MC 67
About the Richardson Family:
The Richardson family ran a set of successful businesses in Dover, New Hampshire. The patriarch of the family, James Richardson was born in Woburn, Massachusetts on July 7, 1779. He married Tammy Tibbets of Dover on December 21, 1808. They would have five children: Charlotte King Atkinson, Augustus, John Tibbets, James, and Lydia Ann. Richardson was also active in local government. He served as the town clerk from 1820-1835. Later in his life, his children would continue to run the businesses he began. The beginnings of Augustus and James’s machinist business are evident in the later records. James Richardson died almost a year after the death of his wife on March 26, 1847 at the age of 68. Augustus and James continued the business until at least 1854.
About the Richardson collection:
This collection consists of nine ledgers of varying shape and size. These ledgers chronicle the Richardson’s business interests from 1807 to 1854. The Richardson’s were involved in a variety of business ventures. They had space in a warehouse that they would lease to others for storage. In addition to this they ran a general store, a saw and grain mill and a machine business. Three of the books in this collection pertain to warehouse storage, two to the general store business and four contain account information about the lumber and grain mill business. Information pertaining to the machine shop can be found in the second day book for the general store. This collection also consists of 12 pieces of paper: business card, paper scraps, letters, and invoices. They were found by the seller between the pages of the ledgers.
Folder Listing:
I. Ledgers
| f.1 | November 1806 – March 14, 1808. Contains one ledger. Richardson’s Storage Book. James Richardson leased warehouse space for storage. Many of his customers are sea captains. Some of the items in storage include: grain, fruit, rock, alcohol, spices, crackers, fish, molasses, tea, cotton, tools, coffee, flax seed, salt, paint, steel, furniture, soap, head stones, bedding, oil, tobacco, potash, etc. Daily entries include name, item stored and delivery status. The last pages of the book include an alphabetical listing of each customer’s account. These entries include amounts due. |
| f.2 | March 13, 1807 – September 2, 1843. Contains one ledger. Richardson’s Lumber Book. James Richardson keeps track of his sales of lumber and saw mill services. He mentions selling a wide variety of woods including pine, spruce, hemlock, ash, maple and oak. Each entry records the date, what was ordered, the price and repayment. |
| f.3 | March 26, 1811 – March 21, 1812. Contains one ledger. Storage Ledger. James Richardson leased warehouse space for storage. Many of his customers are sea captains. Items in storage include many from the list above plus seed, medicine, plaster of Paris, scythes, mahogany and leather. Daily entries include name, item stored and delivery status. The last pages of the book include an alphabetical listing of each customer’s account. These entries include amounts due. |
| f.4 | March 1816 – February 1817. Contains one ledger. Storage Book. The first page of the ledger chronicles some of the weather for that year. There is a doodle of Jack Frost blowing ‘famine’. The entries are very much in accord with the storage books of 1807 and 1811. Customer names, dates, items stored and delivered are all noted in the ledger. New items in storage include beef, grindstone, logwood, anvil, rolls of leather and bay spice. The last pages of the book include an alphabetical listing of each customer’s account. These entries include amounts due. |
| f.5 | January 28, 1825 – April 30, 1830. Contains one ledger. Day book. This ledger records the daily business of the general store. Richardson records customer purchases and business expenditures. Entries detail customer name, item, price and repayment information. Customers include the Town of Dover, sea captains and many of the prominent men of Dover. |
| f.1 | January 1838 – December 1846. Contains one ledger. Saw and Grain Mill Cash Ledger. This account book records wood orders and requests for grain milling. There are three sections to this account book. The first keeps track of cash accounts and individual accounts. The second acts like a day book. The third records individual accounts. There are many blank pages in between each section. These entries note the customer’s name, date of order, what was ordered, price and when account was settled. |
| f.2 | September 19, 1840 – October 2, 1843. Contains one ledger. J. G. T. Richardson and Company Day Book is written on the title page of the account book. This book details the daily business at the saw and grain mill, including daily expenditures. It mentions the milling of rye, corn, barley, meal and the sawing of wood. Each entry notes the date, the customer, the item in question and the price. |
| f.3 | April 1847 – May 5, 1849. Contains one ledger. Day Book. This account book records the daily business of the Richardson General Store. It records both business expenses and store sales. It is the most detailed of the day books. Each entry records the date, customer name, order or expenditure, credit or debit and the monetary amount. This account book was kept after the death of the family patriarch James Richardson. James and Augustus ran the business after his death. Their names are mentioned in entries throughout the ledger. Prominent customers of the general store include the Town of Dover and the Concheco Manufacturing Company. Machine work is also noted in this account book. |
| f.4 | April 8, 1850 – March 27, 1855. Contains one ledger. Saw Mill. This account book chronicles daily business at the saw mill. Entries include customer name, items ordered, price and repayment information. This account book is only half full. |
II. Miscellaneous
| f.5 | Business card for Richardson and Co., Machinists (date unknown). Invoice from James Richardson to Stephen Twombly, 1827, for building supplies, flour, and grindstone at $36.08. List of names. Letter to James Richardson from Wentworth Hayes, September 21, 1826 (?). Doodles and adding tables on the back of the letter. |