mums163 Eunice P. Wyman and Porter Kimball Account Book, 1814-1840 (bulk 1820-1840) Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Linda Seidman. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, MA

2002

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Cartier. 2002-11-25 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mu162 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Eunice P. Wyman and Porter Kimball Account Book, 1814-1840 (bulk 1820-1840) Finding Aid Manuscript Number 163 Compiled by Linda Seidman June 1987 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Wyman, Eunice P. Eunice P. Wyman and Porter Kimball Account Book 1814-1840 1820-1840 MS 163 1 box (0.25 linear ft.) Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Eunice P. Wyman was a farmer from Concord, Massachusetts, and Porter Kimball was the owner of a dry goods and grocery store from Sterling, Massachusetts. Eunice's accounts include transactions related to her farm and homestead, such as selling products (butter, soap, syrup, pigs), brokering the services of her sons (picking apples, driving cows, butchering, digging wells), and renting half her house to a man who paid in part by performing tasks. The method and form of payment was cash and exchange of goods or services (cider and vinegar, wool, shoemaking, use of wagons and horses). Porter's accounts include lists of customers by surname, and the dry goods and groceries he sold. English. Scope and Contents of the Collection

Eunice P. Wyman of Concord, Massachusetts kept accounts 1820-40 of transactions related to her farm and homestead. She gained income not only from selling products (butter, soap, syrup for a sick man, pigs), but also through selling the services of her sons John and Franklin (picking apples, driving cows, digging potatoes, butchering, digging wells, shoveling gravel) and renting half her house to a man who paid, in part, by performing tasks (putting rockers on an arm chair, white washing two rooms, making a flower box).

Her goods and her sons' services were paid for in cash or by exchange of goods or services (cider and vinegar, wool, driving her cattle home from Stoddard's pasture, shoemaking, plowing the garden, "himself and oxen to go into town to get 23 rails and 11 posts," use of wagons, horses, carts, and oxen). Through use of the index to the Massachusetts Census for 1820, 1830, and 1840, customers were identified as being from Concord, Carlisle, Acton, and Westford.

The back of the volume includes 5 pages of 1814 accounts for dry goods and groceries with Porter Kimball, who appears in the Massachusetts 1820 Census living in Sterling, Worcester County. His customers appear to be from various central and eastern Massachusetts locales, including Charlestown, Roxbury, Fitchburg, and Templeton.

In addition, the final pages carry recipes for Cup Cake, Election Cake, and Sponge Cake.

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Eunice P. Wyman and Porter Kimball Account Book (MS 163). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Acquired from: Charles Apfelbaum, 1987.

Processed by Linda Seidman, June 1987.

Search Terms Wyman, Eunice P. Kimball, Porter. Farmers--Massachusetts--Concord--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Grocers--Massachusetts--Sterling--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Consumers--Massachusetts--History--19th century--Sources. General stores--Massachusetts--Sterling--History--19th century--Sources. Barter--Massachusetts--Concord--History--19th century--Sources. Agricultural laborers--Massachusetts--Concord--History--19th century--Sources. Groceries--Prices--Massachusetts--Sterling--History--19th century--Sources. Dry-goods--Prices--Massachusetts--Sterling--History--19th century--Sources. Sterling (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Concord (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Sterling (Mass.)--History--19th century--Sources. Account books. Kimball, Porter.