Guide to the Account Book Collection, 1793-1950

Hiram Barker was born on Dec. 21, 1815 and died in October of 1867. With limited education, he left the family farm at 16 to seek his fortune. He worked his way from clerk to peddling tin-ware, finally ending up in Farmington, where he was engaged in trade until 1880. During those years, he was extensively engaged in the real estate and lumber business. He also owed land and stocks of various kinds. 2 volumes.

Personal and business transactions of Abraham Wright (1827-1928) of Antrim, NH. He was likely a woodworker; many entries refer to turning pins, and lumber and other tools are also mentioned. One page is a “Record of the time of those who work for me” from February-April 1853. Household expenses are mixed in with his business entries, as well as records of travel and individuals with whom he did business.

William Vance Hutchins (b. Sept. 24, 1793, d. 11 March 1866) was a landowner and farmer in Bath, NH. His son, William W. (b. 21 July 1824, d. 3 November 1857) graduated from Dartmouth College in 1845 and attended the Law School in Cambridge. He was admitted to the bar and returned to Bath in 1848. The ledger appears to have been first kept by William V. to record his farm accounts. The book then passed to William W. in 1849, who recorded the court cases and legal disputes he settled.

Financial records for the Town of Bridgewater, NH. These include transactions with neighboring towns, individuals, and companies, exchanging lumber and other goods. The records were kept by the town selectmen, and include such entires as "eight dollars in full for a coffin for Polly Spencer county pauper", surveyor's records, taxes paid (and delinquents), and road maintenance logs.

Jonathan Sanborn (ca. 1818-7 June 1894) operated a saw mill in Brookfield, NH. His account books include both business and personal transactions, as well as records of men who worked for him at the mill. He also records activities as a Civil War recruter, a selectman, and an overseer of the town's poor. 2 volumes.

Samuel Ames Morrill (April 14 1767-July 20 1856) was a farmer who was born and lived at Canterbury, NH. He was the eldest son of Lieutenant Laban Morrill (1740-1812) and Sarah Ames (1747-1825), and married Mary Chase (1771-1849). Lyford’s “History of Canterbury” gives some detail on the family, including that Samuel’s farm was located near Morrill Pond and Morrill Hill (vol. 2 pg. 259-260).

The Samuel Ames Morrill Account Book (1817-1826) details the extensive barter and trade economy of early 19th century Canterbury, including several references to doing business with the mill at the Canterbury Shaker community. Standard farming practices abound: haying, tanning, transport, plowing, hauling lumber, “1822 services of bull”, making cider with a horse-powered cider mill, and ‘hewing and framing’ the lumber to make a post and beam house. There is travel to Plainfield, Sanbornton, Loudon, and even Boston (80 miles by wagon). Morrill seems to make significant income from renting pasture and barn rental. The prominent entry “cattle to stock the pastor” makes sense in the context of Laban Morrill’s position as deacon in the local Congregational Church.

The ledger has been partially covered in the first few pages with a scrapbook of pages of newspaper clippings – mostly poetry and moral tracts. The scrapbook portion can most likely be attributed to Edna Green (1897-1982), whose name is scrawled into several pages.

The businessmen of Chester, NH in 1891 discussed the possibility of a trolley line servicing the town. They proposed a street railroad that would run from Chester to Derry, where it would connect with the steam railroad of the Boston & Maine. The ledger includes the stock subscriptions and petition to form the railroad line. 1 volume and misc. loose papers.

Account book of the Adams School District, Derry NH, including teacher salaries and supplies. The accounts were kept by Winslow Goldsmith, school treasurer, and occasionally audited by various external examinors.

The book is inscribed by John Quinley (b. 1770-1780, died ca. 1855), Dover, April the 3, 1833 and contains bookkeeping of his financial transactions, often involving barter. The pages are hand numbered up to page 64, several pages after is the family records of his son, Joseph Quinley (9 May 1828-?), dated Aug 31, 1855, Sangerville, Maine. These include births, deaths, and marriages.

Personal finances and boarding expenses of James J. Hopkinson (1849-1875). There is no indication from his writings of what Hopkinson's profession was, and the US censuses do not list him. Included is a detailed log of the estate of J.J. Hopkinson recorded on 9/18/1875 and the sale of many of those items.

On the cover of this book is written “John G. Ordway Guardian Acct with James L. Jones. Lettered April 14, 1893.” James G. Ordway (dates unknown) and James L. Jones (1852-1909) were both from Epping. Jones's father is not listed, but his mother Mariam Jones (dates unknown) appears to have been single or widowed, a common reason why her son would have been given a guardian. The first entry states that James is a minor and concludes with Ordway’s discharge as guardian. Jones married Sarah Maria Whittier (1952-1912) of Raymond in May of 1873, about a month after the end of the book.

Florus W. Tripp (12 October 1864-30 March 1894) was a farmer in Short Falls (Epsom), NH. He inherited his extensive land and livestock holdings from his parents Warren Tripp (1839-1928) and Katie Bickford (1843-1910). He married Mary (Bartlett) Brown (1867-1939). Tripp died as a result of an accident with a rolling log on his farm.

The Florus W. Tripp Account Book (1884-1886) consists of farming accounts separated by subject, as well as several loose sheets of grange receipts, a speech he gave to the local grange, and a minstrel song. Included accounting headings are: Cattle, Grain, and Pork. Most of the pages are related to cattle, including those he apparently boarded at ‘Lord Farm’. Many names of neighbors and others with whom Tripp did business are included.

Ephraim Richardson of Farmington NH was born July 6 1786 and died July 1 1872. He married Procidnda Batton (1803-1886) in 1822. He was a farmer, as evidenced by the small notebook, inscribed “Ephraim Richardson’s Book. In Farmington. Memorandum of Stock on my farm.” Richardson kept detailed accounts of farm activities including inventory of farm stock and labor agreements. Goods and services were exchanged using the barter system, including carpentry work, mowing and bundling corn and hay, cobbler's work, and keeping lodgers.

George A. Leavitt (1847-unknown) was a blacksmith from Farmington, NH. He married Anna Elizabeth Cole (1849-1906) in 1888.His daybook is filled mostly with the shoeing of horses and oxen, although wagon repair and tool production are also mentioned frequently. A receipt addressed to Leavitt from the "Neverslip Horse-Shoe Co." of Boston, MA is laid into the flyleaf of the volume, and the name "E.F. Hubburd" (or"Hubbord") is penciled to the inside cover.

John Smith Jewell (March 1814 Brentwood NH – October 29 1902 Franklin NH) was a tanner, leather merchant, and wagon repairer. He is listed on the censuses as a farmer, but his daybook consists nearly entirely of entries related to tanning. Period maps of Franklin show “J.F. Jewell” on Main St. on the west side of the Pemigewasset River, just above the inflow from Chance Pond. Jewell married Sarah A. Glidden (1818-?) at Franklin in 1839, and they had several children.

The John Smith Jewell Tannery Daybook contains daily entries for transactions involving leather and wagon repair, dated 1843-1848. Leather products include hides, harnesses, belts, sheepskins, and associated products such as bushels of hair, horns, and meat. Wagon repair includes entries for ‘wagon repair’, spokes, axels, and wheels, as well as other wooden and leather parts. Payments and barters were also made in transportation, plowing with oxen, iron, hay, oats, lumber, lye, plaster, and vegetables. Several prominent New Hampshire surnames are mentioned, including Calef, Dyer, Fifield, Proctor, and Bartlett.

Asa P. Thompson (December 13 1810 Orange, VT – August 6 1892 Franklin NH) was a master carpenter and woodworker from Franklin, NH. He was the son of Daniel Thompson and Mercy Calley, and married Sophronia Stewart (1816-1879). He worked a wide variety of jobs involving wood.

The Asa P. Thompson Carpentry Account Book covers the period of 1839-1876. Thompson’s entries include cooperage, furniture, wagon and sled manufacture & repair, boatbuilding, drum making, basic and master house carpentry, shutters, clapboards/shingles/lath/sashing/beams, and so forth. He owned and frequently rented out both his sawmill and a large lathe. Towards the late 1860s be owned and operated a cider mill, selling it by the barrelful. Thompson was responsible for the construction or reconstruction of many of the houses in town, including the house of John Smith Jewell, the Town house, and several schoolhouses.

Business transactions of Jesse Gordon Jr. (6 July 1788-29 July 1835), of Hampstead NH. Gordon married Harriett Connor (1790-1861) in 1810. Gordon was a tanner and shoemaker, and his accounts reflect leather preparation, shaving, cutting, selection of animals, construction of shoes, and the like. Somewhat confusingly, the flyleaf is signed "George S. Chase, 1868". Chase may have been a later owner of the volume.

Simon Lamprey Jenness (12 March 1818-10 February 1897) was a blacksmith who was born in Rye, NH. In 1845 he married Mary E. Tarleton (1822-1898) of North Hampton, NH, and moved to her hometown about that time. His eldest son Frank Towle Jenness (21 September 1845-19 December 1911) began working with his father in about 1867. He in turn married Ida Flora Trefetham (1852-1938) in 1874.

The Simon L. Jenness & Son Account Book (1854-1886) consists of one thick volume of accounts. Entries are itemized and record items such as nails, bolts, tools, wagons, and so forth, as well as standard services such as shoeing livestock and mending machinery. The initial entries are signed “Simon L. Jenness”, until ca. 1867, when it is invariably notated “Simon L. Jenness & Son”.

Samuel S. Warner was born Jan. 18, 1807 in North Hampton, NH and died there on Aug. 8 1882. The ledger contains the accounts from his blacksmith business, most of which are the bread and butter of a 19th century blacksmith: shoeing of horses, oxen, wagon and plow repair, and tool production.

Thomas Cochran (1792-?) was a farmer from Holderness, Grafton Co., New Hampshire. His wife was named Mehetabel. They were relatively wealthy for their time and place, with the estate valued at $3100 in the 1870 census.

The Thomas Cochran Daybook (1824-1841) consists of debts and credits maintained as part of a cash/bartering economy. All accounts are named, some with local women heads-of-households. Subjects include lending horses and oxen, farm work and animal husbandry exchanged, goods purchased, lumber production, crops harvested, and buildings built. Some entries reflect board paid during Cochran’s local travels to neighboring towns, perhaps on lumber business.

Isaac Baily III (10 January 1788-3 January 1867) was born and lived in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. He was a blacksmith by profession as well as a farmer. He married Merriam Hoyt (1791-1824) in 1814, Roxilana Green (1798-1827) in 1825, and Ann Buckman Green (1806-1885) in 1830.

The Isaac Bailey III Account Book (1830-1877) details his business and household expenses over a period of 35 years. The entries are chronological within each customer’s entry, and their orders are recorded in great detail. Quite notable are the several accounts listed under women’s names, not only using their husband’s names but also their own first names. These include fencing upkeep contracts signed by both Bailey and women who were presumably his neighbors. Other accounts are marked “Elder”, presumably a reference to Shakers from the nearby Canterbury Shaker Village. A detailed Bailey Household inventory from 1847 is included on the back flyleaf of the volume.

One the first page of the daybook is written, “A Book of expenses for the year 1862- in which all monies paid out, will show when paid and for what and also for which one of the family.” The first entry was made January 1, 1862 and the last, January 8, 1868. The book appears to have been originally was used to take minutes for several town meetings between 1826 and 1830 (including town appropriations and an 1830 census that records, 7 "colored males" and 4 "colored females".) Levi S. Bartlett was probably a descendant of Josiah Bartlett of Kingston, the first governer of New Hampshire and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Some papers of Josiah's son Levi Bartlett (1732-1828) are held at Milne Special Collections under the call number MS 269.

The identity of Dr. Kelly is as yet a mystery, beyond the words “Hace liber pertenant ad Wlm. C Kelly” inscribed on the flyleaf. One sheet laid in is addressed to “Doctor Kelly”. Individuals named William Kelly are mentioned at the time in the 1830 and 1840 Federal Censuses for Dover and Madbury. Eloi’s “Madbury: It’s People and Places” (1968) mentions the family of Captain William Kelley and Pemelia Demeritt ca. 1812-1825. The newspaper the Dover Sun mentions the marriage of William Kelley to Rachel Lord on September 19, 1812. However, none of these explicitly mention being a doctor. Dr. Kelly may have been new to the Seacoast area, as the book is the second in his accounting series (most all accounts include balances “carried over from book 1”). Towns mentioned include Strafford, Nottingham, Barrington, Pittsfield, Northwood, and Exeter.

The Dr. William C. Kelly Account Book (1830) paints a rich picture of the lives and health of his patients. Enteries are fairly detailed, and include the names of women, children, and servants as part of their information. Kelly traveled extensively throughout the area giving exams (12 cents), “tonic bitters” (34 cents), opium (25 cents) and a variety of other medicines (some leaves of which appear to be dried within his ledger). A bleeding was 20-25 cents, while tooth extractions ranged from 5 to 20 cents. Many births are recorded ($2.00) under the line item, “To obstet[ric] case”. At least one was particularly difficult: the word “bad” is written above the line and the bill is a whopping $3.00. Payments were rendered in the form of cash, firewood, transportation, furniture, work with ox teams, seeds, vegetables, and the like. One intriguing entry on pg. 69 reads, “July 16 1830: Joel C. Virgin. To study with me, $2.75”. Many local names are mentioned, including Demeritt, Hanson, Jenness, and Prescott.

The blacksmith who kept these books was probably either Samuel Austin (ca. 1798-14 April 1860, Manchester NH), or David Ross (b. ca. 1808 - ?, Manchester NH). Accounts were settled by neighborhood butcher Henry Harrison Fuller (1815-1892). In several places the account book is marked, “Accounts settled by H.H. Fuller”. A search of the 1850s Manchester city directories reveals that Fuller was a butcher on Front St. near the Amoskeag Mills. Both Austin and Ross independently operated blacksmith forges on Front St.

The Anonymous Blacksmithing Accounts (1839-1859) consist of a day book and its associated accounting book for a blacksmith business in Manchester, NH. Included are mostly itemized receipts for orders, though a few animal husbandry records are written on the flyleaf of the daybook. The accounts are settled in a markedly different hand than the daily entries. 2 volumes.

Continuation of the Blacksmith's accounts from the last box.

Rufus Levi Bartlett was born in Worchester MA on 29 September 1829 and died in Hooksett NH on 22 July 1913. He married Susan Maria Whipple (1840-1914) of New Boston, NH on 1855. At some point he opened and operated a clothing store in Manchester, NH. He may have been a descendant of Josiah Bartlett, first governor of New Hampshire and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The Rufus Levi Bartlett Daybook (1857-1859) details clothing bought and sold in a Manchester NH clothing store. The flyleaf of the book is marked “Clothing” – so it may have been part of a larger store’s ledgers. Orders are chronologically arranged on the pages with the full name of each customer noted, though their order details are less consistently entered. Most of the clothing is for men, while some is for women.

Joseph Haskell, Jr., was born March 24, 1794; married Ruth White on April 2, 1818 in Troy, NH. They had ten children. In 1828, he bought his father’s farm and tavern stand in Marlborough where they lived until 1845-46, when they returned to Troy. He died April 18, 1865. This book is a record of Joseph Haskell’s estate at his death, including widow’s allowance.

Samuel Lovejoy (July 4 1770-1851) owned a large farm in Milford, NH where he earned income from boarding people and horses and operating a lumber business. He appears to have had a small tavern at his home as well, as a goodly portion of the book contains records of rum consumed. Other records depict bundles of shingles (each marked by a single line: |), numbers of glasses of rum each guest drank, days worked by Lovejoy and others of his family and neighbors, and work done using oxen and horses.

Webster P. Hussey (ca. 1843-1903) lived in Nashua, NH where he was the paymaster for the Nashua Manufacturing Co. and Vice President of the Nashua Trust Co. This ledger contains the “Schedule of Assets” from 1868-1914. W. P. Hussey is engraved on the front of the book, but Hussey died in 1903; someone else recorded the accounts from then until 1914.

Ezekiel Long was an innkeeper and general store manager who probably lived in New Boston, NH, around 1790-1780. His handwriting appears throughout the book, while a fainter name and place penciled in the front cover reads “A.G. Burnam, Dunbarton, NH”. This could have been either Asa Burham or Abraham Burnham. Their relationship to Long is not clear. Attempts to locate Ezekiel Long in period censuses or history books were unsuccessful.

The Ezekiel Long Daybook (1793-1794) consists of entries for sales, credits, and debits made at an inn/general store. The book is marked “Daybook No. 4”. Most of the individuals named are from New Boston, NH. Included are townspeople, deacons, travelers, and Revolutionary War soldiers. There is an index of names at the rear of the volume, followed by accounts carried and settled from prior daybooks. Several New Hampshire newspaper clippings from 1840-1873 are included in the front of the volume.

Charles Webster (21 April 1847-after 1888) was a farmer and laborer. This account book was written in narrative style, describing in detail his personal financial transactions and farm activities (entries read somewhat like a diary). Many household items were purchased from S. D. (Solomon Dodge) Atwood’s general store, which was located in New Boston, NH. The book is number 2; presumably number 1 has been lost, and it's unclear if there was a number 3 or not.

Harvey C. Morse (10 November 1822-8 September 1908 at Newbury NH) was a businessman and farmer. He married Hellen M. Emerson (1832-between 1900 and 1910) in 1846. He was drafted for the Union Army in 1963 and achieved the rank of lieutenant.

The Harvey C. Morse Account Book (1869-1900) consists of ca. 100 pages of accounts related to farming. He details haying, hauling, logging, lumber, threshing, shoeing, making cider, laying brick, shingling, plastering, and related activities. The farm sold standard agricultural products: cider, oats, corn, butter, apples, eggs, potatoes, etc. Several loose sheets of paper are included next to the flyleaf, including a weighing receipt for a team of oxen and a set of wedding vows. Morse did considerable business with various neighbors by the last name of Muzzey.

Darius Frink was born in Newington ca. 1810, and married Mary Coleman (b. ca. 1826) in 1849. These two account books contain Frink's business and personal financial transactions. Book one begins January 1849 with the accounts of the Woodman Point wood lot. The book also contains daily business transactions, cash transaction and stocks and notes ending in Nov. 1865. The last few pages is a copy of the inventory of the Col. Isaac Frink estate and the Cyruss Frink estate, for which Darius served as executor.

