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:         Emery, Nathaniel, 1796-                                

Title:               Account book and other papers

Dates:             1816-1837, bulk 1823-1833

Call No.:         Doc. 1704

Acc. No.:        16x48.1-.14

Quantity:        1 volume, 13 leaves

Location:        31 J 4

 

 

 

BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT

 

Nathaniel Emery was a joiner, carpenter, and furniture and coffin maker in Waterboro, York County, Maine.  He was born in 1796, the son of Dennis Emery (1769-1841) and Sally Goodwin (1774-1814).  He married Mary Andrews in 1825, the same year he was appointed to the local school committee.  In the 1850 census, he was listed as a farmer.  No death date was found for Nathaniel Emery.

 

Nathaniel Emery had a sister Mary (1806-1831) who married Abraham Andrews (1083-1848), probably the same person as Abram Andrews mentioned in these papers, and probably the Abram who worked with Emery.  Other sisters were Margaret (married to Simeon Knight), Sally, and Rhoda (1811-1837).

 

 

SCOPE AND CONTENT

 

Account book and loose papers of Nathaniel Emery, dating 1815-1837.  He called the volume a day book, but in fact, it is an account book, with debits and credits listed on facing pages, covering 1823-1833.  He did a variety of jobs, mostly carpentry work, such as making window frames and doors, laying floors, shingling, clapboarding, “joinering,” and unspecified “work on house” or barn.  He also mended wagons and farm equipment, made and painted furniture, turned posts, built a loom, and did various other jobs.  Among the furniture pieces he made were chests, bedsteads, tables, a clock case, and bureaus.  He also made coffins, often recording the size but usually not noting the name of the deceased.  He was paid with boards, cider, farm labor, livestock, books (short titles given), baskets, shoes, and other goods and services. 

 

Various men worked with Emery; the one named Abram was probably the Abram Andrews who purchased tools, and was probably Emery’s brother-in-law.  From the accounts, his customers’ occupations can sometimes be discerned.  Joshua Bagley and Henry Hobbs, Jr., supplied shoes; Stephen Hill did tailoring; Thomas Gile seems to have been a tanner.  Phinehas Bagley made tools and did horse shoeing.  Henry Hobbs was given the title “elder,” and Emery did some work on the meetinghouse for him.  Dr. Cyrus Conant exchanged labor for medicine and house calls.  Several men were paid for keeping schools.

 

Many of the loose papers which came with this volume were bills, and most reflect contents of the account book.  Also found is a notice of the death of Nathaniel’s sister Rhoda Emery; a list of donations made to Reuben Hill, Jr., after his house burned; and an undated notice to selectmen to meet at the Shaker community in Alfred, presumably to reach an agreement about something.

 

           

ORGANIZATION

 

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 Dan Casavant Rare Books, with funds provided from the H.W. Wilson Foundation.

 

 

ACCESS POINTS

 

People:

            Emery, Rhoda, 1811-1837.    

            Hill, Reuben, circa 1797-

 

Topics:

            Shakers – Maine – Alfred.

            Business records - Maine – Waterboro.

            Cabinetmakers - Maine – Waterboro.

Carpenters - Maine – Waterboro.

            Carpentry – Maine – Waterboro.

            Coffins – Prices – 19th century.

            Furniture making - Maine – Waterboro.

            Teachers - Maine – Waterboro.

Account books.

 

 

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE COLLECTION

 

Location: 31 J 4

 

All accession numbers begin with 16x48

 

Folder 1:

 

.1         Nathaniel Emery’s  Day Book, January 1st, 1823.  Waterborough.

                        This is really an account book, not a daybook.  It covers 1823-circa 1833.  See scope and content note above for description.

                        Name index to volume is appended to this finding aid.

 

Folder 2:

 

.2         note: “Gentlemen Selectmen of the town of Alfred, we have appointed the first day of October next to meet you at the Shakers on the line between the towns of Waterborough & Alfred at eight o’clock.”  No year.

                        On back: calculations of money

 

.3         account with Nathaniel Hobbs, no date.  It mentions a bedstead, work of John Young and Jacob Thompson, making a sleigh top and a plow, unspecified work done on a house, threshing, fencing, shearing sheep, making cider, grass, and cows.  Accounts are on both sides of paper.

                        Compare this with the accounts on page 2 of the account book.

 

.4         accounts with Henry Clark, debits on one side, credits on the other, 1815-1831. 

                        Emery rived staves, did unspecified work on shed and bar, made a sleigh and window sash, work at haying, and rented his wagon.  Work of Ivory and Daniel is also included.

                        Credit was given for use of a horse, wool, stave stuff, hauling, birch logs, livestock, work of Israel digging potatoes and picking rocks, hay, mill cloth, and other goods and services.

                        Compare this with Clark’s accounts on page 11 of the account book.

