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This account book contains financial documentation of Joseph W. Brown's activities from 1822 to 1858 in Whitingham, Vermont. His records principally relate to his apple orchard, cider mill, and agricultural pursuits, but the broad exchange of goods and labor present in the volume provide a glimpse into the activities and relationships of a nineteenth-century rural community.

This account book contains financial documentation of Joseph W. Brown's activities from 1822 to 1858 in Whitingham, Vermont. His records principally relate to his apple orchard, cider mill, and agricultural pursuits, but the broad exchange of goods and labor present in the volume provide a glimpse into the activities and relationships of a nineteenth-century rural community.

Joseph W. Brown sold apples, cider and brandy, vinegar, potatoes, hay, several types of livestock and meat, as well as grains and oats. Accounts relating to producing and repairing shoes and boots suggest Brown may also have been working as a cobbler, while accounts relating to carpentry, masonry, and other construction activities indicate he had experience in several fields of skilled labor. In at least three accounts, Brown documented his production of coffins (pp. 42 and 112). Brown also rented out his mill for others who were producing cider, as well as his oxen, horses, and wagons for use in agriculture, construction jobs, and travel to nearby locales such as Wilmington, Dover, Brattleboro, Hatfield, and Halifax, among others. He also appears to have offered pasturage for others' livestock. Occasional entries relate to schools and taxes that supported them.

Throughout the volume Brown included notes about credit owed to individuals for various items, such as butter, sleigh bells, oil, lime, and produce, as well as labor done for him, including tasks like digging potatoes, chopping wood, haying, harvesting, thrashing rye, patching his barn, or plastering and finishing his cellar.

Brown revealed social details in a few entries, such as a note about attending a "freeman Meeting," possibly relating to freemasonry (p. 129), the hire of fiddlers for a thanksgiving ball (p. 132), or a short list of books relating to theology (p. 147). A brief list of household goods may be a record of items he purchased for his own use (pp. 123-124).

Several loose documents are laid into the front of the volume, including a list of goods sold at a "public vendue" in 1828; several receipts and slips of paper with mathematical sums; a list relating to the "number of scholars" in Whitingham; a small notebook that includes a "Tax Bill... to support the summer school of 1829;" and two documents relating to a policy with the Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company from 1858 made out to J[oseph] G. Brown and Sophronia Brown.

Stephen Sparks maintained this ledger between 1816 and 1860, documenting his family's financial activities as they related to shoemaking and farming in Leicester, Vermont. Sparks was making and mending shoes and boots, was also active with agricultural crops, livestock, and lumber.

Stephen Sparks maintained this ledger between 1816 and 1860, documenting his family's financial activities as they related to shoemaking and farming in Leicester, Vermont. Sparks was making and mending shoes and boots, and was active with agricultural crops, livestock, and lumber.

Evidence of broader family involvement in the financial affairs is also apparent, as Stephen Sparks' brother Harvey Sparks acted as an agent for him, and an 1861 promissory note made out to George Sparks, Stephen's son, is laid into the volume. Several pages are dedicated to purchases of "Articles Found for Mother," including items such as snuff, flour, molasses and sugars, cloth, candles, butter and lard, tea, spices, rum and brandy, and medical care.

This collection contains letters to Sylvanus and Lois Gould Parmely, who moved from Vermont to central Ohio in the 1810s. Members of the Gould family in Dover, Vermont, provided news of family members and friends and discussed their separation from the Parmelys.

This collection is made up of 18 letters to Sylvanus and Lois Gould Parmely, natives of Vermont who moved to Ohio in the 1810s; 1 letter from Sylvanus to Lois Parmely; and 1 letter from John Gould to Manning Parmely. Various members of the Gould family wrote to the Parmely family from Dover, Vermont: Huldah Gould (4 items), Jane Sears Gould (4 items), Betsey E. Gould (4 items), Aholiab Gould (2 items), Silas Gould (2 items), John Gould (1 item), John P. Gould (1 item), Amos Gould (1 item), and Jane Palmer Gould (1 item). One item, attributed to both Aholiab and Jane Sears Gould above, contains notes from each of them (1818). Another item, attributed to both Silas and John P. Gould above, contains a note to Sylvanus and Lois Parmely from Silas Gould and a note to Manning Parmely from his cousin John P. Gould (February 17, 1826). Some of the letters address Sylvanus Gould as "Captain."

Sylvanus Parmely's letter to his wife Lois pertains to his life in Stillwater, New York (December 30, 1809). The following 18 letters are from members of the Gould family to Sylvanus and Lois Parmely, written while the couple lived in Sullivan and Elyria, Ohio (September 9, 1817-August 29, 1827). The Gould family's correspondence largely concerns news of family and friends in Dover, Vermont, usually related to health issues and deaths. Huldah Gould often complained of ill health, and Aholiab Gould reported the death of Jeremiah Kempton after Kempton was struck by a falling tree (December 27, 1818). Many members of the Gould family were farmers, and they occasionally commented on their crops; in his letter of September 22, 1820, John Gould complained about hard economic times and low grain prices.

Other family members, particularly Jane Palmer Gould in her letter of February 4, 1822, discussed their separation from the Parmely family and shared their desire to visit with Sylvanus and Lois. Betsey E. Gould once briefly mentioned her work as a teacher (August 29, 1827). The elder John Gould wrote the final letter to Manning Parmely, his nephew in Zanesville, Ohio, from Sullivan, Ohio, on September 26, 1830. He commented on a recent visit to New York, and the effects of sickness and drought in Sullivan.