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: John T. Ropes & Co.
(Salem, Mass.)
Title: Bills and receipts
Dates: 1838-1869; 1845-1859 (bulk
dates).
Call No.: col. 533
Acc. No.: 81x279
Quantity: about 90 items
Location: 34 J 3
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
John T. Ropes (1810-1879) worked with his father
William Ropes (1781-1859) in a business that sold stoves, grates, furnaces,
cooking ranges, sinks, and related items.
In 1837, the firm was listed under the name William Ropes & Son; by
1846, the name had changed to John T. Ropes & Co.; in the late 1850s, the
name was changed to simply John T. Ropes.
The business was located on Front St. in Salem, Massachusetts.
John T. Ropes was the son of Rachel Archer and
William Ropes. He married Lucy Collins
in 1834, and they had two sons and a daughter. In the 1850 and 1860 censuses,
John Titcomb Ropes was listed as a tin plate worker; the 1860 census also
listed his son William (1839-1911) in the same occupation.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT
A collection of bills and receipts, 1838-1869,
addressed mostly to the business John T. Ropes & Co. The collection also includes some personal
bills addressed to John T. and to William Ropes, mostly for food items. Several early bills, dated 1845, were for
building a new store; these bills are for paint, glass, brick, labor of a stone
cutter, lumber, nails, and other building supplies. For store stock, Ropes purchased ranges,
ovens, stoves, tea kettles, boilers, some pots and pans, bathing tubs,
soapstone backs and miscellaneous parts for stoves, water basins, sinks, sheet
iron, copper, and brass. Some of the
bills are on printed billheads, including one for the firm of John T. Ropes.
ORGANIZATION
The items are arranged 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 N. David Scotti.
RELATED
MATERIALS
A photocopy of an advertisement for William Ropes is
found in Col. 214 in this repository. He
advertised stoves, grates, and fire frames.
A photocopy of a bill from William ropes & Son,
dated Nov. 18, 1837, for a Franklin stove, is found in Col. 71, under
Stoves/heating.
ACCESS POINTS
People:
Ropes, John T. (John
Titcomb), 1810-1879.
Ropes,
William, 1781-1859.
Topics:
Building.
Building
materials - Massachusetts - Salem.
Food prices -
19th century.
Sheet-iron.
Stores, Retail -
Design and construction.
Stoves - Prices -
19th century.
Invoices.
Receipts
(Acknowledgments).
Merchants.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location: 34 J 3
All accession numbers begin with 81x279.
All bills were paid by or were directed to John T.
Ropes & Co. unless otherwise noted.
Folder 1:
.1 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid
Joseph Towne, Topsfield, 25 Aug. 1838, for apples and potatoes
.2 receipted bill: D. & J. Pulsifer,
April 15, 1846 (for purchases in 1845): paid for varnish, vermilion, oil,
paint, glass and setting of glass, putty, days of labor, painting and setting
sign, etc.
.3 receipted bill: Samuel S. Standley,
Salem, March-Aug. 1845: paid for cement, lime, days of work, work of a stone
cutter, cricks, sand, extra chimes, and for contract for a building
.4 receipted bill: Aaron Kehews[?] Jr.,
April 30, 1845: paid for a building 34x19 feet, feet of stock and boards,
nails, alteration
.5 receipted bill: Eleazer Austin, July
1845, paid for boards and carting to mill
.6 receipted bill: Jackman & Goss,
Salem, April-Sept. 1845, paid for copper boiler, copper gutter, conductor pipe
and soldering, and other goods
.7 receipted bill: H. & F. Stimpson,
Jan. 1848-July 1850, paid for range; range covers, back, grate, and other range
parks; long water [something] and couplings; tea kettle; oven;
.8 receipted bill: Joseph W. Ropes,
Jan-Dec. 1848, paid for tin, coal stoves, sets of castings, wash boilers, oven
doors, tea kettle, bathing tub, sauce pans, etc.
