Collections : [University of Michigan William L. Clements Library]

In 1880 Hattie A. Abbott used this "Common School Writing Book" produced by Cheney & Clapp, Booksellers and Stationers, of Brattleboro, Vermont, for penmanship exercises and to record her personal expenses. Only the first page was used for brief penmanship exercises. Abbott recorded purchases of clothing and fabric, jewelry, writing supplies and postage, sewing and cleaning supplies, a valentine, candy and ice cream, tintypes and pictures, car fare and other travel expenses, and other items.

In 1880 Hattie A. Abbott used this "Common School Writing Book" produced by Cheney & Clapp, Booksellers and Stationers, of Brattleboro, Vermont, for penmanship exercises and to record her personal expenses. Only the first page was used for brief penmanship exercises. Abbott recorded purchases of clothing and fabric, jewelry, writing supplies and postage, sewing and cleaning supplies, a valentine, candy and ice cream, tintypes and pictures, car fare and travel expenses, and other items.

A two-page colored advertisement for "Meteor Set Everblooming Roses" copyrighted in 1889, with illustrations of roses and a front veranda and garden, is laid into the volume.

The Abraham Bell papers contain correspondence and financial documents related to Abraham Bell & Co., an early 19th-century New York City shipping firm owned by Abraham Bell.

The Abraham Bell papers contain correspondence and financial documents related to Abraham Bell & Co., an early 19th-century New York City shipping firm owned by Abraham Bell. The majority of material in the Correspondence series is addressed to either Abraham Bell or to his company, and relates to various business affairs, often concerning payment or delivery of goods. Many of the letters originated from European firms, including a letter from Collman, Lambert & Co. in Liverpool, written on stationery that includes a printed list of current prices for cotton and related goods (February 8, 1837).

The Receipts and financial papers series consists of non-correspondence items related to the operation of Abraham Bell & Co. throughout the early and mid-1800s. These include records of payment and lists of cargo carried aboard Bell's ships, as well as several documents relating to loads of street manure in 1839. Several early items within this series pertain to the ship Josephine.

Fifteen Account and receipt books provide information about Bell's financial endeavors throughout the period in explicit detail, covering the years 1840-1868. A letter book contains copies of letters written by Abraham Bell between October 16, 1833, and August 15, 1834.

Miscellaneous items in the collection include an indenture for land in New Jersey belonging to the Budd family (December 25, 1812), and a record of fiscal accounts between Abraham Bell & Co. and [Malionson] Bell & Co. (June 30, 1836).

The Allaire papers contain business correspondence, legal documents, and financial documents related to New York City resident Peter Alexander Allaire and his children, Calicia Allaire Wood and George Young Allaire. The collection also includes an anonymous account book from the 1830s, possibly kept by Pennsylvania merchant Thomas Wood.

Several early items in the collection relate to the post-Revolution business and legal affairs of Peter Alexander Allaire, and include a French document authorizing the shipment of several ingredients, including alkali and soap, for the manufacture of white lead (1783). The majority of the collection consists of material related to the financial interests of Calicia Allaire (m. Thomas Wood) and George Young Allaire. Many of these items reflect ongoing financial disputes between the siblings and Calicia's husband, and involved a third party, Cornelius Bogart. In addition to correspondence, financial records, and indentures related to the Allaire family, the collection includes scattered personal items. Also part of the collection is an account book, possibly kept by Thomas Wood, in which the author recorded financial information, including several accounts for everyday goods, "Farming Concerns," and items "Arrived from Foreign Ports." Many of the book's accounts relate to wood and a few mention stock held jointly with George Young Allaire.

The Shadrach Allard papers consist primarily of business correspondence addressed to Allard by Henry Charlesworth, regarding their business carving gravestones and memorial markers. Additionally, the collection contains a receipt book kept by Allard during the late 1840s.

The Shadrach Allard papers consist primarily of business correspondence addressed to Allard by Henry Charlesworth, regarding their business carving gravestones and memorial markers. Additionally, the collection contains a receipt book kept by Allard during the late 1840s. Allard, then living in Gallipolis, Ohio, worked closely with Charlesworth, of Portsmouth, Ohio, to acquire marble and other stone for the markers. Though the letters imply a general agreeability between the men, Charlesworth often chastised Allard for delays, and repeatedly asked him to send money. Other correspondence includes a fragment and a personal letter from Allard's brother in Cincinnati. Financial records within the collection include a receipt book kept by Allard from 1845-1848 and a receipt for a quantity of marble received by Charlesworth.

This volume contains the constitution and meeting minutes of the Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society (A.M.D. Society) of East Providence, Rhode Island, as well as apparently unrelated financial accounts.

This volume contains the constitution and meeting minutes of the Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society (A.M.D. Society) of East Providence, Rhode Island, as well as apparently unrelated financial accounts.

The volume begins with the miscellaneous financial accounting before the content switches to that of the Amateur Musical and Dramatic Society. The A.M.D. Society was created to raise funds to purchase books for the Union Grammar School; additional content includes a copy of the Society's constitution, by-laws, and meeting minutes, as well as the names of the elected President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer of the Society.

Also present within the volume is a blank manuscript form for a last will and testament.

