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Account book. 1838–53.
452 p.; 34 cm.
A. Merrill & Sons made headwear, including cloth caps, fur caps, moleskin hats, palm hats, tarpaulin hats, velvet caps, etc., in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Volume contains accounts between the firm and its customers in New Hampshire and Massachusetts who usually made payment with other products.
Document 118.
Drawings. Ca. 1890.
12 items: ill. (some col.)
A. H. Davenport operated a furnituremaking firm in Boston and had a showroom in New York City. The company eventually merged with Irving & Casson, also of Boston.
Consists of twelve pen-and-ink and pencil drawings of various furniture forms, including a bed, sideboards, tables, and chairs. Drawings show English and ecclesiastical influences.
Collection 154.
Scrapbook. 1893–99.
84 p.: ill.; 23 x 28 cm.
Daughter of George M. Abbot, young Elsie resided in the Germantown section of Philadelphia when she created her scrapbook.
Volume includes many kinds of items that document Abbot’s social life, including letters from her friends, invitations to social events, programs from concerts, playbills, pencil sketches, pressed flowers, tickets to football games, etc. Early pages cover her trip to the World’s Columbian Exposition. There are photographs and other remembrances of trips to Mount Vernon, Virginia; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Jamestown, Rhode Island; and Kennebunkport, Maine.
Document 156.
Account books. 1759–1802.
2 vols.; 32 cm.
Abiel Abbott worked as a cooper and part-time farmer in Wilton, New Hampshire. He also served as the town’s constable beginning in 1767 and trained soldiers for duty in the Revolutionary War. Abbott and his wife, Doreas, married in 1764 and had six children.
Manuscript volumes document the products Abbott made, including sap barrels, meat barrels, butter churns, beer barrels, hooped tubs and churns, etc. In addition, Abbott’s agricultural pursuits are noted.
An index of names appears at the front of each volume.
Document 1037; Microfilm M711.
Account book. 1872–75, 1886.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
Jackson J. Abbott was a civil engineer. He probably lived in Englewood, New Jersey, and may have moved to Denver, Colorado. By 1886 he resided in Lake City, Colorado.
Volume records a full range of domestic products that Abbott purchased during a four-year period in the 1870s on his salary of $125 per month. In addition, he noted trips to New York City, paying for leisure activities, engaging a woman to do his wash, etc. A letter that he wrote to his mother in 1886 is laid in.
Document 459.
John Abbott, his booke. 1662–65.
1 microfilm reel.
John Abbott was probably from Langtree, England.
Manuscript includes sketches, architectural drawings, and patterns for plasterwork as well as recipes for making paints and comments on gilding.
Original manuscript belonged to the Devon County Council, Exeter, England, at the time of filming.
Microfilm M265.
Records. 1821–93.
3 boxes.
Abraham Bell and Co.—later Abraham Bell and Sons—was a mercantile firm headquartered in New York City and established at least by 1804. Most of the material in this collection relates to the Abraham Bell who was born in 1813 and who took charge of the family business around 1835. Although the firm imported and exported a number of commodities, cotton seems to have been its mainstay. During the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, Bell transported thousands of immigrants from Ireland to the United States.
Items in the collection (account books, letterpress books, correspondence, bills, etc.) provide records of sailing vessels, customers, cargoes, shipments of goods, and costs of doing business. Eighteen diaries kept by Abraham Bell between 1867 and 1892 document his activities in retirement. In addition, there are other Bell family manuscripts.
Organized into four series: Diaries, Correspondence, Financial Documents, and Miscellaneous Family Material.
Finding aid available.
Collection 194.
1 microfilm reel.
Abstracted by Vernon I. C. Smith in 1888, the documents in this collection summarize the wills of English colonists, all property holders in Jamaica. Most individuals were either big planters or successful merchants.
Contains an introduction, contents summary, and index.
Original manuscripts located in the British Museum and as part of a series entitled British Records Relating to America in Microform.
Microfilm 1892.
138 p.; 21 cm.
Volume is a manuscript account book later used as a scrapbook for recipes. Account book records sales and purchases by a cabinet-, coffin-, and basketmaker in Nunda, New York, perhaps T. Atwood & Company. First half of book contains recipes, both handwritten and clipped from newspapers, mostly for cakes and desserts. Other instructions are for household cleaning.
Document 142.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
The person who kept this volume was a carpenter and windmill builder from Scotland.
Manuscript records framing activities, work on houses and barns, the construction of enclosures, and the building of windmills. Farm products are mentioned, and there are directions for making ink and for preparing medicinal remedies, including ointment, a cure for scurvy, a preparation to reduce swelling, etc.
Document 563.
21 p.; 18 cm.
The keeper of this manuscript was a tailor whose initials were W. M. He probably resided in New York or in New England.
Accounts reflect the work of a tailor, with references to types of clothing repaired and cloth and ribbon purchased. Personal accounts are also included.
Document 271.
46 leaves; 11 cm.
Manuscript kept by the owner of a sawmill at Bartlet’s Brook, near Duxbury, Massachusetts.
Entries note the amount of oak, cedar, and spruce timber that was sawed into planks and boards and sold to various customers. Mention is also made of renovations and other work performed on the mill.
Document 1077.
6 leaves; 16 cm.
This brief account book, kept by an unidentified person from an unnamed location, records the kinds of fabrics a weaver produced: plaid, wool, ticking, linings, etc. Entries indicate that the weaver made cloth for both commercial and household use.
Document 1045.
27 leaves; 17 cm.
The unidentified keeper of this manuscript recorded sales at a general store in the vicinity of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. A variety of products, including dry goods, food and drink, building materials, etc., is mentioned. The shopkeeper occasionally bartered for large quantities of sugar and flour.
Document 1031.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
Volume was kept by a merchant in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, to record the sale of a wide variety of products: food, textiles, tea, sugar, nails, spices, etc. It was later used to record genealogical data pertaining to Hugh Orr and his family.
Document 758.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
This volume appears to have been kept by a blacksmith who was associated with an iron forge in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, that was owned by Thomas Potts or a member of the Rutter family.
Manuscript notes blacksmithing activities and sales of iron products. Entries mention shoes, nails, links, hinges, hooks, chains, collars, etc. Agricultural products and services are also mentioned.
Document 884.
1 vol.: ill.; 15 cm.
Manuscript was kept by an unidentified furnituremaker (perhaps Thomas Miller or James Allen) who worked in Fredericksburg and Falmouth, Virginia, until 1773 and then moved to Orange County.
Volume includes mentions of a full range of furniture products: chairs, beds, tables, chests, cradles, bookcases, etc. Customers included prominent Virginians, such as James Madison. Volume features a sketch of a clock case with dimensions.
Name index available.
Document 533; Microfilm M933.
1 microfilm reel.
The keeper of this account book was an unidentified merchant from Williamsburg, Virginia.
Included are accounts related to the sale of a variety of goods: textiles, sewing supplies, bowls, sugar, saddles, books, knives and forks, brushes, blankets, etc.
Original manuscript in private hands at time of filming.
Microfilm M1401.
186 p.; 14 cm.
Volume includes references to purchases, remarks on weather and wind conditions during a trip to Nantucket in January 1790, and a recipe “for the Rumatics.” Dartmouth and South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, are both mentioned once.
Writing appears on pages interleaved in Fleet’s Pocket Almanack for the Year of Our Lord 1789 … , published in Boston by T. & J. Fleet.
Document 31.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
An unidentified student from Boston noted his various purchases, including books, paper, sleeve buttons, meals, a ticket to Hingham, etc. In addition, he included a record of cash that he received from his father and other individuals.
Document 772.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
The keeper of this account book was an apothecary who supplied drugs and other remedial goods to physicians and individuals alike.
In addition to supplying information on the kinds of medicines purchased during the last decade of the eighteenth century, this manuscript notes that the druggist also inoculated children and bled people.
Partial name index at front of volume.
Folio 75.
1 microfilm reel.
This manuscript, kept by an unidentified furnituremaker and upholsterer, perhaps from London, includes references to furniture, upholstery, carpeting, and other household furnishings that he supplied to his various customers.
Original account book located at the Public Record Office in London.
Microfilm M1415.
1 microfilm reel.
The unidentified compiler of this account book may have been John Hewitt, a furnituremaker from Savannah, Georgia.
Accounts relate to furnituremaking and carpentry. There are drawings of furniture, including a bookcase and table.
Name index available.
Original manuscript located at the New Jersey Historical Society.
Microfilm M491.
48 leaves; 20 cm.
This account book was kept by an anonymous watchmaker and repairer, probably from Newburyport, Massachusetts.
Manuscript contains extensive notes regarding business transactions, watches bought, and daily income as well as records of a personal nature.
Manuscript appears on pages interleaved in Isaiah Thomas’s Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire & Vermont Almanack … 1802, published in 1801 by Thomas in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Document 6.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Ezekiel Whitman, Dexter Beane & Co., and Beane & Chandler were general merchants in West Yarmouth, Massachusetts.
Volume kept in three parts: the first by Ezekiel Whitman, 1804–5; the second by Dexter Beane & Co., 1805–15; and the third by Beane & Chandler, 1815–17. All parts document a wide range of household products—textiles, kitchenwares, cleaning supplies, dressmaking material, etc.—traded by these merchants.
Document 935.
89 leaves: ill.; 33 cm.
Accounts not only cover farm work and agricultural commodities but also include such entries as “to repairing an old spinning wheel,” “to a washing machine,” and “to making one Coffee Mill box.” In addition, newspaper clippings have been pasted onto thirty-nine of the volume’s leaves. Though usually of a general nature, some clippings illustrate women’s and girls’ clothing and depict World War I scenes.
Document 91.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
Manuscript was used by a woolenmaker somewhere in New Hampshire.
Account book records the activities of a wool factory: making cloth, dyeing, spinning, dressing cloth, weaving, and carding wool. Frequently mentioned products include broadcloth, flannel, and cotton yarn.
Document 579.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
Account book records the debits and credits of a blacksmith from the Boston area. Clients included local artisans, most notably William C. Hunneman, a coppersmith.
Bound with a ledger from Box & Austin, proprietors of a rope yard and warehouse in Boston during the 1740s.
See entry 270.
Folio 79.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
The keeper of this account book operated a brewery, probably in or close to Worcester County, Massachusetts.
Manuscript records the transactions associated with brewing and include mention of the raw materials used in the brewing process.
Document 444.
138 p.; 20 cm.
Volume contains the accounts of an unidentified cabinetmaker from Stockbridge, Massachusetts, with more than sixty-five of his customers. Entries include: “to trundle Bedstid,” “to one Beauro,” “to Six Citchin Chairs,” “to one Candle Stand.”
Index to persons and objects named available.
Document 78.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Manuscript records transactions in a hardware store located in Pittsburgh and later New Lisbon, Pennsylvania, from 1818 to 1823. Entries made from 1842 to 1861 are in a different hand and note expenses associated with a farm and purchases of household goods.
Folio 161.
11 leaves; 34 cm.
Manuscript documents the activities of an unnamed furnituremaker from Strasburg, Virginia. Provenance suggests that the worker may have been Peter Smith.
Items the craftsman made include dining tables, coffins, cradles, pine chests, button boxes, beds, brick molds, candle stands, bureaus, etc. He made many pieces from walnut.
Document 1052.
14 leaves; 17 cm.
This short book includes the personal and business accounts of an unnamed Massachusetts furnituremaker during much of the 1820s. He made tables, work stands, beds, etc., and repaired various items. The maker used maple, pine, and birch in much of his work. He supplemented his income by taking in boarders, including several African American children, and by maintaining a school for the Central School District.
Document 1047.
148 p.; 42 cm.
The unidentified keeper of this volume was a saddler, probably from Massachusetts.
Manuscript volume records working with such products as bridles, whips, harnesses, saddles, and trunks in exchange for payment in supplies for his business and in cash.
Folio 96.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
Book includes an account of goods purchased from the cargo of the brig Hercules. Products included cashmere, silk, shawls, hats, shoes, gloves, etc. Other entries relate to sales of flour, cheese, peas, beans, and other food items.
Document 888.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Account book records the activities of a firm of metal molders. Caleb Wright was very active in the business and may have been the proprietor.
Molders made such items as griddles, kettles, pots, ladles, plates, etc. Much of the molding was done for Ellis Murdoch & Co.
Document 288.
1 vol.; 30 cm.
Volume was kept by a carpenter who lived in Plymouth, Vermont. Either L. Swain or Abraham Harding may have been the keeper. Whoever he was, he probably died in 1829.
Manuscript records carpentry, wagon work, painting and varnishing, and furnituremaking and repair performed by the artisan. References are made to purchases of supplies. An executor settled many accounts after September 1829. In 1864 Thomas F. Hammond used the volume to document his auction sales in West Windsor, Vermont.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 726.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
Manuscript lists millworkers’ names, days worked, and the total value of each week’s work, January 11–June 8, 1829. There are a few entries for later years. Information is recorded in The Workmen’s Account Book on an Easy and Economical Plan, published and sold by Theodore Abbot in Boston.
Document 792.
220 leaves; 39 cm.
Manuscript contains the accounts of an anonymous hardware merchant in or near Boston who dealt in fishing supplies. In addition, leaves 73 through 139 contain drafts of seven stories or essays on such topics as the havoc wreaked by an escaped merino lamb, voting and buying votes, a fishing trip taken by two boys, revivals and religion, and women’s rights.
Name index at front of volume.
Folio 33.
9 p.; 15 cm.
Brief manuscript records clocks and watches cleaned and repaired by an unidentified watchmaker who may have lived in Newburyport, Rhode Island.
Document 839.
547 p.; 33 cm.
A general merchant kept this volume, possibly in Ontario, Canada.
Entries document the sale of a variety of goods: textiles, spices, groceries, combs, clothing, pocketknives, bedsteads, etc. Discounts are noted.
Document 578.
12 leaves; 17 cm.
This unidentified cabinetmaker’s account book is from the Manchester, New Hampshire, area. The craftsperson who kept it made beds, window blinds, chairs, chests, tables, wardrobes, coffins, and clock cases.
Entries record hours worked for other people as well as time spent on individual furniture pieces.
Document 1014.
320 p.; 38 cm.
An unnamed shoemaker and tanner from Canton, New York, kept this account book.
Manuscript records tanning and shoemaking activities and lists supplies of the trade. Also mentioned are whips and harnesses, suggesting that the keeper engaged in other forms of leatherwork. Volume was later used as a scrapbook.
Folio 123.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Volume contains accounts kept by an unidentified tinsmith and coppersmith from either Shenandoah County or Rockingham County, Virginia. Most entries supply the date and the customer’s amount of indebtedness. A few entries mention specific items, such as stew kettles, pipes, cake cutters, and house gutters.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 164.
70 leaves; 40 cm.
Volume contains records of an anonymous metalworker that worked in Warwick, New York. Book records many of his transactions, including the repair of teakettles and stoves, the fabrication of tin pails, and the creation of a door for the stove at a school.
Name index at front of volume.
Folio 17.
1 vol.; 31 cm.
Records debits and credits of a Keene, New Hampshire, dealer of stoves, kitchenware, general household goods, and metalware.
Document 252.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Includes accounts related to the construction, furnishing, and repair of four buildings in Nashua, New Hampshire: the Pearl Street House; a dwelling on Olive Street; a new house on Main Street; and a house owned by I. Spalding. Also included is a menu for the Pearl Street House dated December 24, 1865.
Name index available.
Document 848.
62 p.; 20 cm.
Whoever kept this volume resided in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Manuscript records miscellaneous accounts. Many entries refer to work done on a dwelling, including carpentry, masonry, pipe installation, etc. Manuscript also notes purchases of supplies for this work.
Document 589.
1 microfilm reel.
Records personal financial transactions of an unidentified person living in the vicinity of Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Entries list accrued interest, cash spent, travel expenses, family expenses, and bills receivable. No detail accompanies the entries.
Original manuscript located at the public library in Hanover, Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M2988.
1 vol.; 17 cm.
Volume, kept by an unidentified woman, records expenses for food, coal, wood, house repairs, clothing, taxes, travel, and other miscellaneous items.
Document 901.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
Book was maintained by an unidentified tinsmith from New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Manuscript records work identified with tinsmithing as well as transactions and products associated with a general store.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 644.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
An unnamed seamstress maintained this volume.
Book records such work as making, mending, and finishing skirts, collars, frocks, drawers, dresses, and skirts. Includes references to embroidery and the making of curtains.
Document 892.
16 leaves; 15 cm.
Manuscript records the activities of a coachmaker. It is unclear where he worked.
Entries contain the dates of transactions, descriptions of work done, and costs. Many different styles of coaches are mentioned.
Document 994.
67 p.; 34 cm.
Although the name of the account-book keeper is not known, evidence suggests that he was a blacksmith working in either New Haven, Connecticut, or southern Vermont.
Book includes the names of customers, work done for them, the date, and cost. The smith made shoes, fixed wagons, repaired harnesses, and mended chains.
Name index at front of volume.
Bound with a diary.
See entry 616.
Document 235.
54 p.; 33 cm.
The anonymous keeper of this account book operated a sawmill in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. His writings reflect the work of a sawyer.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 618.
1 vol.; 23 cm.
Consists of personal and household expenses for a New England family. A wide range of products and services is documented, including magazine subscriptions, life insurance, medicine, articles of clothing, fabrics, clothes washing, mending jewelry, etc.
Document 876.
25 p.; 34 cm.
Consists of sparse entries in an unidentified hand recording lumber- and millwork. Two small pieces of paper are laid in, one of which contains a rough sketch for a piece of machinery.
Document 199.
139 p.; 32 cm.
Contains accounts of an unidentified harnessmaker who sold and repaired harnesses, bridles, halters, and collars. References made to other books not contained within this collection.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 181.
2 vols.; 32 cm.
These volumes were kept by an unidentified blacksmith in or near Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The debits and credits recorded in this volume note such work as making and repairing farm tools, wheels, and horseshoes. Text is in Pennsylvania German dialect.
Document 666.
20 p.; 20 cm.
The keeper of these pages was a furnituremaker or dealer from New England.
Ledger contains lists of pieces of furniture (candle stands, bureaus, bookcases, chairs, washstands, etc.), woods, veneers, and varnishes. One page contains entries with names of customers and details of their accounts. Ledger represents only a fragment of a larger manuscript.
Document 259.
96 p.; 17 cm.
Recordkeeper and place of origin unknown.
Contains weekly labor costs for preparing, spinning, dressing, and weaving cloth. A typical week’s labor would cost around $1,950. There are also figures for yards spun, boxes spooled, beams warped, and cuts dressed.
Document 229.
27 items.
Accounts and receipts of several Newbury and Newburyport, Massachusetts, joiners, including Joseph Rolfe and William and Paul Gerrish.
Manuscripts record carpentry done on ships: building and repairing rails, planks, window frames, doors, etc. Mention is also made of finishing rooms and making coffins and clock cases.
Document 292.
Trade cards. Ca. 1890.
41 items: ill.; 8 x 6 cm.
The Acme White Lead & Color Works, maker of Neal’s enamels, was located in Detroit, Michigan.
Cards in collection depict different kinds of furniture and other domestic objects that could be decorated with the firm’s paints, including tables, a refrigerator, chairs, beds, embroidering frames, etc.
Collection 312.
Architectural drawings. Ca. 1775–90.
12 microfilm reels.
Robert Adam was from a family of architects. He studied at Edinburgh University, traveled to Rome during the 1750s, and made his reputation as a classical architect. Active almost until his death, Adam designed thirty-three buildings in 1791. Adam was also a landscape painter.
Drawings are for both private and public buildings and their furnishings. Most were located in Great Britain, although a few were in Rome.
Finding aid available.
Original drawings located at Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.
Microfilm M210–M218, M222–M224.
Diary. 1886–91.
4 vols.: ill.; 21 cm.
Charles E. Adams was a woodcarver who worked throughout New England. His home base appears to have been Boston.
In his diary Adams recorded his work on the Loring-Emmerton House in Salem, Massachusetts; business dealings in Providence, Rhode Island; involvement in his union; and educational activities. As a student of art, Adams studied drawing under George Hartnell Bartlett, modeled clay, cast figures in plaster, and helped an uncle design a dwelling and public buildings. He wrote of his admiration for the work of Luigi Frullini, an Italian known for his carvings in the Renaissance style.
Document 258.
Berlin woolwork patterns, 18--.
12 patterns, mounted; 60 cm.
Consists of floral patterns of four German printers—Louis Glüer Konigl. Hofmaler u. akademischer Künstler, Grünthals Verlag, Hertz & Wegener, and A. Todt—for Berlin woolwork embroidery. The patterns are hand painted in opaque watercolor on printed card stock.
Collection 3.
The game of kings. 1845.
1 deck of cards: ill.; 10 cm.
Josiah Adams ran a publishing business at Brick Church Chapel opposite City Hall in New York City. He engaged William Van Norden to print this game.
Consisting of thirty-eight cards plus an instruction booklet, this is an educational game of cards that “comprise a brief history of the English monarchs, from the Conquest to the present time, with an engraved figure of each.”
Document 62.
The new world: a game of American history from discovery to James K. Polk. 1845.
1 deck of cards: ill.; 10 cm.
Josiah Adams ran a publishing business at Brick Church Chapel opposite City Hall in New York City.
Half of the forty cards in this game feature depictions of famous people in American history and the other half feature questions and answers relating to the individuals. The object of the game is to match a text card with its illustrative companion.
Collection 220.
Letter book. 1819–35, bulk 1819–25.
112 p.; 20 cm.
Julia Adams taught school in Dedham and Medfield in her native state of Massachusetts and later in New York City.
Consists of copies of about forty letters, many to Sarah Ellis, describing Adams’s experiences teaching school, religious and social conditions in New York City, temperance activities, the Peale Museum, her reading interests, an encounter she had with missionaries about to leave for Jerusalem, and an 1819 meeting with some Hawaiian natives who were about to return home accompanied by religious missionaries.
Document 131.
Daybook. 1835–39, bulk 1836.
99 leaves; 33 cm.
Adee & Schell sold textiles from a store at 242 Pearl Street, New York City.
Contains daily entries for sales of textiles. Because most purchases were for large quantities of material and were made by companies, Adee & Schell was probably a wholesaler. Records end abruptly on August 24, 1836, with a note saying, “Transferred to Rich. Schell’s Book.” Remaining entries refer to his financial affairs.
Document 93.
7 boxes: ill. (some col.)
This artificial and open collection contains printed broadsides, brochures, posters, and other advertising material, the majority of which was produced during the nineteenth century in New England and the Middle Atlantic states. The most numerous advertisements are for furniture, clothing and dress, pottery and glassware, and booksellers/stationers. The many illustrations depict products, mechanical designs, costumes, ethnic groups, commercial architecture, and domestic scenes.
Finding aid available listing the advertiser’s name, address, date, subject, items advertised, and a brief description of the document.
Collection 214.
26 items: ill.
Collection features price lists, letters, bills, and advertising matter on the importation and sale of hair and grooming supplies. Included are items on wigs, hand mirrors, curling irons, brass combs, the making of human hair goods, etc. Also present is a German periodical containing five articles on hair. Material included from firms operated by Leon Pelleray of Paris and C. E. Hartung of New York City.
Finding aid available containing translations of French and German language material.
Collection 190.
Account books. 1771–75, bulk 1775–1800.
2 vols.; 40 cm. or smaller.
Bartholomew Akin was a furnituremaker and joiner. In 1771 he lived in Dartmouth, Massachusetts; by 1790 he had moved to nearby New Bedford.
Volumes document Akin’s activities as a furnituremaker, mentioning such products as beds, chests, tables, chairs, cupboards, and sinks. To make a living, he also framed houses, laid shingles, built looms, did ship carpentry, and performed other woodworking tasks.
Partial name index in one of the volumes.
Folio 118.
Papers. 1793–1819.
11 items.
Collection consists chiefly of bills addressed to the Albany County Agricultural Society for beer, pipes, tobacco, candles, doorkeeping services, the publication of notices, the engraving of certificates, and the making of plows. A certificate of membership addressed to John Lamb includes an engraving of farm animals and various agricultural implements.
Collection 490.
Photographs and ephemera. 1914–50.
38 items: ill.
Henry Janes Albright was a sculptor, painter, designer, and educator who worked chiefly in Albany, New York. He attended the Art Students League in New York City and the Emma Willard Art School in Troy, New York. Albright became an instructor and later directed the Art Institute in Troy, New York. He exhibited widely.
Collection consists of twenty-seven photographs of items that Albright crafted, principally plates and vases. The ephemera relate to his career and include a clipping about the sale of his work and a copy of a catalogue from the Emma Willard Art School.
Collection 128.
Family papers. 1842–1905.
350 items.
Collection relates to the Albro and Allen families of Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Family member Lydia A. Albro generated most of the manuscripts. Members of the Albro family established Albro & Bros., an importing firm located in New York City that dealt in teas, coffees, wines, spices, and other fancy goods.
Included in these papers are records of household expenses and local taxes, letters, photographs, and envelopes. Most of the collection consists of receipted bills, mainly on invoices with printed vignettes, that record Lydia A. Albro’s household expenditures from the 1870s into the twentieth century. Some came from the family business, although most are from local merchants and New York City stores. The earliest manuscript in the collection is a bill for Lydia’s schooling.
Finding aid available.
Collection 236.
Improvements in the manufacture of mouldings and frames for decorative purposes. 1884.
2 leaves: ill.; 30 cm.
Solomon Albu was a carpenter who worked in Goodman’s Fields, Middlesex County, England.
Item is a copy of English patent 4098, given in 1884 to Albu for a new type of molding that featured a covering of fabric. Several illustrations accompany the text, and there is a letter from Albu concerning one of the drawings.
Document 1084.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 20 cm.
Contains twenty engravings and hand-colored lithographs of buildings and other structures located in and around New York City, including Tammany Hall, Harlem Bridge, and a lighthouse on Sand’s Point. In addition there are a few landscapes, marine views, and a street scene depicting a brewery and grocery store.
Document 473.
1 vol.; 25 cm.
This volume was kept by someone who resided in or near Wilmington, Delaware.
Includes poems that often address themes of friendship, religion, and human emotions.
Document 584.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 20 cm.
Volume, on the cover of which is printed “Flower Tokens,” contains six hand-colored flower prints; twenty-two paintings of flowers; and pencil sketches that depict buildings, trees, and sailboats. One sketch bears the date 1847.
Document 369.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 30 cm.
Album contains 198 images on 129 sheets of French candy wrappers that depict a wide variety of subjects, including transportation, scenery, animals, and historical and fictional people. Sheets are probably printer’s proofs. French-language captions appear on some of the items.
Familiarly known as French candy-wrappers collection.
Document 18.
1 vol.; 35 cm.
An eight-paneled salesman’s sample album into which have been pasted twenty-seven cards, mostly illustrated with bird portraits. Fourteen are copyrighted by G. E. Marsh & Co. Also included are a valentine from L. Prang & Co. and two cards from Church & Co.
Document 176.
15 leaves: col. ill.; 36 cm.
Volume was originally designed for valentine and other greeting cards published by the L. Prang Company of Boston. More than fifty cards are included from various publishers, including the American Valentine Co., Raphael Tuck & Sons, Charles Magnus, and Mansell. The album also contains a copy of “The Valentine,” an article that appeared in Harper’s Weekly on February 17, 1872.
Folio 29.
50 p.: ill.; 26 x 35 cm.
Volume contains photographs and pictures of French, German, and Italian lighting fixtures and lamp shades. Some are numbered and priced as in catalogues.
Folio 11.
118 p.; 9 cm.
Volume includes instructions for making stockings, socks, shawls, baby clothes and shoes, bags, sofa cushions, a bed rest, etc. Album features twenty-two worked samples and a page depicting various stitches. Some of the instructions have women’s names next to them. The name Rosa Mary is written lightly on the first leaf, but her last name is not decipherable.
Document 219.
Daybook. 1826–27.
358 p.; 32 cm.
Thomas Aldrich was an accountant for the wholesale grocers Arnold & Davenport, Providence, Rhode Island.
Manuscript records the daily transactions of the Arnold & Davenport store. Each entry notes a customer name, descriptions of items and the prices at which they were purchased, debits and credits, and a corresponding ledger number.
Folio 303.
Drawings. 1938.
7 items: col. ill.
G. Alger seems to have been a member of an art league.
Drawings show different depictions of a female saint, perhaps to be used as guides for decorating church windows. One drawing is fully colored, and the other drawings provide color samples to guide artists’ work
Collection 353.
Scrapbook. Ca. 1870s.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 22 cm.
The Allabach children, compilers of this scrapbook, lived in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Their father served as a soldier during the Civil War.
Scrapbook includes chromolithographed scraps, calling cards, cigar labels, and the trade cards of painter Edwin Bookmyer and Thomae’s millinery establishment in Lancaster.
Document 957.
Memorandum (order) book. 1796–1803.
1 microfilm reel.
Amos Denison Allen was a furnituremaker from Windham, Connecticut.
Manuscript provides information concerning the painting of Windsor chairs and the upholstering of seats as well as general information about furnituremaking.
Original book located at the Connecticut Historical Society.
Microfilm M2834.1.
Diary. 1884.
120 p.; 15 cm.
George M. Allen worked as a typesetter and lived in Fort Plain, New York. He set type for two local papers, The Fairfield Herald and The Argus. He accepted additional typesetting assignments as well.
Diary includes references to Allen’s printing endeavors, social life, thoughts on local affairs, the presidential election of 1884, etc. There are also records of Allen’s personal expenses.
Document 229.
Business records. Ca. 1870– 89.
282 items: ill. (some col.)
John Allgaier was a carriagemaker in Philadelphia.
Collection includes hand-colored drawings, pencil sketches, and photographs of various carriages as well as other materials related to Allgaier’s business. Some of the illustrations bear numbers, suggesting some uniformity among carriagemakers.
Collection 225.
Photographs. Ca. 1929–36.
49 photographs + 1 map; 8" x 10" or smaller.
Horatio Gates Lloyd and his wife, Mary Helen Wingate Lloyd, called their Haverford, Pennsylvania, estate Allgates. Lloyd (1867–1937) held two law degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and worked for the Philadelphia Trust Co., Philadelphia Electric Co., and Bell Telephone. He was also a partner at J. P. Morgan Associates.
Collection includes forty-nine black and white photos of the Allgates mansion and its grounds and outbuildings, portraits of Mrs. Lloyd, botanical illustrations, a photo of Mrs. Lloyd’s bookplate, etc. Mattie Edwards and Samuel H. Gottscho took some photos. Lester H. Sellers drew the map of the estate.
Collection 222.
Account books. Ca. 1803–56.
2 microfilm reels.
David Alling was a chairmaker in Newark, New Jersey. He probably learned the trade from his father, who had established his own shop during the 1790s. Alling produced chairs in large quantities, satisfying local as well as regional, southern, and Latin American clienteles.
Manuscripts include receipt and account books for most of Alling’s working life and records related to the settlement of his estate.
Originals at the New Jersey Historical Society.
Microfilm M311–M312.
Papers. 1818–43.
1 folder + 2 microfilm reels.
Washington Allston was an American painter of portraits and historical, religious, and allegorical subjects. He graduated from Harvard College in 1800 and then studied art in Europe. Although Allston produced few works in the last twenty-five years of his life, he influenced several fellow artists.
Microfilm material in this collection includes letters to and from artists James McMurtrie and Horatio Greenough along with notes on philosophical subjects, a poem, and a fable. Folder includes two more letters from Allston to McMurtrie and scrapbook pages with an obituary of Allston and an article on Allston by a Mrs. Jameson. In addition, there is a book by Allston called Monaldi, which McMurtrie owned and in which Allston did two sketches.
Microfilmed originals located at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Collection 438; Microfilm M313, M366.
Papers. 1866–1920.
10 cu. ft.: ill. (some col.)
Olof Althin was a Swedish-born furnituremaker. He hailed from Nobbelov in the Skane region of southern Sweden and received early training in his craft in Sinrishamn. Althin immigrated to the United States in 1881 and settled in Boston. He worked for several furnituremaking firms before starting his own business around 1886. Althin worked out of several locations in Boston before retiring in 1920.
Papers include Olof Althin’s business records. Included are about 700 bills, 1,000 canceled checks, more than 50 glass-plate negatives, approximately 150 large- and 60 small-scale drawings, 80 photographs, a manuscript about designing furniture written by Althin, miscellaneous letters, account books, etc.
Finding aid available.
Collection 426.
Daybook. 1811.
86 p.; 20 cm.
Nathaniel Ambrose owned a general store in Concord, New Hampshire.
Daybook records daily transactions, including many references to ceramics. Other goods mentioned are food, cloth, tobacco, tea, etc. Many customers received credit for butter that they brought to Ambrose.
Document 560.
Cut-out of a Deadwood coach. 1896.
1 sheet (uncut): col. ill.
Sheet includes the different parts of a Deadwood stagecoach that, when cut out and assembled, form the three-dimensional vehicle. A small picture shows the completed coach. The sheet was printed to accompany the June 7, 1896, edition of the Philadelphia Press.
Collection 220.
Records. 1983–91.
4 boxes.
The American Ceramic Arts Society was established on January 11, 1983, by a number of American art pottery enthusiasts to broaden their knowledge of ceramics. Members included collectors, dealers, and museums. The society organized lectures and exhibitions and issued catalogues.
Collection consists of the archives of the society and includes manuscript and typed and printed materials relating to its eight-year existence.
Reference books and catalogues maintained by the society transferred to Winterthur Printed Book and Periodical Collection.
Collection 255.
Membership applications. 1842–43.
73 items.
The American Institute promoted industrial education and sponsored an annual exhibition to display technological innovations. The institute also maintained a library for its members and eventually published a catalogue of its holdings.
Applications were generally made by filling out a standard form that included the name of the applicant and his sponsor as well as the applicant’s address, occupation, and signature. Members represented a wide range of occupations, including accountants, attorneys, clerks, craftsmen, tavernkeepers, shipbuilders, etc.
Index of applicants available.
Document 306.
41 items.
Tickets show a number of typefaces and printed borders. One was signed in 1765 by John Hancock, another in 1768 by George Washington.
Finding aid available.
Collection 79.
Communications. 1786–1809.
1 microfilm reel.
The American Philosophical Society was established in Philadelphia in 1743. Today it is an institution that encourages scholarship related to the history of science and American life through 1840. Noted American colonists led the society in its earliest years.
The records on this microfilm reel contain writings, sketches, and technical drawings of household goods and mechanical devices, such as implements for chimney cleaning, street lamps, chairs, and boat paddles.
Summary of contents available.
Further discussed in Guide to the Archives and Manuscript Collections of the American Philosophical Society, written by Whitfield J. Bell and Murphy D. Smith, published by the society in 1966.
Microfilm M839.
15 p.; 28 cm.
George B. Cutten, president of Colgate University during the 1930s and 1940s, was an avid collector and scholar of American silver, especially spoons.
Pages contain an inventory of more than eleven hundred American-made silver teaspoons in Cutten’s collection dating from 1699 to 1810. Inventory includes makers’ names, dates of activity, places of business, and markings. Variations in patterns, such as drop leaf, rat tail, and feather edge are noted.
Document 1016.
Embroidery threads. Ca. 1920s.
100 items.
Consists of examples of cotton embroidery threads manufactured for the Star Brands Products line by the American Thread Co. of Fall River, Massachusetts. Included are a variety of colored threads in original paper wrappers and contained within a box that features the firm’s advertising.
Collection 342.
Postcard collection. 1907–15.
49 cards: col. ill.
Consists of color postcards, both used and unused, printed in the United States, Germany, and England. Included are ten birthday, eleven Christmas, eleven Easter, and nine New Year’s greeting cards. Some cards feature embossed designs.
Document 87.
Account book. 1887–90.
110 p.; 35 cm.
Thomas Ames operated a music and stationery store in Norristown, Pennsylvania.
The volume records a variety of goods sold by Ames, including music and stationery, books, cards, school supplies, inkstands, gold pens, albums, ledgers, and slate boards.
Document 943.
Ledgers. 1778–98.
1 microfilm reel.
James Anderson worked as a blacksmith in Williamsburg and Richmond, Virginia. He also served as a public armorer and captain of the Company of Artifices. Anderson’s son, Robert, was also a blacksmith.
Ledgers record the blacksmithing activities of both James and Robert Anderson. Customers included prominent Virginians, such as Thomas Jefferson and Edmund Randolph.
Name indexes available.
Original volumes located at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Library.
Microfilm M2997.
Scrapbook of wallpaper samples. Ca. 1840–1910.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Volume includes wallpaper samples (both rolls and remnants) taken from the home of Samuel Russell of Penfield Hill, Connecticut. Volume notes the names of some makers of wallpaper.
Folio 70.
Records. 1784–95.
40 items.
The Philadelphia mercantile firm of Andrew Clow & Co. was most active in the years immediately following the Revolutionary War. It conducted trade in European countries, the West Indies, and in American coastal ports. Clow exported flour, grain, sugar, tobacco, and other commodities and imported textiles and cutlery from Great Britain; wine and brandy from France; and wine, raisins, and almonds from Spain. Both Andrew Clow and his partner, David Cay, died of yellow fever in 1793.
Collection consists of letters, invoices, bills, and other materials related to the importation of goods from Great Britain. Additional material includes information about textiles and consumer demand.
Related material is located in five other repositories: Hagley Museum and Library, the Special Collections Department of the Eisenhower Library at Johns Hopkins University, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the Baker Library of Harvard Business School, and the New-York Historical Society.
See entry 2080.
