.) for Erwin, New York, gives a short glimpse into this Wistar general store, where both cash and farm goods were taken in payment for primarily dry goods imported from the East.

Moses Knowlton, Cash, Invoice, and Sales Book, 1837-1839 (1 vol.), shows transactions at a general store in Wendell, NH

Nelson Talcott, Daybook, 1839-1848 (1 vol.), is for a general store in Garrettsville, OH, where Talcott seems to have been making chairs and other household furniture while selling goods. Entries for leather and wood products, varnishes and paints, nails and hinges, etc. run throughout the daybook, alongside the entries for agricultural goods taken in exchange for imported dry goods.

Startwout & Dumont, Daybook, 1794-1795 (1 vol.) is for a specialized partnership in New York City where paints and painting supplies were sold. The partners supplied a number of small businesses in the city and shipped into the surrounding multi-county area.

Sewell Raymond & Co., Account Book, 1814-1818 (1 vol.) is a small volume for a general store in Potsdam, NY, is good because of its careful notation about the suppliers of goods from places such as New York City, Oneida, Rome, etc. Glass and crockery are in greatest supply.

Geoge Perry, Papers, 1828-1845 (3 reels microf.) is a series of records from Saxton's River Historical Society in Vermont. Perry had a general store and tin shop, did business with area peddlers, recorded amounts of insurance paid, and probably kept the local post office.

Nathaniel Manley, Invoice Book, 1862-1863 (1 vol.) comes from Haywardville, CT, were Manley wrote out an inventory of goods at the outset of his business, and then kept good track of his local suppliers by name, value, debt, and payments. Because he was operating during the Civil War, the lists of goods in these invoice records are a valuable indicator of what was available to customers during the war, as well as the nature of payments then, in the North.

George McKie, Account Book, 1841-1863 (1 vol.) is from Cambridge, MA, where McKie had both a store and a farm. Labor and cash were exchanged for imported goods of the typical wide variety.

F. & L. C. Learned, Invoice Book, 1823-1832 (1 vol.), is for a textile retailer in New London, CT that got its inventory from New York City merchants. Learned sent buyers to NYC, with instructions for ranges of fabrics, by color and design; buyers returned with whatever they could find in addition to filling some orders. The invoices show a great range of textiles available, prices, textures, etc.

A. S. Schoonmaker, Ledger, 1855-1870 (1 vol., 332 p.), is from Mill Hook, Ulster County, NY, where the retailer did milling on the side, and supplied storage jars to the area. Lists of stock were periodically made, and purchases at auction are noted.

J. Huntington and Son, Account Book, 1808-1814 (1 vol.), covers sales at a general store in New London, CT, mostly involving payments for previous sales, and only infrenquently concerning the goods sold; many accounts were settled with labor services.

B & W Hudson, Letter Book, 1852-1857 (1 vol.), covers a period of store activities of two brothers, Barzillai and William, of Hartford, CT. They sold mattresses, household items, and furniture, and by the later years also sold real estate and operated an occasional auction. This collection offers a somewhat rare glimpse at how retailers ordered goods from dealers and manufacturers, how they complained of lost or damaged goods, and how local retailers requested by brand name and particular qualities of goods. Details about sizes, quantity and quality of goods, prices, colors, etc. are included in orders.

Oliver Hewlett, Account Book, 1803-1805 (1 vol.) comes from Hempstead, Long Island, NY is a small record of this store's dry goods business.

John Hall, Account Book, 1806-1853 (1 vol.) shows sales and receipts for this New Haven, CT store. Hall sold mainly paint and painting supplies, but also carried a variety of imported dry goods and tobacco products as well, and after 1813 he sold whiskey and rum in various quantities. Hall was also a farmer who raised stock and butchered for the local area, and he kept careful track of calves born on his farm.

Jonathan Griffin, Account Book, 1760-1773 (1 reel microf.) hailed from Londonderry, NH where he kept a store that sold food items, rum, imported textiles and ready-made clothing, and other goods. Original account book is at Harvard University's Baker Library.

Greene Family, Business and Personal Papers, 1667-1699 (1 reel microf.), concerns mainly the correspondence and accounts of two family members who bought and sold glass wares. John Greene of London ordered from Venice, while his nephew Edward Greene resided temporarily in Antigua where he sold some imported glass. Original documents are at British Museum, London.

William Gault, Account Book, 1818-1826, 1842-1843, 1861 (1 vol.) shows three snapshots of this Boston storekeeper's invoices for a wide variety of items acquired from local importing wholesalers. Lists of goods would include products from some of the most far-flung places Boston merchants travelled to by ship, as well as the goods of coastal and local producers. Gault's records include lists of Boston merchants to whom he owned money or services; Gault also bought at auction on occasion.

Elisha Foord, Accounts and Account Book, 1758-1774 (18 items, including 1 bound account book). The most important part of this collection is the account book kept from 1758-1766 by Foord. Like Gault after him, he purchased from Boston merchants for his Marshfield, MA store; Foord carried primarily textiles and sewing notions, plus an assortment of West Indies wet goods. He probably held shares in coastal trading vessels, as judged by records of ship supplies and communications with possible partners.

N[athaniel]B[radlee] and N[oah]A[alline] Doggett, Records, 1840-1899 (6 vols. and 4 folders) come from Boston, where these brothers had a hardware store that sold primarily table ware, scissors, razors, and small tools. One volume is especially valuable because it lists customers by name, what they purchased, prices paid, and whether accounts were settled. Two other volumes are dedicated to orders placed to Birmingham, England, especially to the firm of Joshua Scholefield & Sons, who supplied table ware, locks and hooks, knobs and window trimming, and other small metal goods. Ledger books list cash taken in for various categories of goods, loans made, and periodic values of stock on hand.

Demerritt and Leavitt, Daybook, 1830 (1 vol., 340 pp.). This large volume from a general store in Northwood, NH shows a typical set of transactions between these local men, and their area customers who brought in farm goods in exchange for imported wet and dry goods. Shaker products were carried in the store alongside a great variety of other items.

Theunis DeKey, Account Book, 1680-1688 (1 reel microf.), comes from an early New York storekeeper who keep good records of customers, items purchased, costs, and debt settlement. Original book is in private hands.

[Anon.], Daybook, 1801-1802 (1 vol., 308 pp.), is a large volume of accounts kept probably near Hebron, CT, and including a great number of entries for paper and paper products.

[Anon.], Daybook, 1854-1855 (1 vol., 482 pp.) is another large volume, from Hampton County, MA (possibly Amherst or Hadley), showing names of customers and goods purchased, as well as timing and amounts of debt settlements.

[Anon.], Daybook, 1843-1846 (1 vol.), is a far smaller volume of general store records for Chatham, NH with the typical wide range of goods sold to area people, including a few widows.

John Bunce, Account Books, 1848-1850, 1858-1861 (2 vols., 218 pp, 292 pp.), is for a hardware store on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, NY, and includes information about what was sold, prices, and names of customers. Like country stores, this one carried a very wide range of goods available from wholesalers and craftsmen locally and long-distance.

Breck Family, Daybooks, 1794-1808 (3 vols.), were kept by Robert and his son John B. Breck of Northampton, MA. Includes information such as names of customers, prices of goods, and prices. The Brecks sold to a great number of local residents, and supplied area joiners as well. These volumes are also microfilmed for use at Winterthur.

George Andrus, Daybook, 1810-1827 (1 vol.), comes from Jefferson County, NY (probably Adams) where Andrus sold textiles. Fabrics he carried were of a great range of names and qualities, and he bartered with local residents and made loans to them. He also had a farm in the later years, at which he used a number of hired laborers over the years. By the later 1820s, Andrus was also a notary for local people, writing powers of attorney, deeds, and other documents.

Gilbert, Ledgers, 1806-1841 (3 vols.) This is a fairly extensive record of a Ridgefield, CT storekeeper's orders and sales of a great range of goods brought mainly through New York wholesalers and city merchants. Richard Randall often brokered purchases in New York for Gilbert, who also hired numerous cartmen, tailors, weavers, coopers, carpenters, and other craftsmen for customers who needed local work done.

John Jacob Moore, Account Books, 1828-1850 (6 vols.) detail Moore's grocery store sales from 8 Fulton Street in New York City, and later at 216 Front Street. The first volume contains cash accounts (November 1836 to May 1839) and farm accounts (April 1839 to July 1841), primarily for potatoes and hay, but also oats, corn, and fruit. At the back of this volume is a listing of wages for farm laborers. The second volume, covering 1829 to 1842 contains a list of notes, by whom given, by whom endorsed, what for (foodstuffs mostly), when due, and the amount. The third and fourth volumes (1831 to 1836) contain store inventories. Among the goods listed in the inventories are: teas, coffees, spices, dried fruits, candles, tobacco, papers, wines and liquors. The fifth volume (1828 to 1845) documents purchases for the grocery store as well as the purchase of personal items. Finally, the sixth volume is the grocery store's daybook for the period March 1834 to October 1850. This volume contains purchases at the store as well as the wage accounts for Moore's clerk, Stephen Livingston. Finding aid at Winterthur.

