The University of Massachusetts Amherst
Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center
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Bridgewater (Mass.)

Bridgewater (Mass.) Merchant's Daybook

1837
1 vol. 0.25 linear feet
Call no.: MS 222 bd

Perched at the western boundary of Plymouth County, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, grew rapidly during the antebellum period, spurred by the growth of its industry. During the mid-nineteenth century, the town’s most valuable products revolved around the local iron industry, with large manufacturers like Lazell, Perkins, and Co. producing iron and heavy machinery as early as 1810.

The daybook of this unidentified trader and merchant in Bridgewater, Mass., reveals the quickening pace of economic activity connected to the burgeoning Plymouth County iron industry. While many of the transactions at the store are small purchases of consumable goods such as flour, fabric, sugar, tobacco, meats, and molasses, more substantial purchases ae interspersed throughout for bar iron, nails, metal plates, and other manufactured metal items.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987

Subjects

Bridgewater (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th centuryMerchants--Massachusetts--Bridgewater

Types of material

Daybooks