Account book of Cummins Lincoln, Mass., 1818-1835

Historical/Biographical Note

Historical/Biographical Note

The account book of Cummins Lincoln brings to light a previously undocumented cabinetmaker active in Boston during the late Federal period. Over the course of his time as a cabinetmaker, Lincoln journeyed in the shops of no fewer than five of Boston's leading furniture makers and retailers. He crafted, among other items, expensive sideboards and cylinder-fall secretaries for Treadwell & Pratt, who occasionally paid him in woodworking tools. At the shops of Benjamin Lamson and James Barker, Lincoln crafted bureaus, worktables, and French bedsteads. Thomas R. Williams paid Lincoln in room and board, or by providing a horse to visit renowned craftsman Samuel Gragg. Lincoln also boarded with cabinetmaker William Fiske, for whom he crafted Grecian card tables and executed ornamental elements such as reeding on various items. By 1824 Lincoln had moved west to Groton, Massachusetts. From this point forward, his output reflected his rural clientele. While he still crafted items such as bureaus, chairs, and tables, he also mended rakes, crafted clothes horses and hatboxes, and turned maple rollers.