 

For Delaware Valley storekeepers, the best sources at Winterthur include the following:

The Leon Lewis, Jr. Papers, 1734-1978 include 14 reels of microfilm in four parts, and a separate finding aid. Part One is the account books and business papers of Samuel and Abraham Rex, Alexander and Henry Schaeffer, Peter Zimmerman, and others who lived around Shaefferstown, PA and kept stores. Part Two is additional papers of the Rex brothers, and Part Three includes general family materials and geneological records. There is a Part Four that reaches beyond the period of this survey.

See also the Rex Family Daybooks, 1790-1829 (4 boxes, 49 v.), which is a very large, though even with the Lewis Papers, incomplete compilation of this storekeeping family's accounts. 44 daybooks record sales transactions at Samuel and Abraham's general stores located in Heidelberg, Mount Pleasant, and Schafferstown, PA. This remarkable run of day books allows scholars to glimpse the variety of customers, their consumption habits, and the means by which they paid. Goods recorded in the volume include earthenware, dry-goods, liquors, glassware, tobacco, spices, hardware, tools, various types of groceries, and clothing. Also included in the collection are a series of bills directed to Samuel Rex for payment between 1790 and 1832. Of particular note to historians of accounting are four exercise books kept by Samuel and Franklin Rex which include exercises in bookkeeping and accounting. Additional Rex accounts show active business with area farmers and craftsmen, as well as the ironmasters of Lancaster Country, PA. An unpublished Winterthur Finding Aid is available.

Elisha Hughes, Account Book, 1751-1765 (1 vol.), shows the operation of an East Nottingham, PA store and inn/tavern, though the latter was not a major concern of Hughes. Weaving, smithing, and other collateral activities took place at Hughes' store and home as well. Kinds of fabrics, weaving equipment, and various textiles products are enumerated.

Nathaniel Bushnell, Account Book, 1782-1837 (1 vol) includes the farm and store records of Nathaniel, and then his son Elisha, and the estate settlement done by Lydia Bushnell in 1837. See the Bushnells, under "Agriculture."

Adam Schlyder, Account Book, 1815-1832 (1 reel microf.) comes from York County, where the store sold wet and dry goods. Customer names and payments are recorded. Original book is in Hanover Public Library, Hanover, PA.

Patrick McNulty, Daybook, 1817 (1 vol.) is a small book for a general store in New Holland, PA that has the typical range of goods and payments by barter and labor. Interesting to note is that a number of women shopped in McNulty's store.

W. C. Gildersleeve, Account Book, 1826-1842 (1 vol.) shows a general store operation in Wilkes Barre, PA, where exotic goods such as spices of many types, metal and earthenware goods imported from abroad, quills, oils, books of various sorts, coffee, many kinds of textiles, etc. reached this Wistar area. Gildersleeve also took in boarders who paid rents.

David Chambers,Daybook, 1827-1830 (1 vol.), operated a store in Newlin, PA, where a somewhat specialized array of ceramic goods and sewing items filled his shelves, but wet and dry goods of all sorts also came into the store in smaller quantities. Chambers took farm products and labor time in payment, as evidenced in the many kinds of foods stored by Chambers until he could retrade them to customers or send them to creditors in larger cities.

The Rahm & Baum Ledger, 1791-1796 (1 vol., 459 pp.) involves a general store and hotel on Main Street at Hummelstown Borough, PA. The store sold both wet and dry goods of a wide variety, and took in farm goods as payment at times. Amounts of debts and credits are in dollar amounts, which sets this particular ledger apart from most others.

Christian Kunkel, Ledger, 1792-1824 (2 vols.) settled in Harrisburg, PA in 1786, where he established a large store and took on numerous local and state offices thereafter. Most of these two ledgers consist of money receipts for goods sold previous by Kunkel, including cash, goods, and labor services.

George Kunkel, Christian's oldest son, kept a Ledger, 1810-1816 (1 vol., 288 pp.), kept similar track of payments made, but only infrequently identified what goods were involved.

Edward Hoopes, Bills and Receipts, 1842-1853 (9 fols.) imported dry goods, hardware, and fine clothing from Philadelphia to his West Chester, PA store until 1846, after which time he moved to Baltimore, MD.

Joseph Hiester, Daybook, 1796 (1 vol.) is a small general store account, one small segment of a long life for Hiester as a soldier, politician, and storekeeper who kept his establishment in Catawissa, PA near Bloomsburg. An elaborate list of imported items from the far corners of the known commercial world reached this rather remote (at that time) store.

