KANSAS HISTORY & GENEALOGY Handwritten Ledger/Account Book/Jefferson County 1872

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KANSAS HISTORY & GENEALOGY Handwritten Ledger/Account Book/Jefferson County 1872:
$85.39

FANTASTIC, ORIGINAL 19TH CENTURY MANUSCRIPT LEDGER FROM JEFFERSON COUNTY, KANSAS. This important early volume dates from 1872-1874 was kept by a thriving general store at Valley Falls in Jefferson County, KS. Valley Falls was originally called Grasshopper Falls, derived from the falls in the Grasshopper River (now known as the Delaware River). The first settlement was made there in 1854 and the town was platted in 1855. Interestingly, many of the town\'s streets were named after women pioneer settlers. Marvelous handwritten book is early in the context of Kansas history, as the state was created just eleven years previous in 1861.

Early handwritten ledger contains about 175 pages of entries comprising a wide variety of items sold from this busy general store. It appears store was a popular one-stop shopping destination for local residents, as items found here range from hardware and household goods to food and agricultural products and everything in between. The array of merchandise found here includes apples, army pants, blankets, bottles of ink, bottles of magnesia, bottles of pain killer, brooms, butter, buttons, cakes of soap, candle wicks, cheese, cigars, coffee, coffee mills, cream of tartar, currants, curry combs, dozens of clothespins, dozens of eggs, gallons of oil, empty boxes, hair pins, hinges, hooks and eyes, indigo, Jamaica ginger, lamp globes, led pencils, linseed oil, lymph squills, matches, molasses, needles, pairs of boots, pairs of gloves, pairs of shoes, pairs of scissors, pairs of socks, pairs of suspenders, pounds of ham, pounds of lead, pounds of nails, pounds of soap, rope halters, sacks of salt, salve, sand paper, shirts, shovels, skirt braids, smoking Tobacco, sperm oil, snuff, spools of cotton, sticks of candy, stove polish, sugar, table cloths, tin pans, tin buckets, Tobacco papers, toothbrushes, vanilla, whale bones, wooden buckets, yards of flannel, yards of table linen, etc.

Numerous customers names can also be found throughout making for an early treasure trove of early Kansas genealogy. Among the many names found here include John Akins, Jr., Henry Bailey, Joseph Barnett, Benjamin Bartholomew, Charles Buffington, Irvine Carty, Samuel Coffman, Patrick Cooney, Marple Corson, David Craft, John Culbertson, Martin Dean, Alexander Dobbie, Caspar Fahnestock, John Felters, John Finch, Abraham Fox, Jacob Frock, Rev. Samuel Fulton, W. H. Fussell, George Gale, Michael Gallagher, John George, John Gettigan, Andrew Goulden, Evan Griffith, William Gundy, Joseph Hammond, Isaac Hampton, Daniel Hanley, John Haspey, Frank Hatheray, Norris Hilberd, George Hughes, Ned Kennedy, Charles King, Elizabeth Kurtz, Christian Lapp, Davis Lapp, John Love, John Mahan, Jason Malin, John March, Patrick McCabe, Bernard McGee, John McGilligan, Patrick McLaughlin, Joseph McPherson, Dennis Moran, Edward Murphy, Jerry Murry, Edward O\'Donnell, John Peters, Thomas Reilly, Jacob Rickabaugh, John Riley, Jonathan Roberts, Harry Rossiter, A. J. Ruth, Eber Samples, Clinton Scott, Dennis Shea, James Shields, Vance Simcox, Samuel Smiley, John Steover, Robert Stewart, William Sullivan, Jacob Thomas, Jonathan Thomas, Rachel Thomas, William Thompson, Joseph Todd, Porter Todd, John Turley, John Young, etc. Hundreds of names appear throughout, often various members of the same family. Companies and organizations can also occasionally be found here such as the Knickerbocker Lime Co. and Williamstown Baptist Church. A fabulous manuscript artifact from early Kansas.

Jefferson County is a county located in northeast Kansas and according to recent census figures, is today home to a population of about 19,126. Its county seat is Oskaloosa and its most populous city is Valley Falls, where store was located. For many millennia, the Great Plains of North America where Kansas is located was inhabited by nomadic Native Americans. From the 16th century to 18th century, the Kingdom of France claimed ownership of large parts of North America and in 1762, after the French and Indian War, France secretly ceded New France to Spain, per the Treaty of Fontainebleau. In 1802, Spain returned most of the land to France, but keeping title to about 7,500 square miles. In 1803, most of the land for modern day Kansas was acquired by the United States from France as part of the 828,000 square mile Louisiana Purchase for 2.83 cents per acre. In 1854, the Kansas Territory was organized, then in 1861 Kansas became the 34th U.S. state.

In 1855, Jefferson County was established, and was named for President Thomas Jefferson. Settlement of the county was slowed by events prior to and during the Civil War, but the present day unincorporated community of Thompsonville (3 miles northwest of Perry on the Delaware River) was the first established in 1851 by Mormon settlers who initially refused to accompany the main group led by Brigham Young to the Salt Lake Valley. The settlement was first abandoned due to the violence resulting from the border wars, but was re-established when the Civil War ended. Along with the city of Valley Falls, Jefferson County today also comprises the cities of McLouth, Meriden, Nortonville, Oskaloosa,Ozawkie, Perry, and Winchester; the census designated place of Grantville; and the additional unincorporated communities of Boyle, Buck Creek, Dunavant, Lakeside Village,Half Mound, Indian Ridge, Lake Shore, Medina, Mooney Creek, Newman, Rock Creek, Thompsonville, West Shore, and Williamstown. Structurally, the county is divided into the twelve townships of Delaware, Fairview, Jefferson, Kaw, Kentucky, Norton, Oskaloosa, Ozawkie, Rock Creek, Rural, Sarcoxie, and Union.

Condition: Rare book remains in fair condition (see pictures). Volume bound in original stamped leather with raised spine bands and maroon leather spine label; cover worn, a few pages bear pasted down illustrations, several pages excised and others torn or loose, etc. Sizable remaining fragment contains about 175 pp. of manuscript entries; and measures approx 13\" tall x 9\" wide x 1\" thick. Quite a find and a very worthy acquisition indeed.
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