Deciphering One of My Ancestor’s 1849 Ledgers

alan polk

1st Lieutenant
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
My aunt and I have inherited items from my great grandmother’s old home, now abandoned, dating from the 1840s to 1960s. There is so much stuff, it will take years to go through.

Nonetheless, I wanted to get ideas of what these things might represent.

Some of the items appear to be ledgers from mercantile stores or plantations our family
owned before the Civil War. Here are a few:

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The first one I picked up this past weekend is some sort of ledger with expense reports or items sold. Not really sure. I believe it is from a branch of our ancestors whose last names were Jackson, but not 100% sure.

Nevertheless, this particular ledger begins in early 1849 and lists things like candles, tobacco, pistols, whiskey, etc, with names along with them and price.

I figured they must have owned and operated a mercantile store or something.

But then I started coming across things like the below:

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The above page has mundane listings but mentions “days sailed,” with corresponding prices.

When I moved beyond this page, I found this:

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The above is an example of one of the pages. At the top it reads: “1849 June expenses for day 8/49,” then goes on to list expenses.

This page, along with the others around it, also contains a notation for “days sailed.” For example, this page lists “8 days sailed” and “9 days sailed,” along with what looks like expenses for a “bar” - and other items I just can’t make out too well.


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The ledger continues until the notations regarding “days sailed” end. But at the top of the next pages, see below, the notations are “Jacksonport”

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Of interest is of this page listing numerous items, including what looks like a notation at the very bottom for a “Negro boy.”

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Continued -
 
I think the notation is "days sails" so like where it says "13 days Sailes this day 2.25" I think that was the day's sales for July 13, 1849. Some of the items being sold that I could read quickly - soap, coffee, butter churn, clarett wine, paper tobacco, Plugg tobacco, candles, etc. I think your first impression is correct and the family operated a mercantile.
Interestingly, my 1800-1825 NC family had similar plantation ledgers. As far as I can tell, they did not operate a mercantile but they sold an awful lot of "brandy" :bounce: It must have been some pretty good stuff, because after the death of my 3x g grandfather, there were a large number of accounts to be settled. :D Maybe I should try my hand at brandy making?

Another interesting thing - to me at least. My 3x g grandfather bred race horses and evidently engaged in gaming. He also managed a fishery on an Indian reserve. After most of the tribe left the reserve, the state of NC placed the reserve under a proprietorship for the benefit of the tribe and he managed the fisheries part. I have only recently discovered these things - in about the last year.

So why are these things interesting? Well, up until about 6 years ago, I was really involved in the horse industry. I showed hunter/jumpers for several years and owned a nice off the track Thoroughbred horse that could and would literally jump anything you pointed him at. When I was about 28 yo I worked on the racetrack and even owned a nice race horse for about a year. Later I learned to drive a team and played around with that for a while. Then I became interested in Paint horses and bred, raised and trained a few horses I showed myself. Turns out that both of those Thoroughbred horses I owned - the one race horse and the hunter? Both of their breeding traced back to the same lines as my 3 x g grandfather's horse Jolly Lad.

And the fishery thing? My son studied Aquaculture and Fisheries in college - got his degree in it. His first "real job" out of college was selling equipment to fish farmers. Now he works for a boat dealership specializing in bass fishing boats.
 
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I think the notation is "days sails" so like where it says "13 days Sailes this day 2.25" I think that was the day's sales for July 13, 1849. Some of the items being sold that I could read quickly - soap, coffee, butter churn, clarett wine, paper tobacco, Plugg tobacco, candles, etc. I think your first impression is correct and the family operated a mercantile.
Interestingly, my 1800-1825 NC family had similar plantation ledgers. As far as I can tell, they did not operate a mercantile but they sold an awful lot of "brandy" :bounce: It must have been some pretty good stuff, because after the death of my 3x g grandfather, there were a large number of accounts to be settled. :D Maybe I should try my hand at brandy making?

Okay, that makes sense. So, thanks, @lelliott19! I was trying to turn boring figures into something adventurous! When I saw “Jacksonport” on top the other pages, I just leaped to some sort of sailing venture since Jacksonport was on the White River.