.9a-b receipted bill: William Ropes paid Geo. W.
Upton, July 1848-Jan. 1849: for beef, lamb, beans, pork, peppers, lard,
potatoes, mutton, greens, veal, asparagus,
,10 bill from Wm. S. Walsh, Boston, Nov.
1848-July 1849, for sets of weights, frame for a beam, and other things
.11 receipted bill: William Ropes paid E. K.
Noyes, Salem, Oct. 11, 1848, for oil, sugar, fish, apples, cheese, butter,
salmon, potatoes, halibut, lard, p. beans, apples, eggs, salt, sugar
.12 receipted bill: T. E. Whitteridge, 1849, paid
for a column stove
.13 receipted bill: Caleb A. Smith, Jan.-Dec.
1849, paid for oil
.14 receipted bill: D. Merritt, Jan.-March
1849, paid for iron, tin, stoves and hollow ware, sets of castings, wire,
stoves, brick linings, etc.
.15 receipted bill: Jackman & Goss,
Salem, Jan. 1849-Jan. 1850, paid for copper bolts[?], copper sheathing, and
pounds of copper
.16 receipted bill: A. & D. Lord, Salem,
Feb. 2, 1849-May 31, 1850, paid for stove lingins or for labor to line various
kinds of stoves; also soapstone backs for cook stoves and a four[?] back for a
cook stove; sometimes location of the stove was given (J. H. Hill, South Salem,
etc.);
.17 receipted bill: D. Prouty & Co.,
Feb.-Dec. 1849, paid for sets of bricks, castings, etc.
[the bill was addressed
to J.T. Ropes Son, but the company name was, of course, J.T. Ropes & Co.;
the earlier company was William Ropes & Son]
.18 bill from Whitney & Montanya, New
York, Feb. 20, 1849, to Ropes & Co. for merchandise (not specified); also a
short letter about payment
.19 receipted bill: Saml. P. Allen, Boston,
March 1, 1849, paid for boxes of Eagle sheets [probably sheets of tin, possibly
sheets of iron]
.20 receipted bill: Chas. F. Leavitt, April
1849-January 1850: paid for British and American Luster, black lead, water
basins, a laundry stove, a key
.21 bill from Bulkley, Hayes & Co.,
Boston, April 20, 1849, for no. 4 caboose [stove]
Printed billhead: Hayes’
portable hot air cooking ranges, portable and brick furnaces. Also, the celebrated New Bedford ship’s
cambooses, [etc.]
[bill reads caboose,
although printed billhead reads cambooses]
.22 receipted bill: D. Merritt, April-June
1849, paid for sets of castings, boxes of tin, shets of iron, sinks, boiler
bottoms, hollowware, stoves, copper, etc.
.23 receipted bill: Washburn Terry & Co.,
Taunton, June 19, 1849, paid for mechanic stoves
.24 receipted bill: William Ropes paid David
H.. Caldwell, Beverly, June-August 1849, for butter, cucumbers, milk
.25 receipted bill: R. M. Ropes & Co.,
Salem, June 26, 1849, paid for small stoves
.26 receipted bill: N. & T. H.
Frothingham, Aug.-Dec. 1849, paid for front plates and grates for stoves,
sheets of tin,
.27 bill from Bulkley, Hayes & Co.,
Boston, Aug. 27, 1849, for Salamander stove polish;
Printed billhead: Hayes’
portable hot air cooking ranges, portable and brick furnaces. Also, the celebrated New Bedford ship’s
cambooses, [etc.]
.28 receipted bill: Russell & Walker,
Newburyport, Sept. 25, 1849, paid for cylinder and box stoves in different
sizes, also Whiting [stove?]
.29 receipted bill: Samuel P. Allen, Boston,
Oct. 8, 1849: paid for Russia and Eagle sheet iron;
Printed billhead:
importer and dealer in bar, hoop and sheet iron and steel, tin plate, &c.;
agent for Fall River Iron Works Co.