Book two, 1868, begins with an inventory of stock and notes, followed by business transactions of purchases and sales including real estate. Tucked in the back was a short letter from a cousin, John L Nutter, Sept 20, 1882.

Account book of business transactions of cobbler and farmer John Smart, Newmarket, NH. John Smart may in fact have been two people: John Smart Sr. (1766 Monmouth ME - 7 August 1822 Newmarket NH) and his son John Smart Jr. (19 August 1816 Newmarket - 10 December 1871 Stratham). The book appears homemade; it's likely the elder Smart made it himself. The records contain some rather startling uses of the English language, including "hors pastered", "one day hoen", many pairs of "boys shoes maid", and a line item reading "Ebenezer Brackett to wife shoeing". There are also standard references to lumber, firewood, use of oxen, etc., most rendered in more conventional terms.

Jonathan Gage (1 November 1774-25 February 1870) was the proprietor of a general store in Pelham NH. He married Dorcas Merrill (1780-1865) in 1803. These five handmade daybooks and ledgers contain detailed logs of the store accounts. The store sold a wide variety of consumer goods including food stuff, rum and gin, tobacco, fabrics and buttons.

James Monroe Hobbs III (1811-1890) was at times the town scrivener, town clerk, town representative, and other roles to the town of Pelham, Hillsborough County, N.H. His prominent family included the town’s first minister, the Reverend James Pelham (?-1765). He was the son of James Hobbs II and Pamela [?], and married Hannah S. Woodbury (1819-1907).

The James Monroe Hobbs Account Book (1828-1881, Bulk 1828-1835) consists of personal and Town of Pelham accounts. Personal items include women employed for housekeeping and laundry, items bought and sold, and travel. Town of Pelham items include detailed lists of monies paid out of town accounts, itemized settlements of estates, funerals, and other town business conducted as a legal and financial agent of the town.

Charles Barber (born, Sept. 22, 1826; died Dec. 12, 1885) was a farmer and blacksmith in Peterborough, NH. His account books cover business and family accounts, including food, tools manufactured, records of pasture rental, and household goods such as lantern glass. There is also a two pages chart of “Time Labor Spent on the new highway.”

James Wilkins was a wheelwright and repairman in Peterborough, NH. There are several individuals of that name from the area of Peterborough at that time, making the exact identity of this particular James Wilkins unclear. The book lists detailed accounts of his expenses and income, arranged by purchaser. His primary business was making and repairing wagons, he also made and painted other wooden items, such as a coffin and a birdhouse. The book has sustained water damage, making some pages difficult to read.

Many merchants operated a lumber shipping businesses from the Portsmouth wharf during the early 19th century. The front cover is too damaged by water to make out the exact name, but one possibility is "Geo. Long & Co.". According to the 1839-1940 Portsmouth Directory, George Long owned a wharf at 98 Market St. during this time. The first page of the book records the date in which the frozen Piscataqua River became passable for boats, 1831-1836. Neatly drawn pointing hands direct the reader's attention to notes such as, "Captain Young arrived with a load fresh fish in his new boat Expedient", and "1831 Nov. 27th first snow (3 months good sleighing)". The inside of the back flyleaf reads, "June 21st 1833 President Jackson arrived in Boston 4 o'cl. /AM -H.". Further entries within the book list bundles of shingles, nails, rum, cider, stones, looking glasses (telescopes), and storage of bulk food for other merchants. Many transactions are with local individuals with names like Jewett and Tutttle.

The Phillips Family, including master mariner Joseph S. Phillips (1810-?) his son John J. Philips (1836-?) were a fishing family from Kittery, Territory of Maine, and its neighboring city of Portsmouth, NH. They caught, sold, salted, and shipped cod, pollock, and haddock, as well as trading in hay and lumber.

The Phillips Family Fishing Account Book covers fishing and salt packing in the Kittery/Portsmouth area between 1838-1841. It is largely a record of payment to the some men and many women who salted and packed the fish caught, as well as the sailors who worked on the “Sacont France”, probably a fishing boat. At one point a gundalow belonging to Captain Dennis Frisbee is rented and fish is packed in salt on board.

Rather than being a simple debits and credits list, this account book involves many people carrying debts and credits towards each other within a complex fishing and packing business. Many of the workers are unmarried women from families with surnames such as Metchell, Getchial, Gilson, Whethearn (possibly Whettem) and Phillips. Despite the number of people involved, the book is written entirely in one person’s handwriting.

This book contains the personal finances of Jeremiah H. Fullerton (b. ?, m. Hannah Dudley in 1804, d. 12 July 1848) of Raymond, NH. He appears to have been a laborer, as most accounts involve days worked haying, lumbering, chopping wood, and the like. Various household items include foodstuffs, lumber, sheet cloth, and tools.

Peter Folsom (1783-1863) was a saddle maker in Rochester NH. This ledger contains both his business and personal accounts. He likely made his account book; it is bound with leather and very fragile due to rodent damage at some point in its life.

This volume probably was kept by farmer Hiram Hall Roberts (1806-1876) of Rollinsford, who married Ruth Hann (1808-1901) prior to 1849. The names, dates, places, and names of several of their children match transactions recorded in the daybook. The daybook itself is a daily log of transactions involving cash received or cash paid for farm and household expenses, including work, money given to Mrs. Roberts for shopping in Dover, and banking records with Strafford Bank. The cover is missing and the date on the first page is March 6, 1849.

Darius K. Scruton (1827-8 August 1862) married a woman named Hannah (dates unknown), and they had at least two daughters and a son. He served in the Civil War in 1861, and died in Rollinsford the following year. This volume is a book of receipts for money owed to laborers for business conducted in Rollinsford, NH. His profession is unclear because of the sparse nature of his writting, but it is apparently that the family supplimented their income in part by taking lodgers.

Chronological account of a blacksmith’s business transactions, possibly belonging to Seth Noble Colby (October 1819-24 June 1889) of Salisbury, NH. Entires are fairly terse, recording the shoeing of oxen, horses, and production of wagon parts, nails, and tools.

