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Maynard, Nathaniel

Nathaniel Maynard Exercise and Account Book

1801-1862
1 vol. 0.1 linear feet
Call no.: MS 1063
Depiction of Front cover of the Maynard volume
Front cover of the Maynard volume

The farmer Nathaniel Maynard was born in Marlborough (Worcester County), Mass., on Feb. 27, 1780, the eldest of four children of Joseph Maynard and Lovina Barnes. By 1804, when he married Rachel (Hill) of North Brookfield, Nathaniel was already a resident of Leverett, where he had apparently moved with his brother William. Nathaniel and Rachel had four children: Ira B. Maynard (1810-1896), Alvin (1813-1818), Emeline Dudley (1815-1901), and Joseph Bartlett Maynard (1817-1881).

This small volume is a hybrid production. Roughly the first half of the volume consists of relatively standard exercises for learning arithmetic and business activities, including calculating weights, measures, currencies, finances, and interest rates. The remainder consists of accounts, recording a variety of work performed by Maynard, ranging from farm labor (sale of potatoes, plowing and planting, working with oxen, slaughtering, and chopping wood) to weaving (“sheeting”) and especially mending or making shoes.

Background on Nathaniel Maynard

The farmer Nathaniel Maynard was born in Marlborough (Worcester County), Mass., on Feb. 27, 1780, the eldest of four children of Joseph Maynard and Lovina Barnes. By 1804, when he married Rachel (Hill) of North Brookfield, Nathaniel was already a resident of Leverett, where he had apparently moved with his brother William. Nathaniel and Rachel had four children: Ira B. Maynard (1810-1896), Alvin (1813-1818), Emeline Dudley (1815-1901), and Joseph Bartlett Maynard (1817-1881).

Maynard died of “old age” on May 27, 1867, and is buried in the Moore’s Corner Cemetery.

Scope of collection

This small volume is a hybrid production. Roughly the first half of the volume consists of relatively standard exercises for learning arithmetic and business activities, including calculating weights, measures, currencies, finances, and interest rates. The remainder consists of accounts, recording a variety of work performed by Maynard, ranging from farm labor (sale of potatoes, plowing and planting, working with oxen, slaughtering, and chopping wood) to weaving (“sheeting”) and especially mending or making shoes.

Although there is no clear attribution in the volume, the weight of evidence points to it having been kept by Nathaniel Maynard. In addition to appearing as a signatory in a copy of a document related to the estate of Asa Moore, the entries bracket Maynard’s life quite distinctively. The earliest date (1801) was recorded in the town of Berlin, adjacent to Maynard’s childhood home of Marlborough; the earliest Leverett entries date from 1803, shadowing what is known of Maynard’s movements; and the latest dates (1862) record work performed by Nathaniel’s son, J.B. Maynard, who lived on Rattlesnake Gutter Road in Leverett. Supporting the attribution, the names of the account holders can all be located in Leverett, with several appearing in the 1830 federal census as living near Maynard, including Charles Emes, John Comins, Enos Broad, and Dexter Stockwell. Broad, Emes, and Comins are buried in the East Leverett Cemetery, with Aaron Pike in Moore’s Corner.

Administrative information

Access

The collection is open for research.

Provenance

Loaned by the Leverett Historical Society, Jan. 2019.

Location of Originals

The Maynard Exercise and Account Book is part of the collections of the Leverett Historical Society, Leverett, Mass., and has been digitized and made available through a collaboration with SCUA.

Processing Information

Processed by I. Eliot Wentworth, Feb. 2019.

Language:

English

Copyright and Use (More information )

Cite as: Nathaniel Maynard Exercise and Account Book (MS 1063). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.

Search terms

Subjects

  • Arithmetic–Study and teaching–Massachusetts
  • Farmers–Massachusetts–Leverett
  • Leverett (Mass.)–Economic conditions–19th century
  • Leverett (Mass.)–History–19th century
  • Shoemakers–Massachusetts–Leverett

Genres and formats

  • Account books
  • Exercise books

Link to similar SCUA collections