The Winterthur Library

 The Joseph Downs Collection of Manuscripts and Printed Ephemera

Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum

5105 Kennett Pike, Winterthur, DE  19735

302-888-4600 or 800-448-3883

 

 

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

 

Creator:         Fife, Jeremiah, 1778-1850.                

Title:               Account books

Dates:             1810-1870

Call No.:         Doc. 80

Acc. No.:        81x213, 81x214

Quantity:        2 volumes

Location:        31 A 4

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Jeremiah Fife and William Fife lived in Pembroke, New Hampshire.  Jeremiah was a furniture maker and wood worker.  He was born in 1778, the son of Phebe White and William Fife; he died in 1850.  He married Abigail Holt, and they had a number of children, including a son named Jeremiah (1812-1849) and a son named William (1815-1892).  William was a laborer and carpenter.  He married Mary Dudley Gault, and they had at least one child.

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Contains accounts kept by Jeremiah Fife and William Fife of Pembroke, New Hampshire.  Jeremiah's entries fill the first volume and begin the second.  They record making coffins, window frames, rakes, chairs, tables, and so on.  William's entries complete the second volume.  They record his work setting windows, and much unspecified day labor, as well as entries such as “amount paid out for work on Wm. Parker’s house, barn and shed,” “worked 20 days for John Tenant on George Fochs Shop” and “extry work on Academe.”  The accounts are not in chronological order, so it is a bit difficult to work out the dates associated with each man.  However, Jeremiah’s accounts seem to stop in the 1850s, while William’s accounts begin before Jeremiah’s end.

           

 

ORGANIZATION

 

Volume 1 covers 1810-about 1842.  Volume 2 covers 1839-1870.

 

 

LANGUAGE OF MATERIALS

 

The materials are in English.

 

 

RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

 

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

           

 

PROVENANCE

           

Purchased from The Browsery, New Hampshire.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Fife, William.

 

Topics:

            Furniture making.

            Furniture - Repairing.

            Coffins -New Hampshire -Pembroke.

            Business records - New Hampshire - Pembroke.

            School buildings - New Hampshire - Pembroke.

            Carpentry - New Hampshire - Pembroke.

            Account books.

            Furniture workers.

            Carpenters.

           

           

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 31 A 4

 


 


Index to objects mentioned in acc. 81x213 (Doc. 80, vol. 1)

 

bedstead  9, 14, 86, 88, 90, 93, 98, 105, 116, 138

box      112, 126

bucket   38

 

canteen      13, 38

cartwheels  27-28, 32, 45, 60

chair      4, 6-7, 9-11, 13, 18, 20, 24, 25, 28, 31, 34, 38, 46, 52, 78, 90, 94, 135

chair, dining   13, 19

chair, kitchen   5, 19

chair, rocking   70, 72

cheese safe   62, 84

cheese press   14, 19, 52

chest    13, 21, 54, 60, 70, 93, 94, 98, 116

coffin   1, 13, 17, 22, 23, 25, 32, 34, 40, 44, 45, 48, 52, 54, 64, 70-73, 82, 86, 111, 114, 116, 124, 130, 131, 133, 142

cradle     1, 18

 

desk       34

drum     19, 26

drum shell  14, 22

dresser     5, 10

 

gig      93

 

knapsack      13

 

linen (fabric)    1, 23

 

pliers      7

 

rack     37, 48, 58, 68, 76, 98, 104, 108, 116, 128, 134

rake     4, 16-17, 113, 128, 154

reel     2, 82, 142

 

sleigh   1, 8, 14, 15, 19, 23, 24, 26, 29, 31-32, 34, 46, 72, 82, 93, 97, 98, 103, 105, 113

stand    9, 13, 78, 94

stand, wash  19, 93

stand, work 34, 78

staves   128

 

table    5, 9, 13, 52, 58, 78

table, dining  5, 13

table, kitchen   13, 20, 34, 78

trunk    36, 38, 76, 78

 

wagon  13, 23, 28, 60, 103, 120, 122, 123, 144

wash stand  19, 93

wheel barrow   61-62, 65, 8[?], 90, 93, 96, 112, 114, 130, 140

wheels   60, 68, 78, 94

wheels, cart  27-28, 32, 45, 60

whipple tree  2, 97

winding mill  4-5, 16, 21, 120

window frame   45, 108, 110, 121, 136

window sash   44-45, 60, 71, 80, 93, 97, 100, 108, 110, 113, 120, 123, 132, 136

work stand  34, 78


 

 

 

 


 

 

 

Index to objects mentioned in acc. 81x214 (Doc. 80, vol. 2)

 

Academy   131-133

 

beads       76

bed        101

bench       68

box        34

 

cart       21

cart wheel        3

chairs      2, 17, 27

chairs, kitchen    17

chairs, rocking    27

cheese press   20

cloth      51

coffin   2, 5, 9, 16, 18, 22

cupboard     112

 

desk     12, 131

doors  12, 19, 92, 97, 99, 118

 

frames     14, 92, 100, 122

furniture repairing   3, 6, 21, 34, 52, 67, 70, 80, 86, 90, 112, 127

gates       34

glass, window   34, 55, 66, 70, 80, 89, 99, 140

 

hammer   51

hatchet     51

hinge      99

 

iron      46, 72, 111

 

knobs    43, 130, 132

 

lead        47, 134

lumber      45, 52, 131

 

meeting house  120

molds   89

nails    43, 47, 52, 71, 96, 116, 118, 128, 131, 132

 

paint   46-47,  126, 134

painting [verb]  67

pine (wood)    103

press [clothes?]    20

 

rack    17, 25

rake     8

 

saw     70

screws   43, 99, 130

shingles   70, 127, 130

sink    80, 122, 135, 139

stand, wash  127

stove    15

 

table   14, 99

tray   27

 

varnish   43

 

wagon   3, 80

wash stand   127

window   55, 70, 132, 136, 145

window frame 14, 34, 80, 100, 114, 126, 140

window sash   19, 24, 26, 128, 140

wheel barrow   89

wood   48-49, 63

wool (fabric)   77