Josiah Chute account book

Account book maintained by Josiah Chute (1759-1834), a day laborer and civil servant in Windham, Maine, from 1781 to 1795. Inscribed on the first page of the volume is a note that the book was given to him by Lieutenant Silas Chadbourn (1752-1823) at West Point, New York, on December 2, 1779. Both men served in the 11th Massachusetts Regiment during the American Revolutionary War. The entries record credits and debits for services he provided, often assisted by his oxen, including hauling boards, bricks, and groceries, slaughtering livestock, plowing, planting corn, and wintering calves. Josiah Chute was often paid in commodities like sugar, coffee, rum, and molasses, shoes, leather, and tools. His customers included other Windham residents who served during the Revolutionary War, including Captain Richard Mayberry (1735-1807) and Lieutenant David Barker (1731-1815). In 1785, he paid for rent and spinning provided by a Miss Colley with labor including hauling boards and flour. Entries also record wages he earned from the town of Windham as constable and tax collector. There are also a few notes on civic matters. Tipped in to the volume is a letter from James Chute in to Josiah Chute in 1787 regarding a voyage to Haiti, where his ship ran aground on a reef in Port-au-Prince; he also writes about his efforts to sell potatoes and bread in the port. The end of the book contains notes on arithmetic and determining the prices of goods, possibly taken by either Josiah Chute or Silas Chadbourn in 1779.