.30 receipted bill: Joseph Putnam, Oct.-Dec.
1849, paid for circulars, R & R lining, Farmers & Mechanics linings,
Norton, circular brick
.31 receipted bill: Bowers Pratt & Co.,
Boston, Oct.-Dec. 1849, for unspecified merchandise
.32 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid John
Messervy, Nov. 1849, for paint, spirits, oil, glass, varnish, graining color,
and labor,
.33 bill from Bulkley, Hayes &
Co., Boston, Dec. 17, 1849, for rotary cylinder stoves;
Printed billhead: Hayes’
portable hot air cooking ranges, portable and brick furnaces. Also, the celebrated New Bedford ship’s
cambooses, [etc.];
The name Hayes has been
crossed out on the billhead
.34 receipted bill: Stephen G. Allen, Boston,
Dec. 19, 1849, paid for Russia iron[?];
Printed billhead:
importer and dealer in bar, hoop and sheet iron, tin plates, sheet zinc, wire,
and all kinds of iron and steel
.35 bill from J.D. Warren & Co.,
Stamford, Ct., April 18, 1850, for cylinder stoves, grates, etc.;
With note about sizes of
Barbour coal air tight castings; have sent a sample of one;
Printed billhead: The
Rippowam Co., manufacturers and dealers in stoves, enameled wares, hot air
furnaces, hollow ware, agricultural castings, and machinery
.36 bill from Taber & Co., New Bedford,
May 28, 1850: for one set of castings, new pattern, sent by railroad;
With note: sending a
sample of castings; also have a new style of charcoal furnaces, mentions cook
stoves
.37 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Smith
& Manning, June 16, 1850, for horse and carryall; payment received by J.
[?] M. Murphey
.38 bill from Taber & Co., New Bedford,
June 27, 1850, for stoves, sets of bricks, mountings; sent by railroad
.39 receipted statement of account from
Wager, Pratt & Co., Salem, July 1849-June 1850, for unnamed merchandised
Printed form; mentions
cooking and parlor stoves
.40 bill and letter from Gilbert Geer, Troy,
July 6, 1850: bill for various kinds of stoves and sets of bricks;
letter: stoves shipped
by Willards line of packets; some were broken while loading, and if Ropes
receives any broken ones, please notify Geer at once
.41 bill from Taber & Co., New Bedford,
Aug. 21, 1850: for econ. and Etna stoves, for wood and coal
.42 bill and letter from Taber & Co., New
Bedford, Sept. 23, 1850: bill for economist and Etna stoves;
Letter about other goods
the firm sells
.43 bill from Taber & Co., New Bedford,
Sept. 23, 1850: for Wamsutta wood and coal stoves
.44 bill and letter from Taber & Co., New
Bedford, Nov. 9, 1850: bill for stoves;
Letter: asking if wants
to order more of certain styles or brands of stoves (Etna, Rival, Wamsutta,
Regulator, Economist)
.45 bill from Taber & Co., New Bedford,
Dec. 6, 1850: bill for Economist stove;
Letter: a note about the
stove which was ordered
Folder 2:
.46 receipted bill: D. & J. Pulsifer,
Jan.-Dec. 1851 (paid March 8, 1854): paid for varnish, glass, paint, spirits,
painting and repairing windows
.47 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Jos.
Gomez [or Gomes], Salem, Jan. 4, 1852 (for purchases made in 1851): for
blacking and boots;
.48 bill from W. S. Walsh, Boston, Jan. 23,
1851: for a beam and weights;
Printed billhead: Walsh &
Walker, blanace, platform and counter scales; … all kinds of weighing
apparatus, copper, sheet iron and tin ware;
.49 receipted bill: Samuel S. Standley,
Salem, February 19, 1851: paid for lime, teaming to Smith’s Foundry, charcoal
and coal, plank and boards, bark, barley, soap, corn, cheese; plus potatoes,
flour, and squash for William Ropes
.50 letter from Gilbert Geer, Troy, April 28,
1851: have sold business to Gen. Chaffee & Richmond and needs to close
accounts
.51 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid D.
