RARE General Store Ledger 1820s New York + Signer of Declaration of Independence

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RARE General Store Ledger 1820s New York + Signer of Declaration of Independence:
$850.00

BRAYTON and SwanGeneral Store, Handwritten Ledger, 1821, Western, Oneida County, New York. The size of the ledger is about 6½ in. x 14¾in., which is too big for my scanner. Soft cover with the red ink lines(horizontal and vertical) being done by hand with a ruler and the title to thefirst page in red ink. Also, pp. 4-5have the place “Western” at the top of the page. Altogether, there are 97 written pages oftransactions, covering the period from 12 July to 25 October 1821. The Brayton &Swan store in Western, New York, was erected in 1794 and ran by George Brayton.

By far, the most important name in this store ledger isGen. William Floyd (1734-1821), one of the signers of the Declaration ofIndependence in 1776; thus this general store ledger shows his activitiesforty-five years after the Declaration of Independence. For a biography of William Floyd, see DellaG. Barthelmas, The Signers of theDeclaration of Independence (1997). Floyd’sname is listed five times in this ledger: at July 13th, July 20th,July 28th, and August 2nd (twice). William Floyd died just two days after thislast entry, and then on August 15th his son is listed as “WilliamFloyd [the] 2nd.”

“GENERALWILLIAM FLOYD, one of the pioneers of Western,was born on Long Island, December 17, 1735. He was early chosen an officer ofthe militia of Suffolk Co., and rose to the rank of Major General. He was soonafter elected a member, of the Provincial Assembly, and in 1774 was sent as adelegate to the first Continental Congress. He was one of the signers of the Declarationof Independence. In 1784 he purchased alarge tract of land in what is now the town of Western, and removed thither in1802, or previous to that. Rev. J.Taylor’s journal, published in DocumentaryHistory of New York, says of him: ‘He spends the summers in this place andthe winters on his seat on Long Island.’And further on says: ‘Lodged at Gen. Floyd’s, on the, night of the 12th’[August, 1802]. ‘He is a gentleman ofimmense property, and is now building an elegant seat on the banks of theMohawk.’ For more than fifty years he was honored by his fellow citizens withoffices of trust and responsibility, and died universally lamented August 4,1821. Many anecdotes of Gen. Floyd havebeen handed down, some of which are too good to be lost. He was very kind andgenerous to the poor, sometimes giving more liberally than his wife, though anexcellent woman, felt it her duty to do. A poor man once called upon theGeneral for aid, and received a bushel of wheat. On returning to the house Mrs. Floyd gave hima lecture on the impropriety of giving without knowing whether the object wasworthy or not. The Gen. immediatelyturned to one of his men and directed him to measure another bushel of wheatand give to the man in the name of Mrs. Floyd, as he wished her to share withhim the happiness of receiving the poor man’s gratitude. When the General came to Western he broughtwith him several slaves, one ofwhom, named Bill, was quite a favorite. Billwished to go to Rome, to celebrate Independence, and was furnished with a horseand some spending money. While there heheard the Declaration of Independence read, and the announcement that ‘all menwere created free and equal,’ set him to thinking. He had taken sufficient of the ardent to makehim feel his importance, and on his way home began to reason that if all menwere equal there was no reason why Massa Floyd should not turn out his horse onhis arrival, as he had been accustomed to turn out Massa’s horse. In this delightful state of mind he rode up tothe gate: ‘Halloo, Massa Floyd.’ TheGeneral had retired, but arose and asked Bill what he wanted. ‘I want MassaFloyd to turn out the horse,’ replied Bill. The General, perceiving the peculiar state ofBill, replied, ‘Well, well, in a minute,’ and proceeded to turn out the horseand put the saddle and bridle in their places. After Bill had slept off the effects of hisover-indulgence, he appeared before the General to apologize for his conduct,but the General replied, ‘Never mind Bill, never mind, that is all got alongwith.’ Afterwards he used to relate withgreat glee, the part he took in helping Bill finish up the celebration of theglorious Fourth. He had another verytall man, named Long Tom. He was a greatfox hunter, as the skins hanging about the premises abundantly testified. Upon killing his hogs the General discoveredthat the best one, weighing between three and four hundred pounds, was someasly as to be worthless; he therefore told Tom he might have it for fox bait.Without revealing, his plan, Tom, after dark, harnessed a team and took thepork to Brayton’s store [[This is the very store, whose ledger isbeing offered for sale now on !]], where he sold it for the highestprice. The next morning Mr. B.discovered the utter worthlessness of his purchase and at once called upon theGeneral for an explanation. The Generalknew nothing of the affair, but called Tom, and asked if he gave directions tosell the hog. ‘No, Massa,’ saidTom. ‘How did I tell you to use it?’ ‘Massa Floyd gave me the measly pig to baitfoxes, and I have caught the biggest fox in town with it.’ The effect of the negro’s wit was such thatthe General took from his pocket the price of the hog, paid Mr. B. and let Tomenjoy his pelt, obtained by successful fox hunting” (quoted from The History ofWestern, Oneida County, New York).

