The pages listed below are from the account books of Elijah Williams and Jonathan Ashley and include mention of African American residents in Deerfield. A glossary of terms is included below each page entry.
Elijah Williams Account Books
Elijah Williams ran a store and his account books record transactions. This lesson will look at entries from three of his account books:
- Volume 2: 1746-56 – pg. 10, bottom and pg. 20
- Volume 3: 1751-56 – pg. 67 and facing pg. (67 A&B)
- Volume 4: 1755-59 – pg. 242, bottom
Volume 2 (1746-56)
For page 10:
Notes: Ishmael belonged to Thomas Dickinson.
Glossary
- T Dic.n- Thomas Dickinson
For page 20:
Notes: In these entries there is no column for farthings. On Oct. 27, “6 0.2” would mean 6 shillings and 0.2 pence.
Glossary
- Do.- ditto, same
- Gartering- strips of material or leather used to tie around the leg just below or above the knee to help keep up stockings
- Husking- removing leaves from ears of corn
- Jno- abbreviation for Jonathan
- Square needles- a square of needles, a piece of paper full of needles
Volume 3 (1751-56)
For pages 67A and 67B:
Notes: In the left-hand column are purchases made by Abijah Prince. The right-hand column lists when and how he paid for his purchases. The columns of numbers represent money: from left to right; pounds, shillings, pence, and farthing (20 shillings=1 pound, 12 pence = 1 shilling, 4 farthings = 1 penny). As an example, the value of the “hogs head” purchased by Abijah on Sept. 9 would be 5 shillings 4 pence. When a number appears with a “/”, as in 7/4 on May 27, that stands for 7 shillings and 4 pence.
Glossary
- Contra- refers to the facing page
- Ditto- same
- Do. – ditto, same
- Dr- abbreviation for debtor (one who owes)
- Dram- .0625 ounces
- Ferying- ferrying, as in guiding a ferry across a river
- Hogs head- hogshead, a large barrel that can hold 63 gallons
- Indigo- a dark blue dye
- Jill- gill, 5 fluid ounces
- Peck- 8 quarts
- Powder- gun powder
- Reaping- cutting a crop
- Rhum- rum
- Shot- small metal pellets to be shot from a gun
- Sundrey- various
- Toe cloath or tow cloth- a cheap, coarse linen cloth (made from flax)
Volume 4 (1755-59)
For page 242:
Notes: 1757Abijah Prince Dr—
Glossary
- Busll- bushel
- Hands- farmworkers
- Jay-January
- Pr pumps- a pair of pumps, pumps are a kind of shoe
- q’s- quarts
- Sewett, suit- suet, beef fat
Jonathan Ashley’s Account Book
This lesson will look at entries on several pages from his account books
Pg. 11
Pg. 15
Pg. 36 (bottom)
Pg. 37
Pg. 41 (bottom)
Jonathan Ashley’s Account Book:
For Page 11:
Notes: Jonathan Ashley owned Titus and Cato. The work that they did was for Asa Childs.
Glossary
- Bushel- 32 quarts
- Dunging- using manure as fertilizer
- Ensign- a military rank
- Janry- January
- Old Tenor, OT- old style of money
- Reconed- reckoned, counted, tallied up
- Thrashing- to separate seeds from stalks by beating
For Page 15:
Glossary
- Board- to stay at someone’s house. In this time period students took turns having the teacher board at their homes.
- Brot- brought
- d- pence
- Deb.- debtor
- Faggots- sticks
- Loaf Sugar- In this time period sugar was available in a hard cone shape called a loaf.
For Page 37:
Glossary
- Dressing flax- preparing flax for spinning
- Greese- grease
- Harrow- to break up and smooth out soil before planting
- Houghing- hoeing
- How- hoe
- Lusey- Lucy Terry Prince
- Mean balance- middle balance
- Sowing- planting seeds
- Sugaring- making maple sugar
For Page 41:
Glossary
- Ferriage- guiding a ferry across water
- Sabbathday- Sunday