The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
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Collecting area: Mercantile

Champion Family

Champion and Stebbins Family Account Books

1753-1865
8 vols. 2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 228

Account books from the Champion and Stebbins families of Saybrook, Connecticut and West Springfield, Massachusetts, who were involved in various businesses and professional activities. Includes lists of accounts by surname, services rendered, methods of payment, entries for treatments and remedies, lists of patients, and lists of banking activities. Volumes were kept by Reuben Champion (1720-1777), Jere Stebbins (1757-1817), and Reuben Champion, M.D. (1784-1865).

Subjects

African Americans--Massachusetts--West Springfield--HistoryAgriculture--Economic aspects--Massachusetts--HistoryAtwood, ElijahBarter--Massachusetts--West SpringfieldChampion familyConnecticut River Valley--Economic conditions--18th centuryFarmers--Massachusetts--HistoryGeneral stores--MassachusettsHomeopathic physicians--MassachusettsHomeopathy--Materia medica and therapeuticsMedicine--Practice--Massachusetts--HistoryPhysicians--MassachusettsPottery industry--Massachusetts--HistorySaybrook (Conn.)--HistoryShipping--New England--HistoryStebbins familyWest Springfield (Mass.)--Economic conditionsWest Springfield (Mass.)--HistoryWest Springfield (Mass.)--Social conditionsWomen--Massachusetts--History

Contributors

Champion, Reuben, 1727-1777Champion, Reuben, 1784-1865Stebbins, Jere, 1757-1817

Types of material

Account booksDaybooks
Coffin, George R. (George Richards)

George R. Coffin Journal

1854-1857
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1000 bd

The son of a master mariner from Newburyport, Massachusetts, George Richards Coffin was born in Castine, Maine, on Feb. 12, 1832. Sent to Boston at the age of 19 to get his start in business as a clerk, Coffin became a wharfinger in 1854, just a year before he married Hannah Balch, the eldest daughter of a prominent Newburyport merchant. As his family grew to eight, Coffin thrived in his trade, becoming a long-time member of the Merchant’s Exchange in Boston and Inspector of Grain for the Commercial Exchange in the 1870s. By the 1880s, he relocated his family to the genteel western suburbs of the city and by the time of his death in 1894, he had earned a spot in the Boston Blue Book.

This beautifully written diary was kept by George Coffin as he was starting out in life. Kept regularly, though not daily, the entries are filled with details about his budding business and personal lives, providing a rich portrayal of an aspiring young man in antebellum Boston. Beginning during the last few months of his clerkship and courtship of Hannah Balch and continuing through their engagement and marriage to the birth of their first child, the diary is filled with descriptions of socializing at parties and lectures, religious attendance and recreational activities, and it includes his thoughts on marriage, family, and his career in business. Of particular note are Coffin’s accounts of a visit to the State Prison in Charlestown, his reactions to local resistance to the capture of Anthony Burns under the Fugitive Slave Act, and the steady growth of his relationship with Hannah.

Gift of Elizabeth Hartmann, Nov. 2017

Subjects

Boston (Mass.)--Social life and customs--19th centuryBurns, Anthony, 1834-1862Clerks--Massachusetts--BostonCoffin, Hannah B.Courtship--Massachusetts--BostonHusband and wife--Massachusetts--BostonMarriage--Massachusetts--BostonNewburyport (Mass.)--Social life and customs--19th centuryUnited States. Fugitive Slave Law (1850)Weddings--Massachusetts--Newburyport

Types of material

Diaries
Coon, John H.

John H. Coon Ledger

1862-1873
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 230 bd

Owner of a general store and a farmer in Sheffield, Massachusetts. Ledger includes lists of customers, the goods that they purchased, and how they paid (cash and exchange of goods or services).

Subjects

Arnold, EmmonsCrippen, FrankCroslear, Aaron, MrsCurtiss, IraGeneral stores--Massachusetts--SheffieldNoteware, FrankSheffield (Mass.)--Economic conditionsTuttle, Leonard

Contributors

Coon, John H

Types of material

Account books
Currier, William A.

