Benjamin DIX General Store Ledger / Journal 1825-1827 Massachusetts + 1 Photo

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Benjamin DIX General Store Ledger / Journal 1825-1827 Massachusetts + 1 Photo:
$700.00

First of all, I must apologize about the scans, because the ledger is just TOO big for my scanner, and I can only do part of a page, as well as the sheets cannot contact the glass of the the scanner. Benjamin Perkins DIX, Handwritten General StoreLedger, 1825-1827, Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, along with one oldphotograph by the photographer N. C. Sanborn, of Lowell, Massachusetts (but this person is not related to BenjaminDix; see the right side of the 11th scanned image). This document provides important insight into life in America in the 1820s, early in the nineteenth century. Size is about 7½ in. x 16 in. There are 451 hand-numbered pages, whichcover the period from June 1825 to September 1827, filled with information inbeautiful handwriting (see the 10th scanned image for the last pages of the ledger). The store wasopen Monday through Saturday, but closed every Sunday. Benjamin Perkins Dix (1793-1881), the son ofBenjamin and Sarah Dix of Littleton, married Caroline Ward in November 1830 atGroton, Massachusetts (see his signature in the 3rd scanned image). Though there aretimes when a son or daughter or wife is the one at the store purchasing itemsfor the man who is listed, there are two instances in which a “boy” ismentioned, which may indicate a slave: for Rev. Daniel Chaplin of the FirstParish Church in Groton and Job Parker; research in census and tax recordswould have to be done to confirm this. Thefollowing are some of the items sold in the first seventeen pages, which coversJune to September 1825: allspice, ½ lb., 17¢; baskets, two, 60¢; bread, 17¢; brownsugar, 10 lbs., $1.40; buckram (a stiff-finished heavy sized fabric of cottonor linen), 3/8 yd., 10¢; buttons, 2 doz., 12¢; calico, $1.82; cambric (cottoncloth), 6 yds., $3.30; chaise whip, $2.00; chocolate, 10 lbs., $1.90; cod fish,7¼ lbs., 30¢; coffee, 3 lbs., 63¢; comb, 17¢; cotton, 8¢; cotton umbrella,$1.75; crape, $2.50; drilling (strong hemp linen fabric in a twill weave), l6yds., $2.50; eggs, 1 doz., 10¢; fish, 14 lbs., 56¢; flour, 14 lbs., 60¢;gingham, 5/8 yd., 29¢; gloves, 1 pair, 30¢; Hyson tea (which is a green teafrom China), 1 lb., $1.21; knives & forks, 1 set, $1.12; lace, 3 yds., 25¢;lemons, 3 for 10¢; linen, 1 yd., 25¢; mackerel, 1½ lb., 8¢; milenett (millinetis a stiff cotton fabric to line bonnets), 3 yds., 38¢; mug, 15¢; muslin print,3½ yds., $1.82; nails, 2 lbs., 16¢; nutmeg, ¼ lb., 16¢; orange, 4¢; pail, 50¢; paper,$3.00; pepper, 8¢; pitcher, 20¢; plates 1 doz., 58¢; ribbon, 1¼ yd., 21¢; rice,14 lbs, 68¢; rope, 12¢; rye, 2 bushels, $1.34; salt, 10¢; shirting (fabric tomake shirts), 7 yds., $1.12; shoe knives, 3 for 30¢; shoes, 1 pair, $1.13; Shogtea, ½ lb., 31¢; sugar, 27¢; tea, 31¢; thread, 2¢; Tobacco, 5¢; tooth brush,6¢; tumblers, ½ doz., 30¢; umbrella, cotton, $1.75; Valencia mantle, $3.00; vestpattern, 50¢; whip, 50¢. During thissame period the following people are mentioned: Dexter Blanchard (who marriedCharlotte Capell in 1824 in Groton), Sarah blood, John Boynton, Stephen Brannum(who with his wife Betsey lived in Groton), William T. Brazen, Betsey Capell,William Chase, Calvin Chilas, Samuel Dana (born at Groton, Massachusetts, and amember of the U.S. House of Representatives), Joshua Eaton (married Matilda in1820 in Groton), David Eliot (lived at Pepperell, Massachusetts, 5 miles away),Elias Eliot (lived at Mason, New Hampshire, 15 miles away), Lorenz Gates, EmmaHolden, Silvester Jacobs (died in Groton in 1839), Jeremiah Kilburn (a Mason ofSt. Paul’s Lodge in Groton, Massachusetts), Luther Lawrence, Jonathan Loring,Jeremiah W. March (lived at Ashby, Massachusetts, 14 miles away), Job Parker, Lemuel Parker (a fifer in the AmericanRevolution from Groton, Massachusetts), John Peabody, Jacob Pollard,Benjamin Prescott, Susan Prescott, John Smith, Elise Stow, Timothy Stow, andBartlett Woodman. It is of interest tonotice that each person who purchased something at the general store had his orher own ID number: for example, Dexter Blanchard was #3, John Smith was #4, andBenjamin Dix himself was #13. Anotherprominent person mention numerous times was Capt. Noah Shattuck (1772-1858), who was the son of JobShattuck and Sarah Hartwell. He servedin the War of 1812, commanding a companyat Fort Warren. He was town clerk,justice of the peace, and oveerseer of the poor in Groton (“overseers of thepoor in Groton” is mentioned on p. 344 and several other times). Noah married Anna Sheple in 1798, and allnine children were born in Groton. See Caleb Butler, History of the Town of Groton (1848). Condition: the ledger is bound in nearlyundamaged leather; the red label on the spine says “Journal” in gilt; theendpapers are marbled (see the 12th scanned image); there is some soiling, a few nicks, and some use wear,but these are very slight; all four corners were reinforced when it was made (see the 11th scanned image, top right corner, for the green-colored strips that reinforced the corners BEFORE the end-paper was applied);this is a well-preserved ledger.