This ledger contains around 60 pages of monthly financial accounts between Cadet Jacob Fordney Kreps and the treasurers of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, dated June 1879-June 1883. A printed list of items that an incoming cadet should own when entering the academy is located on the volume's front endpaper. Kreps recorded his accounts on pre-printed pages with areas for recording monthly income, his expenses, and items he received from the academy's commissary. He received $90 pay each month, and was charged for various living expenses, including board and laundry service; articles of clothing, such as shoes and coats; and other items, such as soap and tobacco. One receipt is laid into the volume.
Jacob Fordney Kreps was born in West Newton, Pennsylvania, on October 22, 1860, the son of John Wood Kreps and Elizabeth Smith. Kreps attended the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, from 1879-1883. After graduation, he served in the 22nd Infantry; he was stationed primarily in Colorado and Nebraska. He served in Cuba during the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines during the Philippine Insurrection. From 1887-1890, he was a professor at Allegheny College, and he commanded Fort Davis, Alaska, from 1908-1910. He retired in 1914. He spent most of his later years in California, where he assisted with home front efforts during World War I. He and his wife, Helen Amelia Thompson, married on January 21, 1891, and had three children. Jacob Fordney Kreps died on June 10, 1939.