Hey, maybe you need to look harder in your families documents. Maybe they left behind the old family Brandy recipe!!
 
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I was trying to turn boring figures into something adventurous!
Keep looking. I added some more info to the post above after you read it. Im not saying there is anything paranormal about it - just that some things might be genetically pre-programmed? Or something like that? Perhaps you'll find some similarities to your own occupation, interests and/or hobbies in the info you read in those old ledgers. I'd really be interested to know if you do. Please let me know if you need any help with deciphering the handwriting. Now that Ive seen a few pages of the writing, I can read it pretty easily.
 
So why are these things interesting? Well, up until about 6 years ago, I was really involved in the horse industry. I showed hunter/jumpers for several years and owned a nice off the track Thoroughbred horse that could and would literally jump anything you pointed him at. When I was about 28 yo I worked on the racetrack and even owned a nice race horse for about a year. Later I learned to drive a team and played around with that for a while. Then I became interested in Paint horses and bred, raised and trained a few horses I showed myself. Turns out that both of those Thoroughbred horses I owned - the one race horse and the hunter? Both of their breeding traced back to the same lines as my 3 x g grandfather's horse Jolly Lad.
That is interesting! Looks like it is in your blood!! It’s like the old saying, “the apple never falls far from the tree!”
 
This is amazing! You're very lucky to have them. Is the home old too?
Thank you. The home where all these things were located was built by my great grandfather in around 1930 when he married my great grandmother. Over the years, as their parents and grandparents passed away, all the family histories from different branches were stored in their attic. Everything was collected into one place (the attic). When my great aunt and uncle, who lived near the place, passed away about two years ago, there was no one left in the area to watch over the house. Since then, various family members have gone through the house to get whatever they wanted. Although much of the stuff has been saved, it is now scattered among various family members all over the country.

When I was scrounging around in the attic, I found this this neat picture of my great grandmother. I think this was after she graduated college and was teaching. It is neat because I only remember her as an older lady:


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In the second image, the first number on in each line is consecutive (the date: June 24th to July 5th). As @lelliott19 suggests, what you read as "days sailed" is actually his spelling of "Day's sales" (spelling wasn't completely standardized at the time). It was a summary.

Third image: a lot is illegible, but, from 4th line down it seems to refer to bar tabs (most stores also sold drinks by the glass):

1849
(July) 8 James Pully(?) Bar 70 (cents)​
#(July) 9 Henry Payne Bar 20​
#9 Nath(?) Doon(Doan?) Bar 60​
#9 Wash Foard Bar 20​
#9 H. J. Dum(Dunn?) Bar 30​
#9 Wm. Magors (Majors?) [illeg] Candy 35​
do(ditto) Bar Bill 10​
#9 Wm. Pusly(?) Bar 10​
Expenses for paper 10​
etc​
Remember that these were records of credit. Before the Civil War there was an endemic shortage of specie (cash) in most rural areas. Note that just before the last number, he later added an "X" indicating that the tab had been settled, either by cash or barter.

At least that's how I read it all. I've worked with a lot of these old account books. Yours are among the most difficult I've seen. He also mixed things up quite a bit, with different kinds of accounts crammed together in the same book (sometimes, apparently, on the same page). He doubtless understood his "system," but figuring it out now is not easy.
 
In the second image, the first number on in each line is consecutive (the date: June 24th to July 5th). As @lelliott19 suggests, what you read as "days sailed" is actually his spelling of "Day's sales" (spelling wasn't completely standardized at the time). It was a summary.

Third image: a lot is illegible, but, from 4th line down it seems to refer to bar tabs (most stores also sold drinks by the glass):

1849
(July) 8 James Pully(?) Bar 70 (cents)​
#(July) 9 Henry Payne Bar 20​
#9 Nath(?) Doon(Doan?) Bar 60​
#9 Wash Foard Bar 20​
#9 H. J. Dum(Dunn?) Bar 30​
#9 Wm. Magors (Majors?) [illeg] Candy 35​
do(ditto) Bar Bill 10​
#9 Wm. Pusly(?) Bar 10​
Expenses for paper 10​
etc​
Remember that these were records of credit. Before the Civil War there was an endemic shortage of specie (cash) in most rural areas. Note that just before the last number, he later added an "X" indicating that the tab had been settled, either by cash or barter.