Henry Slaymaker, Business Papers, 1816-1843 (13 vols.), shows a long career of this inn and storekeeper in Salisbury, PA, whose father had begun operations there in 1783. Some daybooks and ledgers in this collection record inn business in gin, whiskey, room fees, lodgers' meals and services to wagon drivers. A rare glimpse at wholesale purchases, retail sales, and bill collection are all provided in this one collection. Eight daybooks show store activities for dry goods, groceries, hardware, cloth of many types.

Joseph Taylor, Daybooks, 1821-1822, 1826-1829 (2 vols.), shows a Kettett Square, PA store in operation. Entries are brief and often only in money amounts.

Vail and Clarkson, Daybook B, 1804-1811 (1 vol.), show this partnership's business in Milton, PA mostly within the year 1804 shows detailed buying and selling in a small community, including the names of customers, types of purchases, and settlements.

The Wallace Family, Account Books, 1761-1870 (12 vols.) is one of the largest Winterthur collections of store records. Robert Wallace was from Blue Ball, PA and established a store and tavern that stayed in family hands for generations. Sales of rum in various quantities to individuals at the tavern, and sales of all manner of wet and dry goods at the store, show an active engagement in this Lancaster County community. Robert Wallace passed on business to his son, John by the early 1800s. Names of both male and female customers appear in the daybooks of the store, and by the 1810s, numerous articles of women's apparel and new household conveniences appear on the Wallace store shelves, although a wide assortment of goods continue to be imported and sold. [See Hagley entries for the Wallace Family as well]

Beriah Willis, Journal, 1836-1837 (1 vol.) shows a Manayunk, PA machinist's work for local customers who needed metal parts for wheels, castings, small tool parts, cylinders, and the like. Willis kept careful track of time he spent in the shop, sales and outstanding bills due, and labor due to him.

George Morrison Coates, Account Book, 1824-1835 (1 vol.), records the purchases of ceramics and glassware from auction deals in Philadelphia and New York City, and Coates' subsequent sales to country merchants near Philadelphia. Coates was himself a prominent Philadelphia Quaker and sold primarily to other Quakers in the region. [See Coates Letterbooks at HSP as well]

Charles Cuningham, Account Book, 1826 (Jan. to Nov.), shows sales of this Boston store owner who stocked sugar, coffee, textiles, tea, candles, fish, molasses, gin, wine, and a few locally produced goods.

Stephen Jones & Co., Accounts, 1772-1789 (1 vol.), records this Salem, MA firm's business selling imported fabrics, earthenware, spices, etc. during the Revolutionary period. There are indications that this was just one volume of a longer-lasting business.

Robert Jenkins, Account Book, 1747-1753 (1 reel microf.) covers a few years of this storekeeper's business in Boston, MA and Newport, RI, where he sold spermaceti candles, pens, stationary, and other imported dry goods. Originals at Rhode Island Histl. Society.

Samuel Hale, Account Book, 1764-1772 (1 vol.) was a Boston retailer who acquired goods occasionally by importing, but mostly by purchasing from auction and craftsmen in Boston. The majority of entries are for dry goods, especially tailoring and sewing items, as well as writing implements and tableware.

Christian Wirt, Account Book, 1787-1814 (1 reel microf.), shows work of this saddler and storekeeper who lived in Hanover, PA. Included is a daybook used for personal expense records, and numerous other daybooks and ledgers for store activities. Wirt made and repaired saddles, especially women's saddles, and collars, bridles, whips, and wagon lines. He took payment in farm produce, sheep wool, cured meats, and other semi-processed goods; he kept many kinds of dry goods and hardware in his store for customers as well. Trips to Philadelphia are carefully recorded. [Original is at Hanover Public Library, York County, PA]

An Account Book of a hardware store in Pittsburgh, PA from 1818 to 1822 shows not only items imported and sold, but also work the storekeeper did installing and repairing boilers and tin stoves.

Ezekiel Bailey, Account Books, 1836-1845 (1 vol.) documents a Centerville, DE inn and store activities. Goods listed are of a wide variety, but typical of most mid-sized country stores at this time. In 1837, the store moved to Red Lion, PA.

Andrew Bock, Daybook, 1815-1840 (1 vol.) operated a general store in McKeansburg, PA that sold a wide range of dry goods to local customers in this Wistar settlement.

