Scope and Contents:
This collection contains an account book from an unidentified merchant filled with notes of consignment for the year 1866, as well as family expense records from 1873-1886.
The account book records consignment of food items such as eggs, butter, chicken, beeswax, potatoes, turkey, geese, and rabbit for the year 1866. These goods were purchased by various individuals, probably small business owners, among which include A. H. Pickering Co., B. B. Hovey, Sears and Shields, and Hiram Holmes from an unidentified merchant. The rest of the account book is comprised of family expenses and summaries for the years 1873-1886, including provisions and groceries, railroad and carfare, insurance and taxes, and contingent expenses. There is also a miscellaneous list of names labeled "Biographical sketches" located in the last pages of the book. The Manuscripts Guide to Collections at the University of Illinois (1976) labels this account as being from Chicago, but there is no internal evidence of where the merchant operated.
The book was purchased from D.C. Allen of Three Oaks, Michigan for the Illinois Historical Survey, predecessor to the Illinois History and Lincoln Collections, in June, 1969.
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