Worthington (Mass.) Tavern Account Book

Item Information

Title:
Worthington (Mass.) Tavern Account Book
Description:
By the turn of the nineteenth century, the Hampshire County town of Worthington, Massachusetts, had become a significant crossroads on the Boston-Albany Turnpike, belying its small size. The population in town peaked at barely over 1,000 in 1810, and although it declined slowly thereafter, it remained an active stopover on the road for many years. This standard double column account book provides a concentrated record of financial and other transactions in the antebellum period, probably associated with a tavern in Worthington, Mass. Although the ledger's keeper is unidentified, it records an assortment of odd jobs, including filing saws, smoking meat, lending horses, carting, pasturing cattle, and tending sheep, along with the sale of significant quantities of beer and cider and a regular stream of hard brandy and rum. There are records as well of providing meals and, in one instance, caring for prisoners and their keepers overnight (p. 21). Most of the clients who can be positively identified were residents of Worthington (e.g., Persis Knapp, Chauncy B. Rising, Nathan Searl, Shubal Parish, Elisha H. Brewster, Addison D. Perry, Merritt Hall, and Otis Boies), however others are noted as wayfarers, passing through from towns such as Whately or Hadley. Clients settled their accounts with a motley mixture of cash, goods, and labor.
Date:
1826–1854
Format:
Books
Genre:
Account books
Location:
Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries
Collection (local):
Worthington (Mass.) Tavern Account Book
Subjects:
Taverns (Inns)--Massachusetts--Worthington
Worthington (Mass.)--Economic conditions--1800--1899
Places:
Massachusetts > Hampshire (county) > Worthington
Extent:
1 vol. ; 151 p.
Link to Item:
http://credo.library.umass.edu/view/full/mums421-i001
Terms of Use:
Contact Special Collections for permission to publish or reproduce image.
Contact host institution for more information.
Place of origin:
Worthington (Mass.)
Language:
English
Identifier:
mums421-i001