The following are some of theentries in the first five pages: brandy, 1 pt., 1 shilling 6 pence; cambric, 1½ yds., 4 shillings 2 pence; comb, 1 shilling; corn, ½ bush., 2 shillings; cups& saucers, 1 shilling 4 pence; fish, ¾ lb., 4 shillings; fork, 5 shillings;hat band, 4 pence; indigo, ¼ lb., 4 shillings; knife, 1 shilling 9 pence;nails, 1 shilling; oil, 2 qts., 4 shillings 9 pence; pepper, 1/4/ lb., 1shilling; plaid, ¼ yd., 11 shillings 5 pence; ra[i]sin, 2 lbs., 1 shilling; rake,1 shilling 4 pence; ribbon, 1 3/8 yds., 1 shilling; rum, 1 gal., 8 shillings; rye,½ bush., 2 shillings 6 pence; sattinett (satinette is a cotton fabric with afinish like satin), 2 ¾ yds., 1 pound 2 shillings; shirting (fabric to make shirts), 2 shillings 6 pence; sickle, 4shillings; snuff, 2 1/8 lb., 5 shillings 3 pence; soap, 1 cake, 8 pence;spelling book, 1 shilling 6 pence; scythe, 10 shillings; tea, 3 shillings;Tobacco, ½ lb., 9 pence; trimmings & silk for bon[n]et, 15 shillings 2pence; vinegar, 2 qts., 1 shilling; and w[h]iskey, 6 gals., 2 shillings 6 pence.

The following are the names onthese same five pages: Moses Adams, Benjamin Ballard, Marinus Black, ErastusBradley, Andrew Blases, Charles Brooks, Stephen Brooks, Isaac Buell, OliverBuell, Ezra Clark, Josiah Cleveland, Samuel Crandle, Cornelius Doty, GeorgeDriggs, Patrick Dunn, Uriah Fitch (who lived a few miles away in Steuben), AllenFraser, Clift French, Chester Gaylord, John Hall, Zane A. Hamilton, JohnHarris, Alpheus Hicks (who married Mary Lane and lived in the town of Western),Stephen Hicks, Alexander Johnson, Nathan Kuse, George Lanpheare, Clark Lewis, DennisMartin, John Miller, Theodore Mills, Zebulon Mosier, Silas Morse (who lived inthe town of Western), Samuel Myers, Joshua Northrop, John Och, David Philips, GideonRobbins, Archelus Saber, Abigail Seymour, Peleg Spink, Israel Starks, WilliamThompson, Pepe Turner, Benjamin Vichery, Henry Wagar, and John H. Whipple. Also, Asa Beckwith (who is 1st mentioned after these first five page) with his four sons (one of which was also Asa Beckwith) commenced the settlement of this town of Western in 1789.

It should be mentioned that thesenames listed refer to the person in charge of the account at the generalstore. Also, sometimes added in theright column it will specify “Self,” “Wife,” “Son,” “Brother,” “Sister”; aswell as “Black Boy” or just “Boy” (often with an offensive meaning,and referring to a male African-American slave of any age), or “Girl” (often with an offensive meaning,and referring to a female African-American slave of any age). Further research would have to be done todetermine for certain that each person so listed really had a slave in 1820sNew York. The following are the peoplewho during this three-month period in 1821 had a “boy” or a “girl” pick upitems at the Brayton General Store: Benjamin Ballard, Asa Beckwith, JepthaBranard, John Cogswell, John Cole, Benper [Benjamin] Cummins, Esther Dopkins, HoraceDutton, Uriah Fitch, George Grems, Rufus Hall, John Harris, Chauncey Hayden, EnochHeard, Adam House, James Keach, James Martin, Silas Morse, Zebulon Mosier, DanielPaddock, Joseph Seymour, Pepe Turner, David Utley, Hosea Woodworth, and SamuelWyman.

Condition: The pages of this 1820sledger are actually in extremely good shape for being nearly two centuries old,and the soft cover shows some light wear.This is the original binding and cover.

Guarantee of Authenticity. All of theitems (whether handwritten manuscripts or printed texts) we sell are ORIGINALS.We guarantee everything we sell to be original and authentic. Due to their age,some imperfections can be expected, so please read our descriptions and viewour scanned images carefully. We stand behind our inventory and want to makesure that all of our clients are completely satisfied with their purchases.