Ledger, 1787-1836 Digital
Scope and Contents
Ledger of John Heard, dated 1787-1836, concerning his distillery business and coastwise and West Indies shipping ventures. Included are accounts of vessels he owned or hired, sometimes in partnership with Captain Ephraim Kendall and Captain Jonathan Ingersoll, and expenses for day labor, caulkers and gravers, painters, iron work, rigging and outfitting, insurance, wharfage, and customs. Among the ships referenced are the schooners Anstice and Susannah, sloop Fox, and brig Sarah & Elizabeth.
Francis Cogswell's account includes charges related to his stake in the voyage of the schooner Anstice to Surinam. There is also an account against the Anstice for wages of labor and crew, costs of rigging and supplies, and packing fish as well as a credit for return cargo of cocoa, sugar, molasses, rum, and cotton. Cooper Ephraim Knowlton, Benjamin Warner, and Ammi Smith were credited for wages on the vessel related to her West Indies voyages. Major Joseph Swasey was charged for house rent, rum, and dry goods, balanced in part by a new main mast for the Anstice, lumber, and serving on the jury inquiring into the death of Fortune, an African American man.
There are accounts of several African American laborers, such as Comeno Morris, Cesar, and Cornelus (Neal) Haskell. Other names in the volume include shipmaster Jeremiah Staniford; Joseph & William Heard of Boston; Nathaniel Dodge; Captain Richard Homan; Edward Stacy; cooper John Wait; fishermen Daniel Bordman, Nathaniel Brown, and Stephen Brown, Jr.; Newburyport merchant Moses Brown (1742-1827), who provided cable and rigging; Ebenezer Caldwell and Francis Caldwell; Captain John Farley; William Hale; Captain Thomas Hodgkins; Richard Lakman; Nathaniel Dennis; Newburyport coppersmith Benjamin Perkins; Captain Abraham Howe; John Symonds; Captain William Wade; Anna Marshall; Mary Treadwell; Anna Dodge; Sarah Willcomb; and Betsey Gray.
Ephraim Kendall’s account contains charges for rum, boards, boat expenses, and a payment to Richard Homan for bounty given to soldiers; there is also an account in 1797 related to Heard’s co-ownership of a wharf with Kendall. There are additionally entries related to cloth manufacture and trade, such as an account from Duck Manufacturing to Heard for flax, and payments by Heard to David Towns for a loom, and to Mrs. Fitts for spinning.
Dates
- Creation: 1734-1888
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research. Some materials may be stored offsite; access requires advance notice. Contact specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information.
Due to preservation concerns, researchers are required to use microfilm copies of papers when available. Please contact reference staff at specialcollectionsref@hbs.edu for more information regarding this collection and use of microfilm.
Extent
400 linear feet (800 volumes, 272 boxes, 102 cartons)Physical Location
MANU
Repository Details
Part of the Baker Library Special Collections and Archives, Harvard Business School Repository
Baker Library Special Collections and Archives holds unique resources that focus on the evolution of business and industry, as well as the records of the Harvard Business School, documenting the institution's development over the last century. These rich and varied collections support research in a diverse range of fields such as business, economic, social and cultural history as well as the history of science and technology.
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