Collection 363.
Papers. 1835–68.
2 vols.
Joseph Andrews was a native of Hingham, Massachusetts, and an engraver by trade. He served his apprenticeship under Abel Brower of Boston and then worked for William Hoogland. He studied in Europe and eventually became a portrait engraver. Andrews left the profession in the 1850s to escape what he perceived to be increased commercialization; instead, he embraced the Swedenborgian sect and devoted himself to religious writing.
One volume is a journal that Andrews kept during a trip to London and Paris. He made frequent comments about the manners and customs of the English, wrote about the training he received from engraver Joseph Goodyear, and recorded his involvement in London’s community of artists. Andrews also recorded his experiences in Paris. The other volume is an autobiographical sketch detailing Andrews’s conversion to the Swedenborgian faith.
Journal used for Joseph Andrews: Engraver and Swedenborgian Spokesman, by Nancy Carlson Schrock (Master’s thesis, University of Delaware, 1977).
Typescripts available.
Collection 273.
Weaving book. Ca. 1900.
19 p.; 22 cm.
Julia B. Andrews was affiliated with the Kindergarten Training School, whose location is unknown.
Volume contains nineteen accordion boards, each with a different paper pattern for weaving.
Document 205.
Daybook. 1810–13, 1817–27.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
George Andrus lived in Ellisburg and then Adams, New York. He ran a store in which he sold fabric and textile products, and he farmed. In 1819 Andrus served as commissioner of deeds for Jefferson County, New York.
Daybook consists of two parts. The first part, dating from 1810 to 1813, records Andrus’s sales of fabrics and textile products and other activities associated with his store. The second part, dating from 1817 to 1827, is a record of his agricultural work and legal services as well as the sale of fabric.
Folio 239.
Daybook. 1840–54.
240 p.; 21 cm.
J. H. Angell sold stoves, probably in Providence, Rhode Island.
Daybook includes names of customers, their addresses, and the types and costs of stoves they purchased. A few returns are noted. The variety of stoves sold includes New Era, Gothic Air Tight, McGregor, Fancy Franklin, and Albany.
Document 204.
Copybook. 1855.
18 p.; 19 cm.
Consists of handwriting exercises done by George Angevine of New York. The front cover is illustrated with a ship, and the back cover is illustrated with a building.
Document 825.
Engravings. 1817–19.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 26 cm.
William B. Annin was an engraver from Boston best known for portraits, views, and maps. His career began around 1813. By 1820 he was a partner in the firm of Annin & Smith.
Volume contains thirty-two proofs of engravings of a variety of plants for American Medical Botany, a three-volume work compiled by Jacob Bigelow. Forty plates were eventually produced. In 1819 Annin presented this volume to John R. Penniman, an ornamental furniture painter.
Document 431.
Appraisal of property of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar A. Eyre, 760 Park Ave., New York City, 1952.
2 vols.; 29 cm.
Volumes contain room-by-room inventories of the contents of the Eyres’ primary residence in New York City and their second home in Southampton, Long Island. Many pieces of antique furniture, porcelain, silver, and art objects are listed. Inventories include appraisals of replacement and depreciated values for each item listed.
Volumes contain “Index” and “Summary” sections.
Document 56.
1 microfilm reel.
Daniel Webster’s (1782–1852) long and distinguished political career included service as an attorney, member of Congress, presidential contender, and Secretary of State.
Dated December 14, 1852, this apparently complete appraisal relates to Webster’s Green Harbor Farm in Marshfield, Massachusetts.
Original document in private hands at time of filming.
Microfilm M185.
Trade cards. 1889–93.
88 items: col. ill.; 8 x 13 cm.
Arbuckle Bros., based in New York City, sold coffee beans for home consumption.
Trade cards circulated in packages of coffee were to be collected as sets. Cards featured themes, such as a trip around the world, sports and pastimes of various nations, industrial activities and scenery from different countries, the history of the United States, and maps of American states. The lithographer’s name and date of publication often appear on the cards.
Finding aid available.
Collection 124.
Records. 1902.
44 items.
The Arcadia Cut Glass Co. of Newark, New Jersey, manufactured and supplied plain and decorative glassware to retail outlets. Evidence suggests that the firm was established in 1901.
Collection includes thirty-five letters written by the company manager, C. L. B. Tylee, to one of the company’s salesmen, O. B. Greene, that detail the firm’s business difficulties. Associated manuscripts and ephemera are also available.
Collection 173.
1 vol.: ill.; 28 cm.
Includes elevations and floor plans for three two-story dwellings, a roofing plan, and a page illustrating four garden buildings. Drawings were discovered in M. C. Ewing’s copy of Practical Masonry, Bricklaying, and Plastering … , written by Thomas Kelly and published in London in 1834.
Document 914.
8 boxes + 1 drawer: ill. (some col.)
This artificial (and still open) collection consists of hand-drawn, painted, engraved, and lithographed illustrations of architectural structures, such as public, commercial, and farm buildings; private homes; churches; schools; factories; and prisons. Scale drawings, building facades, room layouts, elevations, engineering plans, and buildings in landscape settings are all present. Almost all of the structures represented are located on the East Coast of the United States, primarily in the New York, Boston, and Philadelphia areas. The majority are from the mid nineteenth century.
Finding aid available.
Collection 210.
The Arthur diary: the history of a farm on the Hudson River near Fishkill, N. York. 1804–5.
218 p.; 20 cm.
Volume was kept by an unnamed member of the Arthur family of farmers from Dutchess County, New York. John Arthur, whose name is in the 1800 Federal census and who was a church warden and member of the Franklin Union Society, may have been the diarist.
Diary records the routine activities of a family engaged in agriculture: haying, boarding stock, selling farm goods, maintaining equipment, etc. Also mentioned are what appear to be sales of slaves.
Document 340.
Account book. 1864–71.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
George Ashbridge was born in West Whiteland, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Haverford College. From 1871 to 1872, he studied in Germany at the University of Berlin and attended law school at the University of Pennsylvania from 1880 to 1882. As an adult, he wrote articles on stock breeding, cricket, and public issues. He was a fellow of the American Geographical Association and a member of a cricket club in Merion, Pennsylvania.
Manuscript records Ashbridge’s personal expenses while a student at Haverford. He received money from his father and other family members and spent his allowance on such things as books, billiards, skating, a cricket bat, and tickets to events at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia.
Document 870.
Bills and receipts. 1806–60.
142 items.
Members of the Ashhurst family were merchants in Philadelphia.
Includes bills and receipts relating to personal and business purchases made by members of the Ashhurst family, including Richard (1784–1861), John (1809–92), William, and representatives of Richard Ashhurst & Sons.
Collection 290.
Account book. 1810–11.
1 vol.; 17 cm.
H. S. Ashton was a furnituremaker in Philadelphia.
Manuscript lists pieces of furniture that Ashton made and repaired and includes names of his customers and the prices they paid. He worked on beds, tables, chairs, coffins, etc.
Document 509.
Papers. 1708–1860, bulk 1790–1804.
400 items.
This collection contains information about Isaac and Elizabeth Ashton of Philadelphia and their descendants. Two of their sons, Isaac and Samuel, were furnituremakers whose business seems to have peaked during the 1790s. Another son, John, was a tailor.
Collection includes a variety of manuscript materials recording business transactions and includes account books, bills, miscellaneous accounts, receipts, and orders. These items provide insight into furniture production, relationships between journeymen and masters, local buyers, sources of supplies, and related matters. Other papers relate to family affairs and include real-estate records, bankruptcy proceedings, purchases for the household, lawsuits, and promissory payments.
Finding aid available.
Collection 263.
Records. 1842–1927.
12 vols.; 40 cm
The Leonard V. Aspril family lived in Odessa (earlier called Cantwell’s Bridge), Delaware. Leonard Aspril Sr. and Leonard Aspril Jr. operated a blacksmithing business.
Records consist of accounts related to blacksmithing. Most of the twelve volumes are account ledgers, though two are daybooks, and one, called the “Bought Ledger,” records purchases made for the business and pay records.
Collection 38.
Price book. 1836.
1 microfilm reel.
Manuscript includes the minutes of the association’s meetings and lists prices established by the group for the various kinds of work its members performed. The price book may have belonged to Nashville silversmith John Campbell, born 1803.
Microfilm M2709.
Sample book showing 30 latest visiting cards. Ca. 1880s.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 13 cm.
Includes thirty designs for hidden name cards. Each card contained a flap ornamented with a floral design under which a person’s name was printed. On the back cover is a description of how to use the sample book to sell cards.
Document 807.
Account book. 1791–1827.
318 p.; 31 cm.
Zaccheus Atwood was a weaver in Barre, Massachusetts.
The activities that Atwood recorded in his account book include trimming clothes; dressing cloth; and making blankets, fabric, and gloves. Farm work is also mentioned.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 526.
27 leaves; 30 cm.
Manuscript contains records of auctions of property belonging to twenty-five individuals in Lancaster and Royalston, Massachusetts, between March 7, 1831, and January 2, 1836. Clothing, household goods, farm implements, animals, books, and other items were sold. Buyer, item, and price are customarily mentioned.
List of people whose property was sold is available.
Document 26.
Letters. 1821, 1836, 1840.
3 items.
John James Audubon was a painter and ornithologist. Early in his career, he tried to earn a living as a portrait painter and art teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana. After 1820 he shifted his focus, painting and writing about birds and animals. From 1832 until his death, Audubon was assisted in his work by his two sons, Victor Gifford and John Woodhouse Audubon. He is best known for his Birds of America, Quadrupeds of America, and Ornithological Biographies.
In an 1821 letter, Audubon describes his life in New Orleans and his keen interest in moving ahead with his bird drawings. His 1836 letter relates to a volume Audubon calls Fauna Italico… . In 1840 Audubon wrote to his son Victor while visiting John Bachman in Charleston, South Carolina, recording fifty-eight subscribers to his Birds of America, noting family matters, and giving details of his forthcoming itinerary. Bachman also wrote some of this letter, discussing Mrs. John Woodhouse Audubon, his grandchildren, and John Woodhouse’s painting.
Collection 170.
The friendly repository and keepsake of Mary Eliza Bachman. 1831–39.
277 p.: ill. (some col.) ; 21 cm.
Mary Eliza Bachman’s father, the Rev. John Bachman, collaborated with American artist John James Audubon to produce his Birds of America. Audubon lived with the Bachman family during research trips in 1831 and 1833. Mary Eliza married one of Audubon’s sons, Victor Gifford Audubon. Her sister, Maria, married Audubon’s other son, John Woodhouse Audubon.
Volume contains poetry copied by Mary Eliza as well as writings and drawings done by friends. George Lehman and Edward A. Leitner, assistants of John James Audubon, contributed drawings. There is a watercolor of a Carolina wren, dated October 15, 1833, once attributed to John James Audubon but now credited to his son, John Woodhouse Audubon.
Document 722.
Entry 132. Mary Eliza Bachman Audubon’s album, “Friendly Repository and Keepsake,” from the 1830s, contains drawings by John Woodhouse Audubon, her brother-in-law, and two of John James Audubon’s assistants, George Lehman and Edward A. Leitner. Lehman’s watercolor depiction of Castle Pinckney in Charleston, South Carolina, later appeared in Audubon’s Birds of America as background for his portrait of the long-billed curlew.
Postcards. Ca. 1910–20.
58 items: col. ill.
Carrie Augenbaugh and her sister, Margie, lived in York, Pennsylvania, and received the Christmas postcards in this collection from family friends.
Cards show many depictions of Santa Claus, Christmas trees, children, toys, animals, and religious scenes. The majority are embossed, and many record their makers. Nine cards contain the word “postcard” written in several languages, suggesting that they were used internationally.
Collection 119.
Account book. 1858–61.
52 p.; 34 cm.
David Austin was a jeweler from New York City.
Book records Austin’s activities during the years immediately preceding the Civil War. Most of his entries were for repairs and sales on behalf of such well-known jewelry firms as Tiffany & Co.; Ball, Black, & Co.; and Baldwin & Co.
Document 624.
Account book. 1766–1834, bulk 1775–99.
90 p.; 39 cm.
John Austin worked as a laborer in northeastern Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Entries indicate that Austin was skilled as a joiner, furnituremaker, and carpenter. He mentions such products as tables, chairs, bedsteads, cupboards, etc., and notes that he repaired small objects and helped to construct houses, barns, meetinghouses, and fishing wharves. Evidence suggests that Austin worked or owned a sawmill. The manuscript contains genealogical records of the Austin family.
Folio 266.
Bills and receipts. 1783–93.
19 items.
John Austin, a resident of Charlestown, Massachusetts, was a leather dresser. His son, John Jr., was a merchant and inspector of potash and pearl ash.
Collection consists of manuscripts recording the purchase of food and payments for schooling, wood, and mending. Some record the purchase of potash from John Jr.
Document 302.
50 p.: ill.; 20 cm.
Album contains autographs of more than one hundred residents of the Boston area, five small tintypes of young women, and a detailed drawing of flowers. The only indication of ownership is with the first autograph of the book, inscribed “To Maria.”
Document 175.
1 box.
Collection contains autographs of more than twenty American artists. The signatures are on letters, sketches, drawings, watercolors, business cards, and postcards. Many of the letters are addressed to members of the Pratt family of Brooklyn, New York.
Name index available.
Collection 425.
Papers. 1788–1839.
15 items.
Members of the Avery family lived near Norwich, Connecticut. Oliver Avery was a furnituremaker, and Stephen Avery was a ship captain.
Collection contains miscellaneous bills, letters, and account books. The bills are primarily for groceries, and the account books chronicle Oliver Avery’s furnituremaking activities, including his production of chairs, beds, tables, desks, clock cases, and looms.
Collection 415; Microfilm M102.
Account book. 1799–1828.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
Jonas Ayres was a housebuilder in Brookfield, Massachusetts.
Manuscript relates to a housewright’s activities, including specifications for construction, room dimensions and details, framing, and orders for building supplies.
Folio 218; Microfilm M2853.
Letter book. 1852–57.
Brothers Barzillai (1794–1871) and William (1803–79) of Hartford, Connecticut, owned the firm of B. & W. Hudson. Barzillai later became president of the Phoenix Life Insurance Co., and William pursued a career in printing. They sold furniture, mattresses, carpets, and other household items.
Most letters are addressed to dealers and manufacturers in New England and New York, inquiring about purchases for the business.
Folio 297.
Waste book. 1814–16.
100 p.; 17 cm.
Jacob Babbitt was a shipping merchant in Bristol, Rhode Island.
Manuscript includes records of receipts and disbursements related to Babbitt’s career as a shipper. Other records document products he acquired for personal use.
Index of names, ships, and objects available.
Document 430.
Plan of Hyde Park house. 1880.
1 vol.: ill.; 17 cm.
John Bachelder was a portrait and landscape painter, focusing on views of New England towns. He was born in Gilmantown, New Hampshire, and died in Hyde Park, Massachusetts.
Volume includes four floor plans for houses and related notes. Room dimensions are given, and room names or functions are sometimes provided. Volume bears inscription: “Aunt Elizabeth’s House, drawn by our Uncle John Bachelder, 1880.”
Document 950.
Daybook. 1822–61.
1 microfilm reel.
Jacob Bachman was a woodworker and furnituremaker, possibly from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Manuscript records Bachman’s daily activities as a woodworker and provides some household accounts.
See entry 145 for related document.
Microfilm M935.
Daybook. 1769–1828.
1 microfilm reel.
Johannes Bachman was a woodworker, furnituremaker, and chairmaker, probably from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Much like Jacob Bachman’s manuscript (see entry 144), this item records the daily activities and household accounts of its keeper. It is written in German, suggesting that Bachman was part of the Pennsylvania German community of Lancaster County.
Microfilm M935.
Account book. 1880–81.
551 p.; 36 cm.
Bachman & Forry ran a sash and door manufactory in Columbia, Pennsylvania. John B. Bachman was born in 1820 in Bart Township, and when he was eighteen he became a carpenter’s apprentice. In 1852 he moved to Columbia, where he worked at a planing and lumbering business that also supplied house carpentry and made floorboards. By 1880 Bachman was in charge of the business, operating it with John Forry.
Entries describe the goods Bachman & Forry produced, the names of customers, and prices. Volume also includes labor and supply accounts.
Folio 220.
Papers. 1865–66.
231 items.
John H. Bacon’s business card proclaimed that he was a “manufacturer of feltings, cotton and wool waddings” in Winchester, Massachusetts.
Papers consist almost exclusively of business letters, including orders, complaints, bills, payments, inquiries, etc. A few pieces of legal and personal correspondence appear as well.
Collection 8.
Muralia. 1918.
1 vol.: ill.; 26 x 34 cm.
The Baeck Wall Paper Co. was located in Brooklyn, New York.
Contains wallpaper samples featuring solid colors and bands of designs for the 1918–19 decorating season.
Folio 176.
Account book. 1836–45.
1 vol.; 41 cm.
Ezekiel Bailey operated an inn and then a general store in Centreville, Delaware. In 1837 he moved his store to Red Lion, Pennsylvania.
Book includes financial records pertaining to the general store that Bailey ran. It was used later as a scrapbook for clippings of stories.
Folio 196.
Patterns of early American furniture and business records. 1922–62.
3 cu. ft.: ill.
Jesse W. Bair was a cabinetmaker in Hanover, Pennsylvania. He worked in several early styles: William and Mary, Queen Anne, Chippendale, Hepplewhite, etc. Although Bair made many pieces of furniture, most of his work centered on furniture repair and restoration. Two of his important clients were Joe Kendig and Robert S. Stuart.
Collection contains 1,515 drawings and patterns of furniture, a drawing book showing hardware designs and ball-and-claw-foot chairs, and Bair’s business records. These records include ledgers and receipt books, correspondence, lists of customers and suppliers, notes on hours worked for various clients, lists of income and expenses, etc.
Bair’s letters to Robert S. Stuart in the Stuart papers
Finding aid describing furniture patterns available; patterns arranged by form and style.
Collection 162.
Records. 1933–64.
9 vols.: ill.
Founded by John M. Bair, this business was located in Abbottstown, Pennsylvania. Evidence suggests that at one time it may have been located in nearby Hanover. According to one of its catalogues, the shop was “devoted entirely to the reproduction of antique and quaint furniture.” It was especially known for its colonial revival furnishings.
Collection includes binders of numbered photographs of furniture and business records, including three daybooks, a ledger, records of social security payments, and several miscellaneous items. Photos record a number of furniture forms and their dimensions.
Firm’s trade catalogues in the Printed Book and Periodical Collection.
Collection 163.
Papers. 1850–73.
18 items.
Annie W. Baker was born and raised at Allegheny Furnace, Altoona, Pennsylvania. When she was fourteen, she left Altoona for school in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. She eventually married and raised three children.
Papers consist primarily of letters to Baker regarding such social activities as parties, sleigh rides, and horseback riding. There is a short story about a failed romance that Baker had with someone named Arthur Grahm. The papers also include an autograph book, an essay on insects, and a few postcards.
Document 559.
Account book. 1792–1822.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
A native of Dorchester, Massachusetts, Edmund Baker trained as a physician but made his living as a maker of chocolate at Dorchester Lower Mills. His oldest son, Walter, graduated from Harvard, studied law, and then started a woolen manufactory. He later followed his father into the chocolate business. Under Walter’s guidance the chocolate business thrived, operating under the name Walter Baker & Co. It was purchased in 1927 by General Foods.
Account book records transactions relating to costs and income associated with the making of chocolate.
Folio 166.
Notebook. 1842–92.
85 p.; 20 cm.
Emily Anne Baker lived in or near Chelmsford, Essex County, England.
Volume includes two sections. The first volume features poetry, much of it focusing on death and the untimely passing of young people. The second volume records knitting and crocheting instructions. The instructions are accompanied by a few samples of work pinned to the volume.
Document 194.
The Wanamaker diary. 1922.
495 p.; 19 cm.
Mrs. Forrest Baker lived in Rising Sun, Maryland.
Diary records Mrs. Baker’s daily life. Volume also contains advertisements, many for goods sold at Wanamaker’s and other Philadelphia and New York City stores. An almanac, lists of churches and post offices in Philadelphia, and layouts for Philadelphia theaters are also included.
Finding aid to advertisements available.
Index to business cards at back of the volume.
Document 567.
Ledger. 1743–75.
119 leaves; 19 cm.
John Baker and his son, James (1713–76), were shoemakers and farmers in Dorchester, Massachusetts. James’s son, James Jr., pursued a number of careers, though he is best known for establishing a chocolate company that operated for more than two centuries.
Ledger primarily records the sales and repairs of footwear and the sale of twine and rope. Local craftsmen, including a clockmaker named Newman and silversmiths John Edwards and Jacob Hurd, did business with the Bakers. There are references to sales of shoes to African American customers. Some entries list payment in dollars and some in “old tenor.” The last page contains “A list of men who had their guns taken for bayonets on the 31st of March 1758.”
Document 991.
Inventory and account book. 1881–99.
97 p.; 21 cm.
Louis A. Baker owned a general store in Ashford, Connecticut.
The first part of this manuscript contains an inventory of Baker’s general store dated 1881. The second part contains a ledger recording business transactions. Loose bills are laid in.
Document 1022.
Account books. 1808–19.
1 vol.; 40 cm. + 3 microfilm reels.
Jabez C. Baldwin, a native of Norwich, Connecticut, was a jeweler and silversmith in Salem, Massachusetts. In 1813 he established the firm of Baldwin & Jones in Boston while continuing to work in Salem. In 1817 he entered into partnership with Thomas Baker. When Baker moved to Concord, New Hampshire, in 1819, the partnership ended.
Includes an account book kept by Baldwin from 1808 to 1819, two daybooks recording the transactions of Baldwin and Thomas Baker, and a sales book dating from 1817 to 1819. The account book documents Baldwin’s evolution from silversmith to merchant of silver goods.
Photographs of Baldwin’s silver in the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection.
Original materials on microfilm located at the Essex Institute.
Folio 195; Microfilm M1527, M1529–M1530.
Papers. 1784–1904, bulk 1820–34.
14 vols. + 36 loose items: ill. (some col.)
The Baldwins were civil engineers from Woburn, Massachusetts. Loammi Baldwin began his career during the late eighteenth century and in 1804 oversaw the construction of the Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts. Three of his sons—Loammi Jr., James Fowle, and George Rumford—followed his chosen career. Loammi Jr. graduated from Harvard and began his professional life as an attorney. Finding the law distasteful, he turned to civil engineering. James Fowle pursued a career as a merchant before he became an engineer. He would eventually work for railroads and undertake a study of the quality of the water supply in Boston. George Rumford designed and built the Boston Marine Railway and consulted on the construction of waterworks in Charleston, Massachusetts, and Quebec, Canada.
Collection materials reflect the professional lives of the Baldwins as civil engineers. Projects mentioned in the papers include the Middlesex Canal, the Charles River Bridge, the Charlestown Naval Dry Docks, the upgrading of Boston’s water supply, coal mining, canal construction in general, and soundings in Boston harbor. Illustrative material is chiefly in the hand of George Rumford Baldwin. Working in pen, watercolor, pencil, and wash, George Rumford’s sketchbooks depict railroads, dams, canals, locks, waterworks, bridges, and buildings. Of particular importance are his drawings of wooden framing patterns.
Finding aid is available.
Collection 204.
Pattern book. 1820–50.
197 p.: col. ill.; 25 cm.
Joseph Ball was a potter in Longton, England, and seems to have been affiliated with Bagguley & Ball, a firm active from 1822 to 1835.
Book contains hundreds of designs, both transfer-printed and hand-drawn, for the decoration of pottery. Floral and geometric patterns predominate. Many are on paper watermarked 1841, though some bear dates in the 1820s. Recipes for various cements and pottery types are also included.
Document 64.
Account book. 1759–62.
1 microfilm reel.
William Ball was a silversmith in Philadelphia.
In addition to silver pieces, records in this account book mention such items as clothing, guns, food, brass, iron, textiles, tools, toys, and writing materials.
Manuscript in private hands at the time of filming.
Microfilm M2822.
11 p.: ill.; 30 cm.
An unnamed writer hand-copied this version of the text to “Ballad of the Oysterman,” by Oliver Wendell Holmes. The pen-and-ink illustrations depict the oysterman, his daughter, a house, and surrounding area.
Document 693.
Accounts. 1835–49.
15 items.
James Ballantine lived in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
Collection includes two small manuscripts and thirteen loose accounts that primarily document the construction of a store. Details include information on wages, materials needed for building, and such construction activities as setting glass, painting, and framing. A few miscellaneous accounts for food and clothing round out the collection.
Document 899.
Drawings and tracings. Ca. 1915–28.
125 items: ill.
Edmond Ballora was an interior decorator doing business at Decoration Artistique, New York City.
Drawings and tracings, most in pencil and colored pencil, are of room interiors and furniture. A variety of styles is featured, and there are many depictions of decorative detail, some appearing full-scale. In many instances clients are identified. Notations in French.
Finding aid available.
Collection 270.
Account book. 1792–93.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
Benjamin Ballou was a blacksmith from Wrentham, Massachusetts.
Book records Ballou’s work on wagons and carts, his shoeing of horses and oxen, and the production and repair of agricultural implements and household objects.
Document 846.
Order book. 1807–35, bulk 1828–35.
544 p.: ill.; 38 cm.
George Bance worked in London as a furnituremaker and upholsterer.
Contains records of orders for furniture with descriptions, dimensions, customers’ names, and itemized costs of labor and materials. Some furniture sketches dating from 1807 and 1808 are included. The bulk of the volume features references to repair work, installations, alterations, and general carpentry.
Document 102.
Appraisals. 1750–62.
48 leaves; 33 cm.
Christopher Bancker and Brandt Schuyler, New York City merchants, served as publicly sworn appraisers for the province of New York in 1750. Joris Brinckerhoff, also a merchant, replaced Schuyler in 1750.
Volume records the appraised inventories of various estates and ships, noting the quantity and value of items in English pounds. The majority of the valued items are household goods and personal belongings.
Document 1011.
Papers. Ca. 1760–1854.
1 microfilm reel.
Members of the Bancker family were prominent in Philadelphia social circles. Charles N. Bancker was a successful businessman.
Includes business and personal papers of the Banckers, especially Charles. There are letters, bills, and inventories of household goods. One correspondent was Thomas Sully, who wrote Charles N. Bancker to ask if he could copy a picture that he owned “by Leslie from West.”
Original manuscripts located at the American Philosophical Society.
Microfilm M101.
Papers. 1893–1903.
500 items.
The firm, operated by Andrew Persson in Bangor, Maine, identified itself as a “manufacturer of stone & fancy pressed ware of every description.”
Collection consists of bills, orders, receipts, and letters relating to the company’s activities. Material reveals how the company obtained raw materials, marketed its wares, and supplied its customers with finished products.
Name index available.
Collection 30.
Account book. 1788–1827, 1858–66.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
Nathaniel Bangs was a furnituremaker from Amherst, Massachusetts, who later relocated to Salem, Massachusetts.
Manuscript records the furniture that Bangs made during a forty-year period beginning in 1788. Bangs’s shop produced a variety of furniture forms. He also painted sleighs, mended rakes, fixed wagons, etc. Joel Bangs used the volume later to record his activities as a laborer, the construction of a house in Athol, Massachusetts, and personal finances. Volume also contains genealogical information on the Bangs family.
Document 436.
Account book. 1787–1811.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
Solomon Banks was a furnituremaker from Greenfield, Connecticut.
Volume includes references to the pieces of furniture that Banks made and repaired and notes his carpentry work. Manuscript contains many references to agricultural pursuits and indicates that he bartered to settle some payments.
Partial name index in front of volume.
Folio 156.
Family records. 1695–1771.
4 microfilm reels.
Members of the Bannister family were general merchants in Newport, Rhode Island. They were in business under their own names as well as in a partnership, Bannister & Minot.
Records include daybooks, letter books, cash books, ledgers, and a memorandum book, all of which chronicle nearly eighty years of business activity.
Brief index available.
Original materials located at the Newport Historical Society.
Microfilm M191–M194.
Account books. 1750–99.
1 microfilm reel.
William Barker was a chairmaker from Providence, Rhode Island.
The account books document a half-century of chairmaking.
Original manuscripts are in the library of the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Microfilm M2858.3–.7.
Account book. 1821–25.
1 microfilm reel.
Elizur Barnes was a cabinetmaker from Middletown, Connecticut.
Accounts relate to making furniture and chairs, employing workmen, exchanging services, and purchasing supplies for the cabinetmaking trade.
Original manuscript at the Middletown, Connecticut Historical Society; another microfilm copy located at the Connecticut Historical Society.
Microfilm M2832.
Account book. 1827–29.
4 p.: ill.; 21 cm.
Ford Barnes was a furnituremaker from the Baltimore area.
Manuscript chiefly documents amounts of money owed to Barnes for furniture he made, including tables, beds, cradles, candle stands, bookcases, coffins, chests, and bureaus. Some entries include a description of the piece. Barnes worked with cherry, poplar, pine, and walnut.
Document 1043.
Receipt book. 1793–1861.
1 microfilm reel.
Isaac Barnett was a furnituremaker in Philadelphia.
Manuscript contains records of payments made by Isaac, Abraham, and Thomas Barnett for such personal expenses as taxes, schooling, and medical care as well as business expenditures for turning, lumber, sawing, etc.
Original manuscript at the Baker Library, Harvard University.
Microfilm M1966.1.
The miscellaneous works of Charles Barrell … performed at Mr. Wymans boarding school in Medford. 1797.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 50 cm.
Volume includes a student’s exercises in geometry, anatomy, drawing, etc. Illustrations feature a mariner’s compass, a map of the world, a church, houses, fruit, and flowers. Barrell used calligraphy to head the different sections of his book.
Folio 256.
Letters and letter books. 1776–1800.
2 microfilm reels.
Joseph Barrell was a successful merchant from Boston and nearby Waltham, Massachusetts; his father and brother were also merchants. He was included in a list of members of the Sons of Liberty, and he ran unsuccessfully for governor of Massachusetts. In the 1790s Barrell acquired more than two hundred acres of land overlooking the Charles River at Cobble Hill in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Noted American architect Charles Bulfinch designed the house that Barrell built there, called “Pleasant Hill.” Barrell was married four times.
Consists chiefly of letters dealing with the building and furnishing of Barrell’s house in the 1790s. Writings also discuss Barrell’s efforts to create a garden and greenhouse.
Original manuscripts located at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Microfilm M181–M182.
Diary. 1859.
141 p.: ill.; 23 cm.
H. B. Barrett was a native of Worthing, England, who lived with his father in Jamaica in the 1850s.
Diary records Barrett’s travels in England. By 1859 he had been away from his native country for nine years. In England Barrett met with family and friends, went shopping, and took art lessons from Prince Albert’s art instructor. He visited London, Gosport, Farnham, Southampton, Portsmouth, and Worthing. Barrett was fascinated by British naval shipyards as a result of his military service. Interspersed among the pages of this manuscript are forty-five engravings of English landmarks.
Includes index of names of Barrett’s friends.
Document 1003.
Lecture and letter. 1844–45.
15 p.; 32 cm.
Charles L. Barritt was a photographer.
Includes the text of a lecture that Barritt gave on January 20, 1845, before the New York Scientific Association and a letter that he wrote to its secretary apologizing for missing a meeting of the association.
Document 788.
Correspondence. 1841–51.
15 items.
David Barrows was a maker of frames, a knitter, and a manufacturer of hosiery. He lived in Nicetown and then Germantown, present-day neighborhoods of Philadelphia.
Ten of the letters were written to David Barrows and five were from him. They all relate to business and family matters. Professional concerns relate to the quantity of mitts and hose knitted, the buying and dyeing yarn, the marketing of products, fluctuations in prices, the selling of frames, etc. Most letters circulated among family members expressed financial concerns.
Collection 191.
Account book. 1810–20.
2 vols.; 42 cm. or smaller.
George Barrows worked as a blacksmith in Harrison, Maine.
Records the activities of a busy blacksmith. Book also includes accounts kept by Eleanor Barrows relating to the settlement of Barrows’s estate.
Folio 184.
Account book. 1835–52.
220 p.; 42 cm.
George W. Barrows was a tanner in Harrison, Maine. He may have purchased a tannery at Bolster Mills, Maine, from Isaac Thayer.
Records leather-working projects and the buying and selling of such items as sole leather, sheepskin, hide, and hair. Barrows also made and repaired footwear.
Includes name index.
Folio 185.
Bills and receipts. 1876–89.
409 items: ill.
Rogers L. Barstow lived in Boston and was a partner in the brokerage firm of Chase & Barstow.
Collection includes invoices relating to the purchases by Barstow and members of his family of a wide variety of household goods. Most purchases were made from Boston area stores; foreign merchandise came from England and France.
Finding aid available.
Collection 224.
Papers. 1743–95.
7 microfilm reels.
Josiah Bartlett was a physician and political figure from Kingston, New Hampshire. He was a member of the Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, chief justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court, and governor of his state.
Papers include account books and daybooks, correspondence, and other manuscript material that document Bartlett’s personal life, medical practice, and public service.
Published finding aid available: Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Papers of Josiah Bartlett (1729–1795), edited by Frank C. Mevers (Concord, New Hampshire: New Hampshire Historical Society, 1976).
Original manuscripts at the New Hampshire Historical Society.
Microfilm M2462–M2468.
Scrapbook. 1773–1809.
1 vol.: ill.; 32 cm.
Francesco Bartolozzi, an engraver, was born in Florence, Italy. He studied at the Accademia del Disegno and learned engraving from Joseph Wagner. In 1764 he traveled to England, where he won an appointment as engraver to King George III. He became a Royal Academician in 1768, and in 1802 he accepted the post of director of the National Academy of Lisbon. Bartolozzi is known to have engraved many paintings by Giovanni Battista. He popularized the stipple process.
Scrapbook contains a few invitations engraved by Bartolozzi and others. Most engravings depict classical scenes.
Folio 192.
Sample book of silk weaving. Ca. 1820–50.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 28 x 42 cm.
Includes one hundred swatches of woven silk, lithographed plates depicting looms, weaving patterns, diagrams, etc. Weavers drafts in the volume are both lithographed and sketched in pen and pencil. Floral and geometric patterns predominate, and there are a few crests. The lithographs all bear the names I. G. Bartsch and Al. Leykum. Captions and manuscript notations in German.
Collection 50.
F. W. Bass’s arithmetic book: made in the year of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, 1819.
100 p.: ill.; 51 cm.
Contains mathematical computations, calligraphy, and examples of student exercises in the calculation of fractions, proportions, troy weight, money, liquid measures, etc. Some of the volume pertains to maintaining financial account books.
Folio 82.
Account books. 1802–37.
2 vols.; 21 cm.
Friedrich Bastian was a Pennsylvania German dyer. In 1804 he moved from Jonestown, Pennsylvania, to nearby Middletown. After Bastian stopped using these volumes, Jacob Strouss, a carpenter and coffinmaker, kept his records in them.
Entries in the account books document Bastian’s endeavors as a dyer and Strouss’s general woodworking activities. Some domestic accounts are also included. The writing of Bastian’s accounts reflects his Pennsylvania German heritage.
Document 585.
Microfilm M2729.
Exercise book. 1765.
1 vol.: ill.; 25 cm.
Book contains mathematical problems and tables of basic arithmetic measurements. Headings done in decorative calligraphy, showing scrolls and other ornamentation. Bawden included pen-and-ink drawings of birds.
Document 743.
Pattern book. 1770–1829.
58 leaves: col. ill.; 34 cm.
Bayer was a weaver in Framersheim, Germany, during the late eighteenth century.
Manuscript contains German coverlet design patterns. Its cover is a Fraktur-style page that includes the inscription “Philipp Peter Bayer, Zu Framersheim, werde ich genandt, Jesus Name ist mir auch bekandt, Anno 1770” as well as pictures of angels holding tools of the weaving trade.
Folio 22.
Workbook. 1897–98.
1 vol.; 24 cm.
Stella P. Bayly recorded directions for sixteen projects that she undertook as part of a sewing course. Her lessons included exercises in basting, weaving, hemming, making button holes, preparing seams, and making patches. In her workbook she wrote directions on the left side of a page opening, and on the right side she sewed in what she called models of completed projects. Bayly used such fabrics as muslin, cotton, damask, flannel, and percale.
Document 457.
Ledger and letter book. 1721–27.
1 microfilm reel.
Peter Baynton was a general merchant from Philadelphia.
Manuscripts document payment of duties on cargoes that included rum, textiles, sugar, glass, buckles, looking glasses, earthenware, etc.
Original manuscripts at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M2646.
Exercise book. 1791–1808.
1 vol.; 22 cm.
Consists of exercises in elementary arithmetic, weights and measures, fractions, decimals, calculations for determining the cost of a product, and the computation of annuities.
Document 607.
Receipt book. 1819–38.
1 vol.; 18 cm.
Christopher Beakley, a resident of New York City, was a member of the Dutch Reformed Church.
Entries record money paid by Beakley for a number of items: church pew rent, taxes, street paving, painting a house and its shutters, chairs, medical, bills, the burial of an infant, etc.
Document 955.
Account book. 1773–79.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Joseph Beal was a blacksmith in Abington, Massachusetts.
Beal shoed horses and oxen; mended guns, chains, and plow irons; made axes, spikes, hinges, and nails; altered chisels; hooped barrels; and crafted plow parts. Like many of his contemporaries, he sometimes accepted goods for payment.
Name index in front of volume.
Document 523.
Papers. 1814–61.