Christian Brower, Daybook, 1815-1816 (1 vol.) shows the business of this Coventry Township, PA retailer for a short period of time. Groceries and wet goods dominate the entries, especially those that might have come from the West Indies, but imported dry goods are also in evidence.

William Brown, Store Records, 1795-1805 (2 vols.) shows the activity of this East Nantmeal, PA store, from its initial stocking of shelves to its final business. Brown sold large quantities of rum, whiskey, and wines, but also imported metal tools, fabrics, household goods such as dishware and sewing notions. Often the uses of the alcoholic beverages are noted in margins.

Outten Davis, Records, 1802-1813 (5 vols.) had a store in Cantwell's Bridge (Odessa), DE that was actually owned by Gibson & Co. during this time. Davis primarily took in agricultural goods, especially wheat and flour, and sold imported dry goods. Gibson & Co., Journals, 1802-1807 (1 microfilm reel) is comprised of two journals of the store's business. The originals are held at Hagley

[Anon.], Daybook, 1810-1812 (1 vol.) comes from a general store in St. George's, DE, which did a wide-ranging business in small quantities of goods with many local customers. Its lists of credits and debts, and the kinds of goods stocked, are typical of country stores in this era. Free and slave African-Americans visited the store.

Amasa Dimmick, Ledger, 1815-1834 (1 vol.) came from Orwell, PA shows that he not only sold goods from his store, but also loaned cash and brokered services for area farmers and craftsmen, including shoe and plow repairs, small construction projects, milling, planing lumber, shearing and cleaning wool, and other common farm activities. Money came from, and went to, banks throughout Delaware and in southeastern PA and NJ.

In the Glen-Sanders Papers, 1674-1957 (18 reels microf.) are records of stores kept in Albany and Schenectady, NY by members of this prosperous trading network. See "Commerce" above.

Among Winterthur's holdings involving general store proprietors are, for example:

Samuel Jackson (1765-1824), in Northumberland, Co., PA. This collection, Samuel Jackson, Account Books, 1792-1805, (3 vol.) consists of two daybooks that list daily sales, including provisions, hardware, textiles, liquors, and books. The volumes also contain entries reflecting orders customers placed with manufacturers. The third volume consists of an account ledger for the entire period.

Joseph Chandler, Business Records, 1827-1828, 1843-1867 (4 vol.), illustrate the operations of a Belgrade, ME, general store and tavern. The earliest volume (1827-1828) lists "gills of rum" and gin, indicating that it probably pertains to Chandler's tavern. Most other items recorded in this volume are for provisions and textiles. The later three volumes (1843-1867) indicate that Chandler had abandoned his tavern since no entries for liquor exist. Rather, Chandler now sold a much wider variety of goods, including hardware, tea pots, books, and papers, as well as foodstuffs.

An assortment of thirteen account books Henry F. Slaymaker, Business Papers, 1816-1843 (13 vol. + 2 loose items) illustrate the operation of Henry Fleming Slaymaker's (1789-1860) general store and inn in Salisbury, PA. Slaymaker took over his father's, Amos Slaymaker, store in 1809. The store, operating since 1783 and located beside a turnpike, was owned in conjunction with a tavern, the Sign of John Adams, an inn, a post office and eventually a line of stage coaches. The first daybook (1816-1822) is for the inn and contains entries such as gin, whiskey, lodging fees and meals for drivers. The final eight daybooks, dating from 1822 to 1826 and from 1828 to 1836, feature entries that reveal the wide range of materials offered by Slaymaker's store. These include foodstuffs, hardware, dry goods, and textiles. A collection of three minor volumes records list of bricks sold, stoves rented, and the final book shows accounts outstanding. Unpublished Winterthur finding aid is available.

J & S Davidson, Records, 1812-1830 (3 vol.), of Argyle, NY. The three volumes include a daybook recording sales, 1812-1814; a ledger of personal accounts owed to the store; and an invoice ledger for items purchased by Sam Donaldson, 1820-30. Most entries simply record goods sold, their prices, and to whom they were sold. Among items enumerated in the volume were razors, watches, umbrellas, books, beaver gloves, textiles, dry goods, and opium. The invoice book reveals that the store purchased many of their goods from the firm James Roosevelt & Son.

James Lauder, Account Books, 1850-1861 (5 vol.) detail the operations of this Houlton, ME, general store. The first volume in the collection is a ledger for the years 1850 to 1856. It, along with two daybooks covering 1852 to 1855 and 1856 to 1858, detail the daily operation of the store. Lauder sold a wide variety of agricultural implements, house-wares, hardware, dry-goods (including many textiles and clothing) and foodstuffs. These entries also show that Lauder received both cash and foodstuffs and other goods as payment for outstanding accounts. The fifth volume in the collection documents purchases Lauder made from merchants in Portland, ME, Boston, MA, New York City, etc., between the years of 1855 and 1861. In this volume, Lauder also recorded freight charges for his purchases. Finally, a store inventory for the year 1857 is included. Unpublished Winterthur finding aid is available.