 

.5         accounts with Elder Henry Hobbs, debits on one side, credits on the other, 1816-1831. 

                        Emery made shooks and shaved staves, and made coffins, a plow, a cider trough, a meal chest, a collar for the chimney, and a bedstead; and made windows, shingled, boarded, framed, and did other work on cider house, shed, the Hunt house, and the meetinghouse.  Abram Andrews assisted Emery.

                        Credit was given for cash, English readers, a lathe, a hymnal, cider and rum, by writing a deed and a bond, a book, use of a horse, and other goods and services. 

These transactions are also recorded in the account book, acc. 16x48.1.

 

.6         accounts with Capt. William Cook, debits on one side, credits on the other, 1822[?]-1830.

                        Emery did “a job of work on your chambers,” and made a bedstead, a coffin, window frames, a wagon seat, and a chest. 

                        Credit was given for days on the county road, sheep, use of wagon and wagon wheels, hay, pasturing a colt, corn, cords of wood, use of cider mill, and sawing a white oak log.

                        Compare with Cook’s accounts on page 1 of the account book.

 

.7         accounts with Josiah Swett, debits on one side, credits on the other, 1826-1829.

                        Emery supplied cash to collector John Hamilton and a ram lamb.  Credit was given for pasturing a cow.

                        Although Josiah Swett appears in the account book, these accounts do not seem to match those.

 

.8         accounts with Benjamin T. Hall, debits on one side, credits on the other, 1829-1830.   

                        Emery supplied pork, corn, potatoes, lights of sash, and a cradle.  Credit was given for mending a sleigh, shoeing horse and steers, making a staple, and sharpening a plow.

                        Compare with Hall’s accounts on page 42-43 of the account book.

 

.9         settling of accounts with Phineas [Phinehas] Bagley, March 20, 1830.  Bagley supplied a hoe, chisels, a drawing knife and some other tools, and did some hoeing. 

Compare with Bagley’s accounts on pages 27-28 of the account book.

 

.10       “Abner Thing’s account, settled,”   1830. 

                        Debits: cheese press, beef, inner soles, making power of attorney, settlings for you and Beal, work on a coffin, use of wagon.

                        Credits:  labor of Simon Carpenter, digging potatoes, beef, inner and middle soles, plastering, tallow, glue. 

Compare with pages 42-43 of account book.

 

.11       accounts with Capt. Jeremiah Carll, debits on one side, credits on the other, 1835-1836.

                        Debits: running land and making deed, a pig, use of wagon, corn, joinery work, beef, cradle, plowing, oats, salt, cash, use of oxen, cider, vamps for shoes.

                        Credits: picking rocks and apples, reaping,  digging potatoes, chopping wood, building a wall, hauling manure, fencing, use of oxen, various farm jobs (plowing, haying, hoeing, etc.), unspecified work, work on coal kilns, chairs, cutting bushes.

                        (The account book ends before these dates.)

 

.12       “Account of things received of the Benevolent for to repair the loss of Mr. Reuben Hill, Jr., which he has sustained on account of the loss of his house and furniture by fire, March 20, 1836.”

                        List of names and what they contributed, mostly cash, but including corn, wheat, shingles, a waistcoat, a towel, a kettle, a hat, bedding, shoes.  Nathaniel Emery’s name is not on the list of donors.

 

.13       “Proprietors of Eld. Henry Hobbs meetinghouse to Nathaniel Emery,” 1837.

                        Bill for work done on the meetinghouse in 1828, plus repairs, a new door, and glass supplied in 1838.  William Emery was paid for a stove.

                        See page 5 of the account book for work done on the meetinghouse in 1828.

 

.14       “In memory of Rhoda, daughter of Dennis & Sally Emery, who died May 22, 1837, aged 25 years, 2 mo. and 7 days, in full hopes of a blessed immortality.”

                        On back: monetary calculations, and the words “employment ships company &”

                        Rhoda Emery was a sister of Nathaniel Emery.


Name index to account book, acc. 16x48.1:

 

Note: this includes names within accounts, not just the names at the top of the accounts.

Pages 1-11 and 14 are double-page spreads, but beginning with page 12, each page is individually numbered (with the exception of page 14).  Some page numbers have been added in pencil.