1 folder.
Thomas Prince Beal lived in Kingston, Massachusetts. He may have been a lawyer.
Collection includes bills for such goods and services as clothes, yarn, blacksmithing, painting, and window repair; letters that document personal engagements and the payment of accounts; and papers of a legal nature that focus on the case Jarves vs. Freeman, in which Jarves was accused of slander.
Collection 518.
Copybook. 1833.
2 vols.; 19 cm.
Includes handwriting exercises by Beaman while he was a student. Covers of the two volumes are illustrated with engravings of children engaged in various activities and a stone dwelling situated among large trees. Back covers contain multiplication tables.
Document 811.
Account book. 1821–77, bulk 1821–25.
170 leaves; 32 cm.
The Beardsleys lived in Otsego County, New York. Levi and especially Jabez Beardsley are well represented in the volume.
The accounts in this manuscript record dyeing, fulling, pressing, carding, and dressing fabrics from 1821 to 1825. Most of the handful of post-1830 entries refer to the milling of grains.
Partial name index bound in.
Document 108.
Account book. 1811–23.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
George Beatty was a watchmaker in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Manuscript documents Beatty’s work, cleaning, repairing, oiling, and selling timepieces. Entries record the names of customers, work performed or objects sold, and amounts paid or owed.
Document 711.
Exercise book. 1829.
1 vol.: ill.; 33 cm.
John D. Beaver was a resident of Millerstown, Pennsylvania.
Book consists of mathematical and writing exercises, including prayers, poems, sayings, and sample pages from an account book. The front and back covers have illustrations of birds identified by German captions. Drawings of flowers appear throughout the volume.
Document 886.
Account and day book. 1823–61, bulk 1826–40.
125 p.; 33 cm.
Charles Frederick Beckel cleaned and repaired watches; sold silver spoons, musical instruments, and everpointed pencils; and mended chairs and umbrellas in Doylestown and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Manuscripts record Beckel’s activities in Doylestown from 1823 to 1824 and in Bethlehem from 1826 to 1861. Pages toward the end of the volume record expenses for building and expanding a foundry. The Doylestown portion includes an account with the town band.
Some of the foundry accounts and a few other pages in German.
Document 123.
Records. 1774–92.
3 vols.; 40 cm. or smaller.
John Becker operated a general store in Lititz, Pennsylvania, which seems to have been connected to the Moravian Church.
Records include a ledger from the 1780s and two other volumes with store inventories. A wide variety of goods is documented along with tools used by craftsmen, including masons’ trowels and shoemakers’ knives. Accounts for building the store and a new hall are also featured.
Name index available on microfilm.
Folio 209; Microfilm M2830.
Convertible furniture trade cards. Ca. 1875–95.
16 items: ill. (some col.)
Cards depict convertible furniture (or items that could be turned into beds). Such pieces as the “Celebrated Windsor Folding Bed,” “Albee’s National Upright Parlor Bed,” and “Boyington’s Automatic Folding Bed” are shown.
Finding aid available.
Collection 109.
Japanesque trade cards. Ca. 1875–95.
160 items: ill. (some col.)
Collection consists of cards inspired by Japanese design. Works of major and minor American lithographers are represented. A few cards are Japanese woodcuts that were overprinted in the United States. There is a full range of products advertised, including clothing, tea, dyes, and carpets.
Finding aid available.
Collection 108.
Bills. 1851–64.
20 items.
Z. Beckwith lived in Middlebury, Vermont. He may have owned a dry-goods or general store.
Bills document Beckwith’s purchase of such fabrics as wool, silk, satin, and taffeta. Other products mentioned include gloves, parasols, ribbons, scarves, collars, knives and forks, etc. Many of the firms he did business with were based in either New York City or Boston.
Collection 479.
Account books. 1785–1847.
6 vols.; 41 cm. or smaller.
James Eaton Beech was a druggist in Fairfield County, Connecticut. In 1810 he formed a partnership with Sherman and Isaac Sterling called Sterling & Beech.
Consists of four daybooks and two ledgers that record financial transactions of Beech’s drugstore as well as some accounts relating to the operation of his household. Scattered throughout the volumes are recipes for paints, dyes, etc.
Collection 299.
Papers. 1927–49.
5 boxes: ill.
Carl Greenleaf Beede wrote about topics in the decorative arts, especially furniture, for the Christian Science Monitor during the 1920s and 1930s. He resided in West Hartford, Connecticut, and then in Boston.
Collection contains many of Beede’s research notes, correspondence, bibliographic work, photographs, and typed research manuscripts relating to his publications in the Christian Science Monitor. An outline and notes for a book on American furniture are also included. The book, which was never published, was to contain a chapter on the history of American furniture collecting, collectors, and collections. Beede gathered some of his information by writing to museums and inquiring about their collection development policies.
Collection 458.
Records. 1832–35, 1865.
4 vols.: ill.; 19 cm. or smaller.
Nathan Beidler made furniture in Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Collection includes two sketchbooks of drawings of many kinds of furniture done from 1832 to 1833; an account book with painting instructions and work records dating from 1833 to 1835; and a deed for land in Bedminster Township, Bucks County, from 1865.
Document 298.
Papers. 1861–1960.
13.5 cu. ft.: ill.; 1 microfilm reel.
Waldron Phoenix Belknap Jr. graduated from St. Paul’s School, Concord, New Hampshire, and Harvard. He became an investment banker in New York City. But an abiding interest in architecture inspired him to return to Harvard for a graduate degree in architecture, whereupon he opened his own practice in Boston. He also conducted genealogical research, studied American portrait painting, and established the thesis that English mezzotints served as prototypes for American paintings. Belknap belonged to a number of professional associations and hereditary societies.
Collection includes genealogical research about Belknap’s ancestors, photographs of European cities, and Belknap’s notes on the history of American painting. About half of the collection was actually generated by Belknap’s mother, Rey Hutchings Belknap, who continued her son’s research after his death and worked to establish a memorial in his name.
Microfilm reel contains typescripts of wills, estate inventories, and other documents relating to the many families that Belknap researched.
Finding aid available.
Collection 130; Microfilm M2453.
Diary. 1849–50.
71 p.; 13 cm.
John G. Bell was a taxidermist in New York City. In 1843 he accompanied John James Audubon on his Missouri River expedition. A bird species, Bell’s Vireo, is named after him.
Diary records a trip that Bell took from New York to Panama and then to California to search for different specimens of birds. He wrote of his experiences in Panama, his travels by boat, and the Gold Rush.
Document 592.
Account books and miscellaneous papers. 1783–1816.
1 microfilm reel.
William Bell was a merchant and trader from New York City and an owner of lands in Jefferson and Franklin counties, New York.
Includes account books of various ships on which Bell served as supercargo to China, India, and the Isle de France. Papers include shipping documents, such as reports on trade, bills of lading, and invoices as well as accounts of New York merchants and their Chinese counterparts.
Original materials at the New-York Public Library.
Microfilm M107.
Pattern book. 1794–1835.
63 p.: ill.; 18 cm.
Gottfried Ferdinand Belser was born in Germany, and he emigrated to Boston during the early nineteenth century. Belser’s name first appears in United States census records in 1820. A Boston city directory lists a Godfrey F. Belser as a lace weaver in its 1816 edition.
Volume contains thirty-five pages of patterns for weaving what appear to be bed coverlets. It also contains twenty-five pages of German text dating from 1794 to 1805 in which Belser describes his apprenticeship, masters, places of work, and methods of weaving. Other pages contain directions for dyeing cloth, formulas for removing stains from cloth, etc.
Document 483.
Papers. Ca. 1856–1904.
1 box: ill.
John Henry Belter was born in Germany and apprenticed in furnituremaking in Ulm. In the early 1840s, he emigrated to New York, where he operated a furnituremaking business. Belter is known for developing the laminated, carved rococo revival style of furniture that bears his name. He patented a construction technique for pressed-work furniture. Belter’s relatives maintained his business for many years after his death.
Collection contains photographs and photocopies of manuscripts in private hands and owned by public institutions as well as Belter’s original estate inventory. Included is correspondence relating to Belter’s patent, a chair design, specifications for the construction of Belter’s factory at Third Avenue and Seventy-sixth Street in New York City, and material on Belter’s business and estate.
Collection 307.
Ledger. 1821–28.
1 microfilm reel.
Miles Benjamin was a furnituremaker and furniture repairer from Cooperstown, New York.
Ledger records Benjamin’s activities working on such items as bureaus, tables, bedsteads, and cabinetwork. Domestic matters are also covered within the manuscript.
Name index available.
Original manuscript located at the New York State Historical Association.
Microfilm M665.
Daybook. 1829–30.
12 leaves; 36 cm.
Edward Bennet was a shoemaker from Tiverton, Rhode Island. He and his wife, Abigail, had several children.
Manuscript chronicles Bennet’s business activities: making and repairing boots and shoes, selling leather and calf hide, repairing harnesses, etc. In addition some personal expenses appear. There are references to Bennet’s purchases of large quantities of tobacco, which he apparently resold as snuff. The last leaf of the manuscript relates to the settlement of his estate.
Document 1069.
Music book. Ca. 1817.
26 leaves; 11 cm.
Orpha Orinda Bennet may have been a member of a choir and probably lived in New England.
Manuscript contains the alto part to about fifty psalm tunes. Each is titled, and the meter of the text is indicated. Bound in are two leaves of a published work, Of Tuning and Forming the Voice.
Document 169.
Account and inventory book. 1836–44.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Benjamin Bennett worked as a tailor in New York City.
Volume contains annual inventories for merchandise and supplies on hand and a record of customers’ sizes and clothing made for them. Bennett did work for both men and boys.
Document 383.
Daybook. 1784–1821.
1 microfilm reel.
Ezekiel Bennett was a carpenter and furnituremaker from Weston, Connecticut, and West Laurens, New York.
Manuscript deals with Bennett’s woodworking projects. He records working on bobsleds, seats, coffins, cupboards, and sashes. His activities in farming, weaving, and recording his family’s genealogy are also included. The volume also includes a record of land Bennett purchased from Ebenezer Hill in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Name index available.
Original daybook located at the New York Historical Association.
Document 383.
Account book. 1807–48, bulk 1807–20.
90 p.; 40 cm.
Stuttson Benson lived in Pompey, New York, earning his income from agricultural pursuits and weaving cloth.
Manuscript contains Benson’s accounts and records relating to his estate and its settlement during the 1820s. In addition there are miscellaneous accounts in another hand relating to activities in Fabius, New York, a town some six miles from Pompey.
Folio 53.
Receipt and rent books. 1822–77.
2 microfilm reels.
David Bentley worked as a coppersmith in Philadelphia.
The receipt book, kept from 1822 to 1857, mentions such items as clothing, food, copper, iron, textiles, etc. The rent book, kept from 1857 to 1877, pertains to Bentley’s estate.
Original manuscripts located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M2817–M2818.
Account book. 1812–27.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
William Bentley was a furnituremaker from Westford, New York, who worked from about 1812 to 1844.
In addition to making and repairing many types of furniture, Bentley made coffins, fixed wagons and sleds, did some sawing, and drew bricks. He recorded recipes for staining wood and referred to his tools, hardware, and farm produce.
Document 724; Microfilm M665.
Papers. 1831–52.
62 items: ill.
John Henry Berdan operated a general store in New York City and lived in Bergen County, New Jersey. David J. Berdan, probably John’s brother, attended Rutgers College in the 1840s and later settled in Paterson, New Jersey.
Includes the daybook maintained by John Henry Berdan to record the activities of his store from January to February 1831; a draft of his will from 1832; notebooks, lists of expenses, and miscellaneous writings kept by David J. Berdan while at Rutgers from 1844 to 1847; and family letters. Some of the manuscripts have colorful decorative headings reminiscent of Pennsylvania German Fraktur.
Finding aid available.
Collection 237.
Account books. 1765–94.
4 vols.; 40 cm.
William Bird built the Berkshire Furnace along a branch of Spring Creek in Lower Heidelberg Township, Pennsylvania. It was part of his estate in 1762. From 1764 to 1790, Bird’s widow owned it, and George Ege managed the operation. In 1790 Ege purchased the furnace.
These four manuscript volumes record financial transactions relating to the Berkshire Furnace. Items mentioned include plate stoves, Franklin stoves, kettles, pots, skillets, sash weights, etc. Volumes also provide information about furnace employees, including information about their accounts with the company store.
Name index in one of the volumes.
Collection 329.
Notebooks. 1813–57.
5 vols.: ill.; 33 cm. or smaller.
John M. Besson was a dry-goods merchant in Philadelphia and a member of the Resolution Hose Company of firefighters.
Collection consists of five of at least nine volumes of clippings, drawings, and excerpts assembled by Besson. Topics mentioned are far ranging and include historical anecdotes, references to Philadelphia’s mayors from 1701 to 1820, recipes for medical cures, information about the census, and designs for fire-hose wagons.
Some of the text is in French.
Collection 27.
Box. 1952.
1 item; 3 x 2 x 11 cm.
This box, fashioned by Carl Beuttner, a goldsmith from Winterthur, Switzerland, at one time contained jewelry.
Document 196.
Account book. 1846–63.
150 p.; 39 cm.
J. M. Bicksler was a shoemaker, probably from southeastern Pennsylvania.
Book documents Bicksler’s making and repairing of shoes.
Includes index.
Folio 203.
Business and personal papers. 1929–43.
2 microfilm reels.
George Biddle was an author and widely exhibited artist.
Collection includes personal and business correspondence with other artists, a listing of Biddle’s own works, and correspondence dealing with government art projects and murals.
Contents list on first reel of microfilm.
Original materials located at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Microfilm M742–M743.
Letters. 1828–90.
2 microfilm reels.
The Bidermann family was from Winterthur, Switzerland. Jacques Antoine Bidermann came to the United States in 1813 to audit the books of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Company in which his father had invested considerable money. He joined the firm in 1815. In 1816 he married Evelina du Pont. Their only child, James Irénée, was born the next year. Jacques Antoine inherited his father’s stock in the Du Pont Company, and he later purchased more shares. During the mid 1830s, he assumed temporary leadership of the company. James Antoine and Evelina settled in Delaware on an estate they named “Winterthur.” James Irénée lived in France and worked as a civil engineer; he had married Gabrielle Camille Bègue.
Letters are from various family members. There are letters to James Irénée and his wife that provide information about crops, the weather, family matters, and events in Delaware. Also included is a letter book belonging to James Antoine Bidermann.
Microfilm M30–M31.
Collection. 1855–1927.
172 items.
Albert Bierstadt was a landscape and animal painter. A native of Germany, he came to America with his parents as an infant and grew up in New Bedford, Massachusetts. When he was twenty-three, he returned to Europe to study painting. In the United States, Bierstadt maintained a studio at Irvington-on-Hudson, New York, and after 1882 he lived permanently in New York City.
Collection includes letters from Bierstadt’s sister Eliza, watercolors, photographs, and a pencil sketch. The letters mention the buying and selling of Bierstadt’s paintings, social matters, real-estate ventures, descriptions of trips, and exhibitions. The artwork features watercolors of butterflies and a sketch of a mill.
Finding aid available.
Collection 276.
Cookbook. Ca. 1850–70.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
In her cookbook Laura H. Bigelow, a resident of Waterville, New York, wrote recipes for cakes, cookies, tarts, puddings, pies, and jellies. Many references indicate the name of the recipe’s creator. Also included are instructions for making yellow, green, and blue dyes.
Document 889.
Liederbuch von Christian Friedrich Bikle aus Stuttgard. 1826–49.
77 leaves; 17 cm.
C. F. Bikle was a cabinetmaker from Stuttgart, Germany, who may also have composed music.
The first twenty-nine leaves of the manuscript contain lyrics for songs and the remaining leaves record Bikle’s professional activities. He included a record of furniture he made, apprentices he trained, a receipt for ornamenting chairs, and a recipe for copal varnish.
Lyrics appear in German script. Furniture records are in German, English, and phonetic English.
Document 33.
9 boxes.
This artificial (and still open) collection contains handwritten bills for a variety of household products and personal goods. Most of the bills are from New England and the Middle Atlantic states. Of the 200 or so bills in the collection, 60 percent are from the nineteenth century while 40 percent are from the eighteenth century.
Finding aid available, listing the item or items purchased, the buyer and seller, location, and date.
Collection 145.
4 boxes.
Collection consists of hundreds of bills, many representing businesses based in New York City. Most of the firms performed renovation work on houses and apartments. Work included carpentry, paper hanging, painting, roofing, wiring and lighting installation, decorating, and plumbing.
Collection 341.
Drawings and papers. 1810–40.
2 microfilm reels.
Thomas Birch was a marine, landscape, portrait, and miniature painter. A native of England, he came to the United States in 1794 with his father, another artist who was his eventual partner in business. Birch exhibited widely and is perhaps best known for his marine scenes and paintings of War of 1812 naval battles.
Collection includes drawings by Birch, engravings of his work, and business papers.
Original materials located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M189–M190.
Account book. 1760–61.
19 leaves; 11 x 34 cm.
William Bird was a rum merchant.
Account book documents Bird’s rum selling and features names of his customers, quantities of rum sold, prices, and dates of purchases.
Cover title: Rum Book B.
Document 982.
Account book. 1828–32, 1852–53.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Abel S. Bissell operated a general store in Hebron, Connecticut. He may have served as his town’s registrar of births, deaths, and marriages in the 1850s.
Manuscript records items that Bissell purchased at wholesale prices for later retail sale. His entries include the seller’s name, address, and the date of the purchase. He bought locally as well as in New York City. In 1852 and 1853, Bissell or someone else used the volume to record Hebron’s vital statistics.
Document 441.
Collection. 1695–1945, bulk 1900–1945.
1 box.
Emily Perkins Bissell, a social welfare worker, generous benefactor of various charities, and antisuffragist, is best remembered for introducing Christmas Seals to the United States in 1907 to raise funds for a tuberculosis sanatorium in Delaware.
Collection contains personal and family memorabilia, including a set of Christmas Seals dating from 1907 to 1934, colonial deeds for Delaware lands, and a copy of a story written for The Youth’s Companion by Bissell under her pen name, Priscilla Leonard. Collection was originally in a wallpaper-lined box, perhaps of Chinese origin, that has been dated to the 1830s.
Collection 29.
Account book. 1839–49.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
Daniel Bixby was a furniture- and chairmaker in Francestown, New Hampshire. As a young man he built a sawmill on Brennan Brook and later constructed a device for cutting and putting heads on nails. In 1821 he operated the Bixby Box Shop, first used for cabinetwork and later for making fancy boxes. When he died in 1870, Bixby’s son continued to run the manufactory.
Manuscript entries include the date, furniture form or repair work requested, and the price. Customer names are not given. Toward the end of the volume is a list of store expenses featuring costs of supplies. There is also an inventory of goods on hand on January 1, 1847.
Document 747; Microfilm M711.
Journal. 1845 or 1851 or 1862.
121 p.; 13 cm.
When Sarah Bixby kept this volume, she was a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse near Mayville, New York.
Entries record Bixby’s activities from April 28 to September 24 in an unspecified year, though a perpetual calendar indicates that it would have been either 1845, 1851, or 1862. Bixby wrote about teaching, her young scholars, social activities, churchgoing, and fancywork.
Document 569.
Bills and receipts. 1823–78.
15 items.
Evidence suggests that Samuel and William Black were tobacco merchants working in various parts of Fairfield County, Ohio.
Collection documents purchases made by the Blacks. Things they bought include tobacco, magazine subscriptions, real estate, food and beverages, hardware, and dry goods.
Collection 494.
Business papers. 1779–1817.
14 items.
Robert Blackwell was the minister of St. Peter’s Church and Christ Church, both located in Philadelphia. He had been ordained by the Bishop of London and had earlier served as a missionary in Gloucester County, New Jersey. During the Revolutionary War, Blackwell served as a chaplain for the military, and he worked as a surgeon at Valley Forge.
Collection includes Blackwell family personal and business papers, including receipts, a will, promissory notes, descriptions of real estate properties, and a notebook detailing investments.
Finding aid and name index available.
Other Blackwell family papers located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Collection 385.
Sketchbook. 1885–86.
34 p.: ill. (some col.); 13 x 20 cm.
Nothing is known about Anna Blair beyond what her sketchbook reveals. Most of her drawings depict landscapes or views of historic buildings. Two drawings, both dated 1885, portray Egg Harbor and Beach Harbor, New Jersey. The remaining sketches document a trip Anna apparently took in 1886 to the Middle East and Europe, where she visited the Holy Land, Cyprus, a small island near Crete, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany. Artwork is in pencil or watercolor.
Document 1026.
Workbook. Ca. 1880–1900.
47 p.: ill.; 22 cm.
Gertie Blair was learning to sew when she kept this volume. The number “18” is written near her name and may indicate her age.
Includes seventeen sets of directions for specific sewing projects, including hemming, making folds at corners, preparing seams, making button holes, darning stockings, etc. Blair wrote her directions on the left page and included a finished product on the right.
Document 548.
Grande revue passée par S. M. l’Empereur Napoleon III.
31 p.: col. ill.; 23 cm.
Consists of a hand-colored lithographic panorama depicting what appears to be a parade of French soldiers during the government of Napoleon III. A full range of soldiers is present: infantry, cavalry, lancers, military engineers, music regiment, officers, etc. Captioned in French.
Document 351.
Letter book. 1828–29.
130 leaves; 33 cm.
Joshua A. Blake lived at Winthrop Place, Boston, and was a merchant working out of 19 Central Wharf.
Contains copies of Blake’s business correspondence on his shipping and importing activities. Most of his ventures seem to have been in the Mediterranean, Italy, and Greece in particular. The letters include orders to captains, inquiries concerning insurance, directions for cargo shipment, and instructions regarding financial arrangements and quarantines.
Document 111.
Account book. 1786–1800.
470 p.; 39 cm.
Philip Blake was a blacksmith in Wrentham, Massachusetts.
Such activities as mending chaise bodies; shoeing horses and oxen; fixing wheels, plates, teapots, and chains; rimming kettles and buckets; and crafting horse collars, hooks, hoes, nails, and andirons are all recorded in this manuscript.
Folio 180.
Account books. 1789–1822.
2 vols.; 40 cm.
Ziba or Zeba Blakslee was a silversmith, goldsmith, and jeweler in Newtown, Connecticut.
One volume is a ledger kept from 1789 to 1822, and the other volume is a daybook used between 1790 and 1794. The manuscripts describe the full range of activities of a rural silversmith and jeweler, including crafting and mending items, silvering coffins, and working on harness buckles.
Name index available.
Folio 157.
Cookbook. Ca. 1870–90.
48 p.; 34 cm.
Elnora Blanchard, a resident of Cincinnati, included both handwritten recipes and clippings of recipes in this book. Most were for confections and sweets. She also included clippings about historical figures and poems.
Document 662.
The self-taught penman; or, everyman his own writing master, improved by M. S. Blocher, author, proprietor, and publisher. 1834.
23 leaves: ill.; 26 cm.
This penmanship workbook, once owned by Robert May, a resident of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, contains instructions in typeface as well as manuscript examples of handwriting. Examples to be copied include strokes, letters, words, sentences, brief letters, and financial documents.
Document 1075.
Album souvenir. 1875–87.
35 leaves: ill.; 22 cm.
Volume, published in New York City, by John Ghegan, contains twenty-eight inscriptions of friendship, some done calligraphically, and seven lithographs. Most inscriptions are from Clarksburg, West Virginia, although New York, Philadelphia, and Atlanta also appear.
Document 35.
Account book. 1787–1807.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
Blodget & Gilman were Boston merchants who apparently specialized in textiles.
Entries state the customer’s name and note item or items purchased and the cost. In addition to various textiles, a wide range of domestic products is represented. Blodget & Gilman did much business with merchants in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, London, and other cities. After page 148, the style of the entries changes. Transactions with spinners, weavers, tailors, painters, and blacksmiths are recorded.
Document 556.
Copybooks. Ca. 1850.
4 vols. 21 cm.
Edmund N. Blood was a student in Pepperell, Massachusetts, when these volumes were kept.
Copybooks contain writing exercises by Blood when he was a student. All four have covers with engraved illustrations, advertisements, or multiplication tables on them.
Document 810.
Papers. 1751–1963.
Approx. 300 items.
Bernard M. Bloomfield lived in Philadelphia.
Papers consist of legal documents, marriage and birth certificates, bills, and letters from Philadelphia, England, and France. Many refer to Philadelphia merchant Joseph Donath; correspondence and research materials collected by Maurice Brix on American silversmithing; and clippings, photographs, and research notes on American silver objects.
Finding aid available.
Collection 293.
Account book. 1811–18.
1 microfilm reel.
Elisha Blossom Jr. was a merchant and furnituremaker in New York City and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Account book contains debit and credit accounts for Blossom’s business as well as references to his personal affairs. In addition to making and repairing furniture, he sold hardware.
Original manuscript at the New-York Historical Society.
Microfilm M2050.2.
Records. 1833–71.
1 microfilm reel.
Sherman Boardman, Thomas Danforth Boardman, and Lucius Hart were pewterers working in New York City.
Records include letters and accounts kept by the Boardmans and Lucius Hart’s account book.
Original manuscripts located at the Connecticut State Library.
Microfilm M740.
Daybook. 1815–40.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
Andrew Bock ran a general store in McKeansburg, Pennsylvania.
In addition to twenty-five years of business records, this manuscript contains a list of items in his general store under the heading “Account of sales of goods at auction, Andrew Bock and Jonathan Yost, assignees.”
Much of the manuscript is in German, suggesting a connection to the Pennsylvania German community.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 649.
Notebook. 1812, 1828–34.
67 p.; 21 cm.
William Keys Bond resided in Litchfield, Connecticut, and was associated with the Litchfield Law School.
Notebook contains a list of students at Litchfield Law School from March 17, 1811, to June 6, 1812, the text of “Of admitting parole-evidence to explain devises, synopses of the subject prepared by Judge Reeve for his students,” and sermons copied into the book by Lucy Bond.
Document 676.
129 items: ill.
Illustrations in this collection were torn from various novels published from 1779 to 1799, including Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver’s Travels, Don Quixote, and Arabian Nights. Most illustrations were issued by Harrison & Co., a London firm. The illustrations show late eighteenth-century English costume and room interiors.
Collection 461.
1 box.
Includes many American and some English bookplates. Mottoes printed on the plates are generally written in Latin, though a few are in English. Engravers and artists represented include Nathaniel Hurd, Henry Dawkins, Peter Rushton Maverick, Joseph Callender, Amos Doolittle, Paul Revere, etc.
List of owners, artists, styles, and approximate dates available.
Collection 51.
Entry 260. Bookplates identify the owners of books and frequently feature vignettes. Francis Hopkinson’s bookplate shows a design inspired by heraldry, having been engraved by H. Dawkins, ca. 1770.
Cookbook. Ca. 1873.
1 vol.; 22 cm.
Contains recipes for a variety of foods and for medical and household mixtures. Recipes are written in a printed blank book called The Manuscript Receipt Book and Household Treasury, third edition, published by Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger in Philadelphia in 1870. Volume includes running chapter heads and engraved headpieces for each chapter.
Document 191.
Receipt book. 1787–94.
1 microfilm reel.
This Boston manufactory engaged in the production of glassware.
Contains receipts relating to glass production generated during the first years of the company’s existence.
Original manuscript located at the Boston Athenaeum.
Microfilm M297.
Cyphering book. Ca. 1800.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
In this volume Jacob Boughman, a resident of Wilmington, Delaware, recorded exercises in geometry, trigonometry, and navigation. The section on navigation features an illustration of a mariner’s compass; a diagram showing geographic terms, circles, and zones; and a section on Mercator’s sailing.
Document 690.
Photographs and drawings of furniture. Ca. 1869–1900.
230 items: ill.
Consists of photographs, books of photos, illustrated cards, trade cards, advertisements, and drawings depicting many kinds of furniture made during the later decades of the nineteenth century. Prices and ordering information are often present. Most firms represented were from the Midwest. The drawings both complement and duplicate the photos and feature furniture decoration.
Name index available.
Printed material transferred to the Printed Books and Periodicals Collection.
Collection 250.
Account book. 1775–79.
12 p.; 19 cm.
Nathan Bowen was a furnituremaker from Marblehead, Massachusetts. His father was Edward Bowen.
Entries record Bowen’s business and personal expenses. He made such items as cases of drawers, coffins, bookcases, and candle stands. Bowen also crafted desks and cases of drawers with “swelled” fronts.
Document 1079.
Daybooks. 1828–54.
8 vols.; 40 cm.
George Bowman was a blacksmith working in Fairfield, Caldwell, and other locales in Essex County, New Jersey.
Volumes include records of such work as making and repairing chains, wagon parts, hinges, barrel hoops, horseshoes, coffee mills, and plows.
Another daybook kept by George Bowman from 1854 to 1879 is located in the Special Collections Department of Rutgers University Library.
Collection 80.
Diary. 1860–62.
188 p.; 22 cm.
John G. Bowen lived in Bangor, Maine, sold insurance, served as postmaster, and worked in a theater. He was probably in his sixties or seventies when he wrote this diary.
Manuscript reflects Bowen’s domestic and social life, recording some purchases for and work on his home, church activities, holiday celebrations, attendance at special local events, and political occurrences from Lincoln’s election to the beginnings of the Civil War. Bowen writes little about his wife and takes credit for performing many domestic tasks customarily regarded as women’s work.
Document 427.
Views about Philadelphia. 1840.
20 p.: col. ill.; 30 cm.
John T. Bowen was an artist and lithographer. He relocated to New York City from London in 1834. He then moved to Philadelphia in 1839. Bowen’s wife, Lavinia, was a colorist, and she carried on his business after his death.
Volume includes twenty hand-colored lithographs showing scenes in Philadelphia and the vicinity, including such sites as the Merchants Exchange, Fairmount, Moyamensing Prison, the Alms House, Laurel Hill Cemetery, etc.
Document 611.
Manuscript work book. Ca. 1835–38.
70 leaves: ill.; 33 cm.
Richard Holme Bowman was a furnituremaker, probably from Edinburgh, Scotland.
Manuscript consists primarily of pencil, ink, and wash drawings of furniture parts and ornamental engravings, featuring floral decorations, finials, a mechanism for opening the leaves of a table, details of an escutcheon, etc. Pin holes in some drawings suggest that they were copied. Also included are a set of notes on the construction of a table and a two-page account of a period during which Bowman worked for a Joseph Dales in 1837 and 1838.
Document 183.
Ledger. 1746–47.
54 p.; 37 cm.
John Box and Benjamin Austin were the proprietors of a rope yard and warehouse on Long Wharf, Boston. Following a devastating fire that destroyed the concern, Jonathan and Benjamin Austin Jr. took over the business. Listings for the firm in Boston city directories disappear after 1803.
Ledger records business activities relating to a thriving colonial maritime trade. In addition to entries for such products as cordage, cable, spun yarn, and deep sea lines, there are others that reveal that Box & Austin held financial interests in shipping ventures. Seemingly complete cargoes of several ships are listed.
See also entry number 28.
Folio 79.
Records. 1811–47.
1 microfilm reel.
Thomas Boynton was a furnituremaker and ornamental painter in Boston in 1811 and then in Windsor, Vermont, from 1811 to 1847.
Included in these records are ledgers, a daybook, an invoice book, and a purchase and sales book. Entries are for japanning, varnishing, making, repairing, and painting various pieces of furniture.
Original manuscripts in Baker Memorial Library, Dartmouth College.
Microfilm M2647.
Diary. 1881–83.
190 p.; 27 cm.
Gotham Bradbury was born in Chesterville, Maine, and later resided in nearby Farmington. He worked as a farmer for most of his life, though in 1811 he worked as a shipbuilder in Bath, Maine. People called him Captain Bradbury, presumably because of his military service.
Diary entries document the active life of a nonagenarian. Bradbury mended fences, made wooden spoons for cooking, split wood for his heating stove, gardened, and made household repairs. He was an inveterate reader and enjoyed writing letters. Bradbury offered comments about changes he witnessed in society, politics, and medicine and described his first experience with the telephone.
Document 481.
Bills. 1827–44.
90 items.
Rufus B. Bradford lived in Kingston, Massachusetts, and was probably a general merchant.
Bills in the collection are for such items as pots and pans, hat boxes, trunks and trunk locks, and rocking chairs. Most notable, however, are the numerous dry goods mentioned, including gingham, cambric, damask, muslin, flannel, and satin, among others.
Collection 519.
Account book. 1857–64.
38 p.; 16 cm.
A.W. Bradley was a coachbuilder, probably from Middletown, Connecticut.
Volume includes information about the coaches that Bradley built, the prices he charged, and personal financial transactions. Bradley sometimes worked with E. Ward and T. Batterson.
Document 274.
Account book. 1802–15.
135 p.; 37 cm.
Amos Bradley was an East Haven, Connecticut, furnituremaker. He served as a selectman and was a state representative. One of his sons, Elijah, worked as a furnituremaker in Georgia.
Consists of a great number of accounts for the making of chests, looking glass frames, coffins, desks, tables, chairs, side boards, bedsteads, bureaus, etc. Specific information includes the wood used for each individual piece; for example, “one Mahogany pembroak table.” Bradley also repaired and painted furniture.
Index to customers named available.
Folio 2.
The practise of painting. Ca. 1794–1830.
112 p.; 26 cm.
John Bradwell was probably a painter from England. The dedication of the volume indicates that the Earl of Rochford was his patron.
Manuscript contains descriptions of painting techniques with special emphasis on color. Topics include first painting or dead coloring, second painting, third or last painting, painting backgrounds, copying, painting drapery, and painting landscapes.
Document 705.
Journal. 1739–48.
157 p.; 44 cm.
Joseph Brandon and Benjamin Dolbeare were dry-goods merchants from Boston.
Manuscript records a decade of dry goods retailing, including sales of looking glasses, lace, ribbon, necklaces, and shears. The partners imported goods from other countries, including furniture from John Stallwood, a London cabinetmaker.
Partial name index available.
Folio 146.
Account book and inventory. 1831–35.
14 leaves; 34 cm.
With a shop at 240 Hudson Street, Benjamin William Branson worked as a chair- and furnituremaker and repairer in New York City.
Account book records Branson’s furnituremaking activities, and the inventory, dated August 29, 1835, indicates what he was working on that day, as well as lists of tools in the shop, hardware on hand, gilding supplies, varnishes, etc. Because of the large number of supplies on hand (66 sets of table legs and 284 chair seats, for example), Branson may have produced furniture in an assembly-line fashion.
Name index available.
Document 1035.
Daybooks. 1794–95, 1803–8.
3 vols.; 40 cm.
Robert Breck and his son, Col. John B. Breck, kept these daybooks to record the activities of their general store in Northampton, Massachusetts. The building in which the Brecks conducted business was originally Northampton’s town hall and courthouse. John was the town’s first postmaster, serving from 1792 to 1797.
Volumes record the daily sales of the store, the entries containing names of customers, items they bought, and prices they paid. The Brecks sold much hardware, dry goods, and cutlery.
Name index for volume 3 available.
Folio 69.
Journal of a voyage from Newport to the East Indies in the Mount Hope. 1802–3.
147 p.; 32 cm.
John M. Breese was probably the captain of the Mount Hope.
Journal records the voyage that Breese made between Newport, Rhode Island, and the Isle of France, now Mauritius, transporting coffee, saltpeter, and flour. He noted information on the details of navigation, encounters with other vessels, repairs to his ship, and progress loading and unloading. Breese also recorded personal thoughts, quotes from authors, essays, poems, and anecdotes.
Document 689.
Papers. 1852–1900.
15 vols.
Zebas Franklin Brett, a resident of Brookline, Massachusetts, was a clothier who worked independently, in a family business, and with Whitten, Burdett & Young (a large Boston clothing wholesaler).
Collection includes thirteen diaries and two volumes containing about 170 letters and more than 650 receipts, bills, and other miscellaneous items. Diary entries are brief, typically including a note about the weather and a few sentences about Brett family activities. As Brett aged, he wrote more about his failing health and time with his family. The letters are of a personal nature; a few describe business concerns.
Collection 280.
Commonplace book. 1830–35.
61 leaves; 23 cm.
When she started keeping this volume, Sarah E. Bridgman lived at 105 Hudson Street, New York City. Entries in the book suggest that she also may have lived in or around Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware, or knew people who did.
Volume contains copies of poetry and prose on a variety of topics, including writings of Lord Byron, Robert Burns, Sir Walter Scott, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. Pressed flowers were inserted toward the end.
Document 10.
Account book. 1823–32.
193 p.; 20 cm.
Josiah Briggs was a turner, furnituremaker, and handyman from the vicinity of Colrain, Massachusetts.
Briggs did such work as shingling, laying floors, mending barrels, making spit boxes, setting glass, hanging gates, turning bed posts and table legs for Colrain furnituremakers, etc. He often received lumber and other products for his labors.
Name index available.
Document 721.
Pattern book. Ca. 1870s.
1 vol.: ill.; 34 cm.
Based in Manchester, England, Briggs & Company claimed to be the inventor of decorative patterns that could be transferred from paper to fabric using a warm iron.
Volume contains patent transfer papers with designs for embroidery, mantel borders, doilies, a village scene designed by Kate Greenaway, etc. Numbers assigned to the papers correspond to numbers in the firm’s trade catalogues, two of which are in the Printed Books and Periodicals Collection.
Folio 109.
Album of engravings.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 23 x 29 cm.
