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Wallace family general store account books

Creation: 1762-1894
 Collection
Accession: 1004-1

Abstract

The Wallace family general store was a country store established by Robert Wallace (1721-1793) when he purchased land in what is now East Earl Township northeast of the town of Lancaster around 1761. The records of the Blue Ball store are somewhat unusual because they cover a single rural enterprise over a long period that coincides with the change from near-frontier conditions to intensive agricultural development. All of the records are typical storekeeper's account books: day books, ledgers and cash books. There is also an arithmetic copy book, circa 1790, that belonged to Thomas Wallace (1785-1871), the youngest son of Robert Wallace.

Dates

  • Creation: 1762-1894

Extent

59 volume(s)

Biographical Note

The Wallace family general store was a country store established by Robert Wallace (1721-1793) when he purchased land in what is now East Earl Township northeast of the town of Lancaster around 1761.

Robert Wallace emmigrated from Scotland in 1731. In 1761 when he established the country store, he also began his farm and a tavern. Wallace designated his establishment as "the sign of the Blue Ball," which gave the name to the village that grew up around it. Robert Wallace died on December 17, 1793, and bequeathed the store to his son John Wallace (1769-1854), a long-serving elder of the Cedar Grove Presbyterian Church.

In the 1790s John Wallace operated the store in partnership with one of his uncles or cousins in the Davies family. John Wallace left the business to his son, Davies Wallace (1796-1866). However, by 1854, the store was being run by the latter's sons John S. Wallace (1826-1889), William J. Wallace (1828-1907), and Edward D. Wallace (1834-1913) as J.S. Wallace & Bros. They constructed a new brick store building in 1857.

Adam Geist (1838-1904) began operating the store, probably under lease, by about 1871, and was later joined by his son Everett S. Geist (1865-1935). The building remained in the hands of the Wallace family, and its use as a store ended in 1908. During the store's first century of existence, the surrounding area evolved from a frontier region to a well-established agricultural district mostly populated by Pennsylvania German and Scots-Irish farmers.

Scope and Contents

The records of the Blue Ball store are unusual because they cover a single rural enterprise over a long period that coincides with the change from near-frontier conditions to intensive agricultural development. All of the records are typical storekeeper's account books: day books, ledgers and cash books. There is also an arithmetic copy book, circa 1790, that belonged to Thomas Wallace, the youngest son of Robert Wallace.

The books were in the custody of the Wallace family as late as 1924, when they were the subject of a paper by A. G. Seyfert at the Lancaster County Historical Society. The first volume, originally covering the years 1761 to 1775, was reported as having its first pages badly damaged by mice.

The Blue Ball store was typical of country general stores in that it sold a wide range of merchandise: tropical products like sugar and tea, spirits, tobacco and snuff, dry goods, hardware, groceries, hides and skins, clothing and accessories, and books. Many of the exchanges were by credit or barter in the early years. Among the names recorded in the books are local artisans who may be buying, selling or trading goods. A number are listed as workers at nearby Pool Forge, and there are entries relating to the Downingtown, Ephrata & Harrisburg Turnpike Road, aka the Horseshoe Pike, that was built through Blue Ball in the early 1800s.

Of particular note are a number of African Americans, identified as "Black Dublin," "Black Tom Moore," "Black Jake," and so on, some of whom worked at Pool Forge and may or may not have been enslaved.

Access Restrictions

This collection is open for research.

Related Materials

Winterthur Library, Joseph Downs Collection, Coll. 317, Geist family account books.

Language of Materials

English

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title:
Wallace family general store account books
Description rules:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description:
English
Script of description:
Latin

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Manuscripts and Archives Repository

Contact:
PO Box 3630
Wilmington Delaware 19807 USA
302-658-2400