Main content

Bernard McSherry and Richard Coale Tavern Ledgers, 1784-1791 (inclusive)

Extent:

1 box and 1.6 linear feet

Abstract:

Consists of two tavern ledgers kept by Bernard (Barney) McSherry (1764-1796) and Richard Coale (1760-1834), brothers-in-law who both operated taverns in Libertytown, Frederick County, Maryland. The ledgers document the sale of liquor and alcoholic drinks, as well as the hosting of games, dinners, shows, and other entertainment. Patrons listed in the ledgers include American Revolutionary War officers Ely Dorsey (1744–1803), Lilburn Williams (1748–1794), and William Lamar (circa 1755-1838), as well as members of the local free African American community.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

Main content

Jason Chamberlain Ledger on Hemp Production and Farming, 1846-1880 (inclusive)

Extent:

1 box

Abstract:

Consists of a ledger, along with some receipts, advertisements, and correspondence, of Missouri farmer and hemp producer Jason Chamberlain (1804-1901), documenting Chamberlain's business accounts from 1853 to 1880, as well as the accounts of an anonymous Kentucky hemp producer and merchant from 1846 to 1851. These materials provide insight into hemp and other agricultural production in Missouri and Kentucky before, during, and after the American Civil War and document the employment of African American and immigrant laborers during the early Reconstruction era.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

Main content

General Manuscripts Miscellaneous Collection, 1502-2012 (inclusive)

Extent:

120 boxes and 67.8 linear feet

Abstract:

Consists of over 3000 miscellaneous items of primarily American literary, historical, and political figures, including business and personal letters, manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and official documents.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

Main content

John A. Roebling's Sons Company Records, 1821-1936 (inclusive)

Extent:

2 boxes and 1.4 linear feet

Abstract:

The John A. Roebling's Sons Company was a family-run wire rope manufacturing business based in Trenton, New Jersey, and established in 1848 by John Augustus Roebling (1806-1869), a German-born American civil engineer best known for his wire rope suspension bridge designs, particularly the Brooklyn Bridge. The records consist of 10 bound volumes of business records, correspondence, and clippings kept by the company during the 19th and early 20th centuries, including typescript copies of John A. Roebling's professional correspondence, a company address book and manufacturing specifications catalog for wire rope, Ferdinand W. Roebling, Jr.'s business ledger, a minute book for the Roebling Construction Company, a volume of John Ferreol Monnot's patents, and a two-volume scrapbook on the German civil engineer and bridge-builder Karl Bernhard.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

Main content

J. O. Simmons Papers, 1836-1889 (inclusive)

Extent:

2.4 linear feet (3 boxes)

Abstract:

Consists of correspondence, financial documents (e.g. account books and receipts), ephemera, and legal documents (e.g. permits, contracts, and affidavits) from J. O. Simmons (1821-1890). Simmons worked in a variety of professions in Ohio, Minnesota, Mississippi, Louisiana, and the Dakota Territory, including as a merchant, storekeeper, farmer, attorney, surveyor, county clerk, justice of the peace, and homeopathic doctor. The collection largely documents agricultural and mercantile exchanges on the Mississippi River during and after the American Civil War, the employment of African American and immigrant laborers during the early Reconstruction era, and land dispute issues among white settlers in the Territory of Dakota in the 1870s.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

Main content

Cook Almy Ledgers, 1795-1836 (inclusive)

Extent:

1.6 linear feet and 1 box

Abstract:

This collection consists of three ledgers and a daybook kept by Cook Almy (1765-1861), a white farmer based in Puncatest Neck in Tiverton, Rhode Island, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Almy's homestead farm was situated on the traditional lands of the Wampanoag (Wôpanâak) people, and many of the customers and employees documented in the ledgers are Wampanoag and/or African American. Entries relate to the operation of a grist mill, masonry and stone sales, lumbering, and spinning and weaving, as well as to Almy's activities as a landlord, raising livestock for sustenance, and selling corn, barley, and other grains.

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]