John Becker, Records, 1774-1792 (3 vol.) come from Litiz, PA. A ledger, kept between 1781 and 1788 and two volumes of store inventories (1774, 1791, and 1792) document the typical array of goods that a Revolutionary War storekeeper would have offered for sale. These items include foodstuffs, domestic items and liquors. Additionally, Becker seems to have carried a fair number of craftsmen's tools; such as shoemaker's knives and trowels for masons. Finally, as with many general store account books, Becker received payment in a variety of ways including cash, goods and weaving.

Sharack, Eratus and Benjamin Osborn in partnership with Nathan Preston ran a store in Southbury, CT. The Osbourn Family, Account Books, 1783-1834 (8 vol.) depict the daily operations of the Osborn family store. The collection consists of three daybooks (1786-1788, 1806-1808), three ledgers (1790-1796, 1796-1806, 1800-1812) and an order book used from 1808 to 1810. The daybooks and ledgers list the variety of goods the store sold; these include dry-goods, foodstuffs and ceramics. As payment, the Osborns often received firkins, foodstuffs, and services such as butchering, wood-work and weaving. The Osborns often brought goods to New York and vice versa as the order book and daybooks reveal. Finally, there are passing references to the occasional sale of lottery tickets as fell as financial data such as interest calculations. Unpublished Winterthur Finding Aid is available.

Storekeeper John Sise, [Business Papers, 1851-1867, (.6 cubic feet)] kept a business in Portsmouth, NH where he sold crockery. The records include a number of bills as well as nine volumes of waste (1853-1861) and sales books (1853-1865). The entries in these volumes, for ceramic and glassware products, list a price for each entry.

 

For more storekeepers, see, e.g.:

Wayne Family, Papers, 1834-1891 (247 items)

Asa Judd, Notebook, 1801-1802, 1 vol.

Abraham Wing, Bills, 1830-1831, 1 folder

Thomas Macon, Papers, 1786-1815, 4 folders

Charles Edmund Genet, Accounts, 1794-1803 (1 folder)

Erastus Knight, Account Book

Hodges Account Book, 185-1862

George Perry

Henry Thatcher

George Crawford, Papers, 1815-1890 (4 cu. feet -- 8 boxes)

John Glassford & Co., Daybook, 1801-1802

Lucius Carroll, Invoices, 1838-1841, (ca. 450 pp)

Daybook, 1850-1880 (mostly 1850-1851), for Ohio general store

Account Book, 1846-1848, (ca. 250 pp.), for New Hampshire general store

William Clapp, Store Invensotyr, 1854, in Boston

Joseph Philbrick, Day Books, 1820-1862 (2 vols., ca. 300 pp.)

William Jacoby, Hardware Store Price Book, 1858 (85 pp.)

J. Ward, Daybook, 1827-1828 (1 vol), New Hampshire general store

Scamman & Cutts, Invoices, 1834-1835, 1 vol.

Ashhurst Family, Bills and Receipts, 1806-1860 (142 items)

Richard Dampman, Bills and Accounts, 1841-1860 (1 vol.)

William Taylor, Invoices, 1818-1839 (114 pp.)

C. Davenport, Account Book, 1856-1866 (1 vol., 526 pp.)

Stearns Family Papers, 1792-1812, 1 folder

Stearns Family Papers, 1792-1836, 1 box

Erastus Taylor, Bills, 1816-1818 1 folder

C & D. R. Williams, Bills and Receipts, 1755-1855, ca. 180 items

 

Winterthur holds scores of secondary works about stores and storekeeping, and numerous catalogues of store equipment, advice on storekeeping, and 19th century price lists used by storekeepers.

 

Banking, finance, securities, insurance, brokerage, tontines

The most productive way to find valuable insights into financial affairs during this era, including banking, insurance, brokerage, and private loans among individuals is to perform a "search/find" operation using key words related to these themes or the names of individuals known to engage actively in such activities.

