Background on Samuel Henry
Prescott was among the Western Massachusetts towns abolished in 1938 to allow the Swift River Valley to be flooded, thereby creating the Quabbin Reservoir to provide Boston with water.
Scope of collection
Samuel Henry was a justice of the peace, merchant, landowner, and entrepreneur in early nineteenth century Prescott, Massachusetts. Henry eventually moved to Shutesbury, Massachusetts in 1857. The nine volumes of accounts in this collection reflect his varied interests and responsibilities. His record of acknowledgements covers his duties as justice of the peace and show local real estate transactions from 1829 to 1857. His personal activity in real estate is reflected in his book of deeds and mortgages, covering the period 1813 to 1876. Henry also ran a general store and began a palmleaf-hatmaking business. The hat business was an extensive homework industry, which involved the braiding of hats (usually by women at home) in exchange for credit at Henry's store. Much of Henry's activity in the local economy similarly took place without the exchange of cash. The use of the account books, which also include extensive notes of accounts with individuals (1830-1881) help reconstruct the rural economy of nineteenth-century Massachusetts.
Inventory
Deeds and Mortgages
1813-1876
Box 1: 1
Record of Acknowledgements of Deeds and Other Instruments
1829-1854
Box 1: 2
Ledger No. 1 for Palm Leaf Hat Manufacture
1835-1838
Box 1: 3
Cash Book
1838-1854
Box 1: 3
Cash Book
1840-1862
Box 1: 4
Account of Cash Paid for Family Expenses
1854-1859
Box 1: 5
Memorandum of Agreements and Small Accounts
1854-1857
Box 1: 5
Account of Rents and Expenses on Tool Place
1857-1860
Box 1: 5
Account of Rents on Johnston Place
1858-1859
Box 1: 5
Record of Acknowledgements of Deeds and Other Instruments
1854-1857
Box 1: 5
Account of Cash to Be Loaned
1854-1860
Box 1: 5
Accounts with Individuals
1830-1838
Box 1: 6
Accounts of Notes and Cash on Interest
1846-1860
Box 1: 6
List of Notes that Belong to the Store
1829-1846
Box 1: 6
Accounts with Individuals
1834-1843
Box 1: 7
Accounts with Individuals
1856-1881
Box 2: 8
Accounts with Individuals
1835-1860
Box 2: 9
Administrative information
Access
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Acquired from Donald Howe, 1960.
Processing Information
Processed by Ken Fones-Wolf, November 1984.
Language:
EnglishAcknowledgments
Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Copyright and Use (More information )
Cite as: Samuel Henry Accounts (MS 13). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Search terms
Subjects
- Henry, Samuel, fl. 19th century.
- Massachusetts--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources.
- Panama hat industry--Massachusetts--History--Sources.
- Prescott (Mass.)--History--Sources.
- Quabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--History.
- Shutesbury (Mass.)--History--Sources.
Contributors
- Henry, Samuel, 19th cent. [main entry]
Genres and formats
- Account books