Volume has engravings of the Centennial Exhibition and views of United States cities. Views of the Centennial are all exteriors and were executed by L. Aubrun. Handwritten text at the beginning of the album records the Brinckle family’s visit to the exhibition.
Document 912.
Household accounts. 1818–33.
2 vols.; 40 cm.
Joseph Bringhurst lived in Wilmington, Delaware. He owned a drug store and served as a local postmaster.
In addition to listing household purchases made over a fifteen-year period, these volumes document maintenance and repair to the Bringhurst family house, including chimney repair and the mending of a garden fence.
Folio 261.
Bills and receipts. 1857–85.
10 items.
George P. Brinley Sr. and George P. Brinley Jr. both lived on Asylum Street in Hartford, Connecticut. It is unclear which one assembled this collection.
Bills and receipts document purchases and repairs made by Brinley. He bought such goods as books, a washstand, and candy and had repairs done to his boots, watch, clock, etc. An outstanding bill from a dentist is also included.
Collection 498.
Estate inventory and account book. 1885–86.
16 p.; 15 cm.
Orpha S. Brinsmade appears to have lived in Connecticut.
Consists of Brinsmade’s estate inventory taken on December 7, 1885, and a record of financial transactions relating to its settlement through August 1886.
Document 227.
Commonplace book. 1826–29.
90 leaves; 20 cm.
“Mary C. Brinton was mother of Clement Stocker Phillips—her youngest son—my father—P. P. P. May 12, 1960. She married Clement Stocker Phillips & their son, my father, was named after him. She must have been romantic.”
Contains copies of poetry and prose on a variety of themes.
Document 9.
Prints from the Cheylesmore collection.
5 microfilm reels.
This collection was assembled by William Meriton Eaton, second Baron of Cheylesmore (1843–1902). Educated at Eaton, he succeeded to peerage in 1891. Eaton bequeathed 10,000 prints to the British Museum.
Items in this collection include mezzotints by British and foreign engravers, portraits of English royalty up to and including Queen Victoria, and historical scenes.
Index to collection on first reel.
Microfilm M2442–M2446.
Lading book. 1790–1805.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
James Brobson, a resident of Wilmington, Delaware, was a merchant.
Consists of printed bills of lading forms completed by Brobson for goods shipped to the West Indies from Wilmington. Names of ships and their captains are noted in each entry.
Document 484.
Ledger. 1837–41, 1846–65.
80 p.; 20 cm.
Zelotes A. Bronson was a woodworker and handyman from Scio, New York.
Manuscript records the kinds of objects Bronson worked on, including furniture, fiddles, brooms, spinning wheels, wheelbarrows, coffins, bobsleds, churns, etc. He also installed doors and window sashes and worked on a number of different conveyances.
Document 318.
Accounts of surveys. 1805–6.
92 p.: ill.; 21 x 14 cm.
Robert Brooke was a surveyor in Philadelphia who worked with William Strickland and Charles Souder.
Volume records Philadelphia-area surveying activities, including textual descriptions and sketches of plot layouts for most of the jobs.
Document 546.
Drawing book. 1861.
1 vol.: ill.; 18 cm.
Mollie J. Brooks lived in Highland Mills, New York.
Drawing book features six sketches. Three show castles, the fourth depicts a colonial house, the fifth shows an outdoor scene, and the sixth shows an African American woman.
Document 1017.
Teeken boek voor Pieter Hendrik Brouwer begonnen 12 February anno 1787. 1787–92.
48 leaves: ill.; 27 cm.
Contains pencil and crayon drawings of head studies, body parts, human figures, animals, flowers, and landscapes. Volume also includes directions in German for obtaining correct proportions when drawing the human head. Brouwer’s drawings bear a strong resemblance to those done by students at Nazareth Hall, Nazareth, Pennsylvania.
Document 44.
Sketchbook and scrapbook. 1880–93.
160 p.: ill.; 45 cm.
A. Page Brown was an architect and furniture designer. He hailed from Ellisbury, New York; graduated from Cornell University; worked as a student draftsman for McKim, Mead & White; and studied in Europe from 1884 to 1885. Brown opened his first office in New York City in 1885 and later opened a second one in San Francisco. Brown developed a regional style of architecture based on California’s Franciscan missions and other Hispanic sources.
Volume includes 160 drawings, most in pencil with a few watercolors, and more than 150 halftone illustrations of furniture and rooms. Many of the halftones are from French sources. Items depicted include desks, benches, chairs, beds, pianos, chandeliers, etc. The bulk of the furniture shown was to be made from oak or mahogany. Some customers are identified.
Folio 67.
Papers. 1877–1907, bulk 1897–99.
1 box: ill. (some col.)
Edith Blake Brown was an artist, interior decorator, and art teacher. A native of Nova Scotia, she attended Acadia Seminary and in 1895 graduated from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Brown taught clay modeling, headed the North Bennet Industrial School of Boston, and became director and designer of the S. E. G. Bowl Shops. Her illustrations appeared in popular magazines of the day.
This collection of approximately 230 items documents the part Brown took in decorating a New York City dwelling. The house, located at 11 East Sixty-first Street and built in 1876, had been purchased by Sir Almeric Hugh Paget and his wife, Pauline Whitney Paget, who engaged McKim, Mead & White to perform the renovation. The firm in turn employed Brown. Nearly one hundred items in these papers document Brown’s contacts with architects and contractors concerning the refurbishment. Other pieces in the collection relate to Brown’s additional artistic endeavors, including a sketchbook that she compiled with her sister, Ethel Isadora Brown.
Finding aid available.
Collection 218.
Papers. 1753–64.
9 items.
Francis Brown was a ship captain from New York City.
Papers consist of a small account book, kept from 1753 to 1758, and miscellaneous accounts that document food and other supplies that Brown purchased for his crews and the operation of the sailing vessels under his command.
Index of personal and ship names available.
Document 947.
Account book. 1845–47, 1876–83.
106 p.; 17 cm.
Hugh A. Brown was a Presbyterian missionary in China. An 1840 graduate of Brown University, he received a Doctorate of Divinity from Harvard College Seminary in 1889.
Book records Reverend Brown’s expenses in China from 1845 to 1847, with occasional references to those of his companions. His costs included payment for Chinese prints and books, furniture, food, printing and binding, and boat trips. Later pages show financial accounts maintained by Brown, his wife, and one of his children some thirty-five years after Brown’s return to the United States.
Document 744.
Letter books. 1864–67.
1 microfilm reel.
J. Willcox Brown was a resident of Richmond, Virginia.
The two manuscripts in this collection contain letters written by Brown to Miss Turner MacFarland and her letters to him. They concern courtship, travel, and daily activities.
Original letter books in private hands at time of filming.
Microfilm M2708.
Account book. 1772–75.
1 vol.; 17 cm.
John Brown was a captain of the schooner Hamden.
Contains accounts for supplies purchased for the Hamden, including hammers, deck nails, buckets, twine, yarn, brooms, and rum. There is also a list of names and amounts paid to each individual.
Document 799.
Account book. 1783–1862, bulk 1786–1849.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
John Brown was a farmer and handyman in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and then Tioga and Berkshire, New York.
Volume includes accounts that document how Brown made his living selling and carting wood, trimming apple trees, plowing, haying, lending his wagon, butchering, framing a barn, making shoes, mending a sleigh, selling various foods, etc. Other accounts record Anna Bond’s weaving activities during the 1780s and 1790s.
Includes partial name index.
Folio 12.
Account book. 1725–86.
1 microfilm reel.
Joseph Brown was a furnituremaker from Newberry, Massachusetts.
Accounts record Brown’s business transactions as a maker of furniture.
Original manuscript located at the Essex Institute.
Microfilm M1527.
Account book. 1707–56.
76 p.; 15 cm.
Samuel Brown was a weaver from Essex County, Massachusetts.
Volume records Brown’s weaving and dressing of flax. Activities of other area craftsmen are noted; they received credit from Brown for work they performed for him. There are frequent references to agricultural work and products.
Document 497.
Account book. 1793–1838.
110 p.; 40 cm.
Samuel Brown worked as a tailor and farmer in Rehoboth, Rhode Island.
Articles of clothing that Brown made included silk gowns, breeches, coats, jackets, and trousers. In addition to his tailoring and farming, Brown boarded several people, including the local school dame. The volume also contains several references to his possessions and chronicles the settlement of Brown’s estate. After Brown died, Peter H. Brown used the manuscript to record his farming activities.
Folio 101.
Store records. 1795–1805, bulk 1795–98.
2 vols.; 34 cm. or smaller.
William Brown ran a general store in East Nantmeal, Pennsylvania.
Records document Brown’s sale of alcohol as well as domestic products and personal goods, including textiles, boots, awls, spurs, scissors, almanacs, and cups and saucers.
Collection 73.
Account book. 1706–16.
1 microfilm reel.
Francis Browne was the captain of a ship that sailed most frequently out of New Haven, Connecticut.
Many kinds of home furnishings, supplies, and personal goods are included in Browne’s records: food, furniture, clothing, lighting equipment, metalware, etc. Credit given and monies paid are also recorded.
Original account book in the Beinecke Library, Yale University.
Microfilm M916.
Account book. 1854–67.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
George A. Brownell worked with George H. Brownell as a carpenter in New Bedford, Massachusetts.
Entries in the account book record the names of customers, the number of hours worked, the nature of the work, and the cost of needed materials. The Brownells performed such activities as building closets, installing windows, framing, laying floors, and making tables and cupboards.
Document 373.
Exercise books. 1840, 1844–46.
2 vols.; 36 cm.
William Brownlee and James Brownlee, undoubtedly a relative, lived in Hemmingford, Quebec.
These two volumes, created by the Brownlees, contain school exercises. Word problems, calculations of weights and measures, simple arithmetic, and handwriting exercises are recorded.
Document 452.
Papers. 1915–83.
237 feet: ill.
G. Edwin Brumbaugh was best known as a restoration architect. He was born in Huntington, Pennsylvania, the son of a one-time state governor, Martin Grove Brumbaugh. He received a B.S. in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania in 1913 and worked as a draftsman for Mellor and Meigs and then for architect Charles Barton Keen. Upon establishing his own firm, Brumbaugh turned from construction to restoration. He took commissions for projects at such well-known Philadelphia-area sites as Valley Forge, Lafayette’s headquarters at Chadds Ford, Independence Hall, Ephrata Cloister, and Carpenter’s Hall. He also did considerable work on private residences. Among the recognitions Brumbaugh received was the National Trust for Historic Preservation Award in 1980.
Papers, organized into eleven series, consist of survey and working drawings, correspondence, photographs, notes for lectures, renderings and mounted sketches, and general office records.
Finding aid available.
Collection 34.
Drawings. 1887–93.
6 items: ill. (some col.)
F. G. S. Bryce was an architect and illustrator. He contributed to the Art Amateur and the Amateur Artist in the 1890s.
Four of the drawings are pen-and-ink room interiors that Bryce did for the Art Amateur; one of the items is entitled “Study of a Country House,” and the other drawing is a watercolor view of a seaside cottage.
Collection 150.
Ledger. 1794–1824.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
After serving an apprenticeship with Michael Krebs that he began at the age of fourteen, John Jacob Bucher worked as a hatter in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He also served as a coroner, justice of the peace, a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and a judge.
Volume records Bucher’s hat sales and mentions various kinds of headwear: wool, felt, castor, rowcum, etc. Some household accounts are also included.
Name index available.
Folio 134.
Account books. 1888–1904.
2 vols.; 36 cm. and smaller.
Julius Bucher was a masonry contractor in and around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Because most of his entries are in phonetic English or German, Bucher was probably either part of the local Pennsylvania German community or an immigrant from Germany.
Accounts record work done constructing, remodeling, and repairing countless residences, schoolhouses, businesses, factories, churches, etc. A meticulous recordkeeper, Bucher kept track of street addresses where he worked, specific types and amounts of work completed, materials used, and costs of labor and supplies. Reuben Morret engaged him for a considerable amount of work.
Document 154.
Excerpts from memoirs. 1791–1841.
1 microfilm reel.
Charles N. Buck was a merchant from Philadelphia.
These excerpts contain records of commercial life in Philadelphia and document the trading of cotton, linen, tobacco, sugar, rice, and other commodities between the United States and Germany. Excerpts also relate the political and commercial conditions of the period.
Finding aid available.
Original manuscript in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M2579.
Daybook. 1853–61.
258 p.; 41 cm.
Bugbee & Tirrell made paper in Bonds Village, Massachusetts.
Records the making of paper for a variety of uses, ranging from home decoration to wrapping. One of the manuscript’s pages contains an inventory of stock, listing different types of paper available.
Folio 173.
Letters. 1959–80.
10 items.
Kathryn C. Buhler was a curator in the Department of Decorative Arts of Europe and America, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, who wrote extensively about American silver and silver marks.
Letters concern the study of American and English silver and include information on Hester Bateman, Henry Brown Guest, and Nathanael Greene.
Collection 178.
Account books. 1800–1817.
2 vols.; 32 cm.
Joseph Bulkeley worked as a shoemaker in Littleton, Massachusetts.
In addition to recording shoemaking activities, books mention a number of agricultural activities and products from a cider mill.
Name index at front of volume.
Name index in typescript form also available.
Document 948.
Account book. 1841–60.
1 vol.; 38 cm.
A. C. Bullard was a watchmaker in Pomfret, Vermont.
Volume records Bullard’s work cleaning, repairing, and mending watches. At the end of the manuscript are verses of poetry, perhaps written by Bullard’s children, and designs for embroidery.
Folio 100.
Notebook. 1898.
1 vol.; 11 cm.
Mary Hawthorne Bunker resided in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts.
Contains helpful household recipes and instructions. Activities mentioned include caning chairs, preserving leather, caring for upholstery, gilding frames, etc. There are directions for making inks, shoe and boot polishes, leather cement, etc.
Document 963.
Illuminated music book. 1823.
11 leaves: ill. (some col.); 9 x 17 cm.
Isaac Bunsperger was a Mennonite student and probably a resident of Pennsylvania.
Manuscript contains music to sixty-nine hymns. The title page features an illumination depicting flowering plants with a decorative border. Several hymns indicate the psalm or text of origin.
Text in German.
Document 1062.
Account book. 1827–64, bulk 1827–39.
176 leaves; 41 cm.
Lovel Burch operated a textile finishing business in Schuyler, New York.
Manuscript contains accounts for Burch’s activities, including carding, oiling, dressing, and dyeing cloth. It also contains accounts for accommodating boarders, for pasturing animals, for examining teachers for Schuyler, and for foodstuffs.
Name index at front.
Folio 25.
Papers. Ca. 1860–1942.
7 vols.: ill.; 33 cm. or smaller.
Horace R. Burdick was a portrait painter, teacher, art conservator, and writer. He was born in East Killingly, Connecticut, and studied at the Lowell Institute and the school of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. He exhibited his work at the Mechanics Institute and Fanueil Hall and did work for many public buildings in the Boston area. He is best known for portraits in crayon and oil.
Papers include a daybook, kept from 1869 to 1885; diaries covering a number of years between 1914 and 1934; an artist’s notebook containing painting instructions; two original sketches; and photographs of some of Burdick’s work. The diaries reveal much activity as a conservator of paintings.
Collection 157.
Drawing book. Ca. 1840.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 23 cm.
Elizabeth A. Burges was from England.
Volume includes pencil sketches, primarily of buildings and the surrounding landscapes. Featured are barns, cottages, pastures, bridges, castles, shops, and churches.
Document 900.
Diary. 1864–65.
2 vols.; 13 cm.
Frances Burgess lived in Cortland County, New York, and was studying to be a teacher when she began her diary.
Entries document Burgess’s daily routine of domestic work, church attendance, leisure pursuits, and educational activities. She regularly wrote about the Civil War and noted her correspondence and relationship with Albert F. Smith, a soldier who was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864.
Document 480.
Daybook. 1835–45.
55 leaves; 20 cm.
Record of expenses for the schooner Patriot incurred between 1835 and 1837, for the sloop Meteor incurred between 1839 and 1845, and for the brig Massachusetts incurred in 1845, as they were used for trade between New Bedford, Massachusetts, and New Orleans. Among the commodities traded were molasses, sweet potatoes, shingles, and corn. Expenses recorded include wharfage fees, customs fees, pilotage costs, and ship repairs.
Document 66.
Account book. 1826–32.
77 leaves; 32 cm.
Burns was a boot- and shoemaker, probably working in or near Bristol Township, Pennsylvania.
Contains brief accounts with people for whom Burns made or repaired footwear. He recorded many names of family members in addition to the heads of the households for whom he worked.
Document 116.
Drawings. Ca. 1863–76.
1 microfilm reel.
Charles Buschor was a carver whose name first appears in Philadelphia city directories in 1876.
Drawings include depictions of furniture, buildings, and landscapes. There are also newspaper clippings that relate to the Centennial Exhibition, held in Philadelphia in 1876.
Original manuscripts located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M249.
Cyphering book. 1795–1823, bulk 1795–98.
66 p.; 36 cm.
Samuel Bush probably resided in Wilmington, Delaware.
Book contains mathematical exercises, axioms, rules, and problems; notes for what was probably an exercise book in bookkeeping; scrapbook pages showing poetry and a New Year’s address; and the label of stationer J. Wilson, Wilmington, Delaware.
Document 153.
Account book. 1782–1837.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Nathaniel Bushnell was a farmer and storekeeper in Saybrook, Connecticut.
Manuscript records farm and store records kept by Nathaniel Bushnell from 1782 until his death in 1807 and then by his son Elisha until 1836. Also included are records of the settlement of Elisha’s estate in 1837.
Includes partial name index.
Document 762.
Receipt book. 1788–99.
1 vol.; 10 x 19 cm.
Anthony Butler was an agent for John Penn in Philadelphia.
Volume records amounts paid by Butler to various individuals—often on behalf of John Penn—for real estate transactions, legal expenses, printing, taxes, and the upkeep of dwellings.
Document 958.
Diary. 1880–1916, bulk 1880–81.
180 p.; 20 cm.
William C. Butler was an aspiring ornamental sign painter and resident of Philadelphia. Because he received only occasional work at his chosen profession, he worked at his father’s wheelwright shop and much later in furniture factories. His uncle was Thomas Meehan, a noted botanist, horticulturist, and author.
Diary includes Butler’s activities and personal expenses for 1880 and 1881 as he was trying to pursue a career as an ornamental painter. In addition he wrote about a stay in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the summer of 1881 and of his renowned uncle. Manuscript contains a biographical sketch of both of Butler’s parents.
Document 5.
Scrapbook. Ca. 1840–1900.
1 vol.: ill.
The Buzzard family owned a home in Standish, Maine.
Scrapbook includes scraps of wallpaper taken from the Buzzard’s home and some family memorabilia.
Folio 199.
Journal. 1786–99.
67 p.; 21 cm.
Isaac Byington was a farmer originally from Bristol, Connecticut. Because he was expelled from his home as a consequence of unacceptable behavior, he fled from the region and worked for a time in Columbia, South Carolina. He later relocated to Bedford Hills, Virginia.
Manuscript contains a variety of writings, including records of Byington’s personal financial transactions, recipes for varnish and color mixing, copies of letters written to Byington’s father, references to agricultural pursuits, etc. Of particular note are several lists, one of which is an inventory of Byington’s house furnishings.
Document 531.
Cookery book. 1759.
1 microfilm reel.
Elizabeth Byles was the daughter of Philadelphia pewterer Thomas Byles and later became the wife of Philadelphia silversmith William Ball.
Book contains directions for preparing various foods and medicines.
Original manuscript in private hands at time of filming.
Microfilm M2823.
Records. 1869–1998, bulk 1895–1930.
Approx. 3,500 items: ill.
Inspired by the teachings of John Ruskin, Ralph Radcliffe-Whitehead founded the Byrdcliffe Arts and Crafts Colony in Woodstock, New York, in 1901. The colony attracted a number of individuals interested in handcrafting such objects as furniture, rugs, fabric, metalwork, pottery, and paintings. Bolton Brown taught art, Zulma Steele and Edna Walker designed much of the furniture decoration, and Jesse Tarbox Beals photographed activities at Byrdcliffe. By 1909 the site had become a private estate on which Whitehead and his wife, Jane Byrd McCall, raised their two sons, Ralph and Peter. By the late 1920s, before Whitehead and his eldest son died, the Whiteheads talked about selling Byrdcliffe and moving full-time to California, where the family maintained a separate residence. Mrs. Whitehead lived at Byrdcliffe until her death in the 1950s, and Peter remained there until he died in the 1970s. After his passing, Byrdcliffe was owned by one of Mrs. Whitehead’s nephews.
Collection includes letters, records of what was produced at Byrdcliffe, photographs, study prints, drawings, depictions of decorative motifs, the colony’s guest register, arts and crafts periodicals, trade catalogues, books on handicraft, and the card catalogue of Byrdcliffe’s library. Though most of the photographs show Byrdcliffe and its main residence, White Pines, some depict Arcady, the Whitehead’s California residence.
Finding aid available.
Collection 209; Microfilm M3002, M3015.
Entry 335. Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, along with his wife, Jane Byrd McCall, established the Byrdcliffe Arts & Crafts Colony in Woodstock, New York, in 1901.
Records. 1841–1965, bulk 1900–1960.
11 boxes + 8 vols.: ill.
Cyrus Dodge, the founder of the company that bore his name, was born in 1814 in Manchester, Massachusetts. He went into the furniture business in Manchester in 1841 after having served his apprenticeship with John Perry Allen. Early in the history of the firm, Dodge specialized in making mahogany parlor chairs. The firm later concentrated on colonial revival pieces. The business remained in family hands into the 1960s.
Includes photographs and drawings of furniture, account books, memoranda books, financial records, furniture templates, photographs of the company’s workshop, and advertisements produced to promote the sale of the firm’s furniture.
Indexes to five of eight account books available.
Finding aid available.
Photographs of Dodge Company–made furniture in the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection; Dodge’s wooden furniture templates in the Curatorial Division.
Collection 258.
Business records. 1827–88.
156 items.
C. Schrack & Co. was a major manufacturer and distributor of paint, putty, and varnish in Philadelphia. It was established in 1815 by Christian Schrack, a carriage painter and merchant. In 1830 Joseph Stulb, a former apprentice, joined the firm as a partner. By 1850 C. Schrack & Co. offered art supplies as well as colored and plate glass. Christian Schrack died in 1854, and members of the Stulb family maintained the business into the twentieth century. By that time its customer base reached into New England, the Midwest, and the South.
Collection includes bills, orders received, trade cards, price lists, and advertising circulars from competing firms; records of sales and purchases; and an account book.
Name index to account book available.
Other C. Schrack & Co. material located at the Hagley Museum and Library and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Collection 90.
Records. 1895–1971, bulk 1895–1913.
62 vols.
Sloan & Company was a general auction house in Washington, D.C. The firm auctioned private estates, real and personal property, surplus and outdated government equipment, the contents of libraries, and the contents of public buildings (such as stores and hotels) and ran estate auctions known as dead men’s chests sales. Sloan attracted and served many clients from Washington society, including United States senators, authors, diplomats, and businessmen.
Forty-seven of the volumes detail auction sales. Entries include the names of consignors, the items sold, the names of the successful bidders, and the amounts paid. Also included is a scrapbook of clippings and advertisements dating from 1907 to 1912 that show how the firm promoted itself and what was written about it in the local press. Two volumes record the activities of the storage facilities called the Army and Navy Storage Rooms; the remainder deal with office expenses and daily operations.
Collection 92.
Daybook A. 1857–62.
264 p.; 34 cm.
The C. W. and J. F. Hodges store began as a grocery and furniture business in April 1857 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. The business eventually expanded to include the sale of hardware.
Manuscript contains a complete and daily record of the business.
Document 96.
Autograph album. 1877–82.
1 vol.: ill.; 20 x 13 cm.
Lizzie Cadmus was probably a New Jersey resident when she kept this album.
Manuscript includes the signatures of Lizzie’s friends and examples of their artwork. Especially noteworthy is a pencil sketch of a man astride a white horse in front of a castle whose flag bears Lizzie’s initials. Friends also drew flowers, birds, and geometric shapes.
Document 447.
Bank book. 1785–86.
John Cadwalader was a land agent for the Penn family and a soldier during the Revolutionary War who participated in engagements at Princeton and Trenton, New Jersey, and at the battles of Brandywine and Germantown. He also organized militia forces on the eastern shore of Maryland.
Bank book records credits to Cadwalader’s account with the Bank of North America.
Document 303.
Ledger. 1749–60.
1 microfilm reel.
John Cahoone was a furnituremaker and repairer from Newport, Rhode Island.
Manuscript records the activities of Cahoone as a furnituremaker and notes the different methods of payment he accepted.
Original manuscript located at the Newport, Rhode Island, Historical Society.
Microfilm M26.
Recipe book. 1862–72.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
This volume was used by Jewett P. Cain of Rutland, Vermont, and later by Mrs. John Cain of Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The two women recorded recipes for making such foods as hash, cakes, puddings, fruit cake, pies, grape juice, and sauces.
Document 856.
Account books. 1823–47.
2 vols.; 42 cm. or smaller.
William Calder was a pewterer from Rhode Island. He apprenticed with Samuel E. Hamlin and then worked in Philadelphia for about a year. By 1817 Calder had returned to Rhode Island, settled in Providence, and opened his own shop. His career as a pewterer spanned forty years. Calder was a founder of the First Universalist Church of Providence and served as a captain of a local fire company.
Collection includes a ledger and daybook recording Calder’s transactions with customers. Volumes document the kinds of products that Calder made as well as changing consumer tastes in pewterware. He made plates, basins, porringers, pots, tumblers, spoons, ladles, and syringes.
Name index at front of ledger.
Folio 222; Microfilm M848.3.
Sketchbook. Ca. 1920s.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 15 x 23 cm.
E. Mary Caldwell lived in San Diego. Her name is written inside the front cover of the book, suggesting that she owned the volume and perhaps drew the sketches herself.
Includes drawings of birds, ducks, swans, cranes, and water dragons. There are three color scenes of Santa Monica, California, and pencil drawings of Santa Monica villas. There are two illustrations of Guatemalan pottery.
Document 850.
Trade catalogue. Ca. 1873–81.
30 leaves: ill.; 23 x 17 cm
The California Furniture Mfg. Co. operated from 1873 to 1881 on Bust Street, San Francisco.
Catalogue contains photographs of 173 pieces of contemporary furniture that the firm stocked for sale, including hat racks, bookcases, desks, sideboards, tables, bureaus, parlor and bedroom sets, shaving stands, etc.
Document 407.
Diary. 1808–11.
1 microfilm reel.
Eunice Callender was a resident of Boston. Her brother, George, was a literary critic and transcendentalist organizer of Brook Farm.
Diary describes the activities of a young woman of means, including her observations of local and world events and the social affairs of Boston.
An extract describing Callender’s visit to the Shirley, Massachusetts, Shaker village was published in The Shaker Messenger, vol. 15, no. 1 (May 1, 1993).
Original manuscript at the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College.
Microfilm M1420.
1 box.
This artificial (and still open) collection contains examples of decorative hand lettering, including Pennsylvania German work in Fraktur style. Depictions feature flowers, birds, and a swan. Among the manuscripts is a handwritten copy of the Declaration of Independence, hymns, a birth record, a copy of the Lord’s Prayer, and bookmarks.
Finding aid available.
Collection 320.
Exercise book. Ca. 1750.
1 vol.: ill.; 31 cm.
Contains mathematical problems and instructions for solving them. Headings of each of the sections were done in bold black lettering with surrounding ornamentation. Decorative pen work appears throughout the volume.
Includes index.
Document 784.
Ledger. 1782–1804.
1 microfilm reel.
Benjamin Campbell was a silversmith and watchmaker from Unionville, Pennsylvania.
Manuscript records the fabrication and repair of silver and watches. A Campbell family history appears at the beginning of the book.
Volume in private hands at time of microfilming.
Microfilm M246.
Inventories of stock. 1843–45.
1 microfilm reel.
John Campbell worked as a silversmith in Nashville, Tennessee.
Inventories include silver articles that were sold by Campbell.
Microfilm M2709.
Book of poetry. Ca. 1840s.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
Miss A. T. Canby lived in Wilmington, Delaware.
Poetry was written both by and for Canby and copied from published sources. Many poems refer to death, funerals, and mourning customs. One series of poems refers to the death of Canby’s mother and her father’s remarriage.
Document 325.
Account book. 1837–46.
310 p.; 33 cm.
The foundry was located in Canton, Massachusetts, and produced such goods as chain pulleys, steam pipes, stove castings, and furnace doors.
Manuscript documents nine years of the foundry’s activities. Old iron, coal, lumber, and bricks sometimes appear as payments for products. Accounts with Lyman Kinsey, who took in boarders, and Alfred Kinsey, who worked for the foundry, are also contained within the volume.
Folio 105.
Trade catalogue manuscript. 1848–52.
56 leaves: col. ill.; 20 x 25 cm.
Includes brightly colored ink and watercolor designs for Roman Catholic ecclesiastical furnishings, including baldachins, monstrances, sanctuary lamps, candelabra, canopies, garlands, vases, finials, holy water fonts, organ cases, and processional lanterns. Each item is numbered, suggesting that the manuscript is either a collection of original drawings for a projected printed catalogue or a collection of designs of or for a craftsman. Many notations jotted in the margins and on the endpapers of the manuscript are written in Italian. The paper is dated 1832 and watermarked “FINSOU & BLOSSAU, EDENBURG.”
Document 72.
12 items.
Swatchbook contains twelve samples featuring floral-designed woven fabrics of English origin. Each swatch is numbered. The name Henry Lee is written on the card.
Collection 50.
Account book. 1816–26.
176 p.; 38 cm.
David Carleton was a shoemaker from Goshen, New Hampshire.
Manuscript records Carleton’s shoe- and bootmaking activities as well as the odd jobs that he performed. In addition to his main work, he made gloves, straw hats, saddlebags, harnesses, etc., and did farmwork.
Folio 124.
Invoice book. 1821–31.
166 p.; 32 cm.
Richard L. Carne sold hardware and metal goods, such as candlesticks, pots and skillets, Dutch ovens, coffee mills, cow bells, gun screws, and buttons, in Alexandria, Virginia.
Book includes orders placed by Carne for various goods. Though Carne interacted with vendors in Liverpool, England, most of his suppliers were from the United States. His most frequently contacted associates were Richard Norris in Baltimore; the Isabella Furnace in Chester County, Pennsylvania; and Rodger & Brothers in Philadelphia.
Document 867.
Scrapbooks. 1870–1902.
4 vols.: ill. (some col.); 38 cm.
The Carnell family lived in north Philadelphia. Members of the family ran an iron foundry and machine shop and were wholesale grocers. Laura Carnell was a benefactor of Temple University.
Collection includes three volumes of scrapbooks containing clippings. Most articles are religious in nature. The fourth volume contains colorful prints produced during the late nineteenth century. Nineteen images were purchased from the shop of Currier & Ives.
Collection 389.
Exercise book. Ca. 1890s.
84 p.: col. ill.; 20 cm.
Joseph Carns may have lived near Philadelphia.
Manuscript contains exercises in trigonometry and geometry illustrated with hand-colored drawings. At the end are five pages of recipes for desserts and a salad dressing.
Document 173.
Diaries. 1893, 1899–1900.
3 vols.; 17 cm. or smaller.
Frank Chandler Carpenter was an electrician from Foxboro, Massachusetts. He attended local schools through the twelfth grade. He worked for the Foxboro Electric Company, for which he traveled through New England and some southern states. He was a Mason and attended the local Congregational church.
The first diary in the collection concerns Carpenter’s school-related activities and provides an account of his social life and hobbies. The other two diaries document his social life and domestic chores and include his observations on his work as an electrician. Each volume includes a summary of personal expenses, including those associated with travel.
Document 582.
Pass-book with William Garrigues, Jun’r.: tea dealer & grocer. 1832–34.
1 vol.; 15 cm.
Thomas Carpenter lived in Philadelphia.
Volume includes details of Carpenter’s purchases from William Garrigues’s store in 1832, including oil, sugar, tea, soap, and other products. In addition Carpenter recorded his personal accounts receivable records for 1833 and 1834 in the manuscript.
Document 393.
Accounts and inventory. 1815–40.
1 vol.: ill.; 20 cm.
Andrew Henry Carr was a furnituremaker and upholsterer in Southampton, England, from 1811 to 1836. George Carr continued the business after Carr’s departure.
The bulk of this manuscript consists of an inventory of stock taken in November 1839 as well as a room-by-room record of Carr’s home furnishings (he lived above his shop). Accounts relate information relevant to equipping the business, and the illustrations depict plans of Carr’s shop and living quarters.
Document 643.
Account book. 1881–1904.
1 vol.; 35 cm.
James Carr worked as a potter in New York and New Jersey and was associated with the American Pottery Co. from 1844 to 1852, the Swan Hill Pottery from 1852 to 1853, and Morrison & Carr from 1853 to 1888.
Volume contains a daily record of income and expenses for Carr’s business. Most notable are expenses for Carr’s new building at Washington and West Thirteenth Street, New York City.
Folio 63.
Scrapbooks. Ca. 1900–1929.
5 vols.; 26 x 36 cm.
Scrapbooks contain photographs and clippings of descriptions of furniture and decorative objects, including paintings, drawings, frames, needlework, bookends, tapestry, etc. The two volumes of clippings are titled “American and English Furniture” and “French and Viennese Eighteenth Century Furniture and Decorations.”
Collection 346.
Accounts. 1829–34.
5 items; 33 cm.
Charles Carroll was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and a senator from Maryland. He received his early education locally, attended a college in France, and studied law in Paris. When he returned to America he managed his father’s estate in Frederick County, Maryland. In retirement Carroll served on the board of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co. He was among the wealthiest men in the United States at the time of his death.
Accounts record business dealings, chiefly purchases, by Carroll from three different concerns. Work performed on Carroll’s coach, purchases of leather products, and purchases of food and household goods are noted. Some accounts were settled after Carroll’s death.
Document 1008.
Invoice book. 1838–41.
435 p.; 31 cm.
Lucius W. Carroll operated a general store in Webster, Massachusetts. Early entries in the manuscript were maintained by Stockwell & Carroll, which had just bought out Wiswall & Carroll. On March 3, 1841, Lucius W. Carroll became the store’s sole proprietor.
Manuscript contains stock inventories and copies of invoices. The annual inventories, customarily taken in February, list a wide variety of goods in stock: textile fabrics, furniture, food, books, hardware, clothing, and patent medicine.
Document 184.
Invoice book. 1843–45.
116 leaves; 32 cm.
The firm of Carroll & Crosby, located in Norwich, Connecticut, sold paint and art supplies as well as toiletries and drugs.
Manuscript records items purchased wholesale by Carroll & Crosby for later retail sale. Each entry records a date, description and price of goods purchased, and name of the wholesaler. Art supplies include paints, pigments, paper, glass, brushes, palette knives, etc.
Folio 285.
Drawings. Ca. 1900–1940.
13 items: ill. (some col.)
Joseph E. Carson was probably a student when he made these drawings. He lived in Great Falls, New Hampshire.
Consists of pencil, colored pencil, ink, and watercolor drawings of nineteenth-century book illustrations. Depicted are school scenes, a snowball fight, ships, a Texas Ranger, etc.
Document 820.
Autograph collection. 1785–1945, bulk 1814–90.
256 items.
Mrs. Carson was a resident of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, during the period in which she collected these autographs of artists.
Collection includes autographs of American and a few European artists, painters, and architects. Among the most notable signatures included are those of Victor Audubon, Albert Bierstadt, Frederic Church, Thomas Cole, John Singleton Copley, Horatio Greenough, Henry Inman, John Lewis Krimmel, Thomas Sully, and Benjamin West. Some materials included in the collection contain substantive information, including twelve letters detailing Frederic Church’s trip to South America in 1853 and several manuscripts related to Christ Healing the Sick in the Temple, a painting by Benjamin West.
Name index available.
Collection 66.
Account book. 1904–19.
383 p.: ill.; 28 cm.
J. T. Carter was a furnituremaker and dealer from Blackpool, England. He bought and sold second-hand furniture and other household goods, repaired objects, and made new furniture. Sometime between 1913 and 1917, Carter left his profession, moved to Connecticut, and became a minister.
Volume is a daybook and ledger in which Carter described the goods in his inventory. Rough drafts of three of his sermons appear in the middle of the book.
Folio 292.
Card sample collection. Ca. 1880–99.
1 cu. ft. (3 boxes).
James R. Carter and Frederick W. Rice formed their partnership during the early 1870s in Boston.
Collection contains several hundred numbered sample invitation cards, tickets, dance programs, menus, note cards, etc. Materials are mounted on the pages of three sample books.
In addition, there are about 500 samples of different card stocks, each containing its trade name, number of plies or weight, colors available, and sizes obtainable.
Collection 11.
127 p.; 34 cm.
This volume contains a daily record of transactions for an unnamed corsetmaker and includes names of customers, employees, and suppliers as well as information on work performed and items sold. The location of the shop is not known, though a reference to “expenses to New York” eliminates that city.
Document 98.
Account books. 1879–83.
2 vols.; 32 cm.
Edwin C. Castle seems to have been a general merchant who worked in Brooklyn, Ava, and Whitestown, New York.
Manuscripts document the variety of products that Castle sold: silk handkerchiefs, hoop skirts, soap, flour, mahogany furniture, “Jenny Lind gaiters,” etc. An accounting of Castle’s investments is also included.
Document 450.
1 item: col. ill.
