The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, Delaware  19735

Telephone: 302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Deming, Chauncey, 1757-1827

Title:               Bills

Dates:             1791-1823

Call No.:         Col. 475

Acc. No.:        83x216

Quantity:        16 items

Location:        34 J 3

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Chauncey Deming (1757-1827) and his brother John Deming (1753-1810) lived in Farmington, Connecticut, where they were well-known merchants.  They were the sons of Anna Hart and Samuel Deming (1725-1796).  They married sisters Diadema (1756-1826) and Susannah (1754-1824) Cowles, the daughters of Abigail Hooker and James Cowles.  The brothers’ firm owned ships which sailed between New London and the West Indies.

 

On the bills in this collection, the surname is often misspelled as Demming.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

This small collection of bills addressed to Chauncey Deming, with one addressed to the firm of John and Chauncey Deming, between 1791-1823 documents a wide variety of items that he purchased, including pepper, vitriol oil, chocolate, hats, silk whip lashes, velvet ribbon, furniture, calico and other textiles, silk, pins, string, a beaver hat, iron, and shovels.  All items were purchased from New York City firms.  Although some of the purchases could have been for personal use, most of the items were bought in sufficiently large quantities to suggest that they were bought for the Demings’ store.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

The bills are in chronological order.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

Collection is open to the public.  Copyright restrictions may apply.

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from Doris Harris.

 

 

RELATED MATERIALS  

 

The Connecticut Historical Society Library has an account book pertaining to the firm of John and Chauncey Deming.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

            People:

                        Deming, John, 1753-1810.

 

Topics:

            Dry-goods - Prices.

            Food prices.

            Hats - Prices.

            Invoices.

           

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 34 J 3

 

 

All accession numbers begin with 83x216.

 

 

.1         receipted bill: Deming paid Franklin Robinson & Co., 4 mo. 16, 1791, for India lans[?]

 

.2         receipted bill: Deming paid Franklin Robinson & Co., New York, 4 mo. 18, 1791, for plain and spotted lenau

 

.3         receipted bill: Deming paid Loines[?] Alsop, New York, April 18, 1791, for chintz

 

.4         receipted bill: Deming paid Theop. Brower for a cask of raisins, April 19, 1791

 

.5         receipted bill: Deming paid Berry & Rogers, April 20, 1791, for two watches;

                        Very partial watermark on paper

 

.6         receipted bill: Deming paid Lawrence & Van Zandt, New York, April 20, 1791, for 20 pounds of pepper and a bag for it;

 

.7         receipted bill: Deming paid Effm. Lawrence & Co., New York, April 20, 1791, for oil vitriol;

                        Partial watermark on paper

 

.8         receipted bill: Deming paid Benjamin Strong & Co., New York, April 20, 1791, for two boxes of chocolate, and half a hundredweight of something else

                        Partial watermark on paper

 

.9         receipted bill: Deming paid Broome Platt & Co., New York, June 1, 1791, for chip hats, black and colored high crown hats, calico, primers, silk whiplashes, ribbons

 

.10       receipted bill: Deming paid Lemuel Wells & Co., New York, March 13, 1803, for plated castors;

 

.11       receipted bill: Deming paid William & Josh. Cowley, New York, April 11, 1803; for black something, sewing silks in different colors, and packs of large pins;

                        Paper has partial watermark

 

.15       receipted bill: Deming paid I. G. Pierson[?] & Brothers, April 12, 1803, for some kind of iron

 

.16       receipted bill: Messrs Jno & Chaucey Deming paid Woolsey & Rogers, New York, April 13 or 14, 1803, for shovels

 

.12       receipted bill: Deming paid Mason & Smedes, New York, April 14, 1803[?], for furniture, fancy, and plaid calicoes; velvet ribbons; and black Barcelona handerchiefs;

 

.13       receipted bill: Deming paid Day & Smith, New York, Nov. 4, 1804, for yards of something [lustring?]

 

.14       receipted bill: Deming paid Tileston & Co. for a beaver hat, May 10-16, 1823