Upstate New York, 1842-1844

6” x 4”

Covers are gray handmade paper over thick cardboard

Leather binding

47 pages of entries

Well-worn but still sound – no loose pages, binding tight

This old ledger is from a rural general store probably in or near Washington County, New York that was owned by the Foster family. All entries are handwritten in ink with the items purchased; the amount and the price; and often the names and towns of the people who bought them.

There are many references to cloth, e.g. “full cloth”, “white flanel”, “sheep gray satinet”, “tweeds”. The family also took in bales of sheep wool and provided carding services (see first & sixth images). There’s even a doodle by one of the family members on the last page!

At the time this ledger was being kept, Texas and half of California belonged to Mexico; Russia occupied northern California; slavery was sill in effect; and the Civil War was still almost 20 years away.

If you are interested in this ledger please contact Susan Meller.