In addition, researchers will want to look at the following:

 

Finance:

Anthony Charles Cazenove, Papers, 1791-1852 (mosly 1792-1796) (.5 cu. ft.). These records are of a French-descended family that lived in London and Philadelphia during the French Revolutionary events. Anthony Charles was a real estate investor in Pennsylvania, a financier during the 1790s in Philadelphia, and an original stockholder in the First Bank of the United States. He was a close ally of Albert Gallatin, and eventually settled in Alexandria, VA. Most of this correspondence describes commerce and business conditions in the two major port cities where family lived, and some have word about conditions of immigration at Philadelphia. They are of limited value for an economic historian.

Oliver Wolcott, Letter of 1805 to Hope and Co., Amsterdam. This single letter is on a microfilm reel with other Wolcott materials filmed from the New York Public Library Collections. It concerns financial conditions in the Atlantic World generally.

For records about banking in the Delaware Valley, see also the Latimer Family Papers (above under "Commerce"), and the Russell Family Papers (above under "Commerce").

Occasionally, Winterthur's large collections of family papers contain important information about banking, sock issues, and thinking about early national finance. For example, the Wonderly, Stewart, Ritter, Brown Family, Papers, 1779-1929 (mostly 1830-1875) (4 boxes) document the varied business activities of four interrelated Philadelphia families. Samuel Wonderly (1842-1880) was a sometime wholesale importer, and James E. Brown was a carpetbag manufacturer, whose sons also traded to the interior briefly in the post-bellum years. But buried in the boxes are a variety of stock notes from the 1840s and 1850s. The unpublished finding aid will be of help in locating these notes.

The Gage Papers, (3 reels microf.) contain many papers relating to money-lender, real estate investor, and Anglo-Irish naval officer Peter Warren (1703/4-1752), who was also related to the wealthy merchant Stephen DeLancey of New York City. While in New York, Warren invested his young wife's large dowry in land and money-lending. The copies of relevant American documents-the Sussex Archaeological Society, Sussex, England, holds a larger collection of originals-include three account books, collectively spanning 1731 to 1741, which enumerate Warren's loans made to New Englanders in 1746 and cash advances to James Delancey, Jr. 1751-52 in England. Several documents also list outstanding debts owed to Warren and the value of many of his properties. A set of letters written during the 1770s and then resuming in the 1790s concern the settlement of Warren's estate and the sale of his American assets.

 

Winterthur holds numerous pamphlets on the subjects of fire and commercial insurance. For example:

See Box and Austin, Ledgers, above.

See Charles Watts, Account Books, above

 

Household economy, domestic economy,

Winterthur holds numerous collections of household accounts, in the form of account books and loose family papers. Often, accounts of millers, ironmasters, merchants, storekeepers, and others have household accounts dispersed throughout records of a business. Researchers should use the "search/find" feature of their computer systems to look for "household" and other pertinent terms related to domestic economy within this survey.

 

One large collection is Miscellaneous Accounts, 677-1894 (2 cu. ft., 4 boxes), which contains nearly 400 small collections of materials related to household purchases, expenses, repairs, and furnishings. Forty percent come from the 18th century.

Another very large collection is the Roberts Family Papers, 1838-1921 (mostly 1848-1878), a rising West Chester, PA family that kept meticulous track of investments, hired repairwork and servants, household purchases, clothing, food, and entertainment expenses. There are 8 account books, a few stock certificates, 28 manuscripts about the estate and inventories of goods. Health conditions and eating habits are noted often; news about European inventions and the latest developments in household and farm technologies are indicated as well.

Still another large collection of household accounts is the Jonathan Harris, Family Expenses, 1806-1812 (5 vols.) collection of this Boston family. Elaborate accounting of family expenses was kept by the Harris's, including income from rental properties on the Boston waterfront that was occupied by area craftsmen, wages paid in the Harris household for servants, and investments in lotteries and waterfront projects.

Within the very large Latimer Family Papers of the early 1800s, are lengthy records about household upkeep, setting up children upon marriage, and estate inventories that detail household belongings.

Also, within the Walter Stewart Papers, 1773-1796 (111 items) are a number of papers related to furnishing the Stewart mansion.

For smaller, but valuable household portraits, see, for example, the Jonas Mann, Account Book, 1820-1822 (1 vol.) for a look inside a Philadelphia household. Or see, William Woolsey Johnson, Account book, 1870-1872 (1 vol.), the Hannah Trimble, Account and recipe book, 1859-1880 (1 vol.) from Fairville, PA, or the Asa A. Ward, Account book, 1857-1865 (1 vol.), for a look inside wealthy Civil War-era family affairs in the Mid-Atlantic. At Trenton, NJ, the Read Family, Account Book, 1828-1831 (1 vol.) shows another wealthy family's household business in an earlier decade. At Port Penn, Delaware, the William Woodland, Ledger, 1775-1785 (1 vol.) enumerates household purchases and transactions during the American Revolution.