Peep show of the castle of Edinburgh, depicting building facades, people inside the buildings engaged in social activities, people walking in the streets, a regiment of soldiers, carriages, etc.
Collection 220.
2 vols.: col. ill.; 27 cm. or smaller.
Includes drawings that were probably produced shortly after the Japanese began to trade with western nations in the 1850s. The first volume includes depictions of enameled and gilded porcelains, such as teawares, tablewares, and reticulated flowerpots as well as screens, fans, and furniture with lacquered panels. The second volume features “satsuma” wares, mostly vases and decorative bowls. Decorations reflect Western taste.
Document 543.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
Lists pamphlets owned by an unnamed person, who may have resided in Philadelphia or one of its surrounding communities. Many works refer to the Quakers, suggesting that the owner may have been a member of the Society of Friends. Dates of the publications range from the 1720s to 1835. Writings are listed alphabetically by title.
Document 923.
1 vol.; 23 cm.
Contains a list of items to be sold at auction from Lady Fagg’s estate. Items are grouped by the room or outbuilding in which they were housed. Prices realized are noted, and a few names of bidders and amounts owed are sometimes recorded.
Document 802.
Daybook. 1833–42.
171 p.; 41 cm.
John Cate lived in Wolfborough, New Hampshire, when he began keeping this daybook.
Volume includes a wide variety of transactions documented as either debits or credits. Services mentioned include clock repair, building appraisal, joinery, framing, plastering, painting, dressmaking, spinning, weaving, hauling, repairing boots and shoes, etc. Other noteworthy items mentioned include carrying someone to a temperance meeting, writing a lease, grinding bark, and auditing town accounts.
Folio 54.
Chess set. 1889.
1 game board + 51 pieces.
Catlin was a manufacturer that patented this chess set, which apparently was designed for use while traveling. The leather board folds in half; one side serves as the game board, and the remaining area serves as a storage space.
Collection 220.
Photograph album. 1876.
1 vol.: ill.; 32 x 27 cm.
Mary L. Catlin, the former owner of this album and the daughter of Edward Lansing and Mary Jane Satterlee, was a resident of Ondaona, New York. She married Capt. Robert Catlin.
Album consists of twenty-five albumen prints depicting the Satterlee house, members of the Satterlee and Catlin families, a mansion belonging to the Yates family, a view of the Hudson River, and a chair made in 1565 by Hugo de Groot.
Includes an index.
Document 575.
Caxton school series. 1892.
50 p.: ill. (some col.); 97 cm.
This item consists of a wooden cabinet with two doors that contains charts and other teaching materials. A full array of subjects is represented, including reading, anatomy, arithmetic, American government, telling time, weights and measures, penmanship, elementary bookkeeping, art, map reading, and letter writing. Many charts are illustrated with images of children and animals. One chart focuses particularly on West Virginia, suggesting that this cabinet may have been customized for that state.
Collection 355.
Sample book. Ca. 1880s.
44 p.: col. ill.; 16 cm.
The Caxton Printing Co. was located in Northford, Connecticut.
Book contains samples of various kinds of cards produced by Caxton, including calling, friendship, remembrance, reward of merit, and business cards. Most cards include a price, and many include illustrations of flowers, outstretched hands, and birds.
Document 403.
Approx. 90 items: ill.
The Centennial Exhibition was held in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the centennial of American independence. Although the event was not a financial success, it nevertheless provided ample evidence of American progress in such areas as education, science, agriculture, industry, and the arts.
Collection includes photographs, stereo cards, lithographs, advertising materials, maps, and other memorabilia of the Centennial Exhibition. Some collection items relate to pre-fair publicity. Collection also includes a set of jigsaw puzzles that, when assembled, show five buildings on the fair grounds.
Finding aid available.
Collection 259.
57 items: ill. (some col.)
This artificial (and still open) collection contains printed certificates, including examples of birth and death, membership, commission, and school graduation certificates. Most are fairly large, and many are in color. Of particular note are birth and baptismal certificates from the Pennsylvania German area of south central Pennsylvania.
Includes index.
Collection 301.
Memo book. 1800–1809.
42 p.; 15 cm.
Joseph Chadbourn was a scrivener.
The first half of the manuscript contains accounts for letters and documents written by Chadbourn for others from 1800 to 1804. The second half contains entries relating to purchases of household and personal commodities.
Document 3.
Daybook. 1827–30.
424 p.; 41 cm.
David Chambers operated a general store in Newlin, Pennsylvania.
Chambers sold a vast array of merchandise but seems to have specialized in ceramics, fabrics, and sewing supplies.
Folio 136.
Papers. 1930–67.
Approx. 160 items: ill.
Eunice Chambers was a dealer and collector of American art who lived in Hartsville, South Carolina, from the 1930s to the 1960s. She considered herself a specialist in the works of S. F. B. Morse.
Prominent among this collection of papers is correspondence relating to early American portraits that Chambers acquired and sold. She often approached private collectors, asking if they would be willing to sell what they owned. Chambers thoroughly researched the provenances of paintings and the lives of the sitters, and she managed to attribute several unidentified works.
Finding aid available.
Collection 451.
Sketchbook. Ca. 1880s.
37 leaves: ill.; 25 x 38 cm.
Robert William Chambers was an illustrator and novelist. He attended the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute and then studied at the Art Students League, where Charles Dana Gibson befriended him. Chambers traveled to Paris in 1886 and attended the Académie Julian. He returned to America in 1893, settled in New York, and opened his own studio. He soon became known for his illustrations in Life, Vogue, and other magazines. Chambers also wrote novels. Over the course of his career, he produced seventy-two books, numerous short stories, a drama, and two librettos.
Sketchbook contains portraits and drawings of sailing vessels, river scenes, butterflies, a train, some soldiers, etc. Most are in pencil; two are in black ink.
Cover title: Original drawings by Robert W. Chambers.
Folio 242.
Memorabilia. 1793–1855.
1 box.
Elizabeth M. Chandler lived in Philadelphia.
Chandler’s box contains poetry, bills for drawing instruction, reward of merit cards, calling cards, pencil sketches of rural scenes, silhouettes, letters, a tintype, jewelry, sewing equipment, etc.
Collection 168.
Sketchbooks. 1868–69.
3 vols.: ill.
Francis Ward Chandler was an architect trained at the Ecole des beaux-arts in Paris. He worked in Boston with Edward Clark Cabot and later earned an academic appointment to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he eventually became head of the Department of Architecture. Chandler was a member of the Boston Society of Architects and served as the architectural advisor to Boston’s mayor from 1896 to 1900.
Sketchbooks contain 120 pencil drawings of buildings and architectural ornament done while Chandler studied in Paris. Many Gothic-style structures are represented, and several dwellings were under construction when Chandler drew them. Depictions of ornament include wrought-iron finials, stone and wood carvings, inlay, moldings, pilasters, and columns.
Collection 208.
Business records. 1827–28, 1843–67.
4 vols.
Joseph Chandler operated a tavern and general store in Belgrade, Maine.
Includes two daybooks, covering the periods 1827–28 and 1855–60, and two ledgers dating from 1843 to 1867. The earlier volumes record activities associated with the management of both a tavern and store. The later volumes reveal that Chandler eventually stopped selling liquor and, instead, carried a wider variety of domestic products. Chandler was sometimes paid in goods that he then sold.
Collection 180.
Account book. 1814–26.
164 p.; 16 cm.
Lewis Chandler Jr. lived in Bernardston, Massachusetts.
Manuscript records Chandler’s personal expenses and his service as a day laborer.
Name index available.
Document 542.
Account book. 1782–1812.
1 vol.; 41 cm.
Phineas Chapin of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the proprietor of a lumber and saw mill and a partner in the firm of Chapin, Day & Ely.
Account book refers to transactions associated with the maintenance of a sawmill as well as information regarding the sale of gin, rum, and other beverages, suggesting that Chapin may have operated a tavern or still. The last page of the manuscript records the births of Chapin’s children.
Name index available.
Folio 128.
Account book. 1817–30.
156 p.; 33 cm.
Samuel Chapin was a furnituremaker from Marlboro, Massachusetts.
Book records Chapin’s activities making and repairing a wide variety of furniture: writing desks, kitchen tables, washstands, beds, stands, etc.
Name index available.
Document 757.
Letters. 1790–1855.
31 items; 34 cm.
Bethesda Chapin, a widow, lived in West Springfield, Massachusetts. She had three sons and five daughters.
Letters, both to and from family members, contain personal information, religious sentiments, news of family illnesses, etc.
Collection 457.
Illuminated manuscript. 1808.
4 leaves; 17 cm.
Includes four drawings and poems associated with each. The first depicts Adam and Eve with a mermaid; the second shows a lion, a bird, and a creature that is half beast and half fowl; and the third and fourth tell the story of a man in search of gold. Drawings were executed in pen and ink with some yellow coloring. They are probably of Pennsylvania German origin.
Document 765.
Papers. 1875–1921.
6 cu. ft.
Samuel Chapman was a native of Manchester, England. He immigrated to America in 1865 with his family and later found work in local shipyards and as a furnituremaker and woodworker. Chapman eventually united with financier C. M. Tyler to form the Tyler-Chapman Company, an interior woodworking concern that would become known for its designs of elevator cabs and ornamental interior woodwork.
Papers consist of watercolor and ink drawings of mantels, furniture forms, wood panels of elevator cabs; photographs of interiors; and various art design periodicals.
Finding aid available.
Collection 98; Microfilm M3016.
Registry of Chase’s picture gallery. 1857–58.
44 p.; 20 cm.
Darius Chase was an artist and restorer of oil paintings. A native of Massachusetts, he worked in Boston as a restorer from 1844 to 1848. In 1851 he was living in Philadelphia. Some time during the 1850s, he moved to Charleston, South Carolina, where he ran a gallery and worked as a restorer.
Volume includes a list of people who visited Chase’s gallery and a list of artists whose works he presumably exhibited. Also included are remarks that Chase made on the techniques of painting restoration.
Document 364.
Letter book. 1874–78.
221 leaves; 28 cm.
Erastus B. Chase of Brooklyn, New York, was a ship’s captain; a general agent of the Ellis Patent Gas Burner, Regulator, & Shade Combined; an associate with an interest in a mirror and picture frame business; and a notary public.
Book includes copies of Chase’s letters from various ports of call from his service as a general agent for the gas-lighting firm as well as others of a personal nature.
Name index available.
Document 76.
Recipe book. Ca. 1880s.
73 p.; 15 cm.
Hattie N. Chase lived in Exeter, New Hampshire.
Volume includes handwritten cooking recipes and newspaper clippings discussing household hints.
Document 358.
Diary. 1836–38.
78 p.; 21 cm.
Nicholas Cheesbrough was a native of Stonington, Connecticut, who worked as a clerk at two different New Haven dry-goods stores.
The first nine pages of this volume contain records of a debating society called Clerk’s Lyceum. Cheesbrough obtained the volume after members voted it out of existence. Cheesbrough’s entries refer to his clerking activities, his customers, politics, debate topics, churches attended, and a report on a major fire in New Haven in August 1837.
Document 143.
Ledger and daybooks. 1799–1846.
1 microfilm reel.
Silas Ellis Cheney was principally a furnituremaker from Litchfield, Connecticut.
Manuscripts document Cheney’s activities as a furniture- and carriagemaker, ornamental painter, and house builder. Store accounts regarding purchases of dry goods, groceries, etc., are also part of the collection.
Original manuscripts at the Litchfield Historical Society.
Microfilm M2638.
Records. 1930–51.
2 boxes.
The Chestertown House Corporation was a nonprofit organization established in New York on March 12, 1930, to further benevolent causes; to promote science, literature, art, history, and other areas of knowledge; and to maintain and administer real and personal property for museums. Administrative offices were in New York City, and meetings took place at the law offices of Milbank, Hope, and Webb in Manhattan.
Records consist of the certificate of incorporation, bylaws, minute books, and annual meeting notices. The 1930 incorporation papers document Henry Francis du Pont’s intention to establish Chestertown House (his residence in Southampton, New York) as a museum.
Finding aid available.
Archives 7.
Album. 1824–34.
28 p.; 20 cm.
Almira Chickering attended Framingham Academy and probably completed her studies there in 1824. By the end of the 1820s, she was married to a man by the name of Scott.
Album contains twenty-five verses written to Almira by her fellow students and friends about friendship, religion, and fond memories.
Document 279.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 52 x 42 cm.
Volume contains eighty-two detailed watercolors drawn by various anonymous artists in a number of Canton, China, workshops. The drawings were part of the trade in Chinese export watercolors for the British market. Depictions include fruit and flowers, fish, birds, Chinese officials and their wives, and scenes of daily life.
Finding aid available.
Collection 111.
5 leaves: col. ill.; 29 cm.
Consists of five pieces of chintz cut for use as fabric samples. Each leaf is labeled with what may have been its price.
Collection 50.
178 p.; 24 cm.
Manuscript was created by an anonymous individual or company from North Staffordshire, England, engaged in the manufacture and decoration of earthenware and china.
Contains a compilation of hundreds of recipes used by such businesses as Spode, Coalport, New Hall, Meigh, Wedgwood, and Caughley. There are a number of other miscellaneous formulas and a letter to John Maddock, later an important figure in the Trenton, New Jersey, pottery industry, laid in. Recipes are for “Greenwood’s Blue Enamel,” “Beautiful Devonshire Brown,” “Egyptian Blk.,” and “Steel Lustre.”
Document 129.
Tattoo pattern book. Ca. 1897.
28 leaves: col. ill.; 12 x 18 cm.
Contains fifty-two drawings in red and blue of standard tattoo motifs: ship anchors, nudes, dancing girls, and Danish and American national emblems. Each also carries a price.
Document 119.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 28 cm.
Scrapbook consists of holiday greeting cards. Although the volume was created by Marcus Ward & Co., cards from other firms, including Louis Prang & Co. and Raphael Tuck & Sons, are included.
Title from cover.
Document 586.
Book review. 1905.
2 items.
Sir Arthur Herbert Church was a professor of chemistry who was interested in English porcelain.
Consists of Church’s six-page handwritten critique of R. L. Hobson’s Catalogue of English Porcelain in the British Museum along with a letter from Hobson to Church thanking him for his positive review.
Document 918.
Scrapbook and letters. 1895–1916.
1 vol. + 1 folder: ill. (some col.)
Artist F. S. Church was known for his depictions of animals and women in sketches, illustrations, and paintings. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, he received his early art training from a local painter named Hartung. In addition to his artistic endeavors, Church worked for the American Express Co. and served as a private in the Union forces during the Civil War. After the war, Church went to New York and studied art with Walter Shirlaw and L. M. Wilmarth. He was active in the National Academy of Design and was a founding member of the Art Students League.
Scrapbook contains magazine articles on Church’s accomplishments, an exhibit program, letters, prints of his works, and original sketches. Letters contain miscellaneous information on Church’s career; two feature original sketches.
Collection 437.
Account book. 1815–26.
176 p.; 20 cm.
James Church made and repaired footwear in Haddam, Massachusetts.
Volume includes accounts relating to Church’s occupation.
Document 203.
50 p.; 20 cm.
Manuscript contains by-laws formed at an annual meeting of the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Society of Friends in Philadelphia. Included are discussions of meeting frequency, attendance, and minute-taking; policies on the appointment of overseers, offenses against the church, and excommunication; and rules of behavior.
Document 1049.
1 box: ill. (some col.)
This artificial (and still open) collection contains printed cigar box labels, printer’s proofs, and color separations for cigar labels. Brand competition and the falling price of color printing led to the production of ornately designed cigar labels. Bold colors, the use of gold and embossing, and odd juxtapositions of images attracted attention to the product.
Finding aid available.
Collection 234.
Drawings of furniture. Ca. 1915–30.
36 leaves: ill. (some col.)
Ciuffo & Ciuffo was a custom furnituremaking firm, located on Thirty-fourth Street, New York City.
Collection includes drawings of various furniture forms. The images depict chests, beds, mirrors, chairs, sofas, desks, etc. Styles vary from Louis XV to early twentieth century. In addition, there is a color chart showing the kinds of finishes offered by the firm. Four customer names and addresses are recorded.
Collection 127; Microfilm M3009.
Photographs of furniture. Ca. 1920.
17 items: ill.
Clair Munson made furniture in Clinton, Iowa.
Photographs show round-top tables, a few of which are identified as lamp stands, and upholstered footstools. On the back of each photo are dimensions and information about how the furniture was made. The photographs are credited to Gilbert Temple.
Collection 160.
Copybook. 1818.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
Twelve-year-old David Clap practiced his writing exercises (letters of the alphabet, phrases, and verses) in this copybook.
Document 831.
Travel diaries. 1831, 1841, 1843.
4 vols.; 17 cm.
David Clapp was a successful Boston printer. He was born in nearby Dorchester and began to work as a tanner in 1813. Beginning in 1822, he apprenticed in John Cotton’s print shop in Boston and in 1831 began his own printing business. Clapp enjoyed memberships in the Massachusetts Charitable Mechanic Association, the New England Historic Genealogical Society, Saint Matthew’s Church, and the Boston Old School Boys Association.
Manuscript travel accounts recount Clapp’s journeys to New York City, Washington, D.C., and Niagara Falls.
Document 597.
Account book. 1809–30.
104 p.; 44 cm.
Nathaniel Clapp was a shoemaker from Rochester, Massachusetts.
Manuscript documents Clapp’s activities as a shoemaker and repairer and reveals that many of his customers paid for his services with produce. Clapp’s executor settled a few of his accounts in 1830.
Includes index of customer names.
Bound with the account book of Micah Haskell; see entry 955.
Folio 107.
Store inventory. 1854.
110 p.; 31 cm.
William Clapp operated a dry-goods store in Boston.
Inventory of goods on hand as of February 1, 1854, includes such products as braids, brushes, mittens, buttons, bonnets, mosquito nets, umbrellas, socks, and ribbon.
Alphabetical index of merchandise appears at front of volume.
Document 290.
Account book. 1802–23, bulk 1802–11.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
Benjamin Clark worked as a joiner in Sandisfield, Massachusetts, and was also involved in farming activities.
Volume records payments Clark received for day labor, including carting, mending tools, framing, plastering, etc. Volume also notes products that he purchased. The last portion of the manuscript relates to the settlement of Clark’s estate by James Clark and, finally, the settlement of James’s estate in the 1820s.
Document 353.
Account book. 1826–53.
144 p.; 19 cm.
Daniel A. Clark was a day laborer in Easton, Massachusetts, who worked as a carpenter. He also worked in a store run by Oliver Ames.
Manuscript records money and goods Clark received for his day-laboring activities. Work that he performed for Oliver Ames is recorded only by the day employed and wage paid.
Document 338.
Account book. 1815–66, bulk 1820–55.
380 p.; 34 cm.
David Clark worked in Franklin, New Hampshire, shoeing horses and making and repairing a variety of metal goods, including axes, sleighs, wagons, plows, drills, etc.
Accounts are extensive, and most note method of payment through exchange of goods and labor. There are nearly 150 names of local residents.
Name index available for names beginning with the letters C–T only.
Document 12.
Diary. 1854, 1877, 1880–81, 1886, 1890.
1 vol.; 26 cm.
Hannah Clark split her residency between Baltimore and the countryside. In 1854 she had been a widow for seven years and may have been residing with her husband’s family.
Diary entries describe Clark’s daily activities and family life, including her attendance at camp meetings, church services, and public lectures; her reading habits; the marriage of a family member; her trips to the country; observations on a fire that damaged a local church; etc.
Document 434.
Daybooks. 1822–24.
2 vols.; 20 cm.
Horace Clark and his associate Erastus Holcomb were blacksmiths in Granby, Connecticut.
Volumes note Clark’s and Holcomb’s blacksmithing activities, including horseshoeing, mending wagon parts, and making metal objects, such as knives, chains, hooks, hinges, bolts, etc.
Document 671.
Account book. 1846–47, 1876.
12 p.; 16 x 20 cm.
James Clark made furniture in Wilmington, Delaware.
Book contains an account between Clark and Samuel Crittenden. Clark made mahogany and cherry furniture (dressing bureaus, trundle beds, low post bedsteads, breakfast tables, bookcases, and dining tables) and coffins for Crittenden.
Document 929.
Invoice book. 1801–8.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
John Innes Clark was a merchant in Providence, Rhode Island.
Book consists of invoices of merchandise imported and exported by Clark to ports around the world. Entries list the names of ships, captains, destinations, consignors, and merchandise shipped. Such products as nankeen, telescopes, watches, wine, earthenware, tea, hide, cotton hose, and printed textiles are mentioned.
Document 714; Microfilm M1532.
Receipt book. 1812–16.
1 vol.; 10 x 17 cm.
Joseph Clark lived in Philadelphia and was involved in printing and/or the sale of printed matter.
Volume contains receipts for purchases that Clark made from various vendors. Most of the entries note dollars paid without further explanation; interspersed are some references to such things as rent, taxes, and expenditures for clothing. Clark’s volume notes purchases of paper by the ream and type from a Lancaster, Pennsylvania, supplier and an order for thirteen hundred pamphlets.
Document 908.
Student notebooks. 1873–77.
3 vols.; 26 cm.
Samuel Clark was a member of Dartmouth College’s class of 1877 and compiled these notebooks in the school’s Chandler Scientific Department.
Volumes contain drawings done as student exercises. The first volume consists of free drawing. The second volume relates to surveying. The third contains isometric drawings.
Document 81.
Schoolbooks. Ca. 1870.
2 vols.; 18 x 22 cm.
Anna Clarke was a student when she used these volumes.
Both volumes, Ellsworth’s Systematically Arranged Copy Books and Spencerian System of Practical Penmanship, were designed to teach handwriting. The books also contain illustrations of such things as school supplies, a sewing machine, and a schoolroom.
Document 959; Document 961.
Account book. 1769–1812.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
Benjamin Clarke was a merchant and brazier from Boston. He graduated from Harvard in 1750 and served in various public capacities. In 1764 he was a member of the Society for Encouraging Trade and Commerce, and in 1768 he signed the merchants nonimportation agreement. At the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Clarke retired to nearby Nantucket and then moved to Norwich, Connecticut; he remained loyal to the Crown. After the war Clarke returned to Boston, where he became Justice of the Peace in 1784 and carried on his business until he died.
Account book notes debits and credits associated with Clarke’s work. He sold a wide variety of merchandise, from sheep shears to sail cloth, but is best known for his brass and metal wares. His business included contacts as far away as Baltimore, and he invested in several venture cargoes. Many of the entries include the occupation of customers.
Folio 247.
Spencerian system of practical penmanship in 12 numbers, four distinct series. 1864.
1 vol.: ill.; 22 x 18 cm.
George H. Clarke was a student in 1870.
Includes Clarke’s handwriting exercises. The front and back covers feature illustrations of school supplies and other items.
Document 962.
Scrapbook and register. 1872–79, 1921–22.
2 vols.: ill.; 26 cm. or smaller.
Thomas B. Clarke resided in New York City. He collected American paintings and Chinese porcelain, served as president of the New York School of Applied Design for six years, and participated in the Union League Club.
Volume one, with a caption title of “A memorandum book, description of a collection of oil paintings,” describes paintings owned by Clarke, paintings he purchased for other collections, trades and sales from his own collection, loans Clarke made to galleries, and Clarke’s porcelain collection. Volume two is a scrapbook relating to exhibitions of early American portraits at the Union League Club.
Collection 315.
Papers. 1901–33.
14 boxes.
Alphonso T. Clearwater was a native of West Point, New York. Educated locally, he received an honorary degree from Rutgers College in 1903 for distinction in public service. Clearwater was admitted to the bar in 1871; served as the District Attorney of Ulster County, New York; and was a judge on the New York Supreme Court and Court of Appeals. He was an avid collector of American silver.
Papers relate to Clearwater’s silver-collecting. Most of the papers are correspondence with dealers, other collectors, and museums, particularly the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Also included are catalogue cards listing items in Clearwater’s collection and some photographs, articles, and pamphlets.
Folder title listing available.
Collection 65.
Clemens’ silent teacher: dissected map of the United States and of each state in counties. 1829.
1 game box: col. ill.
E. J. Clemens, a clergyman, manufactured his game in Clayville, New York.
The game was designed to teach geography of the United States to children. The cover shows a map of the country and depicts children dressed in costume to reflect traditional clothing of various ethnic groups.
Collection 220.
Daybook. 1836–46.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
John Clements made carriages in West Amesbury, Massachusetts.
Includes the daily work of a carriage shop for a decade. Clements repaired carriage bodies and wheels, made seats and other parts for sleds, worked on spokes and harnesses, and sold new carriages.
Document 522.
Papers. Ca. 1940–50.
1 vol.: ill; 30 cm.
Lyman W. Cleveland was an architect and interior designer in Philadelphia specializing in commercial and hotel interiors.
Includes a binder with photographs of building interiors that Cleveland designed, a drawing of a neo-Georgian facade, and clippings relating to Cleveland’s work for hotels.
Document 312.
Drawings. 1824–40.
26 items: col. ill.
An envelope that accompanies these drawings carries the inscription: “Louisa M. Clinton library, granddaughter of Gen. Clinton; her teacher was the art teacher Victoria.” Five of the drawings are signed “by MMM.” Clinton is credited as the artist of these works.
Includes drawings in pen-and-ink and sepia, miniature watercolor portraits, and a miniature landscape. The drawings show details of furniture and furnishings in addition to architectural detail. Scenes reflect an image of a country house in Scotland.
Collection 286.
50 leaves: ill.; 31 x 19 cm.
Item was given to Catherine Hillegas in 1836 by J. W. Gibbs, a Philadelphia merchant. Parke Edwards, a metalsmith who worked in the Philadelphia area during the twentieth century, later acquired it for his personal library.
Consists of fifty pieces of calico fabric, perhaps available through J. W. Gibb’s store.
Collection 50.
Daybook. 1859–70.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
Samuel Cloyd was a woodworker in Orbisonia, Pennsylvania.
Daybook documents Cloyd’s woodworking activities, including constructing, painting, and repairing furniture; lettering and painting signs; framing pictures; staining and varnishing; making coffins; fixing handles; etc. Cloyd purchased most of his supplies from M. Starr & Co.
Document 410.
Account book. 1841–84, bulk 1841–45.
324 p.; 42 cm.
Frederick Coady, a painter who lived in Ogdensburg, New York, maintained at least part of this volume. John Newman and the partnership of Coady & Newman also maintained parts of this book at different times.
Consists of entries relating to the painting of various products: washstands, buggies, wagons, boxes, doors, a “chequer board,” etc.
The volume was used in the 1880s as a scrapbook and recipe book.
Folio 1.
Scrapbook. Ca. 1856.
68 leaves: ill. (some col.); 37 cm.
Inscription at the beginning of the scrapbook reads “E. Clive Coates, Dublin Castle.”
Volume includes pencil drawings (some of which have been watercolored), tracings, and a few printed plates depicting Victorian furniture. Some of the drawings have the embossed seal of “W. C. Marks, Cabinet, Upholstery and Looking Glass Rooms, Dublin.” A drawing of a sofa is signed by James Lindsay and dated March 1856. Printed plates include one published by C. R. Carter of London; another is headed “International Exhibition. Exhibited in Class 30 By.”
Document 16.
Account book. 1824–35.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
George Morrison Coates was a Quaker merchant from Philadelphia. He attended Friends Grammar School in Philadelphia and learned the hardware business from Benjamin Horner. Coates married his mentor’s daughter and then joined his brother-in-law, Joseph P. Horner, in selling hardware. By 1824 he was working as a jobber in the pottery business.
Volume records various kinds of ceramics and glassware purchased and sold by Coates. He acquired most of his merchandise in Philadelphia and New York City, and a few glassworks and potteries are noted as suppliers. The bulk of his sales were to country merchants.
Account book used in preparation of George L. Miller, “George M. Coates: Pottery Merchant of Philadelphia, 1817–31” Winterthur Portfolio, vol. 19, no. 1 (Spring 1984): 37–50.
Coates letter books located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Folio 175.
Silhouette collection. 1800?–1825?
50 leaves: ill.; 18 x 23 cm.
Members of the Coates family—merchants, importers, and doctors—were prominent residents of Philadelphia.
Manuscript volume contains seventy-seven silhouettes mounted on black backgrounds. In addition, there are Scherenschnitten pictures and unmounted silhouettes. Members of the Coates family are depicted. Other depictions include the Hornor, Morrison, Evans, Redman, Randolph, Pickering, Snowden, and Yarnall families. Many of the silhouettes are embossed with the seal of the Peale Museum.
Volume is accompanied by mounted photographs of fifty-five of the silhouettes.
Document 139.
Account book. 1849–50.
7 p.; 42 cm.
Reuben Cobb was a shopkeeper in Lebanon, Maine.
Small volume includes entries for the sale of such items as brass cupboard catches, rosewood knobs, cook stoves, door handles, nails, linseed oil, etc. Covers January through May 1849 and April through May 1850.
Folio 56.
Fabric samples. Ca. 1880s.
4 items.
The Cocheco Manufacturing Company produced printed textiles in Dover, New Hampshire. It evolved from the Dover Cotton Factory, a business that was established in 1812. In 1909 Cocheco became part of the Pacific Mills of Lawrence, Massachusetts. The Dover mill was finally closed in the 1840s. Another firm, Lawrence & Co., was Cocheco’s marketing agent beginning in the 1840s and lasting until 1929, when it was liquidated.
Collection includes four accordion folders that feature twenty-two fabric samples. Three folders have examples of printed cottons, and one has examples of extra-heavy twilled cretonne. Information about the amount of fabric produced and shipping dates is written on the folders. Geometric and floral patterns predominate.
Records of the Cocheco Manufacturing Company located at the Museum of American Textile History, North Andover, Massachusetts.
Collection 50.
A course of instruction in the laboratory and repository exercises, together with observations on military law, brigading, casting, ordnance, etc. Ca. 1820s.
304 p.: ill. (some col.); 21 cm.
J. W. Coddington was probably a student in Woolwich, formerly a naval port located in Kent, England.
Volume includes notes and illustrations in watercolor and pen-and-ink kept for a course in military engineering.
Index of topics and tables in front of volume.
Document 367.
Account book. 1824–27, 1832–34, 1848–50.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
Moses Coddington sold bricks in New York City.
Book lists sales of bricks, who bought them, buildings and sites where the bricks were delivered, and the names of the cart drivers who made the deliveries. At the back of the volume are accounts associated with the estates of Coddington and Jacob Schatzel.
Name index at the front of the volume. Index also available in typescript.
Document 665.
Muster karte von iermesüt, scalli, cettari, und scalagia nach Ostindischer Art.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
Benedict Codecasa was an authorized silk manufacturer from Vienna, Austria.
Consists of twelve panels, each containing twenty-two numbered swatches of colored woven silk and cotton. Includes two of Codecasa’s trade labels that summarize his business and note his address.
Collection 50.
Daybook. 1843–47.
21 p.; 43 cm.
Charles M. Coes was a tailor originally from Kennebunkport, Maine. He was related by marriage to Cyrus Dodge, founder of the C. Dodge Furniture Company.
Volume records the many facets of Coes’s tailoring work. Later entries reveal that Coes had moved his business to Newton Corner, perhaps in Massachusetts.
Folio 147.
Papers. 1876–1957.
5 boxes + 37 folios + 309 photographs: ill. (some col.)
Marian Cruger Coffin was a landscape architect. She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1904 with a degree in fine arts and landscape design. She also studied privately with Guy Lowell, a Boston architect who designed the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. In 1904 Coffin opened her own landscape practice in New York City. Following World War I, architect James Scheiner joined her firm. Coffin received many honors, including election to the American Society of Landscape Architects. She moved her practice to New Haven in the early 1930s and in 1940 wrote Trees and Shrubs for Landscape Effects (New York: C. Scribner’s Sons, 1940).
Papers consist of correspondence, corporate records, planting lists, specifications, drawings, and photos that reflect Coffin’s career and her work, chiefly on the East Coast, for various individuals and organizations. Among her clients were Henry Francis du Pont, New York Botanical Garden, Marshall Field, Frederick Frelinghuysen, and E. F. Hutton. There is also information about Coffin’s own property, Wendover, in Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
Finding aid available.
Archives 5.
Entry 451. Marian Coffin was a landscape architect who was engaged by H. F. du Pont to design much of his garden at Winterthur.
Diaries and letter books. 1808–41.
6 vols.: ill.; 22 cm.
John Stevens Cogdell, a native of Charleston, South Carolina, was admitted to his state’s bar in 1799. One year later, he traveled to Italy, which fueled his interest in drawing and painting. Though Cogdell was unable to subsist on the proceeds of his art, he continued to paint as often as possible. His work was exhibited at the Boston Athenaeum, the National Academy of Design, the Charleston Library Society, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Cogdell was also an active member of his community who served in the South Carolina House of Representatives and as comptroller general of South Carolina. He also served as president of the Bank of South Carolina from 1832 to 1847.
In these manuscripts Cogdell wrote about his experiences in Italy and about artists that he knew or critiqued, including Washington Allston, Gilbert Stuart, Benjamin West, Rembrandt Peale, Jonathan Mason, and Thomas Sully. He frequently went to Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston, where he visited museums and met with fellow artists. Cogdell illustrated scenes that he saw on his trips. Two of the volumes concern Cogdell’s methods of modeling, sculpting, and painting.
Collection 252.
Photograph album. Ca. 1895–1925.
1 vol.; 30 x 18 cm.
Arthur R. Colburn worked as an attorney in Washington, D.C., and lived in nearby Takoma Park, Maryland.
Album contains photographs of both the exterior and interior of the Colburn family dwelling. Interior depictions show room decorations, including two paintings by local artist Helen F. Colburn, perhaps one of Arthur’s sisters.
Document 445.
Copybook. 1837.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
Elizabeth C. Cole, a student, used this volume as her first copybook of composition.
Consists of rules and examples for the use of words and phrases. The front cover features charts on the conversion of English and American money and a multiplication table, all within a decorative border. The back cover contains advertising for Menzies Rayner, the seller of this book, and an illustration showing the earth’s temperature zones.
Document 817.
Letter book. 1871.
90 p.; 21 cm.
Manuscript contains copies of letters that both R. H. Cole and his wife wrote to their children during a trip to Europe. They cover the Coles’ Atlantic crossing and the time they spent in Ireland, England, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. They seem to have been accompanied by another couple. The Coles visited museums, archaeological sites, and churches, and they wrote about their dining experiences. Of particular note is their visit to the studio of artist Hiram Powers in Florence and a photograph of him in his work clothes.
Document 854.
Papers. 1820–48.
4 microfilm reels.
Thomas Cole, a native of England, was a landscape, portrait, and religious painter. A pioneer of the Hudson River School, Cole was a founder of the National Academy. After spending time in Philadelphia, New York City, and Europe, he settled in Catskill, New York.
Papers include notes, sketches, diary notations, poetry, letters, catalogues, and miscellaneous ephemera.
Originals are at the Detroit Institute of Arts and the New York State Library.
Includes a summary of contents.
Microfilm M314, M437–M439.
Account book. 1810–26, 1836–48.
97 p.; 21 cm.
Robert Coleman was an ironmaster in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. A native of Ireland, he came to America in 1764 and settled in Reading, Pennsylvania. He learned ironmaking from Curtis and Peter Grubb and married the daughter of another ironmaker, James Old. Coleman ran the Elizabeth Furnace, which was a chief supplier of cannon and shot to American forces during the Revolutionary War. Coleman was a Federalist and a local officeholder.
Manuscript records miscellaneous accounts kept by Coleman, including wages earned by his domestics, amounts expended for furniture, and what he paid for grain, wood, and bricks for construction work. Separate portions of the manuscript document wages paid to bricklayers for building a house and fees paid to a coachman named James Firman.
Name index available.
Document 572.
British slip ware. 1962.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 44 cm.
Richard Coleman-Smith was a lecturer in art education at the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, and a student of medieval potterymaking techniques.
Text, describing the history of British potterymaking, is accompanied by watercolor illustrations that depict items uncovered during excavations, kilns, and the process of crafting pottery. Coleman-Smith describes various pottery forms, how handles were made, decoration of pottery, ecclesiastical influences on potterymaking, and mechanization.
Includes bibliography.
Folio 112.
17 p.: ill.; 42 cm.
The volume was originally used to record “persons keeping liquor and beer saloons, 1871–72.” It was created by pasting wallpaper samples and clippings of house furnishings onto pages and arranging them to represent seventeen room interiors.
Folio 144.
29 leaves: ill.; 36 cm.
An unnamed person maintained this Victorian album of collage interiors featuring period engravings of furnishings and patterned wallpaper. Laid in the front are unused clippings of furnishings and individuals. The last few pages contain pencil drawings of building exteriors.
Folio 36.
1 vol.: ill (some col.); 39 cm.
Scrapbook contains original drawings, engravings, woodcuts, photographs, cutouts from period publications, wallpaper scraps, and fabric swatches arranged in room layouts. Rooms created include three parlors, four chambers, and a picture gallery, dance hall, sewing room, nursery, kitchen, china closet, music room, etc. A stationer’s label from Salem, Massachusetts, suggests that the album’s compiler was from that town or area.
Folio 288.
Entry 461. A collage album, or scrapbook, containing images of what a room looked like in the mind of a late nineteenth-century young adult interior designer. Ca. 1880s.
31 leaves: ill.; 35 cm.
Includes thirty-one depictions of household scenes that were assembled by arranging clippings from contemporary publications. Women are shown engaged in activities in several parlors and in a kitchen.
