I contacted Berna Stillwell for more information on the Morganton Store
Account. This was found in a Burke County Genealogical Society Journal.
She was kind to send me the entire page which I will share with you. No
further information is available except this.
Here's a copy of the Burke Journal page:
Copy
The Burke Journal
December 1992
"The Morganton Store" Account Book 1791-1792
From The Morganton News-Herald -- June 10, 1915
(Editor's note: The following article was submitted by Mildred Walker as part
of her continuing series from Burke County newspapers. However, the
singular significance of the material contained in this piece warrants its
presentation in the "Journal" as a separate feature. This also occasions a
reminder to researchers to always check every possible source of
information when tracing ancestors -- in this case, a 1915 newspaper
article gives us 231 names from a 1791-1792 Morganton account book!)
AN OLD MORGANTON RECORD
The destruction of the records of Burke County at the close of the Civil
War was a great loss to the county in a historical sense. Who lived in and
near Morganton a hundred years ago? There are very few records left which
throw any light on the question. In an old account book kept in "The
Morganton Store" in 1791 and 1792 the following names appear among the list
of customers:
(The List )
Some of these names, it will be noted, have entirely disappeared from
Burke, but most of them are family names still represented in the county.
This old account book was found at "Belvidere", one of the homes of the
Erwin's on Johns River, when one of the outbuildings was torn down, ten or
fifteen years ago (Note: ca.1900-1905).
The entries were made with a goose quill pen, and the "figures" are in
pounds, shillings and pence. The goods were hauled from Fayetteville, N.C.
the entries showing a payment of forty pounds to Jeremiah Thompson and
Thomas Patton for hauling two loads of merchandise from Fayetteville to
Morganton. As forty pounds face value is equal to $200 in round numbers,
it is surprising that some legislative commission was not appointed to
investigate the overcharges of these old time freight monopolists.
The old Morganton Store, the name of whose proprietor is not given, dealt
largely in deer skins, bear hides, and gingseng root as articles of barter,
and sold large quantities of Jamaican rum, silver snuff boxes and shoe
buckles. Wrought iron nails were sold by the hundred, 100 twenty penny
nails costing four shillings, or one dollar. Other articles were: rum per
quart three shillings; sugar per pound eight shillings; silk gloves, twelve
shillings; linen per yard, ten to seventeen shillings; wheat flour per
hundred, twenty shillings; corn, two shillings; wheat flour per hundred,
twenty shillings or one pound; steel per pound, three shillings; deer skins
two shillings; bear skins, twelve shillings six pence; venison hams, each
one shilling six pence; pewter plates, each four shillings and six pence;
lead per pound two shillings; Dutch blankets, each one pound four
shillings; butter per pound, six pence. The only books sold were Bibles,
and Testaments at fourteen shillings and seven shillings respectively; and
the "Young Man's Companion" at fourteen shillings. When it is considered
that the pound was $5, the shilling 25 cents and the pence, two cents;
these prices will appear somewhat steep; but it is probable that they were
payable in the depreciated coin of that day and that all things considered
the old Morganton merchant did very well by his customers.
W.C.E.
(From The Morganton News-Herald -- June 10, 1915)
Wanda Rabb
researching RABB (NC/SC), (GANTT (NC), NIX, ROBERTSON, WILSON, CONNER,
JONES (Rutherford Co.NC), LAWS (Yancey,Rutherford Co., NC), EDWARDS &
KELLEY (NC), CAUSBY & PATTON (Burke/McDowell Co., NC) PAXTON (Union Co, NC
Lancaster, SC), FARRIS & MORRIS (York Co., SC) LOVELACE, HAMRICK,
GREEN,
and MCSWAIN (Cleveland Co., NC)
Listowner for CAUSBY, FARRIS, LAWS, NIX, PAXTON and RABB Family Mailing LIsts
Homepage:
http://www.netunlimited.net/~wcr
Genealogy Main Page:
http://www.netunlimited.net/~wcr/main.html