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James Shearer DaybookFinding AidFinding aid prepared by Dex Haven.2010
Administrative InformationAcquired from Dan Casavant, 2001 (2001-015). Processed by Dex Haven, August 2010. Preferred CitationCite as: James Shearer Daybook (MS 418 bd). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst. The collection is open for research. Return to the Table of Contents Historical NoteDuring the late 1830s, James Shearer operated a general store near Palmer, Massachusetts, trading in the gamut of dry goods and commodities that made up the country trade in Massachusetts, from dried fish, butter, rum, and brandy, to soap, nails, chalk, cloth, sugar, molasses, spices, coffee, and tea. Although some customers paid their accounts in cash, most appear bartered goods (e.g, with butter) or services (carting). Return to the Table of Contents Scope and Contents of the CollectionThe Shearer daybook contains detailed records the transactions of a general store located in or near Palmer, Mass., during the years surrounding the financial panic of 1837. The volume is attributed to Shearer based on a single signature on the last page of the volume, closing out a lengthy account with J. Sedgwick. Although Shearer cannot be identified with certainty, it appears likely that he was a member of the prolific Shearer family of Palmer in Hampden County. Customers in the volume who can be identified with greater certainty through the Vital Records and other sources were residents of Palmer (e.g, Lorenzo, Marcus M., and Porter Shearer, Harvey and Martin Sedgwick, Alonzo V. Blanchard), Wilbraham (Shadrach Taylor, Abraham Knowlton), Sturbridge (Emerson Lumbard), Brimfield (Bezaleel Sherman, Calvin Moulton), and Monson (Orrin Hovey). Return to the Table of Contents Search TermsReturn to the Table of Contents |
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