Folio 252.
20 leaves: ill.; 32 cm.
A bookseller’s label notes that the album came from Salem, Massachusetts. Another label records its patent date, May 22, 1883.
Volume is a Victorian album containing collage interiors featuring period engravings of American furnishings. Compiler re-created fourteen rooms including parlors, living rooms, a dining room, a music room, and a woman’s workroom. Engravings are embellished with patterned wallpaper, gilt doily strips, tissue paper, and silver foil.
Document 13.
6 items: ill.
Consists of six loose pages depicting scenes in a Victorian home embellished with wallpaper samples and clippings of house furnishings and people. Most rooms look like parlors and show women and children attired formally.
Folio 145.
8 vols.: col. ill.
Chinese export watercolors were painted in the port cities of China for sale to Western customers. Until the mid nineteenth century, merchants usually brought them to the West as souvenirs. Later, the paintings were sold on the popular market. The paintings were done in workshops by batteries of artists using techniques of mass production. The paper that they used was often European, especially from the English firm of J. Whatman. Artists also used Chinese pith paper.
This artificial (and still open) collection includes seven albums of Chinese watercolors on pith paper and one volume on paper produced in part by the Whatman mill. Illustrations show Chinese figures, insects, flowers, birds, fish, etc.
Collection 111.
Autobiographical letter. 1880.
6 p.; 35 cm.
Cuthbert Collingwood was a native of Salem, New Hampshire. With his family, he moved to Boston and attended schools there. He later worked as a merchant.
In this letter, Collingwood reminisces about his childhood in Salem and Boston, describes the trip he took from one town to the other when his family moved, and comments about the impact of the War of 1812 on Boston.
Document 313.
Drawings, furniture, etc. Ca. 1820s.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 34 cm.
C. Collinson’s business was located in London.
Consists of pencil sketches, wash drawings, watercolors, and hand-colored lithographs showing window treatments, furnished dining rooms, room layouts, and individual pieces of furniture. Such items as draperies, bed curtains, upholstered sofas and chairs, hall chairs, screens, and tables are depicted.
Document 602.
Account book. 1763–1816.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
William Collson was a furnituremaker and housebuilder who worked first in Boston and nearby Cambridge and later relocated to Northampton, Massachusetts.
Book records Collson’s woodworking activities: improving the study rooms of several professors, attaching barn doors, mending and framing windows, installing locks, repairing flooring, and building furniture. He made beds, tables, chests, and chairs.
Folio 263; Microfilm M1896.
17 items: col. ill.
Collection consists of plates from miscellaneous toy catalogues from Germany. Chalets, castles, tool chests, sabres, fire trucks, candlesticks, tankards, brass articles, and firearms are illustrated. Some lithographers are recorded, including J. Leopold, Julius Stahlhuth, and Anton Kolb.
Collection 356.
Ledger. 1859–88.
1 microfilm reel.
William Colt made and repaired furniture in Newberry, Pennsylvania.
In addition to recording Colt’s work on furniture, manuscript includes domestic accounts and references to agricultural products.
Original ledger in private hands at time of filming.
Microfilm M1407.
Agent’s sample book. Ca. 1870–90.
24 p.: col. ill.; 18 cm.
Contains forty-two samples of cards: business, calling, greeting, and “joker.” Flowers, birds, and outstretched hands are often incorporated into the designs. Stock numbers and prices are included.
Document 356.
Account book. 1829–65.
1 vol.; 27 cm.
Joseph S. Comings was a sawyer from Cornish, New Hampshire.
Account book records Comings’s sawing activities, noting kinds of wood and the purpose for sawing. Wood products, nails, plows, lamp oil, and domestic goods are all mentioned.
Document 545.
Papers. 1959–65.
4 boxes.
Helen Comstock was born in Kansas City, Missouri, and educated at Washington University, St. Louis, and at the University of California. She began her editorial work on the staff of the International Studio and later worked for Antiques magazine. Comstock wrote numerous articles and books on American art and decoration. She married watercolorist Helmut Siber.
Collection consists mainly of correspondence generated during the course of her research for two books: American Furniture, published in 1962, and The Looking Glass in America, 1700–1825, published in 1968. There are also accompanying photographs of furniture, period rooms, and artwork. Many photographs indicate the name of the institution that provided Comstock with the image.
Collection 44.
Diary. 1867–68.
73 p.: ill.; 20 cm.
Jabez Coney was a resident of Boston. He was affiliated with the Globe Works Foundry, worked as a consulting engineer, and considered himself an inventor.
Volume includes Coney’s ideas for inventions, including improvements for a barrel, elevator, circular saw, steam boiler, railroad tank car, and wagon wheel.
Document 894.
Probate records for the town of Fairfield, Connecticut. 1648–1783.
8 microfilm reels.
Probate inventories listing possessions of Fairfield’s recently deceased residents.
Index available.
Microfilm M2553–M2560.
Probate records for the town of New Haven, Connecticut. 1647–1830.
16 microfilm reels.
Collection includes microfilm of volumes 1–6 of probate inventories listing possessions of recently deceased residents of New Haven.
Index available.
Microfilm M2561–M2576.
1 microfilm reel.
Volume includes tax information for the state of Connecticut covering the period from 1802 to 1821 and for the town of New London, Connecticut, for1821.
Original materials located at the Connecticut Historical Society.
Microfilm M2984.
Copybook. 1852.
32 p.; 20 cm.
Sarah (or Sallie) Ann Conrad was a student in Chester County, Pennsylvania, when she kept this volume.
Contains lecture notes on meteorology, physiology, magnetism, chemistry, and other school subjects. The back cover shows a printed multiplication table.
Document 771.
Accounts. 1794–98.
1 microfilm reel.
William Constable was a wealthy merchant from New York City who lived in London for a time.
Among other records, accounts include a room-by-room inventory of Constable’s residence in London.
List of names and occupations mentioned in accounts available.
Original accounts located in the New York Public Library and noted on page 186 of the library’s Dictionary Catalog of the Manuscript Division, published in 1967 by G. K. Hall.
Microfilm M936.
1 microfilm reel.
Records include constitutions of various working societies and associations in Philadelphia, including coach painters, brickmakers, shipwrights, saddlers, carpenters, bookbinders, etc. They were selected for filming from a larger group of similar records.
Summary of contents available.
Original materials located at the Pennsylvania State Archives.
Microfilm M1901.
Wedding present list. 1908.
1 vol.; 22 cm.
Louise Schoenberger of Chicago married Barret Conway on June 1, 1908.
Volume lists presents given to Louise and Barret Conway when they married. Most gifts were domestic items, such as dinnerware, silver, trays, furniture, etc.
Document 493.
Account book. 1792–1861.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
Nathan Topping Cook was a furnituremaker from Bridgehampton, New York.
Book records Cook’s furnituremaking activities and includes miscellaneous accounts by other family members. Among the furniture Cook made were chairs and beds. He supplemented his income by working on shafts for wagons, bread trays, rolling pins, and rakes. Many of the manuscript’s later entries refer to making and washing shirts.
Folio 245.
Estate records. 1798–1806.
75 p.; 33 cm.
Samuel Cooper was born in Talbot County, Maryland. He studied medicine in Philadelphia and then settled in Easton, Pennsylvania. Cooper eventually returned to Philadelphia, where he practiced medicine until he succumbed to yellow fever in the epidemic of 1798.
Volume includes a full account of the settlement of Cooper’s estate. It also contains remembrances of and orations on Cooper’s life from his fellow physicians, copies of letters and official documents about Cooper, and some of Cooper’s original poetry.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 468.
Album. Ca. 1880–1920.
1 vol.: ill.; 45 x 53 cm.
W. A. Cooper, a resident of New York City, may have been the photographer of the pictures in this album.
Album contains thirty black-and-white photographs of the exterior and interior of a large mansion decorated in ornate Victorian style. The mansion pictured is believed to be Lynnewood Hall, a home in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania.
Folio 44.
Photograph album. Ca. 1902–40.
1 vol.: ill.; 21 x 26 cm.
The Cooper-Austin House is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was originally built in 1657 for John Cooper. Today it is owned and maintained by the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities.
Album contains interior and exterior photographs of the house as well as a brief history of its occupants. Photographs are credited to Halliday Historic Photo Co. Interior shots depict the house in period settings.
Document 916.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
Book contains handwriting exercises in a volume sold by Wm. J. Reynolds & Co., a schoolbook and stationery dealer in Boston. The front cover features an illustration of the Erie Canal, and the back cover features a multiplication table.
Document 818.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
Includes handwriting exercises on the letters of the alphabet, words, phrases, etc. Pictures of children and farm animals illustrate the front cover, and a multiplication table is printed on the back cover.
Document 813.
Account books. 1795–1830.
1 vol. + 1 microfilm reel.
Several members of the Corbit family were involved in the operation of a tannery in Cantwell’s Bridge (now Odessa), Delaware. Established by William in 1767, the tannery was subsequently operated by his son, Pennell, from 1794 to 1820 and then by Pennell’s half-brother, Daniel, a former merchant, from 1820 to 1854.
Collection consists of seven account books—one an original manuscript, the others on microfilm—documenting the Corbit family’s tannery and the estate of Pennell Corbit. Included is an inventory of the tannery. Additional accounts seem to be for a general store run by John Starr and Samuel Thomas.
Name indexes appear in three of the volumes.
Collection 297; Microfilm M321.
Account book. 1784–86.
76 p.; 49 cm.
Cortlandt, Billings & Co. was a firm of New York City merchants.
Volume records products purchased and sold by the firm from 1784 through 1785. In 1786 the volume was used as a daybook and kept by a different hand. Most entries refer to household goods, including a writing desk, a backgammon table, closet locks, silver services, cutlery, children’s books, etc. Clients included members of the Stuyvesant, Ten Broeck, and Schuyler families as well as Alexander Hamilton. Customers who were craftsmen are sometimes identified by trade.
Folio 169.
Recipe book. 1749–50.
19 leaves; 20 cm.
Elizabeth Coultas probably lived in Pennsylvania.
Most of the recipes in this volume are for food or medicine. Included are recipes for making puddings, meatballs, meat dishes, pies, cakes, etc. Coultas also includes directions for fashioning salves, cold syrups, ointments, tooth powder, etc.
Document 1044.
Ledgers. 1760–70.
2 vols.
James Coultras, a resident of Blockley Township, Pennsylvania, was a farmer.
Coultras called his first volume “Daybook and ledger regarding my own concerns begin Jan. 1, 1760.” The second volume contains accounts related to the settlement of his estate. Both consist primarily of accounts related to agricultural pursuits and day laborers that Coultras hired. Volume two was subsequently used by E. W. Thomas, another farmer from Blockley Township, from 1815 to 1822.
Name index at the front of the volume.
Folio 235.
Photographs. Ca. 1890–1920.
17 items: ill.
Frank Cousins, an author and publisher, wrote about historic architecture.
Collection includes an album of photographs of historic buildings in Salem, Massachusetts. Both interior and exterior views are shown. They bear the series title Frank Cousins Bee Hive and were mounted by the Moulton-Erickson Photo Co. Some of the buildings featured include the Beckett house, the Essex Institute, the Old Sun Tavern, the Salem Athenaeum, and the Clifford Crowninshield House.
Photographs were published in The Colonial Architecture of Salem, by Cousins and Phil M. Riley (Boston: Little, Brown, 1919).
Collection 352.
Papers. 1813–16.
5 items.
The Coventry Glass Factory Company made blown-glass products, especially bottle glass and hollowware. Located in Coventry, Connecticut, it was established in 1813 by members of the Root family and four other individuals. The firm remained in existence until at least 1848.
Includes the company’s constitution, an agreement to build and operate a glass manufactory, a deed, a document associated with the appointment of Nathaniel Root Jr. as agent, and a receipt to Root Jr. for five shares in the company.
Account books of the firm located at the Connecticut State Library.
Document 738.
Lectures. 1821.
2 vols.; 23 cm.
Cowdrey’s lectures “On Botany” and “Beauties of Creation” were delivered before the Portsmouth and Portseas Philosophical Society in 1821. The botany talk concentrated on leaves, thorns, seeds, flowers, etc., whereas the creation lecture focused on the planets, the seasons, the atmosphere, birds, and insects.
Document 772.
Diary. 1866–68.
211 p.; 20 cm.
Florence Ashmore was a native of New Orleans. Around 1866 she married Capt. William Cowles, a Confederate soldier and graduate of Randolph Macon College. At the time Cowles kept this diary, she lived with her husband and his relatives in Petersburg, Virginia.
Diary entries primarily describe Cowles’s family life. Newly married, she declared her love for her husband but wrote negatively about her mother-in-law, describing her as ill-humored and highly critical. Cowles chronicled the development of her son, Will Jr., born in 1867, and remarked about other family members. There are, however, no comments about the recently ended Civil War.
Document 432.
Bills. 1854–56.
60 items.
Cowperthwait & Bros. was a general store in Bordentown, New Jersey.
Collection of bills documents the purchase of goods and their transport to the Cowperthwait’s store. Items mentioned include embroidered products, ribbons, brushes, brooms, knives, hammers, hats, soap, stationery, etc. Most shipments originated in Philadelphia or New York City.
Collection 478.
Sketchbook. 1833–36.
20 p.: ill.; 22 x 29 cm.
John Cranch was a portrait painter. A native of Washington, D.C., he was in Italy from 1830 to 1834 and later worked in New York, Cincinnati, and Washington, D.C.
Volume contains portrait studies of men and women in both ink and pencil. Cranch began his book in 1833 in Florence and continued to work on it after returning to the United States.
Document 166.
Account book. 1763–97.
1 vol.; 16 cm.
Robert Crane was a farmer and sawyer in southern Connecticut.
Book includes details associated with sawing planks, boards, and posts as well as drawing logs. Many of the entries have been crossed out, suggesting that accounts had been settled.
Photocopy of original held in private hands.
Document 895.
155 p.; 34 cm.
Kept by an unidentified chinaware merchant in Portland, Maine, this manuscript lists names of sailing vessels, types of items shipped, crate numbers, firms from which chinaware was purchased, and locations where merchandise was stored prior to sale. Mention is made of many kinds of ceramics: graniteware, painted tea sets, lusterware, soup tureens, mugs, jugs, chamber pots, etc. The book was later used as a catalogue of plants and insects “caught and raised” in Portland, Maine.
Document 677.
Papers. 1815–90.
8 boxes.
George Crawford was a merchant in Hudson, New York, who sold textiles, ready-made apparel, foodstuffs, and common household and farm necessities.
Collection consists of account books and business papers documenting Crawford’s purchases of goods from other merchants in advance of his own retailing efforts. Included are many tow boat bills, orders, and promissory notes.
Folder title list and indexes of occupations available.
Collection 47.
Bills. 1868.
11 items.
Orlanda Crease was the head of a committee formed to acquire an organ for St. David’s Church, Philadelphia.
Collection contains material relating to the design and building of St. David’s church organ, an invitation to hear its first performance, and a final report on the installation of the organ.
Document 276.
Receipt book. 1832–62.
118 p.; 16 x 10 cm.
Mary Cresson lived in Philadelphia, probably at 30 Sansom Street.
Volume records Mary Cresson’s household expenses in sporadic entries over a thirty-year period. The majority of entries detail repairs and other work on her house; other entries record purchases of food, wood, newspapers, etc.
Document 485.
Diary. 1883–1903.
2 vols.; 29 cm.
J. B. Crislip was a resident of West Virginia, probably of Braxton or Lewis County. He worked on a farm and from time to time on the railroad.
Consists of brief entries relating to Crislip’s daily activities, especially farm and outdoor work. He also mentions raising his house, repairing a variety of domestic objects, his day trips, and clerking at elections. From 1889 to 1903, Crislip laid and maintained track for the railroad.
Document 158.
Exercise book. 1858.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
Jeremiah Crocker lived in Hartford, Connecticut.
Crocker’s book includes writing exercises and sample letters as well as poems written in fancy script and embellished with decorative scrollwork headings.
Document 672.
Account book. 1835–45.
1 vol.; 22 cm.
William Crocker worked as a painter and paperhanger in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Volume documents Crocker’s work whitewashing, painting, hanging wallpaper, cleaning windows, cutting glass, etc. At the beginning of the manuscript, Crocker lists places he lived and the amount of rent he paid.
Document 674.
Daybook. 1763–71.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
John Crooke was a baker in New York City.
Entries in this daybook record the quantities and types of bread sold by Crooke, including white bread, butter bread, ship’s bread, and hollow bread. He sold in quantities measured in barrels and kegs.
Document 630.
Account book. 1814–21.
92 p.; 34 cm.
Thompson Crowell was a hatmaker and owned a general store in Rahway, New Jersey.
Entries in the account book record hatmaking activities and document the transactions between Crowell and his customers, who in many instances paid Crowell with goods rather than money. Crowell often exchanged items with Adam Lee, who seems to have operated a store as well.
Document 343.
Papers. 1907–48.
1 box.
Francis Boardman Crowninshield attended St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, and graduated from Harvard in 1891. In 1898 he joined Troop K of Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and took part in the Cuban campaign of the Spanish-American War. Crowninshield was interested in painting, architecture, design, and boating. He was a leading yachtsman and took part in America’s effort at winning the King of Spain cup in 1910. Crowninshield married Louise Evelina du Pont.
Papers consist of correspondence and other records that document Crowninshield’s activities in Boca Grande, Florida, and Marblehead, Massachusetts.
Finding aid available.
Archives 6.
Account book. 1793–95.
1 vol.; 18 cm.
Samuel Cumings worked as a merchant in Boston, Massachusetts. He seems to have been involved with a stagecoach line in nearby Leominster as well.
Includes receipts for books sold by David West and E. Larkin to Samuel Cumings and entries related to passengers and fares on a stage line between Leominster and Boston.
Document 661.
Account book. 1826.
24 p.; 20 cm.
Charles Cuningham—in business with Andrew Cuningham Jr. at 13 Rowe’s Wharf, Boston—was a general merchant.
Account book includes an inventory of goods, ready money, and debts owed to and by Cuningham, dated January 1, 1826, as well as a record of ongoing business activity through November 20.
Document 277.
Account book. 1848–67.
1 vol.: ill.; 20 cm.
Charles R. Cunningham lived in Edgecomb, Maine.
Manuscript records Cunningham’s personal and household expenses for twenty years, though 1848, 1859, and 1861 are best represented. Also includes two pencil sketches of a house and its surrounding landscape.
Document 460.
Architectural drawings. 1863.
8 leaves: col. ill.; 34 cm.
Cunningham worked as an architect in Chelsea, Massachusetts.
Cunningham’s thirteen detailed drawings were probably inspired by Andrew Jackson Downing’s work. The drawings show a dwelling, a stable, and a plan for stonework for a block of three houses at the corner of Bellingham and Shurtleff Streets in an unidentified city.
Folio 99.
2 boxes.
This collection contains early paper currency issued by Massachusetts, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, South Carolina, Delaware, Georgia, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, and the Continental Congress.
Index to objects named available.
Collection 67.
Account book. 1846–94.
2 vols.; 39 cm.
Daniel H. Currier made gloves and resided on a farm in Plymouth, New Hampshire.
The first volume documents Currier’s glovemaking activities from 1846 to 1858. He seems to have engaged several individuals to make parts of or entire gloves for him. Though the second volume contains entries related to glovemaking, it focuses on farmwork and produce. A few personal financial accounts and records relating to the settlement of Currier’s estate complete the manuscript.
Name index to volume 2 available.
Folio 114.
Papers. Ca. 1900–1938.
7 boxes.
Ernest S. Currier was a silversmith and collector of silver marks. In 1900, in New York City, he established the silversmithing firm of Currier & Roby, which specialized in reproductions of antique silver. At the time of his death, he was working on a book on American silversmiths, Marks of Early American Silversmiths with Notes on Silver, Spoon Types & List of New York Silversmiths, 1815–1841, that his wife would publish in 1938.
Includes more than 250 glass-plate negatives of silver marks; about 125 depictions of silver hollowware; notes used for the compilation of Marks of Early American Silversmiths … , New York city directory listings for silversmiths, goldsmiths, and jewelers; and a scrapbook containing obituaries of Currier and reviews of his book.
Finding aid available.
Collection 302.
Daybook. 1808–10.
554 p.; 40 cm.
Micajah Currier ran a general store in Berwick, Maine.
Manuscript notes sales and payments made in Currier’s store, sometimes with mention of the occupation of the customer. There is a series of entries relating to the sale of lottery tickets to support the construction of a canal. Volume was later used as a scrapbook.
Folio 152.
Account book. 1817–46.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
True Currier was a furnituremaker, house carpenter, and farmer from Deerfield, New Hampshire. He learned to make furniture from James Prescott.
Volume records a number of Currier’s woodworking activities: crafting chimney boards, framing doors, setting glass, and making a variety of furniture, including beds, chairs, stools, looking glasses, etc. There are references to agricultural pursuits and products.
Name index at front of volume.
Folio 226.
Account book. 1865–66.
178 p.; 41 cm.
W. A. Currier operated a home furnishings store at 14 and 16 Main Street, Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Account book records the activities of a busy retail business for a ten-month period at the end of the Civil War. Currier sold a wide variety of products, ranging from wagons to tin plates, from ice cutters to rope, and from zinc washboards to shoe polish. He also repaired what he sold and noted the occupations of some of his customers.
Folio 111.
Diary and account book. 1857–99.
166 p.; 35 cm.
G. G. Curtiss relocated to Sheffield, Massachusetts, from Wisconsin, where he seems to have been a miller.
Diary covers his time in Wisconsin from May to July of 1857 and his subsequent life in Sheffield. In addition to being involved in milling activities, Curtiss was a bird-watcher, taught Latin, fixed clocks, hunted, and observed geological, natural, and floral phenomena. The account-book part of the volume features accounts of grist, plaster, saw, and lath mills in Harford County, Maryland.
Includes name index.
Document 843.
Account book. 1852–58.
293 p.; 32 cm.
John Dean Cushing was a printer from Salem, Massachusetts. He published a newspaper in his home town and another in Lenox, Massachusetts, before founding the Berkshire Courier, a Whig Party organ, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, in 1834. Cushing’s business burned in the spring of 1839, interrupting his work for a month. During the 1840s, Cushing formed two partnerships and saw the name of his paper change with each. He sold his newspaper to Marcus H. Rogers in 1865.
Book records advertisements in Cushing’s paper along with his other printing activities. He mentions printing meeting announcements, business cards, notices, petitions, handbills, circulars, and the like.
Document 844.
Papers. 1787–1828.
1 box.
Nathaniel Cushing operated an ironworks in Pembroke, Massachusetts, that specialized in making anchors. He was from a fairly large family.
Papers consist of business letters, orders, invoices, bills, receipts, and a few personal letters. The business letters focus on his anchormaking and investments in overseas commerce, trading such products as iron, cotton, yarn, flour, and tobacco.
Cushing’s account books are located in the Manuscript Division of Baker Library, Harvard Business School.
Collection 19.
Account book. 1840–46.
1 vol.; 16 cm.
Salmon Cushman lived in Chittenden County, Vermont.
The bulk of the volume contains a detailed enumeration of the costs associated with building a meetinghouse, including specifications for construction and a list of needed supplies. Also included are a few pages of household accounts spanning from 1841 to 1846.
Document 510.
Personal account book. Ca. 1725.
15 p.; 15 cm.
Gershom Cutter appears to have been a farmer in eighteenth-century Massachusetts.
Book includes references to Cutter’s father and his estate along with other brief miscellaneous accounts.
Document 128.
Family account book. 1848–58.
152 p.; 27 cm.
Charles A. Cutting, a resident of Boston, worked for Thomas Groom & Co., a local stationer.
Consists of daily entries of income and expenses that give a detailed picture of Cutting’s life during the last two and one-half years of his bachelorhood and the early years of his married life. From mundane expenses to such things as his business agreement with Thomas Groom, this book gives an almost diarylike look at the life of a middle-class Bostonian in the years before the Civil War.
Document 144.
Building specifications. 1873.
37 leaves; 25 cm.
Cutting & Holmes was an architectural firm in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Specifications are for building a church for the First Congregational Society in West Meriden, Connecticut. Construction materials, dimensions relating to the structure, and many other specifics are included. Contractual agreements are also featured.
Document 464.
Daybook. 1805–6.
57 p.; 44 cm.
The partnership was a merchant shipping firm in Quebec, Canada, dealing in a variety of goods, chiefly food. Records include lists of purchases made to outfit the brig Recovery.
Volume records debits and credits that were to be transferred to the company’s account books. Paper in volume was made by L. Munn, Kent, England, in 1801, and the manuscript was acquired in London.
Folio 20.
Account book. 1854–56.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
The firm of D. Eggert & Son made nautical instruments in New York City.
Records items sold and repaired, including barometers, compasses, spyglasses, telescopes, quadrants, etc. Names of ships and captains are featured along with charges for work performed.
Document 502.
Bills. 1853–80.
49 items.
D. T. Lanman & Company, later D. T. Lanman & Kemp, and then Lanman & Kemp, was a wholesale drugstore in New York City.
Most of the bills are from various printers and engravers for wrappers and labels. A few stationers and other druggists are also represented.
List of names on bills available.
Collection 89.
Business papers. 1862–89.
1 envelope.
D. T. Sanders and Company appears to have been a general store in Greenville, Maine, near Moosehead Lake. Judging from the orders received, the store served area logging camps and trappers.
Bills were both sent to and issued by the firm. Commodities mentioned include flour, molasses, corn, tobacco, tea, clothing, hardware, snowshoes, hides, footwear, meat, lanterns, and wicks.
Collection 87.
Pattern book of cottons. 1887–1909.
54 p.; 21 cm.
D. & J. Anderson manufactured a wide variety of cotton fabrics in Glasgow, Scotland.
Pattern book consists of hundreds of small swatches of colored cotton fabrics, most measuring about 1 x 5 cm. Identification numbers, weaving information, and dates are written next to the swatches.
Collection 50.
Album. 1869.
1 vol.: ill.; 25 x 16 cm.
This album was kept by an 1869 visitor to Rome who identified herself as Miss Daily. It includes photographs and autographs of American and European sculptors and painters and their work.
Document 536.
Research notes. 1954–78.
1 box: ill.
Francis J. Dallett was a librarian at the Athenaeum, Philadelphia, when he compiled these notes. He later worked at the University of Pennsylvania Archives.
Dallett researched Philadelphia craftsmen, artists, and ship furniture. In particular, Dallett was interested in locating paintings by F. S. G. Melbye and Jacob Pissarro and in researching the cabin of Charlotte Bonaparte on the ship Ruth and Mary.
Collection 181.
Bills and accounts. 1841–43, 1856–60.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Richard Dampman was a merchant in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
Manuscripts are glued into a volume that was once used by a tailor from 1841 to 1843. Dampman seems to have purchased goods in quantity from many Philadelphia merchants to resell in nearby rural Chester County. Noted are such items as tubs, pocketknives, coffee and tea, clothing, alcohol, and groceries.
Document 604.
12 p.; 11 cm.
Consists of descriptions of the steps for two square dances that were probably of English origin.
Document 323.
Account book. 1788–1818.
2 microfilm reels.
Job Danforth worked as a furnituremaker in Providence, Rhode Island.
Manuscript records the furniture that Danforth made and sold, repairs he made, etc.
Original manuscripts located at the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Microfilm M2855, M2857.1.
Papers. 1739–1856, bulk 1809–34.
1 box.
Members of the Danforth family were engaged in the making of pewter and britannia wares from the 1730s to the 1840s. A native of England, Nicholas Danforth (born in 1589) relocated the family to America. His grandson, Thomas (1703–86), became the first Danforth pewterer. Most members of successive generations worked and lived in New England and Philadelphia.
Collection includes two account books kept by Thomas Danforth III (1756–1840) regarding the production of pewter and tin from 1809 to 1835. Also included are family deeds, financial records, and letters.
Photographs of Danforth’s pewter located in the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection at Winterthur. Photocopies of Danforth family estate inventories in the papers of Ledlie I. Laughlin (Collection 58).
See entry 1199.
Finding aid available.
Collection 287.
Account books. 1764–1802.
1 microfilm reel.
Daniel Rea & Son was a Boston firm.
Accounts deal with painting that Rea & Son did, featuring work on houses, signs, buckets, floor coverings, boats, etc.
Name and object lists available.
Manuscripts included in Manuscripts in Baker Library: A Guide to Sources for Business, Economic, and Social History, published in 1978.
See entry 473.
Original account books located at Baker Library, Harvard University. Collection includes eight of the ten volumes there.
Microfilm M254.
Account book. 1808–30.
1 vol.; 39 cm.
Peter Darby was a native of Concord, Massachusetts. He eventually moved to Reading, Vermont, where he operated a sawmill on the Darby River, a body of water named for him.
Manuscript records the activities associated with a sawmill; it documents that Darby often received payment in farm produce. One of the pages, from 1920, provides information about Darby and tells how this volume was passed down through several generations of his family.
Folio 130.
Account book. 1800–1819.
33 leaves: ill.; 33 cm.
Robert Dare was a weaver, and William Thompson was an agricultural laborer.
Dare used this manuscript from 1800 to 1804 to record the names of his customers and money due. From 1816 to 1819, Thompson recorded his work: reaping, mowing, cutting wood, hauling, opening a creek, etc.
Document 1012; Microfilm M97.
Collection. 1849–87.
13 items: ill.
Many observers regard F. O. C. Darley as America’s foremost book and magazine illustrator of the mid nineteenth century. Darley, a native of Philadelphia, was a self-taught artist strongly influenced by French and English artists of his era. During his career, he worked with John Sartain, Thomas Sully, and Edgar Allen Poe, among others. In addition to illustrating stories, Darley displayed his work in many art exhibitions.
Collection includes letters written by Darley regarding his work; sketches, including one for a bank note; an engraving; and a copy of Illustrations of the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, illustrated by Darley for members of the American Art Union in 1849.
Finding aid available.
Collection 242.
Daybook. 1826–33.
272 p.; 33 cm.
Benedict Darlington was a dry-goods merchant from West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Book records sales of ready-to-wear women’s clothing, textiles, and notions. Entries include names of customers, addresses, articles purchased, and prices. Some shoppers were members of prominent local families, including the du Ponts, Mendenhalls, and Pyles.
Document 623.
Papers. 1707–1869.
83 items.
Collection relates to the descendants of Ebenezer Davenport (1661–1852), residents of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The family trade seems to have been weaving, though some Davenports were shoemakers, and James (1796–1852) was a furnituremaker.
The majority of these papers are legal documents—wills, deeds, powers of attorney, contracts, etc.—and estate inventories. One item is a family genealogy that records James (1759–1824) and Esther (dates unavailable).
Finding aid available.
Collection 294.
Account book. 1811–13.
432 p.; 42 cm.
David Ott & Co. was a pharmacy in Washington, D.C.
Manuscript documents sales of drugs and related items as well as a wide range of domestic products, including spectacles, lamp oil, glasses, clothes brushes, packs of cards, artists supplies, etc. Among the firm’s prominent customers were James Madison, Benjamin Henry Latrobe, and Albert Gallatin.
Name index at front of volume.
Folio 181.
Account book. 1877–89.
130 p.; 22 cm.
Eliza P. Davids, the widow of Richard W. Davids, was a resident of Philadelphia and a member of the Episcopalian church. An avid reader, Davids belonged to the Merion Cricket Club and also enjoyed traveling to Europe and Cape May, New Jersey. One of her sons was an engineering student at the University of Pennsylvania.
Manuscript includes a complete record of Eliza David’s household accounts for a period of twelve years. She purchased a number of household commodities and listed the names of people with whom she traded.
Document 206.
Daybook. 1781–83.
1 microfilm reel.
John Davidson was a merchant in Annapolis, Maryland.
Manuscript contains accounts for such items as building and construction materials, animals, clothing, firearms, food, gambling debts, metals, sewing equipment, textiles, tools, etc.
Name and occupation lists available.
Original daybook located at the Baker Library, Harvard University.
Microfilm M1962.
Papers. 1826–77, bulk 1826–54.
150 items: ill.; 1 microfilm reel.
A. J. Davis worked first as a lithographer and then as an architect. He and Ithiel Town designed both public buildings and private dwellings. In 1843 Davis embarked upon a solo career that lasted thirty years. He is best known for his work in the Gothic revival.
Papers include drawings, lithographs, watercolors, photographs, scrapbooks, notebooks, and letters that chart the development of Davis’s career. A microfilm reel lists the books in his library. A significant part of the collection relates to a house that Davis designed for William J. Rotch in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Information is also included on such New York City public buildings as the Merchant’s Exchange, Masonic Hall, Trinity Church, Bowery Theater, etc. Papers also contain floor plans drawn by Bela Hubbard, a Detroit, Michigan, resident.
Collection inventory available.
Collection 114; Microfilm M717.
Records. 1802–13.
5 vols.; 4 microfilm reels.
Outten Davis ran a general store in Cantwell’s Bridge (now Odessa), Delaware, taking over from Gibson & Co., a firm that had been in business since at least November 1802.
Volumes include daily records of purchases made at Davis’s store and the settlement of various estates. Beginning in volume 4, there are references to Middletown, Delaware.
Volumes 1, 3–5 also available on microfilm.
Collection 23; Microfilm M749–M752.
Diary. 1811–18.
1 microfilm reel.
Mehetable May Dawes lived in Boston while she kept her diary.
Manuscript records the activities of a well-to-do Boston household during the second decade of the nineteenth century.
Original diary located in the Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College.
Microfilm M1421.
Diary. 1899–1900.
1 vol.; 18 cm.
Walter Dawkins, a graduate of St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland, was a lawyer and judge in Baltimore.
Diary documents Dawkins’s activities in 1899 and includes a few reflections penned in 1900. He recorded weather observations, wrote about his activities as an attorney, noted leisure pursuits, and commented on local and national political events.
Other Walter Ireland Dawkins papers located at the Baltimore City Archives.
Document 550.
Account book. 1815–24.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Noah Day was a blacksmith in Granville, New York.
Day’s book records his activities mending scythes, shoeing horses, repairing plows, and making such products as nails, axes, staples, links, and other metal objects. There are references to his agricultural pursuits as well.
Document 934.
529 p.; 33 cm.
The keeper of this manuscript was a tailor in New York City.
Manuscript indicates that this busy tailor (apparently of a prominent clientele) made coats, pantaloons, breeches, and other garments and repaired clothing. He recorded purchases of supplies and reported the extra costs associated with orders for special buttons, collars, and stylistic details.
Document 554.
380 p.; 31 cm.
The keeper of this manuscript was probably from Tolland County, Connecticut. Many of his clients and associates lived in Hebron, Connecticut.
Contains daily entries of debits and credits related to the maintenance of a general store. There are more entries recording the purchase of paper than is usual. One transaction, for example, notes the purchase of twenty-one reams by Steman, Willard & Co.
Name index and object list available.
Document 122.
70 p.: ill.; 35 cm.
This daybook came from a town in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, perhaps Bethlehem.
Volume contains the records of an unnamed milliner who also sold frocks and capes. There are four pages written in German and headed “Ausgeben zu einem Hausbau” that refer to foodstuffs. Two crude pencil sketches of ships are also contained within the volume.
Document 124.
171 leaves; 33 cm.
Contains daily receipts and expenditures of an unnamed New Yorker. Many entries mention the Brinckerhoff and Van Wagenen families, disbursements for missionary work by the Protestant Episcopal Church, and shipping. Early pages record sales of metal and metal products, such as iron, nails, pewter, brass, scissors, and knives.
Document 101.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Manuscript records the activities of a general store in St. George’s, Delaware, from 1810 to 1811 and in Pigeon Run from 1811 to 1812. The store may have been operated by someone in the Polk family.
Volume records the daily transactions of the store, in which a wide variety of products were sold. Some customers are identified as being “Negro.”
Document 382.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
An unnamed shoemaker, probably from Rhode Island, used this volume to record his work on shoes and boots. He mentioned such activities as attaching heels, repairing soles, and taping.
Document 885.
143 p.; 44 cm.
This daybook was maintained at an unidentified lumberyard and sawmill located in Philadelphia.
Entries in daybook relate to business activity for only the second half of 1826. There were contacts with the University of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Hospital, the city commissioners, and James R. Greeves, who paid for lumber delivered on the accounts of the houses on Arch and Chestnut Streets. An extensive list of supplies enumerates the materials needed to construct homes at these two sites.
Folio 23.
21 p.; 34 cm.
The unknown keeper of this daybook operated a general store in Greenwich, New Jersey.
Contains approximately 275 entries that document purchases at the Greenwich general store from September 23 to November 18, 1828. Food, liquors, fabrics, shoes, and earthenware are mentioned.
Document 453.
424 p.; 40 cm.
The general store documented in these pages was probably located in Vermont.
Entries record a wide variety of items sold over a two-year period. The writer often recorded the colors of the ceramics and fabrics that he sold.
Folio 131.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
The keeper of this manuscript operated a general store in Fairfield, Vermont. The unnamed merchant recorded the products that he sold, including snuff, bed cords, nails, wooden clocks, and spinning wheels.
Document 565.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
Book records the sale of goods at a general store in Richmond, Rhode Island, over a four-and-a-half-year period.
Folio 138.
267 p.; 39 cm.
Book records the activities of a blacksmith in the vicinity of Gardiner and Hallowell, Maine, who made or repaired such items as hoes, chains, wagon tires, horseshoes, knives, and staples. He also sawed and hauled lumber.
Folio 243.
1 vol.; 16 cm.
