The
The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and
Printed Ephemera
Henry Francis du Pont
5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur,
Delaware 19735
Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883
OVERVIEW OF
THE COLLECTION
Creator: Ruckman,
John, 1777-1861
Title: Bills and letters
Dates: 1795-1841, bulk dates
1804-1808
Call No.: Col. 143
Acc. No.: 90x96
Quantity: 24 items
Location: 34 K 3
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
John Ruckman was a farmer
and store keeper in Solebury township, Bucks County,
Pennsylvania. (One document hints that
he also kept a tavern.) Born in 1777, he
was the son of Mary Hart and James Ruckman. He married Rebecca Horner in 1803, and they
had a number of children, including one named James. Ruckman died in 1861.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
Consists of twenty-four bills and letters, chiefly
pertaining to merchandise sold to John Ruckman. The names of the merchants Ruckman dealt with are on the bills and the prices of the
goods he bought are noted. The various household and personal goods he
purchased include: imperial tea, one dozen toy watches, cambric muslin, shirt
buttons, wrapping paper, a variety of brushes, looking glasses, bugle beads,
tobacco, a wash stand, mahogany bureau, high post bedstead, etc. A note addressed
to Miss Elizabeth Ruckman asks her to deliver fabric,
thread, and buttons to Hannah Smith of Tinicum.
Also included is an 1841 county tax assessment and an 1835 letter that
documents a change in site for holding local elections from Ruckman's
place to a Mr. Baldwin's.
ORGANIZATION
Arranged chronologically, for the most part.
LANGUAGE OF
MATERIALS
The materials are in English.
RESTRICTIONS
ON ACCESS
Collection is open to the public. Copyright restrictions may apply.
PROVENANCE
Purchased from The Family Album, Glen Rock, Penn.
ACCESS POINTS
Topics:
Brooms and brushes – Prices.
Business records
- Pennsylvania - Bucks County.
Business records
- Pennsylvania - Philadelphia.
Hand weaving -
Pennsylvania - Bucks County.
House furnishings
- Prices.
Textile fabrics
- Prices.
Wholesale trade
- History - 19th century.
Bucks County
(Pa.) - Taxation.
Bills
(financial).
Receipts.
Merchants.
Retailers.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 31 K3
Folder 1:
.1 partial bill, from unknown person, no
date, for blank deeds
.2 receipt,
Richard Lowrey received goods from Mary Leery[?],
April 14, 1795, witnessed by Thomas Smith.
The goods
included a cradle, tea kettle, spinning wheel, chair, cupboard and clothes,
band box, washing tub, bedding, iron pot, frying pan, box of knives and spoons,
and basket with teware [tea wares? tinware?].
Lowrey engaged to return the goods to her if
they were not broke or worn out. Lowrey signed with his mark.
How this is
related to Ruckman is unknown.
.3 receipted
bill: John Shaw, Philadelphia, Nov. 30, 1808, was paid for brandy, gin, sugar,
coffee, tea, pepper; receipt signed by John D. Thiel.
.4 receipted
bill: John Waterhouse, Philadelphia, Jan. 13, 1804, was paid for toy watches, romue[?] handkerchiefs, muslin, pins.
.5 note
from Hannah Smith, Tinicum, Feb. 1804, to Miss Elizabeth Ruckman. “Please to bring with you [linen for lining,
skeins of silk to match pattern, white ribbon, shirt buttons, candles, tea],
which I will pay you for when delivered.”
.6 bill
and short note from John Waterhouse, Philadelphia, May 16, 1804; bill for
wrapping and writing paper and pasteboards; note: don’t have the kind of
stockings Ruckman wants and too late to procure them
from another source.
.7 receipted
bill: Richard Hopkins, Philadelphia, June 5, 1804, paid for steel scythes and
gun flints; receipt signed by David C. Hopkins.
.8 bill
on printed form, from John Heyl, Philadelphia, June
5, 1804, for various kinds of brushes: sweeping, shoe brushes (in pairs),
whitewash, clothes, plus some clamps with 6 rows;
The printed form also includes scrubbing, hand scrubbing,
hearth, dust, furniture, stopping, tin, tanner’s scowering
[sic], brass founder’s wheel, water, window, horse, and paint brushes, plus
shoemaker’s bristles.
.9 receipted
bill: Smyth & Conrad, Philadelphia, June 5, 1804, were paid for 12 pairs of
ladies’ black slippers.
.10 receipted
bill: C. & H. Denkler, June 6, 1804, were paid for tape, burning glasses, a
gallon of something. Receipt signed by August H. Denkler for Chris.
& H. Denkler.
.11 receipted
bill: Joseph Longstreth & Co., Philadelphia, June
6, 1804, were paid for various textiles: nankeen, Marseilles, muslin, gurrah; plus broad and narrow bindings, buttons, vest,
molds, skeins of silk, etc. Receipt
signed by William Longstreth.
.12 receipted
bill: John Waterhouse, Philadelphia, Aug. 14, 1804, was paid for looking
glasses, and strings of bugle beads.
Folder 2:
.13 receipted
bill: J. & N. Gillingham, Philadelphia, May 29,
1806, were paid for various textiles, including nankeen, calico, gurrahs, etc., as well as paper, bed spreads, and combs.
.14 bill
from John Teas, Philadelphia, May 29, 1806, for various kinds of china and glassware,
including dishes, plates, pitchers, tea pots, sugar dishes, cruets with
stoppers, bowls, tumblers, wine glasses, bottles, etc.
.15 receipted
bill: Jno. McCalla,
Philadelphia, Jan. 20, 1807, was paid for tapes. Beggar’s lace, needles,
muslin, bandannas, tobacco, and cigars.
.16 bill
from Jno. Ruckman & Co.
to James Johnson, March 26, 1814, for balance in store and bill in tavern. With note from James Johnston to William
Hambleton asking him to pay the bill.
.17 receipted
bill: John Rusk, no place, April 14, 1815, for brushes: sweeping, shoe,
whitewash, and clothes brushes
.18 short
note from Arthur McKowen[?] to Hugh B. Ely, July 16,
1815[?], aksing Ely to let Mr. Ruckman
have the piece of brown cloth which is in his name.
.19 short
note from J. Wetherill, Aug. 5, 1816: “Deliver the bearer lampblack litharge[?]
& brushes.”
.20 bill
from unknown person to Ruckman, Jan. 3, 1832-March
13, 1833, for weaving tow linen, weaving flax and cotton linen, pounds of
cotton yarn, boiling and washing tow yarn, and weaving flax linen. At bottom: “Left with Sarah $5.00; left
another with D. $5.00”
.21 receipted
bill: Stacy Pickering, Feb. 28-Dec. 27, 1833, paid for wash stands, field and
high post [bed]steads, mahogany bureau.
.22 letter
from Hiram Rice, Solebury, Feb. 2, 1835, to “dear
sir”: protesting moving the general election of Solebury
township from house of John Ruckman to house of W.
Baldwin in the village of New Hope.
.23 bill
from Miles Leach, no place, to James Ruckman, Jan.
13, 1836: for stockings, vests, suspenders, twist, combs, laces, cotton gloves,
etc.
.24 printed
tax bill form, addressed to John Ruckman, for 1841,
sent by assessor H. Rice; Ruckman was taxed on 10
acres of land, 2 horse, 3 cattle, monies, and a pleasure carriage