Call Number:

Item 0016

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

1 volume

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0096 Item 0016, John McIntire, Farm ledger, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

1809-1851 (inclusive)

Creator:

McIntire, John

Form:

Account books and Ledgers (account books)

Abstract:

This ledger was kept by John McIntire between 1809 and 1851 to record the accounts for his farm in New Castle County, Delaware, or Chester County, Pennsylvania.

The keeper of this account book was John McIntire, a farmer residing in New Castle, Delaware, and Chester County, Pennsylvania. McIntire was born in Little Britain, Pennsylvania, to Andrew McIntire and Jane (Braden) McIntire around 1765. He married a woman named Mary Allen, who died in 1821. The 1830 Federal Census gives McIntire's residence as New Castle County, Delaware. However, in 1850, he was living in New Garden, Chester County, Pennsylvania with his sons Allen, Thomas, and Albert, and his daughter Eliza McIntire. John McIntire died in New Garden on July 18, 1853, and was buried at the White Clay Creek Church Cemetery in Newark, Delaware.

Many of the pages in this volume feature the watermark "J. WEBB" or the Britannia watermark. The "J. WEBB" watermark was used by Joseph Webb, who owned a paper mill in Kennett Township, Pennsylvania, from 1798 to 1821. It is likely that the paper in this volume was produced at this mill.

Bidwell, John. American Paper Mills, 1690-1832: A Directory of the Paper Trade with Notes on Products, Watermarks, Distribution Methods, and Manufacturing Techniques. Hanover, NH: Dartmouth College Press, 2013: p. 64.Pennsylvania, Deaths, 1852-1854 (accessed via Ancestry.com on June 13, 2018) 1830 Federal Census (accessed via Ancestry.com on June 13, 2018) 1850 Federal Census (accessed via Ancestry.com on June 13, 2018) Chester County, Pennsylvania, Death Records, 1852-1855 (accessed on June 13, 2018) http://www.chesco.org/1165/Death-RecordsInformation derived from the collection.

This ledger was kept by John McIntire between 1809 and 1851 to record the accounts for his farm in New Castle County, Delaware, or Chester County, Pennsylvania.

The ledger consists of farmer John McIntire's accounts with neighbors, family members, and business associates between 1809 and 1851. Several of the pages at the front of the volume have been torn out, leaving fragments with dates and partial accounts. McIntire utilized a double-entry system to keep accounts, recording debts and credits for a particular individual on facing pages. On one of the torn pages, McIntire noted that unknown individual accrued $11.00 in credit for making a coffin for his son Samuel in 1816. These accounts highlight the wide variety of goods McIntire exchanged with neighbors and business associates, including produce, livestock, apple whiskey, meat, and textiles. While some parties made payments to McIntire in cash, many accrued credit by working for him harvesting crops, dressing and hackling flax, spinning yarn and thread, and doing repairs. Others paid debts and earned credit by doing tailoring work or crafting farm equipment. Mary Steel earned credit by boarding McIntire's daughter Eliza while Samuel Sharp, Jr., paid part of his debt to McIntire by training his son Allen in surveying. McIntire frequently noted that account holders were traveling to Wilmington, Delaware.

McIntire occasionally noted the race of his creditors and debtors, for instance, describing Richard Gibson as "a man of colour." A man identified only as "Negroe Pink" received corn and a horse from McIntire in payment in exchange for his work planting and harvesting, spinning tow yarn, quarrying stone, and providing McIntire with a quart of French brandy.

McIntire kept formal accounts with several family members, including his sons Albert G. and James M. McIntire, who were described as acting "in Co." in entries dating from 1829 to 1833. On the last page of the ledger, McIntire wrote "My son Andrew McIntire went to live with Doctor John Bay the 20th of March 1848. My son Albert G. McIntire moved from Delaware into Pennsylvania the 22nd of March 1848." An inscription below this reads "John McIntire departed this life July 18th 1853."

This volume is bound in brown leather over boards. There is a tooled border around the front and back covers and the initials "I.M.I." are handwritten in black ink at the top of the front cover. There are five raised bands on the spine and a red paper label with the word "DAYBOOK" in gilt lettering. The volume contains 314 pages of laid paper with vertical columns for keeping accounts. The entries are handwritten in black ink. Many of the pages feature the watermark "J. WEBB" or the Britannia watermark.