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: Ely, Richard H. (Richard
Hays), 1790-1828.
Title: Bills
Dates: 1818-1819.
Call No.: Col. 719
Acc. No.: 04x2
Quantity: 20 items
Location: 34 J 4
BIOGRAPHICAL
STATEMENT
Richard H. Ely lived in Penfield, Monroe County, New
York. He seems to have run a store. A merchant named Richard Hays Ely was born in
Lyme, Connecticut, in 1790, the son of Phebe Lay and Denison Ely. In 1820, he married Laura Maria Shepard
(1798-1839), and they had several children before Richard died in February
1828.
SCOPE AND CONTENT
A collection of receipted bills, almost all of which
were sent to Richard H. Ely. Eleven of
the bills are for construction supplies and labor, probably for a store (one of
the bills specifies a charge for hinges for a store door). Ely bought nails, laths, boards, hinges,
scantling, bricks, and rafters. He was
charged for plastering and framing. The
other bills are for an assortment of goods, bought in such quantities that they
were undoubtedly stock for a store. He
bought combs, buttons, umbrellas, cotton lace, plates, bowls, jugs, teapots, a
brown image tea set, decanters, and other such goods.
In addition, the collection includes a bill to
another Mr. Ely for a large Turkish chair, purchased in 1866, and a note to Mr.
Culver from Samuel Dinsmore of Pittsfield, dated 1818. Although the later Mr. Ely could be related
to Richard, the note from Dinsmore seems not to have anything to do with him.
ORGANIZATION
For the most part, 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 Stephen and Carol Resnick.
ACCESS POINTS
Topics:
Building.
Buttons Prices.
Ceramics Prices.
Chairs Prices.
Combs Prices.
Lace and lace making - Prices.
Stores, Retail - Design and construction.
Stores, Retail - New York (State) - Penfield.
Umbrellas and parasols - Prices.
Receipts.
Bills.
DETAILED
DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION
Location:
All accession numbers begin with 04x2.
Folder 1 of 1:
.1 from Stephen Wakelee, June-August 1818:
for clapboards; for making hinges, bars, batts, keys for window, hooks and
staples for window shutters and doors; and for irons to fasten window shutters,
hooks for posts
[see also 04x2.12, which
repeats these charges, and adds later charges]
.2 from Augustus Vandoke, June-Dec. 1818:
for boards, planks, and scantling;
marked paid in
January 1819
.3 from
Joseph M. Richardson, June 1818: for lath;
marked paid
January 1819
.4 from
Samuel Hildreth, marked paid June 1818, for nails
.5 from
Aaron Seymour, July 1818, for white wood boards
.6 from
Orison Beardslee, July 1818, for plastering store, lime mortar, white wood
boards
.7 from H. Bailey, July 11, 1818; for
lumber, flooring, scantling, rafters, studs, joist, boards, flooring planks,
lath, ash and white wood planks;
On back: some
calculations
.8 from Eli Beardslee, July 1818; for days
of work by Daniel Hubbell, Beach Rowell, and Ephraim; sash stuff, feet of sider
[i.e. siding?], making step to door, and for days of boarding
.9 from Abraham J. Vosburgh, July 1818;
for work of plastering in store;
payment was
received by Esther Vosburgh
.10 from
John Hedge, July 1818; for days of work framing
.11 from
Aaron Quick, July 1818, for shingles, and for butternut and white wood boards
.12 from Stephen Wakelee, July-December 1818:
for repeats charges found on the bill that is acc. 04x2.1; but adds charges for
Oct.-De.: making some kind of bar; for a crane eye, hinges for cellar door,
haps and staples, nails, spikes; for paint and something else by Aaron Quick;
plank, and hooks and staples for bunk [or trunk]
.13 from
E. Fullan [or possibly Fullam], Oct. 14, 1819:
for bricks;
On back: Elisha Fullan
.14 from
Ezra Williams, Saybrook, June 3, 1818: for ivory combs, coat and vest buttons,
pocket combs, and some other kind of combs;
On
back: E. Williams & Co., combs & buttons, with receipt for payment
.15 from
John Greenfield, New York, June 11, 1818: for c.c. plates, twiflers, muffins,
bowls, chamber pots, jugs, peppers, salts, mustards, tea pots, and mugs; black
tea pots; lettered something, enameled teas, bowls, sugars, etc.; brown image
tea sets; printed tea sets; decanters, tumblers, pocket bottles, wines; etc.
.16 from John Aspinwall, New York, June 13m
1818: for gingham umbrellas
.17 from
Thomas Beals, Dec. 23, 1818: for coat and vest buttons of various kinds; plus
transportation, a crate, and something else;
With
some calculations on back
.18 from Sturges & Sherman, New York,
June 12, 1818: cotton lace
.19 to
S.[?] D. Ely, from P.M. Bromley & Co., Rochester, N.Y., Jan. 2, 1866: for a
large Turkish chair in green;
Printed
billhead: Cabinet & Chair Warehouse; manufactures and
dealers in cabinet
furniture, chairs, mahogany & rosewood veneers;
With
U.S. Internal Revenue stamp
.20 from
Samuel Dinsmore, Pittsfield, July 23, 1818: note to Mr. Culver to deliver four
brass kittles to the bearer