& J. Pulsifer, May-Dec. 1852 (payment March 8, 1854): for painted carpet
[floorcloth] and laying of said article
.52 receipted bill: Samuel S. Standley,
Salem, February-December 1852: paid for apples, corn, coal, potatoes, nails,
lime, tea, bark, shingles, salmon, saleratus, barley;
some purchases
were for Ropes’ shop, some were for personal use, and some were for William
Ropes
.53 bank order: signed Wager Richmond &
Smith, Troy, Dec. 21, 1852, charged to account of J. T. Ropes & Co., Salem,
Mass.
Printed and illustrated
form, decorated with sailing ship, anchor, and rope, and a shield flanked by a
Native American and a man in suit and hat
.54 receipted bill: D. & J. Pulsifer,
Jan.-Dec. 1853 (paid March 8, 1854): paid for spirits, glass and setting of
same, varnish, oil, putty, graining, a tin sign, paint and painting, and days
of labor
.55 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Joseph
Gomes, Salem, Jan. 1, 1854: for boots, slippers, bootees; for J.T. Ropes, his
son, and Putnam Derby
.56 receipted bill: D. & J. Pulsifer,
Jan.-Dec. 1854 (paid Jan. 15, ‘5?): paid for spirits, putty, varnish, glass and
setting of same;
.57 receipted bill: Ira Mansfield, Jan.-Oct.
1854: paid for hot air back, grate, covers, linings, mortar and pipe clay,
bricks, iron bar, sharpening drills and points, whitewashing and repairing
plaster, plus labor;
Work done at homes of
Rev. Mr. Briggs, Mr. Clapp, Capt. Pourlands[?] on Lafayette St., and William
Ropes on Andrew St.
.58 receipted bill: A. C. Goodall, Salem,
July 9, 1854: paid for mending stove door, grinding shears, hoops, handles for
coal buckets, fixing chisels and drill, brass keys, wrenches, rods and knees,
repairing screw cutter, latches and bolts, etc.
.59 receipted bill: A. & D. Lord, Salem,
Jan. 9, 1855: paid for back to cook stove, lining stoves, soapstone backs for
stoves, etc.; specifically mentions lining caboose cookstove for R. Brookhouse
.60 receipted bill: May & Co., Boston,
Feb. 21, 1855, was paid for a box of tinplate
Printed billhead:
dealers in hardware and metals
.61 receipted bill: C. Carpenter, April-Dec.
1855 (paid April 1, 1866): for unspecified merchandise
.62 receipted bill: Towle & Norris,
August 25-30, 1855: paid for cellar window curbs and for setting the same
.64 receipted bill: Brooks & Grundy, Nov.
27, 1855” paid for cast iron forge anvil and bellows
.65 receipted bill: Col. William Ropes paid William
A. Brooks, Feb.-Dec. 1856, for starch, cough mixture, spermaceti, cream of
tartar, rhubarb root, caster oil, bitters, spirits of camphor, oatmeal, indigo,
lemon extract, sulphur, etc.
.63 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Hiram
A. Carter, Salem, Nov. 17, 1855: for butter, molasses, flour, coffee, soap,
sperm oil, corn, mustard, a bottle of lemon, sperm candles, starch, dried
apples, saleratus, gunpowder tea, halibut, potatoes, fish
.66 receipted bill: William Ropes paid E. P.
Potter, Jr., April, 26, 1856, for eggs, potatoes, veal, milk, meal, butter,
currants, peas, apples, honey, corn, beans, pumpkins, beets, chickens, pork
.67 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Jos.