W.A. Currier Daybooks

1865-1869
2 vols. 0.2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 213

Located at 14 and 16 Main Street in Haverhill, Mass., W.A. Currier dealt in kitchen goods, home furnishings, and stoves around the time of the Civil War. His trade seems to have been diverse and dynamic: in the Haverhill city directory for 1865, he is recorded variously as a furniture seller, junk dealer, and carriage maker, while two years later, he is listed at the same address under stoves and tinware.

Covering the immediate post-Civil War years, Currier’s daybooks document customers, items purchased, prices paid, and transactions relating to the trade in home goods, stoves, and rags.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987

Subjects

Adams, GeorgeDaniels, W. FGildea, PeterGriffin, SamuelHaverhill (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryKimball, OO'Brine, J. WRags--Prices--Massachusetts--Haverhill--19th centuryStacy, W. PStove industry and trade--Massachusetts--Haverhill--19th centuryStoves--Repairing--Massachusetts--Haverhill--19th centuryTinsmiths--Massachusetts--Haverhill--19th century

Contributors

Currier, William A

Types of material

Account booksDaybooks
Cushing, David F., 1814-1899

David F. Cushing Records

1851-1862
3 vols. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 248 bd

Born in Newfane, Vermont in 1814, David F. Cushing journeyed to West Medway, Massachusetts, at the age of sixteen to learn the tailor’s trade. There he met and married Polly Adams (b. 1821), who gave birth to their son, Winfield, in 1843, the first of at least nine children. Shortly after starting his family, Cushing returned home to Vermont, establishing a general store in the village of Cambridgeport, situated on the border of Grafton and Rockingham. He enjoyed considerable success in his work, rising from being listed as a “retail dealer” in the early years to a merchant; by 1860, Cushing owned real estate valued at $4,000 and personal property worth $7,000. A deacon of the Congregational church, his frequent appointment as a postmaster hints at a degree of political connection within the community to accompany his financial and personal success. He remained active in his store for 56 years until his death in 1899.

Cushing’s daybooks (1860) include lists of stock, how he acquired his goods, and the method and form of payment (cash or exchange of goods and services). The receipt book, comprised of printed forms, records freight hauling activities, with records of the freight (usually hay or oxen), weight, and date.

Subjects

Barter--Vermont--Cambridgeport--19th centuryCambridgeport (Vt.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryFreight and freightage--Rates--Vermont--19th centuryGeneral stores--Vermont--Cambridgeport

Contributors

Cushing, David F., 1814-1899

Types of material

Account booksDaybooks
Dall Family

Dall Family Correspondence

1810-1843
2 boxes 2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 282

Chiefly correspondence from various Dall family members in Boston, Massachusetts, particularly father William Dall, Revolutionary War veteran, merchant, businessman and former Yale College writing master, to sons William and James Dall in Baltimore, Maryland. Letters of son James Dall, then a student at Harvard University, provide accounts of Boston political and cultural activities of the time.

The correspondence documents the daily changes in the life of a merchant’s family in the early 19th century, reflecting anxiety over trade restrictions, embargoes, and other economic disruptions resulting from the War of 1812. The elder Dall (William 3rd) and much of his family lived in Boston, but two sons lived in Baltimore. The bulk of the correspondence consists of letters to the younger son, William 4th, who was then apprenticed to a Baltimore merchant. The letters of son James Dall, then a student at Harvard University, provide accounts of Boston political and cultural activities.

Acquired 1989

Subjects

Baltimore (Md.)--BiographyBaltimore (Md.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryBoston (Mass.)--BiographyBoston (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryBoston (Mass.)--Intellectual life--19th centuryBoston (Mass.)--Politics and government--19th centuryDall familyFamily--United States--History--19th centuryHarvard University--StudentsMerchants--Maryland--BaltimoreMerchants--Massachusetts--Boston

Contributors

Dall, James, 1781-1863Dall, John Robert, 1798-1851Dall, John, 1791-1852Dall, Joseph, 1801-1840Dall, Maria, 1783-1836Dall, Rebecca KeenDall, Sarah Keen, 1798-1878Dall, William, 1753-1829Dall, William, 1794 or 5-1875
Gay, Merrick, 1802-1866

Merrick Gay Account Books

1844-1849
1 box 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 242

A successful merchant from Gaysville, Vermont, Merrick Gay (1802-1866) operated a general store in his village for many years, later establishing a woolen factory. Gay served his community variously as postmaster, town clerk, and state senator.