[George] Willing Family, Bills and Receipts, 1726-1850 (ca. 200 items), are personal accounts and papers for a Philadelphia merchant's family, with the usual array of clothing, houshold repairs and furniture purchases, food supplies, horse gear and wagons, medicines, schooling, etc. that is found in most of the era's household accounts. There is little about Willing's commerce.

Joseph Barrell, Letters, 1776-1800 (2 reels microf.) was a Boston merchant who became a gentleman farmer, and then a retired country gentleman near the Charles River, MA. Most of the records in this collection concern Barrell's efforts to build and furnish his country house with goods from around the world, including imported Dutch gardeners.

John R[owe] Parker, Expense Book, 1798-1809 (1 vol., 170 pp.) of this Boston merchant and cultural leader, records household purchases of expensive mahogany items, carpeting of unusual colors, wigs, fine clothing and boots, and numerous other things.

For other detailed accounts of household expenses and networking with neighborhood producers, see for example:

Robert Kennedy, Account Book, 1847-1823 (1 vol.)

Abraham Williamson, Account Book, 1791-1812 (1 vol.), Montclair, NJ

Salmon Cushman, Account Book, 1840-1846 (1 vol.), Chittenden County, VT.

Lucy Hamilton, Accounts and Estate list, 1840-1844 (1 vol.), New England.

Daniel Henchman, Account Book, 1712-1729 (1 reel microf.), Cambridge, MA.

Philip Henshaw, Account Book, 1817-1829 (1 vol.), Jefferson County, KY

Daniel Rodman, Account Book, 1828-1845 (1 vol.), Rhode Island -- includes household expenses and his wages for work as a carder in a factory.

 

Miscellaneous Collections:

Schoolmaster: Arthur Thompson, of Westminster, MD and Charleston, SC, left an Account Book, 1827-1840 (1 vol.) that shows fees for students and their academic pursuits.

Surveyor: Robert Brooke, 1770-1821, Accounts of Surveys, 1805-1806 (1 vol.)

Apothecary: [Anon.], Account Book, 1791-1794 (1 vol.), shows a man of unknown origins or residence supplying drugs and remedies to customers. Chemical and herbal mixtures are recorded, and innoculations of children enumerated.

Pharmacist: David Ott & Co., Account Book, 1811-1813 (1 vol.), covers a short period of this Washington, DC firm's sales of drugs and household items such as spectacles, artist's colors, linseed oil, paper, cards, oils, small brushes, etc. Most clientele seem to have been elite or well-known, including James Madison, Benjam H. Latrobe, Albert Gallatin, etc.

Bill Collector: Sardius Thrall, Account Book, 1820-1832 (1 vol.), contains a Granby, CT payments record for services regarding citations, writs, subpoenas, petitions, grand jury summons. Customers paid with agricultural goods of many kinds, and lumber goods or labor. Thrall may also have been a hauler for various families.

Bookseller: Richard Sanborn, Account Book, 1725-1761 (1 vol.) was from New Hampshire, and records primarily bibles.

Travel Diary: An anonymous Sea Journal, 1765, documents a voyage from England to Jamaica, including food and weather notations, vegetation and Native Americans at various islands in the Caribbean, and tropical diseases he encountered.

Wintertur has created a file called "Indentures, 1710-1857" which contains hundreds of contracts for servants and apprentices in 2 boxes, covering New England the Middle Atlantic regions, though mostly for Philadelphia. There is a finding aid that lists the contracts by name and occupation for which the individual was being trained or had been assigned. In addition, see Thomas Williams, Indentures, 1806-1829 (8 items).

There is a significant collection of 19 volumes over the years 1771-1829 entitled "Diaries" at Winterthur, which contains such gems as: one for 1778 that lists prices for gold and silver, foodstuffs and liquor in Philadelphia (during its occupation by the British). Further, at least three diaries annotated by David Stewart (1780-1782 and possibly 1784, 1787, and 1788) describe Stewart's sheep and cattle farm near the Delaware River. In the diaries Stewart not only described the impact of winter frosts on his farm, but also recorded such activities as calving, buying and selling bulls, purchasing shoes, renting houses and sending his son to school.

Inns and Taverns: Simon Bayley, Account Book, 1824-1825 (1 vol., 152 pp.), shows how a Boston tavern keeper kept customer records of lodging and eating, as well as some of Bayley's sidelines in retail sales from the tavern.