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: 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