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: 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