The keeper of this volume was a joiner and turner in Dorset, Vermont.
In addition to entries recording joining and turning activities, this volume documents such activities as framing, casing windows, making doors and sashes, mending plows, making beds, etc. Household purchases are also mentioned.
Document 541.
1 vol.; 17 x 21 cm.
Volume records items sold in a general store in Chatham, New Hampshire. A wide range of products are mentioned, including candles, combs, ribbons, textiles, molasses, cheese, and dishes.
Document 904.
482 p.; 42 cm.
Contains records of daily transactions at a Hampton County, Massachusetts, general store. Items sold include food, footwear, dry goods, nails, medicines, clothing, and hats.
Folio 3.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
The unidentified keeper of this manuscript recorded the shipment of goods between Newburyport, Massachusetts, and other Massachusetts communities, both over land and by water. Many items appear to have been produced by local farmers and artisans. On occasion, raw materials, such as lumber and nails, were shipped to craftsmen, who in turn sent back doors, finished furniture, and table frames. Entries include dates, items shipped, the weight of the items, destinations, customer names, and fees charged.
Folio 299.
400 p.; 40 cm.
Manuscript contains the daily records of a Slateford, Pennsylvania, company store. Entries show purchases of consumer goods by employees of the company. Consumers purchased food, school slates, and the firm’s products. Workers’ monthly wages are also recorded.
Name index available.
Folio 35.
15 p.; 35 cm.
The individual who kept this volume was a carpenter and housebuilder in Rockingham County, New Hampshire.
Carpentry activities, such as building frames, making doors, installing window springs, and drilling, are noted. Brackets, timber, nails, brick, and pieces of hardware are mentioned in the volume’s entries.
Document 573.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
An unidentified general store merchant from Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, kept this book.
Manuscript notes the daily transactions of a shopkeeper who sold a variety of consumer products, including food, cups and saucers, dry goods, carpets, lace, pen holders, etc.
Folio 210.
114 p.; 20 cm.
Contains daily records of work done by a Philadelphia clock- and watch-repairer. Entries include date, name of customer, type of timepiece repaired, the nature of the repair, and the maker of the piece and his place of work. Serial numbers are included as well. Many timepieces mentioned had been made in Europe.
Document 132.
292 p.; 36 cm.
Manuscript was kept by an unidentified general store owner from Wells River, Vermont. Entries typically include the name of the customer, what he or she purchased, and the price.
Document 998.
720 p.; 17 x 41 cm.
The unnamed keeper of this manuscript documented the daily transactions of a hardware store in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. The majority of items sold at the store were hand tools, household supplies, and kitchen utensils. A wide variety of varnishes, paints, and finishing supplies for decorative work on wood were also sold. The last page of the book contains a list of customers with outstanding bills.
Folio 275.
2 vols.; 41 cm. or smaller.
Volumes record the activities of an unidentified store in Bath, Maine, that sold a variety of furniture and accessories. Included are entries for thousands of sales and purchases, often including information on items purchased, buyers’ names, and prices. Manuscript also lists names of wholesale suppliers and records the firm’s furniture repair activities.
Folio 238.
2 vols.; 32 cm.
The unidentified keeper of these volumes was a jeweler and watch-repairer in Central City, Colorado, where gold had been discovered in 1859.
One volume is about jewelry, and the other is about watch repair. The first volume includes an inventory of gold on hand as of June 30, 1867.
Document 595.
Account book. 1760–62.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
P. A. de Brissac was a textile designer and textile blockmaker of Huguenot descent who lived in London. He was related to several London silk weavers.
Entries record a variety of fabric designs. Once designs were approved by the weavers who would produce the finished products, De Brissac cut wood blocks to print them. Occasionally he noted the need to alter patterns and make revisions.
Partial name index available.
Document 759.
Account book. 1680–88.
1 microfilm reel.
Themis De Key was a shopkeeper in New York City.
Manuscript includes records for a general or dry goods store. Entries include the name of the customer, items purchased, unit cost, and total cost. Each entry has a number that may have been used as a customer identification number. The book is in Dutch.
Microfilm M88.
Account book. 1777–78.
68 leaves; 21 cm.
Lady De La Warr was the daughter of Lt.-Gen. John Wynyard. She married John, second earl De La Warr, on August 8, 1756.
Account book records daily household expenses incurred between December 1777 and May 1778. Recurring costs were for meat, shellfish, poultry, fish, vegetables, bread, writing paper, butchering, chimney sweeping, washing, etc. The names of domestic servants are recorded.
Document 67.
Account book. 1875–87.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
Members of the De Turk family were involved in the cattle trade, possibly in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
Book records the sale of cattle as well as lumber, coal, grain, flour, feed, etc.
Document 612.
Memorandum book. 1859–68.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
Volume was kept by C. L. Deacon, who served as foreman of a woolen mill owned by S. W. Nichols. The mill was located near Philadelphia.
Deacon noted mill activities as they occurred, such as the movement of machinery, the arrival of wool for dyeing, the distribution of orders, and the work patterns of employees. The last portion of the manuscript includes recipes for dyeing and samples of dyed wool.
Document 400.
Memorandum book. 1832–1906.
1 vol.: ill.; 31 cm.
John Dean owned and operated a farm in Dutchess County, New York.
Book records genealogical information about Dutchess County families, remedies for various illnesses, records of Dean’s farming activities, recipes for dyeing, and embroidery patterns. These patterns probably date from the 1870s.
Document 233.
Account books. 1835–84.
4 vols.; 22 cm.
A native of Raynham, Massachusetts, Theodore Dean was a farmer and an assistant at his father’s iron manufacturing business. He was also a teacher. In 1851 the Bristol County Bank chose him as a director; two years later, he became the bank’s president. In 1866, when he was a resident of Taunton, Massachusetts, and a landowner, Dean was elected to the state legislature.
Volumes document Dean’s business transactions and personal expenses. Volume 4, dating from 1850 to 1884, records personal expenses, including repairs to various properties and purchases of furniture, household goods, clothing, etc. Of special interest are appraised inventories of several dwellings that Dean owned.
Collection 379.
Account book. 1805–8.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
Jacob Dearborn was a blacksmith from Parsonfield, Maine.
Volume records the activities of a rural blacksmith. Occasionally there are notes regarding the settlement of accounts. Agricultural products are routinely mentioned.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 471.
Paper dolls. Ca. 1930.
20 items: col. ill.
The Deininger Bakery was located in Rochester, New York.
Consists of five paper dolls—four girls and one boy—each with three sheets of clothing and hats that were to be given away with the purchase of the bakery’s bread. The doll’s costumes are uncut. Printing done by the American Colortype Co.
Collection 220.
Receipt book. 1796–1848.
1 vol.; 17 x 10 cm.
John Delanoy lived in New York City.
Volume contains receipts for money paid by Delanoy to his landlords and creditors. He purchased several spinning wheels along with food products, clothing, and other items necessary for daily life. The volume seems to have been used by a John Mildeberger in the 1830s to record rent receipts and by Benjamin Lewin in the 1840s as a general receipt book.
Document 479.
Papers. Ca. 1720–1810.
1 folder + 1 microfilm reel.
Joshua Delaplaine worked as a carpenter, joiner, and merchant in New York City. Three of his sons also became merchants. They exported and imported such products as furniture, indigo, sugar, and various foodstuffs. Delaplaine also sold wood and hardware to local furnituremakers, some of whom were his former apprentices.
Papers include ephemeral items from Delaplaine’s business, including a contract of indenture, records of consignment, a receipt, and an advertisement for a runaway. In addition, papers feature microfilm copies of Delaplaine’s account books that document his furnituremaking.
Original manuscripts located at the New York Historical Society.
Name index available.
Collection 387; Microfilm M666.
Receipt book. 1853–62, 1875–88.
1 vol.; 39 cm.
The D. L. & W.’s headquarters was located at 49 Wall Street, New York City. The company operated many local railway stations throughout New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Receipt book records shipments received at the New Milford station from 1875 to 1878 and includes loose papers that relate to the railroad business for the years 1853 to 1888. Receipt book notes items shipped, individuals and businesses receiving goods, and delivery dates.
Folio 120.
Daybook. 1830.
340 p.; 38 cm.
Demerritt and Leavitt operated a general store, tavern, stagecoach stop, and post office in Northwood, New Hampshire.
Includes income and expenditures from May to December for a variety of goods sold and items accepted in trade, especially produce and watches sold to pay for liquor. Mention is made of Shaker brooms and pails, hardware, textiles, umbrellas, stoneware, books, tobacco, candles, etc.
Folio 257.
Bills. 1791–1823.
16 items.
Chauncey Demming lived near New York City.
This modest collection of bills documents a wide variety of domestic household goods purchased by Demming, including pepper, vitriol oil, chocolate, hats, whip lashes, velvet ribbon, furniture, pins, and shovels. He bought everything from New York City–based firms.
Collection 475.
Account book. 1830–75.
260 p.; 32 cm.
Arad Denison of Leyden, Massachusetts, was a textile dyer, handyman, and storekeeper. It is said that he patented a mousetrap. In 1827 Denison married Pru Barrows; they had nine children.
The manuscript, used as both a daybook and a ledger, documents Denison’s dyeing activities and refers to dressing colored cloth, especially flannel, cotton, and worsted wool. Dye recipes are also included. As a handyman, Denison repaired brass kettles, filed saws, sharpened knives, cleaned and repaired time pieces, wallpapered and painted clients’ residences, and made coffins, cradles, and bedsteads.
Document 1002.
Account book. 1821–41.
179 p.; 32 cm.
Edmund P. Dennett was a cooper and farmer in Buxton, Maine.
Manuscript records the activities of a cooper, including hooping, making pails, mending barrels, and crafting tubs. Agricultural pursuits are also mentioned. References to footwear suggest that Dennett may have made and repaired shoes as well.
Document 503.
Private account of stock invested. 1890–94.
102 p.; 22 cm.
Walter E. Dennis was a printer in Central Falls, Rhode Island. In 1892 he insured his equipment for $1,500.00.
Volume contains eighty bills for printing supplies, including type fonts, cuts, ink, rollers, and leading that Dennis purchased from suppliers in Boston, Philadelphia, and South Windham, Connecticut. Also contains four of Dennis’s trade cards.
Document 42.
Records. 1779–1889.
7 microfilm reels.
The Denny-O’Hara Company made glass in Pittsburgh.
Collection includes account books, business letters, receipts, miscellaneous accounts, and newspapers related to the firm’s glassmaking activities.
Finding aid available.
Original materials located at the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M2716–M2722.
Scrapbook. 1865–1931.
304 p.: ill.; 66 cm.
Charles Derleth compiled this scrapbook. An engineer, he taught at the University of Colorado from 1901 to 1903 and then at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1903 to 1942, where he later served as a dean. He did consulting work as well. Around 1870 his grandfather, Michael Joseph Derleth, established the cabinetmaking form of M. J. Derleth & Sons in New York City and operated it with his three sons, including Charles’s father.
Scrapbook includes drawings, clippings, blueprints, and photographs of furniture, buildings, facial features, dwellings, geometric figures, and tool charts helpful to the practice of engineering. Original work was done by various members of the Derleth family.
Scrapbook was presented to Charles Derleth’s daughter on Christmas Day, 1931.
Folio 81.
Account books. 1861–1906.
2 vols.; 40 cm.
D. Derr worked as a furnituremaker in Straustown, Pennsylvania.
A daybook and ledger record the furniture that Derr made and repaired, including tables, beds, cribs, sewing stands, bureaus, and chairs. Numbers next to entries in the daybook refer to ledger accounts.
Name index at front of ledger.
Folio 233.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
The carriagemaker or -makers who maintained this volume were from Merrimac, Massachusetts, a town known for its carriage manufacturing during the 1870s and 1880s.
About 250 entries describe different carriages and include their features, such as the shape and color of the body, the kind of cloth used for the seat, the maker of the axle, etc. Each entry has a number that corresponds to a carriage model and initials, perhaps of the purchaser, alongside most of the descriptions.
Document 295.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 46 cm.
Book contains 117 painted designs for either wallpaper or textiles that were probably French in origin. Many are abstract floral patterns, some appear to be border designs, and a few are numbered.
Folio 188.
130 p.: ill. (some col.); 40 cm.
Consists of hundreds of pencil sketches of English silver objects. The sketches, arranged and numbered as if for a catalogue, depict a variety of objects, including toilet sets and accessories, tableware and flatware, frames for photographs, tea sets, desk furnishings, baby articles, candlestick holders, vessels, and other items. Some drawings were sketched directly onto the pages of the volume while others were pasted in.
Folio 37.
1 portfolio of 210 items: col. ill.; 35 cm.
A stationer’s label from Rouen and French writing contained within this book indicate that its unnamed owner must have been French.
Includes 210 designs for textiles. Geometric shapes predominate, and most designs are brightly colored.
Collection 410.
60 items: ill.
Consists of commercial and hand-drawn decorative designs, many on tissue paper, for needlework, japanning, china painting, etc. Illustrations feature insects, flowers, and geometric shapes. Included are designs and suggestions for use of color from the D. M. Campana Co., advertised as “De Luxe China Painting Designs” and distributed by Thayer & Chandler, a Chicago firm that specialized in handicraft materials.
Collection 365.
Account book. 1811–23.
18 leaves; 34 cm.
Johannes Dettman was a weaver and probably a resident of Pennsylvania.
Manuscript records Dettman’s business transactions. Most entries reveal that he sold linen and cotton cloth.
Text is in German.
Document 1064.
Illuminated music book. 1821.
8 leaves: ill. (some col.); 9 x 17 cm.
Joseph Detweiler was a Mennonite and probably lived in Pennsylvania.
Book contains music to twenty-eight hymns. First lines were used as titles, and several indicate the psalm or text of origin. The title page features an illumination depicting flowering plants within a decorative border.
Text is in German.
Document 1063.
Recipe book. Ca. 1871.
1 vol.; 21 cm.
Mrs. Charles W. Devitt and Mrs. M. Lex, both Philadelphia residents, contributed recipes to this volume.
Manuscript includes instructions for making cakes, puddings, wines, and popovers and includes a remedy for dyspepsia.
Document 324.
Account book. 1839–1864.
1 microfilm reel.
H. F. Dewey was a chairmaker from Bennington, Vermont.
Accounts in this manuscript record Dewey’s chairmaking activities.
Original item located at the Shelburne Museum.
Microfilm M2431.
Papers. 1841–91.
2 boxes: ill.
Portraitist Henry Dexter studied painting in Boston with Francis Alexander. He became a well-known sculptor, though he had never been formally instructed in the medium. Charles Dickens, James Buchanan, and many American governors sat for him. After his death his daughter, Anna Douglas, donated many of his works to the Smithsonian Institution.
Collection contains business letters and invoices, correspondence between Dexter and members of his family, exhibit advertisements, publicity for his sculpture, and a paper related to the patent of a bust. Particularly noteworthy are a manuscript entitled “History of Sculpture in America,” a catalogue of items in Dexter’s studio, and an autobiographical sketch. In addition this collection encompasses some of Anna Dexter’s papers, including a travel diary of a trip to Florida.
Collection 405.
Scraps on balloons. 1783–1866.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 26 cm.
Hugh W. Diamond lived in Surrey, England.
Includes newspaper clippings, handwritten comments, and pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations that pertain to ballooning. It is likely that Diamond began assembling this volume in 1848.
Document 433.
19 vols.; 11 cm.
Includes annotated volumes of Poor Will’s Almanack kept by three different people. An unidentified individual who noted that he courted the daughter of Joseph Saunders maintained the earliest of the volumes. He also recorded the furniture that the British confiscated from his Philadelphia residence in 1778. Diaries dating from 1780 to 1782 were kept by David Stewart; he may have kept them for 1784, 1787, and 1788 as well. Stewart had a farm near the Delaware River, and he recorded entries regarding his agricultural pursuits and the raising of livestock. Another series of diaries kept by a third hand records financial dealings, lists wind directions, and charts ships leaving a harbor, probably Philadelphia. The 1829 almanac is not annotated.
Collection 176.
2 vols.: ill. (some col.); 29 x 36 cm.
Although the keeper of these volumes is unknown, it is clear that he was an artist living in Boston and that he was probably from a well-to-do family.
Volumes contain handwritten descriptions and original drawings and watercolors that describe the keeper’s travels during a period of about fifteen years. He visited Key West, Florida; Saint Augustine, Cuba; Charleston, South Carolina; Annapolis; Philadelphia; New York City; and places throughout New England and Canada. Drawings show seascapes, slave quarters, city views, plantations, public buildings, and local landmarks. The keeper recorded his frank opinions of the things he saw on his travels.
Typescript of text available.
Folio 143.
1 microfilm reel.
An unidentified seaman wrote this manuscript. It describes sea and weather conditions on a trip to Macao.
Original diary located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M106.
100 p.; 16 cm.
The unnamed keeper of this diary was a widow from Utica, New York.
Manuscript describes a journey through central and western New York State, roughly following the route of the unfinished Erie Canal, from June 21 to July 27, 1821. There are frequent references to work on the waterway and descriptions of the landscape, towns, houses, roads, and taverns along the way. In addition, the writer discusses Auburn Prison, the Oneida Indian Reservation, and Niagara Falls.
Document 214.
238 p.; 21 cm.
The diarist was an unidentified American young man who was traveling in Europe.
Manuscript begins with an account of an ocean passage to Southampton, England. The writer recorded his experiences in England, France, and Italy, commenting on many famous sites, such as the Tower of London, the British Museum, the Louvre, Versailles, the Vatican, and the Baths of Diocletian. During his trip he visited the studios of several artists.
Document 552.
111 p.; 16 cm.
An unnamed American kept this diary while he journeyed in Europe. He spent time in Venice, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin, and London. He took a cruise on the Rhine and compared it with the Hudson River in the United States. The writer stopped at historic sites, museums, and churches in the cities through which he traveled.
Document 776.
12 p.; 20 cm.
The unidentified keeper of this diary, an apparently well-to-do young woman originally from Jersey City, New Jersey, resided on Twenty-third Street in New York City.
Writings relate to the author’s impressions of hotels and of the appearances and characteristics of their lodgers. In addition she describes the furnishings of hotels in France and Italy that she saw during a trip to Europe.
Document 731.
128 p.; 10 cm.
The keeper of this diary was a trader, repairman, handyman, and farmer in the vicinity of Richmond, Maine. His last name may have been Curtis, and his wife’s maiden name may have been Brooks.
Manuscript principally records the diarist’s trading activities as he went door-to-door with such items as Britannia ware, spikes, and barrels that he made in his own shop. He noted the streets on which he traded and the names of people in Richmond with whom he boarded. The diarist indicated that he was a devout Baptist and sympathetic to the temperance movement.
Document 800.
192 p.; 35 cm.
While this farmer’s diary is unsigned, the cover bears the initials C.A.C. Internal evidence suggests that the surname of the keeper was either Clough or Church. Further evidence suggests that he was a Quaker, a resident of Maine, and a member of the A. O. U[nited]. W[orkman’s]. union.
Diary summarizes the activities of a farmer, including descriptions of the weather, daily work undertaken (haying, gardening, preparing the soil, butchering, repairing fences, etc.), travel, and attendance at union gatherings. Of particular interest are entries made each January giving a detailed inventory of the diarist’s farm and its value.
Folio 284.
110 p.; 26 cm.
The unidentified keeper of this diary of a trip to Europe seems to have been well educated and may have been a minister from Oakland, Maine. His traveling companion was a Mr. Roy.
The travel account describes the keeper’s trip from Oakland, Maine, to New York City, where he had secured passage on a ship for an Atlantic crossing to Ireland. From there, he went to Scotland and then to England, where he focused his time on the sights of London. The traveler then crossed the English Channel into France and took a train from Calais to Paris. In Paris, he saw such places as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, Versailles, an exhibit at Machinery Hall on Thomas Edison’s exploits, the Arc de Triomphe, etc. The writer’s views are clearly expressed through very descriptive narrative.
Document 983.
268 p.; 34 cm.
The unnamed diarist seems to have been an elderly widow with two children who lived close to Rutland, Vermont.
Manuscript records the sedentary life of the diarist. Her son, Joseph, and her daughter, Lucy, customarily brought groceries and mail to her and helped to clean her home. The diarist recorded visits by others; observed events through her front window; and recorded when household chores, such as rug cleaning and window screen installation, needed to be done.
Bound with an account book of a blacksmith, 1866–67; see entry 54.
Document 236.
1 vol.; 43 cm.
Manuscript was used by someone associated with an ironworks near Haverstraw, New York.
Book notes the daily output and activities of the ironworks from January to August 1810. References are made to an anchor shop, a smith shop, and a grist mill.
Folio 205.
52 p.; 21 cm.
William Johnston, a cabinetmaker and joiner in Mill Creek Hundred, Delaware, may have been the keeper of this diary.
Manuscript documents the work of a cabinetmaker who also helped with barn raisings, constructed window sashes, put up fences, and made coffins. He often made furniture.
Name and object index available.
Document 739.
Personal account books. 1888–1900.
2 vols.; 20 cm.
Mary H. and E. H. Dibble were residents of New Lisbon, Ohio. They may have been unmarried sisters who shared a house.
Books contain a very detailed listing of income and expenses made for the household over a twelve-year period at the end of the nineteenth century. The second volume records expenditures for food.
Document 147.
Papers. 1815–84.
1 vol. + 1 file folder.
Abner Dickinson was a farmer in Glastonbury, Connecticut, during the first half of the nineteenth century.
Collection contains accounts recording the use of Dickinson’s cattle, wagons, plows, and horses and sales of cider, grain, and produce. Loose manuscripts relate to his service in the Mexican War from 1845 to 1848 and include deeds for property in New Britain, Connecticut.
Collection 16.
Remarks on painting. Ca. 1835–46.
1 vol.; 26 cm.
Obadiah Dickinson was a portrait and genre painter. Born in Haddam, Connecticut, he worked in New York City and Hartford, Connecticut, and exhibited his works at the National Academy from 1839 to 1844.
Includes remarks about various painters and painting techniques. Dickinson wrote about Gilbert Stuart’s methods of painting portraits and included extracts from John Burnet’s works, observations on painting drapery, notes on cleaning paintings, etc.
Index of artists mentioned available.
Document 704.
25 items: col. ill.
Collection consists of twenty-five Victorian-era die cuts—sometimes referred to as scraps and chromos—depicting a number of activities and subjects. Children in costume, a couple in a boat, a woman kneeling before a cross, carriage riders, and a huntsman are among the images depicted. There are also animals, flowers, and views of houses.
Collection 122.
Ledger. 1815–34.
86 leaves; 19 cm.
Amasa Dimmick was a merchant from Orwell, Pennsylvania.
Various types of produce, meats, grains, liquor, and household goods passed through Dimmick’s store. Goods and labor were often used for payment instead of currency. A list of materials used for building a schoolhouse is included as well.
Includes name index.
Document 972.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Manuscript directory lists commission merchants in New Orleans and Mobile, Alabama, and includes the names of firms, agents, and types of merchandise handled.
Document 517.
Letter book. Ca. 1813–26.
1 microfilm reel.
Dixon and Smith, more recently James Dixon & Sons of Sheffield, England, engaged in the retail trade and sold silver-plated wares.
Letters in this collection concern orders and payments for goods. They were written over an undated illustrated catalogue of the firm. Also on this reel of film is another undated, illustrated, priced catalogue for James Dixon & Sons.
Microfilm M852.
1 microfilm reel.
Documents include bills of exchange and import-export records of goods shipped to the United States from England as well as records of shipping charges. Pottery goods are frequently included.
Original manuscripts located at the Hanley Museum, Stoke-on-Trent, England.
Microfilm M934.
Papers. 1860–76.
.5 cu. ft.
William H. C. Dodd and S. Walter Dodd were engravers from Newark, New Jersey. They succeeded S. Dodd & Son, and their shop was located at 306 Broad Street. William H. C. Dodd apparently sold coal as well. Much of their work involved engraving on rings, silverware, dishes, watches, door plates, coffin plates, and so forth.
Collection consists of an account book, a design book, and more than 550 receipts. The account book contains daily sales records between November 1868 and March 1870 and monthly debits for a coal operation from 1874 to 1876. The design book features thousands of engraved images used in the Dodd’s engraving business. The receipts document purchases made by the business, including envelopes, stencil tools, and die cuts.
Collection 504.
Account book. 1813–23.
1 microfilm reel.
Eliza Dodds was a milliner and seamstress in Georgetown and Washington, D.C.
Manuscript comprises more than 400 pages of accounts that document Dodds’s occupation, including the kinds of fabrics she chose to work with, the types of sewing she performed, her customers’ names, and prices she charged.
Original manuscript located at the Historical Society of Washington, D.C.
Microfilm M2746.
Records. 1776–1851.
1 box.
Joseph Dodge was a potter in Exeter and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His father, Jabez, established the Exeter Pottery Works. Dodge’s brothers, sons, and maternal relations were also potters.
Records consist of an account book kept by Dodge from 1832 to 1842, deeds for property, and estate papers. The account book features a record of pottery production, especially redware.
Originals of legal papers located at the Office of the Register of Probates and Deeds, Rockingham County, New Hampshire.
Collection 306.
Illustrated Florida. Ca. 1882.
16 plates: col. ill.; 13 x 19 cm.
The Dodge Art Publishing Company was based in Buffalo, New York.
These chromolithographed cards are part of a larger series, Illustrated Resorts, that Dodge published in the 1880s. They show various places in Florida, including St. John’s River, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, and Palatka. Also portrayed are riverboats, plantations, produce, and home life.
Document 1083.
Records. 1802–48.
12 items.
John Doggett was a furnituremaker, carver, and gilder working principally in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and Boston. A son, John Jr., and a brother, Samuel, worked with him in his business. By 1822 Doggett had begun buying, selling, and framing prints and portraits, and he later became involved in importing and making carpets. He opened another store in Philadelphia under the name of Doggett, Fransworth & Co. and another in New York City with his son. Doggett retired sometime during the late 1840s, leaving business affairs under the direction of his brother, Samuel, and Samuel S. Williams.
Collection includes a daybook, kept from 1802 to 1809; a letter book, kept from 1825 to 1829; and ten bills, three of which are photocopies. The daybook documents what Doggett and his associates did each day, while the letter book relates to what he imported. The bills refer to carpets and painted floor cloths.
Name index available.
Collection 330; Microfilm M2812–M2813.
Bill of lading book. 1718–40.
1 microfilm reel.
John Dolbeare worked as a merchant in Boston.
Manuscript records Dolbeare’s shipments of metalware (pewter, brass, and iron) and other commodities (furs, apples, oil, gun powder, whale bone, silver, gold, etc.) to other ports, both domestic and foreign.
Original manuscript located at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Microfilm M1912.
Papers. 1764–1905.
3 boxes.
Members of the Dominy family settled in East Hampton, Long Island, New York, during the 1600s. The papers of several members of the Dominy family are contained within this collection, including Nathaniel IV (1737–1812), Nathaniel V (1770–1852), Felix (1800–1868), and Nathaniel VII (1827–1910). The family was best known for its watch- and clockmaking and furniture production.
Collection includes account books, letters, weather diaries, bills, receipts, notes, exercise books, and watch papers. Of special note are the account books that document the variety of activities performed by the Dominys as well as the tools they needed for their work. Watch registers record the names of original makers and owners, watch numbers, and types of repairs.
Finding aid available.
Related material located at the East Hampton, New York, Public Library; photographs of Dominy-made furniture in the Decorative Arts Photographic Collection of the Winterthur Library; Dominy family artifacts on display at Winterthur Museum.
Collection used for With Hammer in Hand: The Dominy Craftsmen of East Hampton, N.Y., by Charles F. Hummel, published by the University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1968.
Collection 265; Microfilm M219, M245.
Account book. 1850–54.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
Amelia Donnel and her family lived in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, probably on a farm. She had five children and employed domestic servants and other help, suggesting that the Donnels were prosperous.
Volume contains a list of individuals who were paid by the Donnels for shoemaking, sewing, and supplying the family’s icehouse as well as a list of purchases of household commodities. The manuscript also contains summaries of household expenses, money spent on travel, and wages paid to domestic help.
Folio 58.
Account book. 1816–43.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
John Doolittle was a furniture- and chairmaker from New Haven and later Wallingford, Connecticut.
In addition to his furnituremaking activities, Doolittle built fences, painted, cleaned clocks, decorated furniture, made wagon chairs, etc. Agricultural labor is also noted.
Document 511.
Account books. 1833–38.
2 vols.; 17 cm.
Sawyer Joseph Doolittle, probably a resident of New England, used these volumes to record his sawing, primarily making planks out of logs. The number of logs and subsequent feet of boards are both noted. Doolittle also made broom handles.
Document 898.
Research notes. 1954–60.
1 box.
Charles G. Dorman was a museum curator. He served as manager of Danby Galleries of Wilmington, Delaware, then as assistant curator in the Division of Political History, Smithsonian Institution, and then worked at Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia. He collected Delaware-specific artifacts.
Includes notes for and a typescript of what Dorman called “A Survey of Delaware Cabinetmakers, 1700–1830.” With additions, this work was later issued as Delaware Cabinetmakers and Allied Artisans, 1655–1855 (Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware, 1960).
Collection 261.
Account books and diary. 1801–58.
2 microfilm reels.
Sullivan Dorr resided in Canton, China, from 1800 to 1804 and then returned to Providence, Rhode Island, to live.
Collection includes a memorandum book dated 1801 that offers details of conducting business with the Chinese; an account book of family expenses; and a diary detailing the construction of Dorr’s house at 109 Benefit Street, Providence, from 1809 to 1812.
At the time of filming, materials were “owned by Providence Preservation Society at the Rhode Island Historical Society.”
Microfilm M227–M228.
Papers. 1728–1845.
349 items.
The Dorsey family of merchants, landowners, and sugar refiners lived in various places in Harford County, Maryland, and eastern Pennsylvania, including Philadelphia.
Collection contains bills, receipts, indentures, deeds, legal documents, surveys, and letters compiled by or referring to members of the Dorsey family. The bills and receipts mention personal expenses, and the legal documents often relate to land and disputes over estates and mortgages.
Collection 421.
Illuminated music book. 1800.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 10 x 17 cm.
A resident of Upper Saucon Township, Pennsylvania, John Dotterer wrote the musical notes and accompanying lyrics for songs in this manuscript. There are decorative illustrations, including one in the Fraktur style, and calligraphic flourishes.
Text is in German.
Document 770.
Diary. 1894–96.
143 p.; 21 cm.
May Hight Doughty lived in Augusta, Maine. After she graduated from high school, she taught grammar school.
Diary entries relate to Doughty’s final semester in high school and her early teaching experiences. Many of her social activities are recorded, including sleigh riding, taffy pulls, dances, and visits to the Queer Old Cat Club. At the end of the volume Doughty mentions books she read and records quotations, songs, and a list of parties she attended.
Document 872.
Notes. Ca. 1900–1930.
2 folders.
George Francis Dow was a historian who published several works on the history of New England, including Everyday Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1935, Shipping and Trade in Early New England in 1932, and The Pirates of the New England Coast in 1923.
Collection includes notes on the construction of buildings in Massachusetts, most of them pre-1700. Included are texts of contracts from Essex County court files, rough diagrams, and information about initial construction dates of dwellings.
Document 910.
Accounts. 1801–37.
21 items.
Joseph Downs was a weaver in Fairfield, Connecticut. In 1814 he worked for Merchant Co.
One portion of this collection includes an account book, orders, receipts, and accounts concerning Downs’s weaving activities. Such woven items as flannel, blankets, linen, bed ticking, and carpeting are mentioned. A second portion features lists of fabrics with colors and yardages. A third has miscellaneous material relating to agricultural activities and Downs’s pension from the United States War Department.
Name index to account book available.
Collection 304.
Papers. 1949–54.
15 cu. ft.
Joseph Downs was an authority on American decorative arts. Following his graduation from the Boston Museum School in 1921, he served successively as a staff member at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, as curator of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as curator of the American Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and finally as the first curator of the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. A prolific author, Downs was completing the second volume of a proposed three-volume history of American furniture at the time of his death.
Papers consist of Downs’s working files and include correspondence, two sketchbooks of furniture compiled in the early 1920s, research notes, lectures, book reviews, photographs of furniture, lantern slides, and material relating to the publications he produced. A few folders contain obituary notices and memorial materials issued after he died.
Collection 76.
Notebook. 1847–65.
71 leaves: ill.; 34 cm.
Staughton Doyle taught piano and organ lessons at churches in Philadelphia.
Volume contains student notes for geometry, algebra, and civil engineering; autographs; accounts for piano instruction and organ playing; and Doyle’s personal expenses.
Document 117.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 20 cm.
Contains more than forty-five pages of flowers, fruits, and ornamental drawings in watercolor that seem to have been copied from Pierre Ranson’s etchings. Watermarked paper suggests that the volume originated in England.
Document 741.
1 vol.: ill.; 21 x 18 cm.
Volume was kept by an unidentified artist, probably from France.
Includes about 100 pencil drawings and pen sketches showing people, buildings, and cities. Cities shown are New York; Philadelphia; Baltimore; Norfolk, Virginia; New Orleans; and several places along the Mississippi River and in Ohio.
Document 699; Microfilm M661.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 20 cm.
The unidentified artist who used this book drew a secretary desk, the exterior of a school building, a dwelling, a meetinghouse, and a barn. The artist was probably part of a Pennsylvania German community.
Document 1076.
37 p.: ill.; 42 cm.
The unnamed creator of this volume was a French curtain designer.
Contains twenty drawings of curtains that also show the room settings in which they were hung; interior architectural detail and pieces of furniture complete the pictures. Costs of curtains are also included.
Folio 83.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 19 x 15 cm.
Consists of seven wash drawings and one pencil sketch depicting spoon handles.
Document 609.
Records. 1870–1940.
3 boxes.
Drawyers Presbyterian Church was organized in St. George’s Hundred, Delaware, in the early 1700s. In 1773 the congregation constructed a new building just north of Odessa. After it moved to a different site in 1861, the church fell into disrepair. More than thirty years later, an organization called Friends of Old Drawyers was established to preserve and restore the building and its surrounding cemetery.
Collection consists of the church treasurer’s book, kept from 1870 to 1900, and records of the Friends of Old Drawyers. The latter includes constitutions, letters, clippings, and financial information on the organization’s preservation work.
Collection 39.
Dolly Dingle’s travels. 1921.
2 sheets: ill. (some col.); 40 cm.
Grace Gebbie Drayton designed a paper doll series named Dolly Dingle. John H. Eggers published her work in New York.
These two sheets are each folded into four pages with an extra sheet glued in. Each page of dolls shows costumes from different European countries: Ireland, Scotland, England, Belgium, Holland, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland. Young girls were supposed to craft books that corresponded to the paper doll themes.
Collection 220.
Letters. 1847–48, 1868–69.
16 items.
Henry A. Dreer ran a seedhouse in Philadelphia. It began operation in 1838 and grew substantially over the years. Dreer’s son, William F., entered the business in 1868 and, upon his father’s death five years later, took over. William managed the business into the mid-1920s.
Consists primarily of two sets of letters. The first—five in number—were written by Henry to his future wife, Mary Leavenworth, a resident of Reading, Pennsylvania. William F. Dreer wrote the second group of letters while in Germany and in addition to describing his life there discussed his studies with an individual named Benary, whom he identified as the leading seedsman in Erfurt, if not in all of Germany.
Finding aid available.
Document 334.
Papers. 1814–1902, bulk 1814–53.
1 box.
Joshua H. Drisco was a merchant from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who apparently owned several ships that carried cargo up and down the eastern seaboard.
Collection consists of more than 125 bills and receipts that record personal expenses, including outlays for house repairs, food, clothing, wood, stoves, etc.; a book of freight records detailing items shipped for customers; two notebooks documenting personal expenses and weather observations; a scrapbook containing loose clippings of poetry and obituaries; and a history of the Boston waterworks.
Collection 430.
50 items on 3 panels; 31 cm.
Includes samples of fifty brass and iron fitments, picture hooks, escutcheons, etc., each bearing a number. The manufacturer and seller are not identified.
Document 104.
Papers. 1785–1811.
1 folder.
Col. Luke Drury lived in Marlborough, Massachusetts.
This small collection contains papers relating to Luke Drury and his estate. An account book kept by Moses Ames, executor, documents expenses relating to the estate.
Collection 524.
Papers. 1794–1824, 1856–1938.
3 boxes.
Evelina du Pont was the daughter of Henry du Pont and Louisa Gerhard and the aunt of Henry Francis du Pont, founder of Winterthur Museum. She attended Miss Bayard’s School in Philadelphia. Her interests were in civic and community affairs, and she belonged to Christ Church, Christiana Hundred, Delaware.
Papers consist of correspondence, postcards, and invitations that reflect du Pont family relationships. Much of the correspondence describes a worldwide cruise that Evelina’s niece, Mrs. H. F. du Pont, and two grandchildren took in 1938. There are also early letters written by Evelina’s great-grandfather, Jechonias Wood, and other family members. In addition, the papers include several imprints inscribed to Evelina, discussing such topics as religion, medicine, and travel.
Finding aid available.
Archives 8.
Papers. 1848–1926.
53 boxes + 22 objects.