Jonathan Chase Prescott was born in Sanbornton, NH on June 11, 1795. He married Mary Hodgdon (dates unknown) in 1825, and died on Feb. 13, 1847. His homemade account book begins on May 23, 1814 and records the payments to employees who work on his farm. There is also a very small booklet titled “Mill Book”, which may or may not have belonged to Prescott. Included are payments to laborers and time spent working off his road tax.

Dudley Swain was born Nov. 7, 1763 in Hampton Falls and died 1854 in Sanbornton, NH. He married Molly Chase (dates unknown) in 1793 at Sanbornton. His account book is missing its front cover and begins in Dec. 4, 1826. It contains his business accounts including records of debts payable and receivable, often by the barter system. Swain may have been a tailor, as accounts include curtains, suits of clothes, trousers, and other items of clothing. There are also a few entries for work with oxen.

John D. Kelley (b. 1874, d. after 1900) of Sandown, NH worked as a mason, including substantial work for the town of Sandown and various private individuals (including family members). Detailed account of materials needed for labor and construction. Listed items include lime, brick, cement, and wine.

George Holmes (ca. 1761-1843) moved to Stoddard, NH from Sharon, Mass in 1792 and began a farm in the westerly part of the town at the place known as the “Brown pasture.” He moved to the south part of the town in 1800 or 1801 and operated an oxen teaming business. The ledger contains his business accounts, the bulk of which consists of hauling loads of various types to Boston. At some point, someone glued newspaper clippings with anecdotes about marriage into the book and used it to press leaves.

Benjamin Clark (20 January 1761- 22 February 1840) was a farmer who was born and lived in Stratham, NH. He sustained his farm by making and selling cider, meat, grains, vegetables, and keeping boarders. It is unclear if he married or raised a family.

The Benjamin Clark Account Book (1827-1839) consists of a single volume listing the finances, weather, local deaths, who was in “debters Goal” [jail], and other information associated with the Clark farm and cider mill in Stratham, Rockingham County, N.H. The book is written in many different hands, reflecting writing samples of the many individuals who did business with Clark. Included are the names and handwriting of many local women. The front half of the book is a day book, while the back of the book lists the same information in account book format.

Harrison D. Robertson (1807 Hopkinton - 1862 Warner) was in the lumber and mercantile business in Warner, NH. Both account books are very small and one has water damage. One is titled “Forbes and Robertson Wood lot on Colby Land, Dec. 9, -55”. The second contains notes collected and inventory of property, 1844-1862. 2 volumes.

This account book was first used from 1816-1817 to record the financial transaction of a general store in Weare, NH. Sometime later, it was used as a scrapbook for newspaper clippings of interest to the creator. The first page is signed Mary Louise Dearborn, South Weare, NH. Mary (1842-1936) married Jason Dearborn in 1840. She may have been responsible for the scrapbooking. A photo of her is contained in the Jonathan Dearborn Ledger in the adjacent folder.

This ledger belonged to one or more shoemakers. It is inscribed on the center of the first page in large, neat writing “Levi Harry Watson, 1822” and the first pages of entries are in the same hand. Levi Harriman Watson was born in 1801 at Weare, and married Alice White in 1829. He died sometime between 1840 and 1850.

Under Watson’s name is written "Jonathan Dearborn’s Account Book (Weare, NH)". The name of Dearborn family member can be found throughout the book, though which particular Jonathan Dearborn this was is hard to tell. It also seems to have been used by a child to practice writing letters and numbers (in pencil). It also includes a loose photo of Mary Louise Dearborn (1842-1936) tucked in the front of the book - see previous folder, "Dearborn Family Daybook" for a possible example of her scrapbooking.

This account book lists the accounts of a cooper and a farmer from Weare NH, almost certainly a member of the Society of Friends (Quakers) due to the plain date system used in the front half of the book. Several references are made to work by Abner, John, and 'myself' (the writer). The writer may have died in 1866 when the records cease. Towards the back of the book (in a different hand, with the contemporary dating style) is listed what appears to be dowery chests for Mary Stone, Sarah Waldson, and Hannah Piesce. The volume concludes with records of contract work done for Weare shoe manufacturer Allen Sawyer, dated 1838-1840, again using the non-plain dating system.

For more Quaker diaries and accounting books from Weare, see MC 318 The Osborne Family Papers.

Thomas Wilson Thorndike (1798-1888) married Ruth Gage Dow (1784-1873), of Weare, NH, in 1823 and began business as a wheelwright in Concord, NH. He was one of the first, if not the first, in that place to make use of machinery in the manufacture of carriages. In 1840 he removed with his family to Weare, and a few years later he erected the shop and dwelling-house at the “Glen” where at first sash and doors and afterwards crayon boxes were made. In his twenty-fifth year he left the Congregational church and has since been a prominent member, and for many years an elder, in the Society of Friends. (Source: Genealogy of Families in Weare, p.1000)

Entries include all of Thomas W. Thorndike’s expenses for materials and tools used for making wagon and buggy parts. Also expenses for building a ‘house at Weare’. The cover is missing and there are many blank pages.

Thomas Thorndike was the father of Lucy (Thorndike) Osborne (1836-1917), who married Lindley P. Osborne. For three generations of Osborne family diaries and accounts, see MC 318 The Osborne Family Papers. See also the previous two folders in this box, account books kept by the (also Quaker) Dearborn Family of Weare.

Blacksmith Lewis Epps was born in 1878 in Lyndeborough NH, son of Joseph Epes or Epps Sr. and Elizabeth Rand. He died in Denmark, Iowa in 1871, having been one of the pioneer settlers of that town. This account book is from before he went west. In addition to normal smithing activities of shoeing horses, making hardware, bellows, clocks, etc., it contains several mentions of local mills. In 1820 he fabricated parts for the looms of James Spaulding, in 1822 spindles and loom repair for John Everett, and in 1823 he produced parts for the looms owned by Deacon Aaron Brown, Jr.

