Nineteenth-century business miscellany
Creation: 1767-1890Abstract
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Pennsylvania was already a leader in the coal, iron, steel, railroad, and petroleum industries. As the manufacturing industries grew in the cities, so did the small businesses of craftsman and artisans that populated the surrounding areas selling their goods. These merchants played an important role in trade, community relationships, and the economy. This is an artificial collection of account books, cash ledgers, and receipt books of nineteenth-century merchants of various industries in Pennsylvania. Minimal correspondence is included as well as a poem. Mineral, iron and leather industries are represented as well as organ building which includes two treatises written in German.
Dates
- Creation: 1767-1890
Extent
2 Linear Feet
Historical Note
By the beginning of the nineteenth century, Pennsylvania was already a leader in the coal, iron, steel, railroad, and petroleum industries. Pennsylvania had abundant resources of iron ore, limestone, and coal, specifically anthracite and bituminous enabling the state to also become a leader in the glass, brick, and cement industries.
Pennsylvania waterways were important in developing the state's industrial trading centers such as Philadelphia and Pittsburgh which are both located along rivers. As the manufacturing industries grew in the cities, so did the small businesses of craftsman and artisans that populated the surrounding areas selling their goods. These merchants played an important role in trade, community relationships, and the economy.
Scope and Contents
This is an artificial collection of account books, cash ledgers, and receipt books of nineteenth-century merchants of various industries in Pennsylvania. Minimal correspondence is included as well as a poem. Mineral, iron and leather industries are represented as well as organ building which includes two treatises written in German.
There are seven account books, one receipt book, one cash ledger, and one set of selected shipping papers.
Account books document the lives of common people. A fragmentary or single-volume account book can provide valuable information about the business or industry. The account book can reconstruct the activities, or operations of the merchant. Account books can provide information about what goods and services were available, rates and wages, costs, seasonal changes, yearly price changes, and the names of customers or business partners, all of which can reveal patterns. The information that can be derived from an account book is more than economical, but social and cultural as well.
Access Restrictions
This collection is open for research.
Language of Materials
English
German
Additional Description
Processing Note
This is an artificial collection. The materials were sold together as a lot by a dealer in 1967.
Subjects
Finding Aid & Administrative Information
- Title:
- Nineteenth-century business miscellany
- Author:
- John Beverley Riggs
- Date:
- 1978
- Description rules:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description:
- English
- Script of description:
- Latin
Revision Statements
- 2020: Marsha Mills
Repository Details
Repository Details
Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository
