The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
CredoResearch digital collections in Credo

Collecting area: Business & industry

Brush, Robert

Robert Brush Ledger

1793-1819
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 195 bd

Robert Brush (1751-1835) operated a sawmill in North Salem, Westchester County, N.Y., at the turn of the nineteenth century, sawing and selling board, timber, and logs to the local community.

This double-entry account book documents an active sawmill and gristmill in Westchester County, N.Y. at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Subjects

Grist mills--New York (State)Sawmills--New York (State)

Types of material

Account books
Buffington, Zephaniah, 1771-

Zephaniah Buffington Account Book

1803-1808
1 envelope 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 226

Quaker merchant and farmer from Dartmouth, Massachusetts. Includes two major notations about a large cheese purchase and the sale of hoes in Washington County, New York. Also contains inventories of goods, notations for notes payable and notes receivable, and accounts of his farm (including amounts of cheese made, accounts of farm tools, and the keeping of cows and sheep).

Subjects

Bristol County (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryCheeseCheesemakers--Massachusetts--DartmouthDairying--Economic aspects--MassachusettsDartmouth (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryFarmers--Massachusetts--DartmouthHoesMerchants--Massachusetts--DartmouthQuakers--Massachusetts--Bristol CountyQuakers--New York (State)--Washington CountyWashington County (N.Y.)--Economic conditions--19th century

Contributors

Buffington, Zephaniah, 1771-

Types of material

Account books
Burnett, Bela, 1778-

Bela Burnett Account Book

1801-1842
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 385 bd

A storeowner, farmer, and citizen of Granby, Mass., Bela Burnett was born October 4, 1778, the second of seven children of Jonathan and Mehitabel (Dickinson) Burnett. Having relocated from Southampton, New York, to Battleboro, Vermont, in 1770, Jonathan and Mehitable settled in Granby in 1774, purchasing the farm of Aaron Nash where in 2010, Burnett descendants still live. Burnett had at least five children by two marriages, first to Clarissa Warner (1801) and second to Sally Allen (1808). Burnett died in Granby on April 16, 1846.

The Burnett account book includes careful records of goods sold, customers’ accounts, and the form and method of payment (cash, credit, or barter), as well as some information on family members and boarders, along with a handful of miscellaneous items laid in, such as calculations, notes, and a remedy for yellow jaundice.

Subjects

Agricultural laborers--Massachusetts--GranbyBarter--Massachusetts--GranbyBoardinghouses--Massachusetts--Granby--19th centuryFarmers--Massachusetts--GranbyFood prices--Massachusetts--GranbyGeneral stores--Massachusetts--GranbyGranby (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryJaundiceMarsh, Tim A. PMedicine--Formulae, receipts, prescriptionsProduce trade--Massachusetts--Granby--19th centuryRobbins, AsaShopping--Massachusetts--GranbySmith, David

Contributors

Burnett, Bela, 1778-

Types of material

Account books
Bush, Carroll H.

Carroll H. Bush Papers

1929-1938
1 box 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1055

A knitter in a Northampton silk factory during the years of the Great Depression, Carroll Bush was a Socialist and officer with the American Federation of Hosiery Workers.

The Bush papers offer a small but fascinating glimpse into political radicalism and union organizing among Northampton silk workers during the Great Depression. An active Socialist and union member in the Textile Workers Union of America, Bush corresponded with other textile workers and union organizers in Massachusetts and entertained an interest in union agitation more generally. The collection consists entirely of letters received by Bush.

Gift of Bruce Rubenstein via Eugene Povirk, Oct. 2018

Subjects

Communists--Massachusetts--NorthamptonHosiery workers--Labor unions--Massachusetts--NorthamptonNorthampton (Mass.)--History--20th centurySilk industry--Massachusetts--NorthamptonStrikes and lockouts--Massachusetts--EasthamptonTextile workers--Labor unions--Massachusetts--NorthamptonTremont Silk Company

Contributors

American Federation of Hosiery WorkersUnited Elastic CorporationUnited Textile Workers of America

Types of material

Fliers
Butler, Mills, Smith & Barker

Butler, Mills, Smith, and Barker Daybook

1837-1845
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 183 bd

Daybook listing financial transactions of Butler, Mills, Smith and Barker Woolen Mill, a small woolen manufactory in Williamstown, Massachusetts owned by Henry Mills, Silas Butler, Asa Barker and Ebenezer Smith.