John M. Bracket (1807 Wolfeboro-1887 Carroll) was a farmer during his earlier years, later becoming a banker and politician. He was president of the Lake National Bank and a treasurer of the Carroll County Savings Bank, and was for many years considered a natural candidate for the Republican gubinatorial ticket until he was disabled by a railroad accident in 1852. Benjamin Edgerly (ca. 1820-1869 Wolfeboro) was a farmer/cobbler from the Wolfeboro-Ossipee area. Much less is known about him except that his daughter Sally married a Moses Thompson of Deerfield who moved to the Wolfeboro area in 1800. The account book contains information about local Racoonborough families, types of apples grown, goods sold and bartered, and especially shoes produced by Edgerly. It’s not clear what type of business Bracket & Edgerly might have been, save that they paid taxes in Racoonborough and Brookfield in 1852. A note on the flyleaf lists several types of apples grown at “W. Thompson’s Orchard at Mount Delight”: Roxbury Sweet, Baldwin, Winter Sweet, Winter Sour.

Stephen Currier (1775-1862) made his living as a teacher and blacksmith before training to be a doctor under Dr. Robert Fuller of Milford. He went on to practice medicine for over 40 years, traveling as far as Lowell Mass. to visit his patients. The actual account book contains mostly dates and prices of services rather than specific procedures, although sometimes items such as bloodletting make their way into his notes. More accessible is the names of the people he treated: Mathew Harvey (1781-1866 and 13th governor of New Hampshire), William Weeks of Greenland NH (1755-?, aid-de-camp to George Washington), Judge Samuel Greene (1770-?, NH supreme court justice and state representative), and Amos Eastman Jr (1751-?, Revolutionary War veteran), and many others involved in state and local politics.

L.M. Kimball (1806-1855) was a farm manager/landowner and postmaster of the town of Hillsborourgh. He was well educated and employed laborers to work his land while supplementing his income with work as a scrivener for local town officials and businesspeople. Clients included Franklin Pierce (pg. 121), Pierce’s brother Henry Dearborn Pierce (e.g. pp. 235, 254), the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company (e.g. pp. 70, 120), and the Wilton Railroad. He was also an amateur photographer, as evidenced by an entry marking payment for a daguerreotype taken of an Amos Monroe on March 16, 1848 (pg. 70).

Reuben Winn (1779-1835) was typical of poorer rural farmers of that day, scrapping together a living by selling cheese, cider, timber and timber products, vegetables, meat, repairing mills and other buildings, making and repairing farm implements, constructing wagons and coffins, renting his labor out to other farmers, building fences and walls, and the like. He and his wife Mary Ann Bowman had twelve children.

John Palmer (1802/3-1846) made a living as a scrivener and Justice of the Peace (1840-1846). (Many John Palmers are listed for that area; his middle name seems to have not been Moore, N., C., or M. – he may have been the son of Isaiah and Jemima Palmer and father of Sophia S. and Mary Palmer White, by a wife Sophia B.) His duties included administering and appraising estates and serving as a guardian for many children who were placed under his care. His clients included many individuals in East Hampton and the surrounding Seacoast towns. Included in the ledger are many copies of certificates he drew up for business, land rent, women’s petitions for divorce, settlements with the estates of children under his guardianship, agricultural work, work as an attorney for children formally under his care, and so forth. The level of detail and number of names make this book a genealogical treasure trove.

Estates Palmer administered 1837-1846:

• John H. Pilsbury Esq. (d. ca. 1837)
• Elizabeth Currier (d. ca. 1838)
• Sarah Currier (d. ca. 1839)
• Samuel P. Eaton (d. ca. 1839)
• Phineas Sanborn (d. ca. 1840)
• Jacob Gore (settled 1843?)
• Benaiah Titcomb (settled 1841)
• Samuel Lamprey (settled 1843)
• Josiah Greely (settled ca. 1843)
• Hannah Stevens of Kingston (settled 1842)
• Martha A. Y. Peaslee (settled 1842)
• Eliphalet Currier (settled 1834)
• Dolly Dow (1846)
• Nathan French (d. ca. 1846)
• Elisha French (1846)
• N. Thompson (1846)

Children for whom he acted as guardian, 1837-1846:

• Abigail O. Smith (Guardianship transferred from Jos. Greely, settled 1844)
• Harriet, Sarah, and Caroline Smith (settled 1841)
• Stephen Currier (including his board at the ‘McLain Asylum for the Insane’ – later McLain Hospital, Belmont MA 1837, pg. 21)
• Sally Currier (discharged guardianship 1837)
• Angela, Almira B., Sophronia, and Maria F. Jones
• Joseph, John S., Sarah K., and Mary True (Mary discharged 1842)
• Smith Titcomb son of Jane and Benaiah Titcomb (discharged 1846)

David H. Clark (1785-1848, both Sanbornton) was son of Tyler Clark and Mary “Molly” Haynes. He was a blacksmith and for a time part owner of a shingle mill with a D.M. Clement. The partnership was dissolved in April 1833 and the mill sold. Clark kept five slim volumes of his accounts covering all areas of his household and business ventures. One is marked “Company book for Clement & Clark Shingle Mills No. 1 -1832.” Another is inscribed “David Clark Acct. with the Smithville Factory 1830” and notes the various machining and repairs he did for that company.

This ledger passed through the hands of various members of the Smith family of Pembroke, Plymouth County, MA. All had connections to the Smith Yard, located on North River from 1792-1819, after which it became Eells’ & Barstow’s Yard. Members of the family included Christopher Smith (ship’s bursar on the Schooner M.K. Bailey from ca. 1805-1812), Joshua Smith working 1828-1837 under Capt. Charles Hitchcock, ship owner Thomas Smith, and children named Edward Smith (aka “E. Smith Hanson”), Marsha (prob. Smith), Jane B. Smith, and Caroline M. Smith. At least four schooners are named – the M.K. Bailey which was likely named for a wife or daughter of Col. John Bailey who part owned the Smith Yard although the ship was not built there, the Mary (built at Smith Yard 1801, 211 tons), the Intrepid (Smith Yard 1805, 282 tons), and the Dash, owned by John Allen and built by 1810 possibly in Philadelphia.

In a second layer of use, several Smith children made use of blank pages for drawings, stories, morals, etc., mostly on the subjects of domestic life (animals, buildings, quilts), horror (there are drawings of impalings and stories involving murder and corporal punishment), temperance, and the Bible.