At least that's how I read it all. I've worked with a lot of these old account books. Yours are among the most difficult I've seen. He also mixed things up quite a bit, with different kinds of accounts crammed together in the same book (sometimes, apparently, on the same page). He doubtless understood his "system," but figuring it out now is not easy.
Wow, @John Hartwell! Thanks for the knowledge about these accounts! That really helps out a lot!
 
When I was about 28 yo I worked on the racetrack and even owned a nice race horse for about a year.
Laura, you would love a movie made recently called 'Ride Like a Girl' about the first female jockey to ride in the Melbourne Cup a couple of years ago. The odds on her/her horse at the start of the race were 100:1. She won :biggrin:

The 'race that stops a nation' was run again yesterday (first Tuesday in November). I backed a winner :smile:

I had no idea of your involvement with horses and it's always fascinating to learn more of someone's story!

Which is what this thread is all about. Seems like this is a great place to make discoveries @alan polk .
 
Thanks for all the great responses. While quickly thumbing through a different ledger, I found these neat surprises hidden between its pages:

Ledger is dated 1856:

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I think the second one might be a rose. Don’t know what the others are.

Did people do this to preserve seeds or something?
Lord only knows how old they are, but certainly sometime after 1856!
 
Did people do this to preserve seeds or something?
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wikimedia commons Source
Herbaria - the practice of collecting and preserving examples of botanicals in the form of pressed, dried, preserved, and mounted plant specimens. Originated in the early days of botanical research and reference, when they were used in academia. You've seen those gorgeous prints everyone has of ferns? With the period looking labels? It was a hobby for women in the 1800's. Herbarium refers to a collection of dried specimens on paper. Sounds like it would make a great thread in Mid 19th Century Life.
 
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Fascinating heirloom, something to always treasure.

And certainly easier to get through than what I inherited, a small snuff can my GG-Grandfather used to put all his cotton receipts, and God knows what all else. After all the years since my Grandad showed it to me when I was a kid and me now being the owner I still can't figure out how my GG-Grandad folded them up enough to fit in that can! I ain't been completely through it since I was a kid, but my last attempt I found an uncashed check from 1896. Its a similar item to your ledgers but harder and more complicated to get through. Papers going from 1879 to 1941 all folded up and crammed in a snuff can is what poorer folks did in lieu of ledgers I guess.
 
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wikimedia commons Source
Herbaria - the practice of collecting and preserving examples of botanicals in the form of pressed, dried, preserved, and mounted plant specimens. Originated in the early days of botanical research and reference, when they were used in academia. You've seen those gorgeous prints everyone has of ferns? With the period looking labels? It was a hobby for women in the 1800's. Herbarium refers to a collection of dried specimens on paper. Sounds like it would make a great thread in Mid 19th Century Life.

Thanks, @lelliott19! Now that I think about it, I have seen flowers displayed as you suggest. Maybe my ancestor intended to take it out of the ledger later to display them in a frame or book.
 
Fascinating heirloom, something to always treasure.

And certainly easier to get through than what I inherited, a small snuff can my GG-Grandfather used to put all his cotton receipts, and God knows what all else. After all the years since my Grandad showed it to me when I was a kid and me now being the owner I still can't figure out how my GG-Grandad folded them up enough to fit in that can! I ain't been completely through it since I was a kid, but my last attempt I found an uncashed check from 1896. Its a similar item to your ledgers but harder and more complicated to get through. Papers going from 1879 to 1941 all folded up and crammed in a snuff can is what poorer folks did in lieu of ledgers I guess.

That’s awesome! Maybe you can have them all framed or something. He must not have been too poor if he never cashed that check!!!:bounce:
 
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