Gomes, Salem, 1854-1856, paid Jan. 26, 1857, for fish, boots, shoes, soles,
slippers
.68 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid J. W.
Rhoads & Co., Nov. 12, 1856: for coal
.69 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid R.A.H.
Blodgett & Co., Salem, Nov. 8, 1859: for flour, butter, potatoes;
Some of charges were to
estate of William Ropes;
Printed billhead:
wholesale produce dealers
.70 bill settled by note; John T. Ropes paid F.B.
Austin & Co., Boston, July-Dec. 1863, for unspecified merchandise
Printed billhead
.71 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid M.C.
Reynolds & Co., Salem, Jan.-Nov. 1863 (settled Jan. 12, 1864): for ham,
coffee, soap, oil, fish, tea, bread, matches, potash, sugar, cheese, corn,
fluid[?], etc.
.72 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid T.A.
Westcott, Boston, Jan. 5, 1863 (settled Jan. 29, 1864): for unspecified
merchandise
.73 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Benj.
B. Neal, Jan.-Dec. 1863: for sets linings, backs, barrel of mortar, 200
circulars, sets summer range, protector backs
.74 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid S.W.
Clapp & Co., Boston, Dec. 1863: for unspecified merchandise;
Printed billhead
.75 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid P.D.
Walker, April 27, 1863: for 3 window frames; money received by M. A. Walker
.76 receipted bill: James A. Farless, Salem,
May 30, 1863: paid for sheet brass;
Printed billhead:
importer of hardware and cutlery, and dealer in guns and sporting apparatus,
[etc.]
.77 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Joseph
Huse, Boston, June 20, 1863: for unspecified merchandise;
Printed billhead:
furnaces, ranges, and stoves
.78 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Moses
Pond & Co., Boston, July 1863: for unspecified merchandise
Printed billhead
.79 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Deans
& Bagnall, Boston, Oct. 3, 1863: for sheet iron, Russia iron;
Printed billhead:
importers and dealers in metals, [etc.]
.80 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Isaac
Dayton, Oct.-Dec. 1863: for saddle and stuffing, horse blanket, surcingle, cleaning
and repairing harness, girths, and a stove
.81 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Simeon
Flint, Oct.1863 (paid Jan. 7, 1864), for work and stock on furnace at L.D.
Shepard’s
.82 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Ira
Mansfield, Oct. 1863: for mortar and cement, nails, trucking, bricks, and days
of labor
.83 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Currier
& Dean, Boston, Nov. 1863: for boxes of raisins;
Printed billhead:
wholesale and retail dealers in foreign fruits, nuts, etc., commission dealers
in domestic produce
.84 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid Deans
& Bagnall, Boston, Dec. 5, 1863: for unspecified merchandise;
Printed billhead
.85 receipted bill: Mr. Ropes paid S.W. Clapp
& Co., Boston, Dec. 22, 1863: for backs? [handwriting difficult to read];
Printed billhead: dealers
in furnaces, ranges, stoves and casting; agents for all the principal foundries
in this country
.86 receipted bill: William Ropes paid George
W. Bennett, Dec. 28, 1863, for buffalo
robe and set of bells
[this William Ropes was
probably John T.’s son, rather than his father]
.87 receipted bill: John T. Ropes paid James
Ellison, Boston, Dec. 31, 1863: for tin plates and sheet iron
.88 receipt: B. Waedevell[?], Providence,
Feb. 4, 1864: received a check from J. T. Ropes to pay balance on his account
.89 bill: from John T. Ropes, Salem, 1868, to
David Myers: for wash boiler and a pot;
Printed billhead: dealer
in cooking, shop and parlor stoves, grates, furnaces, cooking ranges, cast iron
sinks, &c. [also tin roofing and cooper, tin, and sheet iron wares]
.90 receipted statement: John T. Ropes paid
Plymouth Iron Foundry, Plymouth, July 1, 1869: for unspecified merchandise