The fish merchants “B. Adams & Ed. Ellis” apparently began opperations on Cape Cod (possibly Sandwich) in 1865, as this volume is marked “Book no. 1” and many accounts are marked, “carried over to Book no. 2”. No further information is available on Edward Ellis, but two individuals named Benjamin Adams are a possibility: Benjamin Franklin Adams (1823 Sandwich MA – 1894 Bourne MA) and Benjamin F. Adams (ca. 1816 MA – after 1880, Brookline, MA). The latter man is marked as a “retired merchant” in the 1880 US Federal Census for Brookline, MA.

The Adams & Ellis Fishing Account Book contains ca. 50 accounts of credit and debit for the year 1865. Many members of the Ellis family are mentioned, including several from Barnstable County. Transactions are mostly for fish (cod, pollock, halibut), but there is also beef and pork, and flour, sugar, and salt.

The business did a fair amount of trade with a Captain John Solas of the schooner Lilla Dale. The Lilla Dale (13 gross tons) had been built the year before at Digby, Nova Scotia. She appears in the Coast Guard lifesaving records as having been damaged and sunk in the March 1900 gale at Whitehead, Maine, only to be refloated and repaired in April. Her last registration is for 1876, after which she was presumed lost.

Based on the content, dates, and level of business, this ledger may have belonged to the tavern of Noah Eastman (15 April 1784-15 October 1857), Conway, NH. He married Molly Dolloff (1781-1855), also of Conway, in 1816.

The tavern/general store which created this ledger was a busy center of commerce in Conway. Many townspeople are mentioned by name (including many women), and freight and trips are made to Portland (at that point the Territory of Maine). The store sold all manner of alcohol and tobacco, as well as foodstuffs (salt, sugar, butter, molasses, tea, coffee, horse oats, etc.), books (almanacs, spelling books, and others), cloth and dyes, tools such as shovels and building materials such as lumber and bricks, and miscellaneous items such as looking glasses ($3). It also hired out the use of horses. Included are accounts with Samuel Willey, of the infamous Willey Slide Disaster of 1826, where the entire family was killed in a rockslide in Crawford Notch.

The daybook of a drygoods store or very near Dover, NH, dated January 18-November 1 1897. Goods included coal (most common), oil, firewood, lumber, oats, tools, hay, sugar, meal, eggs, and misc. food stuffs. Names are given next to each day’s purchases, including many personal and company names. Dover Flour & Grain Store and Company, A. Matheu & Co., United Gas and Electric Co., Lord & Leavitt, Gilles Bros., Eagle Oil & Supply Co., J.H. Ireland & Co., and the City of Dover are all mentioned. Based on the 1897 Dover Business Directory, potential creators of this daybook are E.J. York, C.H. Trickery & Co., R. Haley & Co., V. Mathes.

The Durham Tavern Daybook, 1801-1809 consists of the daily accounts of a tavern/general store located in Durham, NH. Typical accounts include barters for work and the sale of rum, nails, meat, fish, shoes, ‘India Cotton’, and shoes. River travel figures predominantly through the construction of a canoe and the occasional rental of the writer’s gundalow (e.g. Oct. 1, 1802 and October 0f 1810). There are also transactions with Shakers. Family names mentioned include Leathers, Jewett, Eliot, Clough, Mack, Dame, Demeritt, Nute, Sanborn, and Frost.

Buffum & Parker’s Clothing Store was opened in 1841, located in the northern half of what has variously been known as the Smith or Prentiss Block (built 1825) on the west side of Keene’s Central Square. (Despite the name, the store never occupied the Buffum Block, built 1890.) The southern half of the building was home to J.F. Whitcomb’s Men’s Store, which later took over the entire building when Buffum & Parker went out of business in the late 19th or early 20th century. A photograph of the building can be seen on pg. 15 of Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America: Keene” (Alan Rumrill, 1995).

The Buffum & Parker’s Clothing Store Daybook is leatherbound with the name of the store embossed in gold on the spine. The flyleaf reads “Buffam & Parker’s Journal –Commenced business in the Prentiss Block ten years ago this day, March 6, 1841”. Entries are for clothing, fabric, and consignments to other establishments, including pants, coats, vests, silk cravat, sack coats, handkerchiefs, cloves, and tailoring. Women’s clothing is not mentioned, though some patrons were women. The store catered to the upper crust of Keene society, with many items selling for $14-$15 and some for over $100. Patrons from out-of-town included buyers from Boston. Names included in the daybook represent the “who’s who” of 1850s Keene: White, Robbins, Adams, Buffum, Putney, Clark, Willard, Frost, Holmes, Pennock, and more.

Moses Sanborn (4 May 1790-2 August 1857) was a tanner and merchant from Kingston, NH. He was the son of John Sanborn (1743-1793) and Elizabeth Hoock/Hook (1756-1835). Sanborn married his first wife Betsy Stevens (1794-1849) in 1813, and his second wife Mary Kimball Green (ca. 1803-?) at Haverhill MA in 1850.

The Moses Sanborn Account Book (1836-1857) details the common activities and economic reality of a 19th century New Hampshire tanner, from buying hide to its processing and resale. Sometimes this resale was in the form of raw leather, while sometimes the hide was made into harnesses, collars, shoe soles, belts, and so forth. He records working with the skins of sheep, dogs, pigs, horses, and cattle. Other household expenses and the trade of other goods are mixed in with the tannery accounts.

Ebenezer Osgood (22 December 1807-23 April 1892) was a blacksmith from the village of Milton Mills, NH (now part of the town of Milton). He was born in Loudon to Revolutionary War veteran Ebenezer Osgood (1756-1815) and Anna/Annie Fullonton (1767-1848). He married Eleanor Chamberlain Burrows (1806-1877) of Loudon and moved to Milton Mills. No children are recorded.

