Three daybooks, Braggville General Store near Holliston, Mass., 1866-1872

Description

Vol. I: Feb 21, 1866 - June 1867
Vol. II: Dec. 8, 1870 - April 29, 1871
Vol. III: Jan 1, 1872 - Mar. 30, 1872

Three daybooks, according to information received form their donor Lena Bragg, were kept by Dennis Hartshorn, clerk of the Braggville General Store near Holliston, MA. (Braggville is the junction of three counties: Middlesex, Worcester, and Norfolk; and of three towns: Holliston, Milford, and Medway. It had, in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, a railroad station and a post office.).

Contents include: groceries sold to various clients (names itemized) over extended period of time (1866-1867). Format differs for 1870-71, indicating only daily sales and name of person making the purchase. 1872 is an even more abbreviated account, indicating in most instances "mdse" [merchandise], costs, and occasionally, the name of the purchasers. Whether this indicates that the names of individuals making the purchase were by this time unfamiliar to the person keeping the books, or whether it is a matter of increased sales volume making it difficult to "keep up" detailed accounts, is unclear.

Lena Bragg cquired these books from her family, who had saved them. Dennis Hartshorn, the keeper of these day books, was the donor's great-grandfather.