Levi E. Taylor Daybook
The wheelwright Levi Ely Taylor was born in Longmeadow, Mass., on Nov. 17, 1795, the son of Nathaniel and Jerusha Taylor. Marrying a woman from Rocky Hill, Conn., Laura Peirce, he settled in Longmeadow and built a prosperous life for himself in his trade. His eldest son, Newton, followed him into the business.
Taylor’s daybook contains careful records of a wheelwright from Longmeadow, Mass., documenting his varied work in the repair of carriages. The transactions that appear in the volume range from making whiffletrees to shortening wheels, making and fitting out carriage seats, and painting and varnishing vehicles, with occasional forays into selling goods such as wheelbarrows and straw cutters.
The wheelwright Levi Ely Taylor (1795-1858) was born in Longmeadow, Mass., on Nov. 17, 1795, the son of Nathaniel and Jerusha Taylor. Marrying a woman from Rocky Hill, Conn., Laura Peirce (sometimes listed as Laura Rice), in 1816, he settled down in is native town to raise a large family that included at least two sons, Newton Ely (ca.1818-1883) and Nathaniel (b. ca.1848), and five daughters, Laura Ann (1822-1844), Jerusha Ely (1826-1827), Margaret (b. ca.1831), Jerusha E. (b. ca.1839), and Hellen E. (b. ca.1853).
Taylor evidently enjoyed a degree of prosperity as a wheelwright, making and repairing wheels, carriages, and related equipment and occasionally renting out vehicles. His eldest son, Newton, followed him into the trade.
Levi Taylor’s daybook contains careful records of a wheelwright from Longmeadow, Mass., documenting his varied work in the repair of carriages. The transactions that appear in the volume range from making whiffletrees to shortening wheels, making and fitting out carriage seats, and painting and varnishing vehicles, with occasional forays into selling goods such as wheelbarrows and straw cutters.
Although the identity of the carriage maker is not directly recorded, Taylor’s signature appears on fol. 129 under an account settled with John Winchell. Both he and his eldest son, Newton E. Taylor (who appears several times as a client in the daybook) are listed in the state census for 1855 as wheelwrights.
Acquired from Dan Casavant, 1986.
Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, July 2015.
)Cite as: Levi E. Taylor Daybook (MS 483 bd). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.