Accounts provide detailed information regarding costs of commodities, labor, and boarding in the town and document the impact of a small factory on the local economy where residents sold soap, oil, and wool to the mill, boarded its workers, took in weaving and hauled freight for the business. Includes mixed personal and business expenses, information about employees and production in the two woolen mills in town, and information concerning the cost of commodities, labor, and boarding workers in the town.

Subjects

Woolen and worsted manufacture--Massachusetts--Williamstown

Contributors

Barker, AsaButler, Mills, Smith, and BarkerButler, Silas, d. 1841Mills, Henry, b. 1810Smith, Ebenezer

Types of material

Daybooks
Callaghan, Melancton B.

Melancton B. Callaghan Daybook

1844-1860
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 284 bd

Melancton B. Callaghan operated a general store in rural Charlton, New York, in the decades straddling the Civil War.

This daybook of a general store in Charlton, New York, documents Callaghan’s purchases from various wholesale merchants, including Van Heusen and Charles (Albany), Asher Cook, H.C. Foster, Craig and Company (Schenectady), Schenectady and Mohawk Sheeting Company and various unnamed peddlars. The book also includes lists of purchases (1844-1857), some arranged by wholesaler, and an inventory of goods on hand between 1859 and 1860.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987

Subjects

Charlton (N.Y.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryCook, AsherCraig & CoFoster, H. CGeneral stores--New York--CharltonGeneral stores--New York--Charlton--InventoriesInventories, Retail--New York (State)--New YorkPurchasing--New York--CharltonSchenectady & Mohawk Sheeting CoVan Heusen and Charles

Types of material

Daybooks
Carroll, Lucius W.

Lucius W. Carroll Ledger

1841-1862
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 245 bd

Businessman in several partnerships in south-central Worcestor county who owned a general store in Webster, Massachusetts. Includes lists of partners (such as John P. Stockwell of Stockwell and Carroll), yearly salaries and profits, accounts of what he sold and how he was paid, lists of individual customers and manufacturing companies, and labor accounts of workers. Also contains an alphabetical index to the ledger and several pages of notes receivable and notes payable.

Subjects

Barter--Massachusetts--History--19th centuryDudley (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryDudley Woolen Manufacturing Company (Dudley, Mass.)General stores--MassachusettsMerchants--Massachusetts--Economic conditions--19th centuryShopping--Massachusetts--History--19th centurySlater, GeorgeStockwell & CarrollUnion Mills (Webster, Mass.)Uxbridge (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryWebster (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryWebster Woolen Mills (Webster, Mass.)

Contributors

Carroll & CrosbyCarroll, Lucius W

Types of material

Account books
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
Chickering Family

Chickering Family Papers

1813-1873
2 folders 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 095

Nathaniel Chickering came to Enfield, Massachusetts, in 1800 with his son Otis and operated a grist mill for twenty years. One of Otis’ children, Bertrand, operated the Enfield telephone system in the Howe family store and lived with the Edwin H. Howe family.

Includes land and pew deeds of Nathaniel Chickering and Mrs. Otis Chickering’s account booklet with C.F. Wood and Co.

Subjects

Chickering family
Clement Company (Northampton, Mass.)

Clement Company Records

1881-1934
61 boxes, 103 ledgers 43 linear feet
Call no.: MS 099

In mid-nineteenth century, the Connecticut River Valley in Massachusetts emerged as a center of cutlery manufacture in the United States. In 1866, a group of manufacturers in Northampton including William Clement, previously a foreman at Lamson and Goodnow, founded Clement, Hawke, and Co. in Florence to produce both hardware and cutlery, and after several reorganizations, the firm spawned both the Northampton Cutlery Co. (1871) and the Clement Manufacturing Co. (1882, formerly International Screw). Clement produced high quality table cutlery and was an early adopter of stainless steel. The company ceased operations in about 1970.

The Clement Company’s records include extensive correspondence files (1881-1934), along with journals and ledgers, payroll accounts, employee information, and other records. The records provide excellent documentation of wages, working conditions, the labor forces, and technological change in the industry, as well as the efforts of local workers to unionize.

Subjects

Cutlery trade--Massachusetts

Contributors

Clement Company (Northampton, Mass.)