These two daybooks document Gay’s business transactions with local individuals and firms and with the Town of Stockbridge and Narrows School District. The entries record the name of each customer, the method and form of payment (cash and goods), and Gay’s purchases, including labor costs for hauling freight.

Subjects

Barter--Vermont--Gaysville--History--19th centuryBlanchard, Solomon, b. ca. 1816Books--Prices--Vermont--History--19th centuryClaremont Manufacturing Company--HistoryFreight and freightage--Rates--Vermont--History--19th centuryGaysville (Vt.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryGaysville (Vt.)--Rural conditions--19th centuryGaysville Forge Company--HistoryGaysville Manufacturing Company--HistoryGeneral stores--Vermont--GaysvilleNarrows School District--HistoryStockbridge (Vt.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryWaller, Israel

Contributors

Gay, Merrick, 1802-1866

Types of material

Account booksDaybooks
Gillett, Chauncey S.

Chauncey S. Gillett Daybook

1841-1845
1 vol. 0.2 linear feet
Call no.: MS 417 bd

Although poorly known, Chauncey S. Gillett (1815-1846) appears to have carried on a relatively small custom at a general store in Southwick, Massachusetts, during the early 1840s. The son of Almon and Cinthia Gillett, Gillett traded in the typical range of groceries, dry goods, and other commodities, including buttons, cloth, paper, tobacco and tea, molasses, and candles, but also in liquors of various sorts (rum, gin, and brandy cider). Gillett died at the age of 30 on January 4, 1846, and is buried in Southwick.

Kept by the young Chauncey Gillett, this daybook records a chronological series of transactions at a general stores in Southwick, Mass., between 1841 and 1845. Among Gillett’s customers were several relatives, including Almon, Rhodolphus, and Levi Gillett, all of whom are also buried in the Southwick cemetery.

Subjects

General stores--Massachusetts--SouthwickSouthwick (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century

Contributors

Gillett, Chauncey S

Types of material

Daybooks
Henry, Samuel

Samuel Henry Accounts Books

1813-1881
2 boxes 0.75 linear feet
Call no.: MS 013

Born in Amherst, Mass., in 1788, Samuel Henry became a relatively well to do justice of the peace, merchant, landowner, and entrepreneur from the Quabbin towns of Prescott and Shutesbury, Massachusetts. Predeceased by his wife Cynthia, and three daughters, he died on April 24, 1862 and is buried in Shutesbury.

The nine surviving volumes of Henry’s contain descriptions of his duties as justice of the peace, a book of deeds and mortgages from local real estate transactions, account books of sales in his general store and from his palm leaf hat business, and notes of accounts with individuals.

Subjects

General stores--Massachusetts--ShutesburyPanama hat industry--MassachusettsPrescott (Mass.)--HistoryShutesbury (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryShutesbury (Mass.)--History

Contributors

Henry, Samuel, 19th cent

Types of material

Account books
Hodges, Charles W.

Charles W. and Joseph F. Hodges Account Books

1862-1865
2 vols. 0.5 linear feet
Call no.: MS 209

Brothers Charles W. and Joseph F. Hodges moved from Norton, Mass., to Foxboro, and established a successful retail grocery business just prior to the Civil War that became the basis for other mercantile enterprises.

These two account books appear to be customer ledgers of the grocery firm Hodges and Messinger, which was to become the Union Store of Charles W. and Joseph F. Hodges.

Subjects

Foxborough (Mass.)--History--19th centuryGrocers--Massachusetts--FoxboroughGrocery trade--Massachusetts--Foxborough

Contributors

Hodges, Joseph F. (Joseph Francis), 1827-1901

Types of material

Account books