Henry Algernon du Pont, son of Henry and Louisa Gerhard du Pont, was born at Eleutherian Mills, Delaware. He first attended the University of Pennsylvania and then the United States Military Academy at West Point. After graduating at the head of his class at West Point in 1861, du Pont embarked on a distinguished military career during the Civil War, winning a Congressional Medal of Honor for heroic efforts at the Battle of Cedar Creek in Virginia. From 1906 to 1917, du Pont served as a United States Senator. He was the author of several military reminiscences and served as his family’s historian. Du Pont resided on an estate named Winterthur, located near Wilmington, Delaware, that had been settled in 1839. Du Pont married Mary Pauline Foster in 1874. Their children were Henry Francis du Pont and Louise du Pont Crowninshield.
Collection includes correspondence, bills, cartographic and pictorial items, and materials of a social nature relating to politics, society, corporations, and the Winterthur estate. Much of the correspondence concerns du Pont’s financial interests.
Arranged in eleven series. Folder title listing available.
Archives 12.
Entry 658. Winterthur, a family home of members of the du Pont family in Delaware, as it appeared when Col. H. A. du Pont lived there in the 1920s.
Papers. 1890–1969.
1,212 boxes + 48 lin. ft. of books + 324 objects.
Henry Francis du Pont, son of Col. Henry Algernon and Mary Pauline Foster du Pont, was born at Winterthur, Delaware. He was educated at Groton and Harvard. In 1914 he assumed the management of Winterthur Farms and started a breeding program that resulted in a world-renowned Holstein herd. Du Pont studied horticulture, served on many civic and business boards of trustees, and served as the chairman of the Fine Arts Committee of the White House during John F. Kennedy’s administration. He established the Winterthur Museum at the site of his birth and owned other residences on Long Island; in Chestertown, Maryland; Boca Grande, Florida; and New York City. Du Pont married Ruth Wales of Hyde Park, New York, in 1916. They had two daughters.
Collection—divided into eleven series—includes correspondence with antiques dealers related to the development of Winterthur Museum’s collection of historic artifacts, letters of a social nature, Walpole Society communications, horticultural items, material on room installations at Winterthur, architectural drawings, pictorial files illustrating Winterthur, and publications either inscribed to du Pont or signed by him.
Finding aids for some series available.
Archives 11.
Papers. Ca. 1900–1951.
99 boxes + 55 objects.
Ruth Wales du Pont, daughter of Edward H. and Ruth Hawks Wales, was born in New York City. She attended Miss Spencer’s School in New York and the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. She was interested in music and historic preservation and served as a trustee of Tryon Palace, New Bern, South Carolina. On June 24, 1916, she married Henry Francis du Pont, founder of Winterthur Museum. The couple had two daughters.
Collection includes correspondence, bills, manuscripts, publications, and much information on du Pont’s social life. Of particular note are her original musical compositions and sheet music for songs that were initially popular during the early twentieth century. Objects include many monogrammed artifacts used by du Pont, including traveling gear, saddles, etc.
Folder title listing available.
Archives 10.
Diary. 19--.
92 p.; 28 cm.
Born in Dieppe, France, Josias Duhamel was named after his father; his mother was Elizabeth Languillet-Duhamel. Josias managed the timber business that his father had started and later began trading laces. He then moved to Amsterdam, where he was successively a textile merchant, money broker, and insurance agent. Josias married Anne Leplastier, and they had four children.
Duhamel’s diary—a twentieth-century handwritten copy of an early eighteenth-century original—records much family genealogy and mentions unusual events of family life. Josias Duhamel III maintained it.
Document 202.
Letter book. 1831–40.
1 vol.; 26 cm.
Philip Dumaresq was the captain of a ship at the time he kept this manuscript.
Letters concern Dumaresq’s ship and its cargoes. He sailed the ship Martha on a route that took him from Boston to Chinese ports. Tea seems to have been the product most transported.
Document 753.
Commonplace book. 1884–85.
1 vol.: ill.; 21 cm.
Josephine Dumas attended St. Cyprien, a private boarding school in Napierville, Quebec, Canada, when she kept this volume.
Book includes stories, poems, song lyrics, prayers, horoscopes, and letters to family members and friends. There is a list of students and sisters at the school for 1885.
Text is almost entirely in French.
Document 849.
Ledger. 1847–48.
1 vol.; 46 cm.
George Dummer Jr. was a glass manufacturer from Jersey City, New Jersey. His father founded the business around 1826, and though it operated under different names during the next forty years, a Dummer family member was always associated with the firm until 1862. It produced blown glass, pressed glass, and cut glass and obtained patents for pressed glassware.
Manuscript records money owed to and paid by Dummer. Glassware is not listed.
Folio 201.
Account book. 1865–72, 1879, 1886–95.
1 vol.; 34 cm.
The Dumont family lived in Seneca County, New York. Members of the family were farmers. B. B. Dumont, later a resident of Seneca, Kansas, was also involved in the building trades.
Volume includes information relating to the settlement of estates of various members of the Dumont family and B. B. Dumont’s personal and household expenses and records of his carpentry business.
Name index available.
Document 455.
Souvenir of the coaching parade: Greenfield. 1897.
1 vol.; 14 x 20 cm.
Dunklee & Freeman was a photography firm.
Includes albumen prints of entries in a parade held in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Depicted are horses and carriages, a Roman chariot, bicycles, floats, etc. Captions identify each picture.
Document 386.
La poupée modèle. Ca. 1870.
1 sheet: col. ill.
T. Dupuy was an importer from Paris, France.
Uncut sheet of a female paper doll (front and back) with three dresses and a wig.
Text is in French.
Collection 220.
Account book. 1760–83.
1 microfilm reel.
John Durand worked as a turner in Milford, Connecticut.
Accounts are recorded for furniture, clothing, food, hardware, wood, and many kinds of household furnishings.
Index to objects named available.
Original manuscript located at the Milford Historical Society in Connecticut.
Microfilm M1761.
Account book. 1806–36.
Samuel Durand worked as a turner in Milford, Connecticut.
Accounts are recorded for many types of house furnishings, furniture, building materials, clothing, etc.
Index to objects named available.
Original manuscript located at the Milford Historical Society in Connecticut.
Microfilm M1761.
Account book. 1804.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
Etienne Dutilh was a Philadelphia merchant who had worked in the Netherlands and England before immigrating to the United States. He began his career in the United States in 1783 and was active until his death. Over the course of his career, he formed at least two partnerships, one with J. G. Wachsmuth and another with Soulrer. Much of Dutilh’s trade was conducted with firms based in the West Indies.
Manuscript contains entries relating to the import-export business, chiefly insurance on goods shipped to and from Jamaica. In addition, duties, notes receivable and payable, and portage and pilotage payments are recorded.
Name and occupation indexes available.
Document 424.
79 p.; 16 cm.
Volume contains 292 swatches of printed cotton textiles, most in shades of pink, purple, maroon, or brick red. Recipes for dyeing are included. A previous holder of the book noted that he believed many of the swatches were French.
Collection 50.
Account book. 1792–1802.
1 microfilm reel.
Rufus Dyer was a chairmaker and turner in Cranston, Rhode Island.
Manuscript documents Dyer’s chairmaking and turning. Farm accounts and some family records are also included.
Original at the library of the Rhode Island Historical Society, which retains publication rights.
Microfilm M2858.2.
Fashion illustrations. 1870–75.
11 items: ill. (some col.)
Founded by Ebenezer Butterick in 1867, the firm that bears his name produced standardized paper patterns for clothing. The company grew to include several outposts in Europe by the mid-1870s. It reorganized in 1881 and was then called the Butterick Publishing Company.
Collection includes fashion plates showing men, women, and children wearing clothing presumably made from Butterick’s patterns. Summer and winter attire are both featured. Also included is a thirty-five-page sketchbook containing pencil drawings of garments for which Butterick made patterns.
Trade catalogues for the firm are located in the Printed Book and Periodical Collection, Winterthur Library.
Collection 172.
Classical designs of English furniture. 1913.
82 leaves: ill.; 29 cm.
E. Kahn & Co., Ltd. had offices in London and addressed an eight-page price list accompanying these depictions to Messrs. Joseph G. Darlington & Co., Philadelphia.
Volume contains seventy-four photographs of tables, chairs, and case furniture. Styles featured are Queen Anne, Jacobean, Chippendale, Tudor, and William and Mary. Descriptive text and dimensions of furniture are printed on the backs of the photos.
Document 25.
Paper collars. Ca. 1866.
1 item.
The Eagle Lace Paper Collar Co. manufactured paper collars during the 1860s. It received a patent for ladies collars in 1866.
Item includes three ladies lace paper collars, each with a different pattern, that were sold with others as a set of ten.
Document 694.
Daybook. 1840–46, 1857.
156 p.; 20 cm.
Francis Joseph Eames, probably from New England, repaired and made parts for carriages.
Manuscript records Eames’s activities working on carriages, notes his purchases of domestic goods, and mentions family births and marriages.
Document 329.
Exercise book. Ca. 1727.
183 p.: ill. (some col.); 34 cm.
Thomas Earl was born in Little Compton, Rhode Island. By 1727 he had become a schoolmaster in southwestern New Jersey. He married Judith Bostido in Freehold, New Jersey, in 1736.
Manuscript is a schoolmaster’s book for the study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation, mapping, and astronomy. The mathematical exercises draw upon standard published works of the early eighteenth century. Much of the text is done in calligraphy, with headings in a decorative scroll. There are six watercolors in the book.
Document 735.
Exercise book. 1764–66.
1 vol.: ill.; 33 cm.
Includes drills in mathematics along with a few writing exercises. There are three amateurish drawings of ships.
Document 887.
Daybook. 1847–54.
252 p.; 33 cm.
Edward F. Easton and James Thompson were carpenters in Nantucket, Massachusetts. Easton died in 1875. Thompson died in 1870.
Entries in the daybook reflect such building activities as constructing fences, installing locks, building houses, setting windows, etc. The partners did work for individuals as well as for public institutions, including the local Athenaeum, the Unitarian Church, the Nantucket Fire Department, and the United States government. Individual entries often record needed quantities of nails, planking, carting, and labor.
Name, object, and occupation indexes available.
Folio 39.
Exercise book. 1804.
200 p.: col. ill.; 31 cm.
John Eckman lived in Lampeter, Pennsylvania, and was a student when he compiled this volume.
Exercise book includes mathematical problems and features three full-page drawings and other smaller watercolor sketches. Drawings depict flowers, birds, decorative letters, ornamental designs, and a man seated with smoke billowing from his pipe. Artwork resembles the kind associated with Pennsylvania German Fraktur.
Document 425.
Entry 680. John Eckman, a resident of Lampeter, Pennsylvania, was a student when he kept his “Exercise Book.” He added luster to its pages by including colorful Fraktur-like drawings. 1804. (2 illustrations)
Entry 680. Continued.
Ledger. 1765–79.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
William Edgar appears to have been a merchant in northern New Jersey, possibly from Rahway.
Edgar sold a variety of products, including food and drink, paper, tobacco, and so forth. In return, he received cash and such goods as shingles, leather britches, nut wood, etc. Mention is made of schooling his children, paying people for their labor, and paying freight charges.
Name index in front of volume.
Document 945.
Catalogue. Ca. 1870s.
Edward J. Boyle & Co. was located in Wenham and then South Georgetown, Massachusetts.
Consists of photographs of pages showing paintings on glass, apparently for clock faces. Ships, patriotic scenes, buildings, and people are all depicted.
Document 968.
Scrapbooks. Ca. 1820–80.
2 vols.: ill.; 42 cm.
Emma H. Edwards, a Philadelphian, compiled these scrapbooks in which she often commemorated sites within her hometown. She included views of buildings, houses, and churches; portraits and biographical sketches of famous Americans; articles on the Society of Friends and Martin Luther; poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier; and manuscripts from the Morris family, presumably collected for their autographs.
Folio 255.
Flowers drawn after nature and disposed in an ornamental and picturesque fashion. Ca. 1787.
1 microfilm reel.
John Edwards, an Englishman, was a little-known painter of flowers who seems to have been most active from 1768 to 1795.
Manuscript includes depictions of ornamental flowers.
Index to illustrations available.
Original item owned by the Pierpont Morgan Library.
Microfilm M927.
Account book. 1786–97.
186 p.; 32 cm.
Joseph Edwards was a clothier and dyer from Sturbridge, Massachusetts.
Manuscript refers to Edwards’s professional concerns, including pressing cloth, dyeing fabric, stretching cloth, fulling blankets, etc. The volume notes the geographical area of Edwards’s customers, and because some of their payments were in the form of goods and services, their occupations are identified.
Document 500.
Collection. 1906–65.
18 boxes: ill. (some col.)
Parke Edwards was an artist who trained at the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art. He had earlier enrolled in a mail-order course in show-card writing and sign painting with the International Correspondence School. Edwards interrupted his education to serve in the Army Signal Corps during World War I. After the war, he returned to the Pennsylvania Museum School and eventually set up its metalwork shop. Edwards’s major work was at the Swedenborgian Cathedral in Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, where he made and installed the church’s metalwork.
Collection consists of artwork on paper in pencil, ink, wash, watercolor, and colored pencil. Most are arts and crafts designs of metal objects and architectural elements, including doors, windows, grills, furniture hardware, switchplates, latches, locks, and lighting devices. Some were sketched during field trips in the United States and Europe. Other works include figure studies that Edwards executed as a student. Collection also includes a few metal artifacts, a ceramic vase, clippings, and a few letters.
Folder title listing available.
Collection 99; Microfilm M3010–M3012.
Photoprints of views of Albany, N.Y., ca. 1805–14. Ca. 1920–40.
7 photoprints: ill.; 28 x 36 cm.
James Eights was a topographical and scientific draftsman from Albany, New York. He is best known for his watercolor depictions of his hometown as it looked during the first decade of the nineteenth century. Many of his watercolors were published as lithographs at midcentury.
Photos are of Albany and include Fort Fredrick, the west side of Pearl Street, the west side of North Pearl Street, and the Jacob Vanderheyden Palace.
Collection 407.
Elijah Eldredge’s book of receipts for painting & staining wood: also receipts for disease and minutes of work, etc. Ca. 1820s.
40 p.; 17 cm.
A resident of Willington, probably in Connecticut, Elijah Eldredge recorded directions for mixing paint, staining wood, preparing oil for painting, and varnishing. There are also specifications for making a wagon and a bureau.
Document 766.
Scrapbook. 1932–65.
1 microfilm reel.
Members of Elfreth’s Alley Association lived on that street in Philadelphia. They banded together to preserve the architectural heritage and integrity of their area.
Scrapbook contains many items about the alley and includes newspaper clippings, photographs, articles, advertisements, and some genealogical information pertaining to the residents of the alley.
Original scrapbook belonged to the association at time of filming.
Microfilm 883.
Notebook. 1858, 1863.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
J. Lou Elkins attended medical lectures in Hanover, Massachusetts, and some time later served as superintendent of schools in New Market, New Hampshire.
Manuscript contains notes that Elkins kept of lectures on medicine delivered by professors Crosby and Phelps, formulas for various medicines, and a letter regarding the hiring of an elementary school teacher.
Document 409.
Account book. 1828–58.
1 vol.; 19 cm.
Joseph Elkins lived in New Market, New Hampshire. A bricklayer, he also performed maintenance work on houses and shops and in later years installed stoves.
Manuscript records the activities of a bricklayer who built and repaired chimneys, laid walkways, helped in the construction of buildings, etc. Elkins also listed the supplies he needed to do his work. Interspersed are farming accounts.
Document 408.
Bills. 1871–75.
125 items: ill.
William H. Elliot had three children: Julian, Rebecca, and Richard. The family was somehow associated with the Morristown, New Jersey, area.
Collection includes bills associated with Elliot’s three children. Items purchased included a variety of clothing from New York City stores and school supplies. Elliot also paid their tuition, room, and board while they were away at school.
Collection 253.
Diary. 1890–91.
1 vol.; 13 cm.
Blanche Ellis taught school, probably in Ohio.
Manuscript records the daily activities in Ellis’s life: visiting friends, writing letters, sewing, washing, attending church services, reading, baking, and having dresses fitted. Some mention is made of her teaching. There is just one entry for 1891.
Document 620.
2 vols.; 23 cm.
Lamp collection was created during the early years of the twentieth century and exhibited in four cases in an unnamed location at an unrecorded time.
Volumes, consisting of a total of nineteen pages, provide an overview of developments in artificial lighting from the 1700s to 1850 (excerpted from Colonial Lighting, by Arthur H. Hayward [Boston: Little, Brown, 1927]) and describe the lamps as they were originally displayed within cases.
Document 243.
Designs. 1817.
1 vol.: ill.; 20 x 25 cm.
Joseph Ely lived in Bristol, Connecticut.
Small volume contains poetry, an acrostic, and epitaphs within decorative circular borders drawn in pen and ink. The covers feature pen-and-ink designs.
Document 804.
Research notes. 1957–71.
3 cu. ft.
Betty Elzea was a research assistant at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. She worked with Hugh Wakefield, keeper of the Circulation Department, as he conducted research on Victorian glass.
Collection includes offprints, handwritten notes, clippings, photocopies, and photographs relating to glassware, ceramics, and other decorative arts objects from several European countries and the United States, dating from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries. Especially noteworthy are two scrapbooks covering the production of glassware from 1800 to 1930 in Great Britain, France, Czechoslovakia, and Germany.
Collection 364.
2 sheets.
Consists of fourteen patterns, probably for white work (white embroidery on white fabric). Embroidery was to be done on shirts and sleeves, a child’s skirt, a robe, an infant’s blanket, a collar, etc. Floral patterns and geometrical shapes predominate.
Document 695.
12 items: ill.
Consists of twelve original designs for white work (white embroidery on white fabric) that could have been executed on handkerchiefs, dresses, vests, slippers, etc. Most designs appear to be English in origin. One design appears to be French.
Collection 144.
1 vol.: ill.; 28 x 22 cm.
This volume contains approximately 150 hand-drawn ink and pencil patterns for white work (white embroidery on white fabric). Included is a variety of floral and geometric designs, sometimes used in the same drawing. The sizes and shapes of the patterns indicate how they would have been used: for pouches, handkerchiefs, collars, slippers, etc. Also included are two pieces of fabric on which white work was printed.
Paper bears the watermark of a Kent, England, papermaking firm, J. Green & Son, and is dated 1825.
Document 287.
11 leaves: ill.; 23 cm.
Manuscript contains patterns for Ayreshire white work (white embroidery on white fabric) embroidery used primarily for decorating infants’ clothing and caps. The patterns feature leaves, flowers, acorns, and berries. A pattern for a cap is laid in.
Document 1006.
55 leaves; 23 cm.
Includes more than one hundred embroidery designs in ink and wash. Many were to be used as borders for fabrics. A few of the designs are labeled as lace, veil, and done. Paper is watermarked 1821. Book contains a clipping from an 1868 Wedmore, England, newspaper, suggesting its origin.
Document 435.
60 p.: ill.; 41 x 33 cm.
Patterns for decorating collars, cuffs, sleeves, underwear, dress borders, bonnets, lapels, slippers, and baby clothes. Many are for white work (white embroidery on white fabric) on cotton mull and were done in pen, pencil, and gray wash. Paper is watermarked 1819.
Folio 162.
Account books. 1805–20, bulk 1836–40.
3 vols.; 21 cm. or smaller.
Solomon Emerson made and repaired shoes in Barnstead, New Hampshire, and helped to operate the family farm.
Records both debits and credits related to Emerson’s activities as a shoemaker, bootmender, leathersmith, and farmer.
Document 284.
Pricking patterns. Ca. 1900–1920.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
A bookplate of Nettie Maria Emery is pasted into the volume.
Patterns were most likely created to mark fabric for embroidery work. The majority of the patterns are geometric shapes, and three feature scenes with children playing.
Document 529.
65 items: ill.
Collection includes signatures of lesser-known English artists. Most of the items in the collection are letters, but there are also envelopes, scraps, cartes de visite, sketches, and engravings. Items were apparently mounted in a scrapbook at one time.
Collection 492.
40 items.
Collection includes handbills and slip-ballads of London lottery-ticket sellers. Most contain numerous woodcut illustrations and/or verse.
Finding aid available.
Collection 100.
11 items.
Consists of eight copper plates used for printing calling cards and three cards printed from the plates. The engravers—John H. Kirk, Jacob Hyatt, Hyatt & Cornell, and Macys—were all based in New York City.
Document 332.
1 vol.; 28 cm.
Among the engravings in this volume are proof impressions for The Token: A Christmas and New Year’s Present, published by Carter & Hendee of Boston in 1830. Children and young adults are depicted in a number of activities. The original artists and painting titles are written on the backs of the engravings. Other engravings seem to be European in origin and depict interiors of churches, castles, and other buildings.
Document 911.
177 items.
Collection contains scrapbook pages of engravings of late eighteenth-century British and French fashions. Clothing worn by maids, footmen, peddlers, sailors, prisoners, and clerics are depicted. Also shown are accessories, such as hats, gloves, and parasols. There are illustrations of hairstyles and wigs as well. Also included are advertisements and newspaper articles on fashion, head gear, trials, and executions. Watch papers and original sketches are also included.
Collection 463.
ABC book. 1824.
1 vol.: col. ill.; 21 cm.
Samuel Ensminger Jr. of Pennsylvania wrote letters of the alphabet in various styles in his ABC book. The volume features illuminated upper- and lowercase letters, one to a page. Ensminger used gold and red shading. The final page contains a paragraph on the importance of handwriting to gentlemen and ladies.
Document 706.
1 box: ill. (some col.)
This miscellaneous (and still open) collection consists of approximately four hundred illustrated envelopes, most from the Civil War era. Many of the illustrations are cartoons and caricatures conveying an anti-Confederate point of view. Others show flags, seals of various states, and allegorical figures representing patriotic ideas of liberty and union. A few depict women or African Americans. Among the lithographic firms represented are Magee, S. C. Upham, D. Murphy’s Son, and Brown & Ryan.
Finding aid available.
Collection 333.
Hymnals. Ca. 1747–1850.
8 vols.: ill. (some col.); 34 cm. or smaller.
The Ephrata Cloister, located near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was a religious community of German Seventh-Day Baptists founded by Johann Conrad Beissel in 1728. Under his guidance Ephrata became known for its mystical music and manuscript illuminations. Sisters Anastasia and Iphigenia were the cloister’s most prolific writers. The artists who produced the illuminations are not known. Three major collections of hymns were produced at Ephrata: Zionitischer Weyrauch’s Hügel, Turtel Taube, and Paradisisches Wunderspiel.
Hymnals in the collection include manuscript notations of melodies and examples of Fraktur art. Texts are in German.
Four of the volumes include printed registers; two include handwritten registers.
Finding aid available.
Collection 318.
Daybook. 1831.
1 vol.; 40 cm.
Samuel Erwin was the proprietor of a general store in Erwin, New York, that stocked dry goods, housewares, and hardware.
Manuscript offers a look at Erwin’s daily business dealings from July to October 1831.
Folio 119.
30 p.; 32 cm.
This manuscript, compiled by an unidentified gentleman, records many aspects of nineteenth-century middle- and upper-class manners and customs. The writer compares what he calls the New England style of life with southern customs, describes philosophies of education, comments on fashion, writes about religion and worship, reviews such professions as law and medicine, and criticizes literary figures for their poor writing skills.
Document 1009.
4 microfilm reels.
Reels include estate records and an index to Chancery Court records.
Summary of contents available.
Original records located at Queens College.
Microfilm M1580–M1583.
Sample book. Ca. 1900–1930.
The Esterbrook Steel Pen Mfg. Co. located its headquarters in New York City and its works in Camden, New Jersey.
Consists of thirty steel pen points that are representative examples of the firm’s products. A stock number appears on each one.
Document 653.
Personal account book. 1864–73.
238 p.; 15 cm.
Joseph Esty lived in Ithaca, New York.
Consists of nearly daily notes of money spent over a ten-year period. Each year’s expenses are totaled. Expenditures included money paid for food, house repairs, church contributions, painting supplies, reading materials, travel expenses, taxes, insurance, clock repair, medicine, coal, haircuts, etc.
Folio 119.
Account book. 1774–1812.
1 microfilm reel.
David Evans was apparently engaged in retailing in Philadelphia.
Accounts mention furniture, coffins, venetian blinds, and hardware. James Gillingham (1731–81) was a frequent customer.
Original material located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania.
Microfilm M305.
Financial documents. 1872–91.
2 boxes.
Jonathan Evans lived in Germantown, Pennsylvania, now a part of Philadelphia. He seems to have worked for a plumbing supply company called Cooper, Jones & Cadbury. He was active in the Friends Library in Germantown.
Collection contains bills and receipts, primarily for work done on houses owned by Evans; tax and water bills; check stubs; and bank books. House work included making interior repairs, glazing, washing ceilings and walls, installing a tin roof, hanging wallpaper, installing a new boiler, etc. Other collection pieces record personal expenses.
Collection 339.
Recipe book. 1793.
1 vol.; 17 cm.
Consists of both handwritten and clipped recipes for breads, puddings, biscuits, and cakes as well as remedies for such maladies as gout, coughs, rheumatism, and burns.
Document 245.
Notebook. 1848–53.
1 vol.; 13 cm.
John Evers was a miniature, landscape, and theatrical scene painter. Born on Long Island, New York, he began his career around 1816, when he first exhibited architectural drawings at the American Academy. By 1819 he was studying scene painting with John J. Holland at the Park Theater in New York City, a house that he would be associated with until 1839. During the 1840s and 1850s, Evers was an active panorama painter in New York. He was a founder of and exhibitor at the National Academy.
Evers used this notebook to record instructions, recipes, and artistic techniques as well as costs for painting murals and other scenes. He noted the people he worked for as well as what he charged them.
Collection 331.
Recipe book. 1870–82.
120 p.; 19 cm.
This book may have been maintained by Charles Everts of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Contains instructions for such things as maintaining metals, preparing cleaning compounds and inks, treating fabrics, and concocting herbal remedies. Recipes are in both manuscript and printed form.
Document 964.
Early houses of Burlington County, New Jersey. 1932–39.
221 p.: ill.; 17 x 26 cm.
N. R. Ewan was from Moorestown, New Jersey.
Volume contains 110 black and white mounted photographs. In 1939 Ewan wrote that “these photos taken in 1932 and 1933 are illustrations of buildings erected before 1800; with one or two exceptions they are concerned with dwelling houses.” Textual information includes construction dates of the buildings, names of original owners, notes on stories associated with the homes, and condition of the houses at the time of photography.
Document 127.
1 microfilm reel.
Entries record cargoes exported from Bristol, England, to various ports. Lists include many kinds of home furnishings as well as other commodities.
Summary of contents available.
Original records at the Public Record Office, London.
Microfilm M266.
1 vol.; 20 cm.
Contains poetry, “On Humanity,” and an essay, “Tis Education that Forms the Female Mind.” Cover illustration is called “Watering Place.” Paper bears a watermark dated to the first decade of the nineteenth century.
Document 404.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
Consists of notes, examples, and problems regarding various mathematical processes. Two watercolor drawings of Orange County, New York, properties and a list of people enrolled in the class for which the book was used are also included.
Document 37.
21 leaves; 34 cm.
Elijah Burbank, the stationer whose name appears on this item, was from Worcester, Massachusetts, suggesting that the unnamed compiler of the exercise book may have resided in the vicinity of that city.
Book contains notes, examples, and exercises for addition, multiplication, and division. The section marked “Compound Addition” includes word problems to teach calculations for weights and measures, time, dates, and currency.
Document 1053.
1 vol.; 32 cm.
The Jonestown, Pennsylvania, resident who kept this volume recorded rules for computations with decimals, square roots, cube roots, and arithmetical progression as well as some word problems.
Document 614.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
This fragment of an exercise book contains math problems, handwriting exercises, and exercises for conjugating German verbs. Also featured are pinpricked designs that may have been used as templates for embroidery.
Document 696.
Sample book of cigar box labels. Ca. 1880–1900.
1 vol.: ill. (some col.); 23 cm.
Frederick Heppenheimer was a lithographer active in New York City from 1851 to 1876. From 1872 to 1876, he and Louis Maurer were the proprietors of the firm of Heppenheimer & Maurer. After Frederick’s death, his sons continued the business. It was located on the corner of Pearl and William streets.
This volume, which contains about two hundred pages and 271 prints, was a salesman’s sample book of chromolithographed cigar box labels and cigar bands. Each carries a stock number, and illustrations depict women, men in military costume, railway stations, ships, barrooms, etc. The sample book is contained within a wooden cigar box with a metal handle. Embossed on it is “No. 411.”
Folio 302.
Invoice book. 1823–32.
134 p.; 31 cm.
F. & L. C. Learned operated a textile store in New London, Connecticut, and purchased their merchandise from wholesalers in New York City.
Manuscript contains long invoices that list a wide array of products purchased by the Learneds for retail sale. They attempted to keep up with the latest fashions and often remarked that they bought “new patterns.”
Document 311.
Richter’s anchor blocks of stone in three colors: known as “stone building blocks.” Ca. 1900.
2 boxes of blocks: col. ill. + 3 books of models and 4 sheets of figures.
F. A. Richter & Co. were importers from New York City.
Blocks were advertised as “a great educational toy and pastime” and could be used to build such structures as castles, churches, bridges, forts, etc. Paper dolls printed on uncut sheets of paper are included in the set of blocks.
Text on box and accompanying material written in English, German, Spanish, and Italian.
Collection 220.
Catalog and scrapbook. Ca. 1870–90.
94 p.: ill. (some col.); 33 cm.
Boston-based F. M. Holmes & Co. manufactured furniture.
Originally a catalogue from the Holmes company containing albumen prints, this volume was later used as a scrapbook. Depicted are various kinds of seating furniture, tables, beds, and bureaus. Scrapbook items include colorful advertising ephemera, chromolithographs, calling cards, etc.
Document 394.
Papers. 1808–77.
65 items.
Henry, Josiah, Mary, Polly, and Simeon Failing lived in Fort Plains and Conajoharie, New York. Simeon served as the “admeasurer” of firewood, timber, and lumber, as well as the pound keeper and tax collector of the two towns.
Collection contains various papers relating to the family: bills, receipts, articles of agreement, promissory notes, bonds, deeds, and letters. Articles of agreement concerned subcontract work for the Erie Canal. A patent assignment for a water elevator, granted to Simeon in 1867, is also included.
Collection 486.
Papers. 1830–48.
1 folder.
Noah Fairbanks lived near Gardner, Massachusetts.
Collection contains bills and receipts addressed to Fairbanks. Most relate to house construction and maintenance. One item, headed “Account of building a house, 1837,” notes expenses for constructing a chimney and a well, a door and windows, and for painting and plastering. Also included is an auction record for an unnamed estate. The majority of items sold from the estate were farm implements and hand tools.
Collection 470.
Daybook. 1857–61.
249 p.; 36 cm.
Volume contains the daily record of expenses and receipts for a Fall River, Massachusetts, foundry. Items sold include stoves, ovens, parts, and accessories. Styles were Venetian, Vesta, Grecian, Freestone, Granite State, and Invincible. Methods of shipment and employee wages are mentioned.
Document 161.
Photograph album. 1982.
1 vol.: ill.; 58 cm.
Daniel Farber was a professional photographer.
Album contains eighty photos of an exhibition entitled “New England Begins: The Seventeenth Century,” held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, in 1982. The exhibit was installed to survey New England culture and was divided into three sections: Migration and Settlement, Mentality and Environment, and Style.
Folio 78.
20 items: ill.
Consists of seven coupons from the Pratt Food Company, offering books, charts, and a course on poultry-keeping through the mail; eleven envelopes, handbills, etc. advertising the Wilbur Stock Food Company and its promotional offer of a gold watch; and two items advertising a veterinary cabinet from the Wilbur company.
Collection 126.
41 p.; 21 cm.
Manuscript contains records kept by an unidentified farmer from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Entries relate to livestock, the planting and harvesting of various crops, the sizes of local fields, and the cultivation of cherry, pear, and apple trees. Some varieties of the farmer’s apples no longer exist.
Document 1060.
Inventory of goods on hand. 1841–44.
124 p.; 20 cm.
The company was probably located in or near Boston.
Contains an inventory of products on hand as of April 20, 1841, and debts owed as of July 1, 1844. Goods on hand included “English goods,” hardware, medicines, iron and steel, crockery, glassware, and stoneware. Debts owed were mainly to individuals in Boston and Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Document 51.
Sales book. 1871–72.
360 p.; 33 cm.
J. D. Farmington was a glass and pottery merchant in Hancock, Maine.
Book includes 270 pages recording sales of glassware, pottery, and some metalware to local residents and other merchants. The remaining ninety pages record orders for books. It is unclear whether the books were acquired for later resale or were obtained to form the basis of a private library. Inlaid items pertain to members of the Austin family.
Folio 258.
Papers. Ca. 1910–50.
1 box: ill. (some col.); 26 cm.
Willoughby Farr was an antiques dealer who specialized in American and European silver. He lived in Edgewater, New Jersey.
Central to this group of papers are four volumes containing information on American silversmiths. Willoughby’s father maintained the volume until 1916, when he turned it over to his son. It and two other volumes contain the names of silversmiths along with their working locations, dates, and silver marks. The fourth volume is entitled “Some Information: Being a Short Account of Some American Silversmiths Not Mentioned in Any Previously Published Work on the Subject.”
Index of names for fourth volume available.
Collection 392.
Letters. 1903–4.
4 items: ill.
Evidence suggests that Asa Farwell lived in Boston.
These four letters, totaling 106 pages, together form a travel diary recounting Farwell’s overland journey between Boston and Los Angeles. The letters are written on stationery that features pictures of noted sites along the way. Highlights of the trip included a visit to the Bronx Zoo, an excursion to Salt Beach near Salt Lake City, a festival in San Francisco’s China Town, a trip to Catalina Island, a visit to an ostrich farm and orange grove near Pasadena, and a stop at the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. On the way west, Farwell’s train derailed due to a faulty trestle.
Document 1087.
60 items: col. ill.
Includes hand-colored illustrations showing women’s hairstyles and clothing as well as jewelry and other accessories. The cards are probably English. Each card is numbered.
Collection 231.
Ledger. 1834–49.
1 vol.; 33 cm.
Ethan Fay was a carriagemaker near Freehold, New Jersey.
Fay records that he made and repaired carriages and sleighs, mended rakes, made coffins, worked metal, and painted signs.
Name index at front of volume.
Document 605.
Papers. 1866–71.
1 lin. ft.
S. C. Fay worked as an agent for A. L. Elliott & Co., J. Elliott & Son, and the Bay State Collar Co., all of which manufactured paper collars and cuffs.
Includes bills, advertising ephemera, notices, business cards, correspondence, and other items related to the manufacture and distribution of paper collars and cuffs. Several sample collars and cuffs are included as well. Several items pertain to attempts by the Union Paper Collar Company to monopolize trade and the efforts of the Paper Collar Manufacturers Association to prevent this monopolization.
Collection 269.
Account books. 1692–1737.
2 vols.; 18 cm. or smaller.
John Fearing was a weaver from Hingham, Massachusetts, whose family members were among the first settlers of the town.
Fearing recorded that he wove “ozenbrigs,” “crinceled stuff,” “striped,” “coverlids,” “pilion cloths,” and “checkkered” cloths. He often accepted goods as payment in lieu of currency.
Name index at front of second volume.
Document 654.
Account book. 1756–1803.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
John Fearing lived in Wareham, Massachusetts, where he may have been a justice of the peace. Town records show that a John Fearing was a selectman and member of the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety during the American Revolution.
Manuscript records a variety of activities and includes references to shipbuilding, carpentry, tailoring, plowing, hauling, and farming.
Folio 216.
Music book. Ca. 1840–59.
62 p.; 20 x 12 cm.
Lothrop Fellows lived in Lockport, New York.
Book contains thirty-two tunes with suggestions on how they should be played. Some are labeled as Welsh, Scottish, English, or Italian.
Includes index of song titles.
Document 401.
Daybook. 1846–47, 1859.
1 vol.; 42 cm.
Fentons Hall & Co. was a brickmaking firm from Bennington, Vermont.
Daybook contains references to clay, bricks, plaster, earthenware, etc. The business seems to have been organized into a brick department and an earthenware department. The last two pages of the manuscript, dated 1859, record the sales of textiles and other dry goods by Henry F. Dewey.
Folio 150.
Album. Ca. 1860–79.
101 p.: ill.; 32 cm.
Hiram Ferguson worked as a wood engraver beginning in 1855 in Albany, New York.
Album contains approximately 375 proofs of wood engravings created by Ferguson. Among the items illustrated are buildings, both residential and commercial; agricultural implements, including reapers and mowers; a bookplate for the Schuyler family; Civil War battle scenes; named pleasure boats; stoves; scientific and natural history scenes; and the masthead of the Semi-Weekly Saratoga.
Document 200.
Sketchbook. Ca. 1810–18.
25 leaves: ill. (some col.); 49 x 33 cm.
Ferranti was a designer.
Volume includes twenty-six drawings and watercolors of ornate tables, medallions, designs for painted ceilings, and other decorative patterns, all in the rococo style. Some are numbered and dated.
Folio 92.
Exercise book and drawings. 1792–1845.
14 items: ill.
Benjamin Ferris was a watchmaker from Wilmington, Delaware. In addition to his professional responsibilities, he pursued literary endeavors and participated in activities sponsored by the Society of Friends. Ferris was interested in the welfare of Indians and served in 1839 on a Quaker commission to investigate the rights of the Senecas to lands in New York State. When Ferris was seventy-six, he was disabled by disease.
Collection includes Ferris’s workbook on business mathematics and thirteen of his drawings. The majority of the drawings are of Delaware buildings and were later