William Trotter waste book, 1797-1805 Digital

Waste book kept by William Trotter in Philadelphia from 1797 to 1805, with entries related to voyages to China by the ships Pigou and Delaware, and the ship Asia's voyage to Batavia, investments by Trotter, William Sansom, Ephraim Haines, and Daniel Trotter, and profits and losses from the adventures. Included are copies of agreements with William Sansom and accounts of a partnership with Joseph Sansom. An account against an adventure of the Pigou to China in June 1798 concerns salvage charges stemming from her capture by a French privateer and recapture by a British vessel in Antigua. There are additionally accounts of Canton goods ordered by tea dealer Hannah Baker, shopkeepers Jane Larymore (Laremore), Jane Owen, and Jane Taylor, and other Philadelphia merchants, and records of consignment sales for Samuel Volans by Trotter.

The volume also records notes payable and receivable and Trotter's personal expenses like tailoring and newspaper subscriptions. An entry in November 1798 states Trotter left Philadelphia for three months from August to November "whilst the fever raged in the city," and his transactions during that time were negotiated by William Sansom. Later entries relate to coastwise shipping and the import and trade of steel and iron from Great Britain. Included at the front of the volume is an account of the Trotter family genealogy.