 

Abram    2, 5, 7, 8, 12, 14-15, 17

            [this is probably Abram Andrews]

Allen, Ivory    7, 44-45

Allen, Theodore    9-10, 38-39

Andrews, A.    13, 23

Andrews, Abram   23-24, 34-35

Andrews, D.    6

Andrews, Daniel    4, 6, 32-33

Andrews, Ebenezer    6, 34-35

            [account on p. 35 mentions several books]

 

Bagley, John    48

            [apparently a school teacher]

Bagley, Joshua    8

Bagley, Orlando    21-22, 32

Bagley, Phinehas   27-28

Beal, Thomas    42

Bean, Joel    20

            [kept a school]

Bean, Peggy    19-20

Bean, Richard    7, 9, 32

Bean, Thomas    19-20

Boothby, Levi   3

Boothby, Samuel    18

Bowdoin, D.    16

Burnham, William F.     11, 23-24

Burrows, D.    52

Burrows, David   19-20

Buzzell, John   5

            [compiler and publisher of a Baptist hymnal in 1823]

 

Carll, Jeremiah    50

Carll, John    3

Carpenter, John    47

Carpenter, Simon     43

Chadborn, Humphry (collector)    2

Chadborn, John    19-20

Chesworth, Abram (Capt.)   34-35

Clark    5, 11

Clark, Ephraim    12-13

Clark, H.    7

Clark, Henry     11

Clay, Jonathan    14

Collins     6, 38

Conant (Dr.)    2 

Conant, Cyrus (Dr.)    21-22 

Conant, H.    22

            [father of Cyrus Conant]

[Cook?], Betsy    1

Cook, Hezekiah    32-33

Cook, William (Capt.)    1

 

D., J.    1

Dam, Samuel   23-24

Daniel    6, 11, 25-26, 29-30, 37, 51

David    7, 9, 43, 45

Downing    45

            [possibly a town, not a surname]

 

Emery, D.    2

Emery, Ivory    31

Emery, Mary    8, 26

            [wife of Nathaniel Emery]

Emery, Rhoda    11

 

Flood, Edward L.    51

Flood, Henry    3

Frost, Peter    30-31

 

George    8

Gile, Thomas   17-18

Goodwin, Benjamin    9

Goodwin, Jeremiah    3

 

Hall (Dr.)    23

Hall, B. T.    9

Hall, Benjamin T.    42-43

Hamilton, John    4

Hamilton, Judith (Mrs.)   50

Harmon, Zachariah    3

Henderson, J.    29

Henderson, John    46-47

Henderson, Joseph   12, 26

Henry    5, 6, 38, 51

            [p. 5: possibly refers to Henry Hobbs, Jr.]

Hernick[?], B. J.    21

Hill, Abner    12-13, 46-47, 49

Hill, Daniel    19

Hill, John (Capt.)    17-18, 24

Hill, Jonathan    3

Hill, Joshua (agent)    48-49

            [apparently a school teacher]

Hill, Lucinda (Miss)    52

Hill, Reuben    19-20

Hill, Sophia    52

Hill, Stephen    15-16, 49

Hills, R.   1

Hobbs, Henry (Elder)    5, 15

Hobbs, Henry (Jr.)    5, 25-26, 46-47

Hobbs, Nathaniel    2, 6

Hocksdon[?], James    9

Hunt     5

 

Israel    11

Ivory     11, 36

            [probably Ivory Allen or Ivory Emery]

 

James   11, 30

Jeremiah    3

John    39

Jones, Benjamin    28

Joseph    3, 31

 

Kimball, David    9

Kimball, William    21

Knight, Abiah (Mrs.)    50

Knight, James    27-28

Knight, Jonathan    10, 15-16, 18

Knight, Simeon    8, 9, 11, 14, 18

Knight, Simeon C.    43, 48

            [p. 48: apparently a school teacher]

Knight, Thomas    21

 

Lewis, Theodore    52

Luther    39

 

McLond, John    52

Merrel, Stephen    7

 

Nasson, John    8, 17, 49

            [p. 49: apparently a school teacher]

Nathaniel    4, 33

 

Page, B.    6

Page, Benjamin    8

Pitts, Benjamin    4

Pitts, Hipsabeth    2

 

Ricker, Gersham     50

Ricker, Gideon    15-16

Ricker, Gideon (Jr.)    17-18

Ricker, Jabez    25

Ricker, Timothy (Jr.)    5, 7

Rickers [store]    5

Robinson, Benjamin    10

 

Samuel    4, 11

Sanborn, Betsy (Mrs.)    50

Sanborn, D.    24

Sanborn, Daniel    14, 40-41, 49

            [p. 49: apparently a school teacher]

Sanborn, Stephen    2, 30-31

School district    43

Scribner, Daniel    1, 44-45

Scribner, David    50

Scribner, Trustim R.   38-39, 45

Seavey, Ebenezer    4

Smith, Aaron    38

Smith, Abram    20

Smith, Jacob (Jr.)    6

Swett, Daniel   30

Swett, Josiah     11, 29-30, 36-37

Swett, William    14, 36-37

 

Theodore    11, 30, 37

Thing, Abner    42-43, 49

Thompson, Jacob    2

Thompson, Noah    40-41

 

William    11, 30, 37

Woodward, Simeon    50

 

Young, John    2