The Ebenezer Osgood Account Books (1842-1855) consist of two clearly written, detailed daybooks kept as part of Osgood’s business as a blacksmith and the keeping of a farm and household. He worked with both iron and steel, repairing and manufacturing machinery of all types as well as shoeing draft animals and making a variety of small farm items (nails, bolts, ox yokes, etc.). At least once he even made a compass. Some entries mention the repair of firearms, suggesting that he was a gunsmith as well. Osgood was evidentially accomplished at the fixing of textile looms, as Charles T Dargon & Co. and other textile companies figure prominently in his accounting. Beginning in 1842, he hired John U. Rines (1789-1873) as an assistant/apprentice at his forge. It is likely that other account books (for example 1846-1849) have been lost from the collection.

The Anonymous Blacksmith and Wheelwright’s Daybook is clearly marked as that of a versatile craftsman from Nashua, NH. It begins January 1 1878 and ends December 7, 1878, with several pages after that cut out. The entries are for specific companies and individuals in the Nashua area, including the City Farm (Nashua's poor farm), and stage coach companies like the United States & Canada Express and the Boston Express. There is also miscellaneous other work as a locksmith and related activities. According to the 1878 New Hampshire business directory, there were five Nashua blacksmiths active at that time: F.W. Woodward, E. McCarty, Asa Avery, G.D. Tryon, and C.B. Hutchenson.

This ledger most likely belonged to Dr. James Buswell Abbott (24 June 1799 Concord - 6 July 1870 Sanbornton). Abbott was the son of Deacon Elias and Elizabeth (Rogers) Abbott of Concord. He married four times, the last time in 1843 to Sarah Garrish (1816-1893). Their children were James (1842-1865) and Joseph (1845-1914). In addition to being a doctor/dentist/surgeon, Dr. Abbott also ran a farm, served as superintendant of Alton schools and gave teacher's examinations, and kept boarders at his home.

Most of the account book consists of debts and credits for his practice as a physician, often settled for work, food, transport, lumber, etc., using the barter system. Women appear under their own names if head of house or a widow, or under their husband's name for entries such as "visit and obstrictics, $2.00". (Intriguingly, some births are marked "attendence and obstetrics, $1.00", suggesting that a midwife was present handling the majority of the birth.) Common entries include visits for consultation and medicine, setting bones, surgery, pulling teeth, and 'linnament'. Common surnames include: Rollins, Wadleigh, Young, Doe, Horn, Emery, Rines, Nute, Varney, Wentworth, and Sawyer. The entries for "Elder John Pinham" suggest that Dr. Abbott may have treated Shaker brothers and sisters living near his home in Alton.

This account book consists of records from a general store (possibly in Wilton, NH) 1800-1827, and a later Civil War era scrapbook glued over the initial 15-20 pages (approximately 1860-1865, New London NH).

The general store accounts include clothing, fabric, leather gloves, dyes, paper, and foodstuffs such as rum, sugar, tea, cheese, vegetables, and lemons. The dates are about 1800-1827, with the names being centered in southern New Hampshire. The town of Wilton is an especially common town for the individuals named.

The scrapbook portions were most likely kept by Carl E. Knight (1851-1909) of New London NH. He was the son of Ephraim Knight and Sarah K. Gillis, and eventually became a lawyer. A Hannah E. Knight is also mentioned, possibly a sister. The newspaper clippings relate to the Civil War, including the election campaign of Abraham Lincoln, Quaker efforts towards the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, moral tracts, and military-related poetry. Some newspaper clippings were later pulled off in an effort to expose the account book underneath. The majority of the book contains handwriting practice and doodles by Carl Knight.

The ledger is divided into two parts: Records of (possibly) the Medair and Co. lumber company (Michigan) and over 500 pages related to the New Hampshire State Militia’s history and members. The lumber records record transactions, buyers, prices, sources, and the like for the years 1869-1872. The second part of the ledger appears to be a military historian’s work. It lists an exhaustive amount of information about the New Hampshire State Militia from 1814-1833 and possibly beyond. Included are names, towns, garrisons, charter, dress, nicknames of unites, and a wealth of other information about the members and structure of the militia during the 19th century.

James Richardson of Woborn MA (1779-21 Dec. 1847) was the son of Abel Richardson and Ann Tufts. He married Tamson Tibbetts (1783-1808) of Dover NH in 1808. In addition to serving as Dover Town Clerk for a time, Richardson also ran a general store at No. 3 Washington Square (under what is now the Washington Mill building). He sold rum, dry goods, rented gundalows, and all the various other functions common to general stores of that time.

Richardson's large account book is completely full of the accounts of local people he did business with, including surnames such as Banks, Blake, Chamberlain (of Wakefield), Clark, Lemments, Copp, Cutter, Davis, Farber, Gage, Gee, Gerrish, Groven (Capt. Ebenezer), Handy, Hart, Haven, Horne, Kenniston, Libbey, Odiorne, Phipps, Pierce, Riley, Rollins, Sise, Tibbets, Twombly, Varney, Waldron, Watson, Wentworth, Wingate, and many others. The front of the volume is marked "J.R. Ledger A 1807".

Benjhaman Warren Corning (1842-1884) was the son of Byron M. Corning and Achsah P. Chase. He made his living as a shoemaker and leatherworker, as well as by renting his horse and wagon/sleigh. For a time he was also a Manchester selectman. An 1860 city directory lists him as living on “Derry Road near the city line.”

Levi Andrews IV (1821 pos. Exeter – 1871 Candia) was a blacksmith who worked in the Seacoast area. In 1842-1843 he was in Epsom and Exeter, and by his death in 1871 he was living in Candia. The flyleaf of the volume reads “Levi Andrews Acount Book Exeter October 13 the 1842 [sic]” while the last page is headed “Epsom Oct. 18 1851”. Contents include the standard bread and butter of the blacksmith’s trade: horse shoes, wagon repair, tool making, rifle repair, and horse teeth filing.

Thomas Robie Lane (1787 Deerfield – 1857 Brooks, ME) was the son of Deacon Noah Lane (a Revolutionary War soldier) and Mehitable Rachel Burham. His account book shows that he worked as a tanner, cobbler, basketmaker, leather worker, and sold/bartered cider and lumber. There are also references to bartering gundalows and the goods shipped around Great Bay on them. There is an unusual amount of detail in this account book for such an early time period. Tucked inside the flyleaf are various loose sheets of paper with other notes and accounts supplemental to the bound materials.