This approximately 160-page volume contains working records of one or more traveling chair, desk, bench, and pew salesmen in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and elsewhere in the Northeast between 1889 and 1892. A previous owner identified the business as the Richmond Furniture Company of Indiana, but this has not been verified. Each page includes the name or names of a client, prospect, or contact; names of existing or planned buildings; seating needs; costs; a record of communications; and other notes.

This approximately 160-page volume contains working records of one or more traveling chair, desk, bench, and pew salesmen in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and elsewhere in the Northeast between 1889 and 1892. A previous owner identified the business as the Richmond Furniture Company of Indiana, but this has not been verified. Each page includes the name or names of a client, prospect, or contact; names of existing or planned buildings; seating needs; costs; a record of communications; and other notes.

The volume begins with a 3,000-seat music hall at 57th Street and 7th Avenue, New York City—the Carnegie Hall. The most frequent clientele were churches, synagogues, and proprietors or developers of musical or theater venues. Record of a new City Hall in Syracuse, New York, the Hall for Jewish Society in Philadelphia, and an opera house in Poughkeepsie are other examples. Some entries document the sending of circulars and sale catalogs.

Pencil accounting for grocery and other purchases in 1911 are scattered throughout the volume.

An unidentified tradesperson, possibly a cooper or blacksmith within the area of Washington County, Maine, kept this account book between 1818 and 1824. They document debts and credits with several members of the community. Customers' debts included services (mending rakes, pails, and tubs, making tubs, and making a delivery) as well as goods (flax seed, various grains, leather, churns, and tubs). The accounts also record credits, often in the form of bartered services and goods such as chopping acres, setting shoes, making a chisel, and hay and corn. One sheet of paper is laid into the volume, recording births and marriages in Nathaniel C. Kelly and Abigail Kelly's family.

An unidentified tradesperson, possibly a cooper or blacksmith within the area of Washington County, Maine, kept this account book between 1818 and 1824. They document debts and credits with several members of the community. Debts included services (mending rakes, pails, and tubs, making tubs, and making a delivery) as well as goods (flax seed, various grains, leather, churns, and tubs). The accounts also record credits, often in the form of bartered services and goods such as chopping acres, setting shoes, making a chisel, and hay and corn. One sheet of paper is laid into the volume, recording births and marriages in Nathaniel C. Kelly and Abigail Kelly's family.

An unnamed employee maintained this account book between 1889 and 1890 for a company producing handstamps, embossing stamps, and stencils. The volume includes the date, name of the patron, fees, and an occasional note about services. Frequently, the finished product for the client is stamped next to the entry.

An unnamed employee maintained this account book between 1889 and 1890 for a company producing handstamps, embossing stamps, and stencils. The volume includes the date, name of the patron, fees, and an occasional note about services. Frequently, the finished product for the client is stamped next to the entry.

The stamps predominantly represent names or symbols of businesses from across the United States, with many from the shoe and clothing industries. Other stamps described the quality of company's wares or noted patents, while some stamps were for individual names. One stamp advertised the one hundredth performance of the play "Oolah" on Broadway (p. 57). While many of the stamps feature graphic typography and embellishments, several stamps include images, such as feet in shoes (p. 54, 101), a dove (p. 73), a belt (p. 91), an American flag (p. 100) and eagle (p. 108), a crown (p. 100), four-leaf clovers (p. 104), a ship (p. 107), and a cow (p. 109). At least one stamp includes backward lettering (p. 101). Several embossed stamps were done on other paper and pasted into the volume or done directly on the paper in the volume.

This account book (88 pages) contains information about a saloon owner's personal and professional expenses from January 1889-December 1890. Internal evidence suggests that this may have been the Leonard Brothers Saloon, located on Edmond Street in St. Joseph, Missouri.

This account book (88 pages) contains information about a saloon owner's personal and professional expenses from January 1889-December 1890.

The owner recorded daily accounts of cash, stocked goods, and expenses on facing pages. He purchased beer from the Anheuser-Bush Brewing Association, the August Nunning Brewing Company, the St. Joseph Brewing Company, the M. K. Goetz Brewing Company, and other suppliers. He also bought whiskey, rye, gin, cider, soda water, and cigars. Business-related expenses included electric lighting, foods, insurance, licenses, and laborers, such as a watchman and a "colored man" (p. 33). Personal expenses included groceries, shoes, medical care, opera and theater tickets, a "hired girl," streetcar passes, membership dues, and taxes.

This 61-page ledger contains the accounts of an unidentified supplier of horse and carriage rentals in Rochester, New York, 1870-1871. The entries are brief, frequently containing the name of a horse (Ned, Cinderella, Nellie, Blk, Charly, Jeny, Sam, Duk, and others), the type of carriage (i.e. hack, buggy, coach), and costs. Other accounts include cash and rent by livery stable workers Hiram Wood and John H. Austin, and First National Bank transactions for the purchase of hay and oats.

This 61-page ledger contains the accounts of an unidentified supplier of horse and carriage rentals in Rochester, New York, 1870-1871. The entries are brief, frequently containing the name of a horse (Ned, Cinderella, Nellie, Blk, Charly, Jeny, Sam, Duk, and others), the type of carriage (hack, buggy, coach, etc.), and a cost. Among many clients are livery stable workers Hiram Wood and John H. Austin (cash and rent); First National Bank (purchase of hay and oats); and the Rochester Iron Manufacturing Company, whose foundry was located at nearby Charlotte.