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:         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