Background on James Leland
Enfield 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
James Leland kept this detailed daybook at a busy general store in Enfield, Massachusetts. The 360 pages record accounts over a five month period with January settlements in the final pages.
Leland sold a wide variety of goods including palm leaf hats, coats, kid gloves, shawls, oil, tacks, nails, shot, paper, tea, snuff, saleratus (leavening agent), eggs, butter, and cheese. He dealt with a large number of men, women and businesses.
Leland took in cash, or barter in the form of palm leaf hats ($0.11 each), braid, shoes, butter, eggs, or services such as tailoring.
Some of the customers are early Irish in the area, Dennis Sheehan and Benjamin Sullivan. There are also sales of Know Nothing hats (p. 57), reflecting local reaction to Catholic immigrants.
A selection of names and places listed are: Levi Lombard; Minot Manufacturing Co.; Swift River Co.; J.M. Crosby, tailor, Enfield; Leland and Smith Co.; and Leonard Woods.
Administrative information
Access
The collection is open for research.
Provenance
Acquired from Donald W. Howe, 1960.
Processing Information
Processed by Ruth Owen Jones, October 1985.
Language:
EnglishAcknowledgments
Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Copyright and Use (More information )
Cite as: James Leland Store Journal (MS 94). Special Collections and University Archives, University of Massachusetts Amherst Libraries.
Search terms
Subjects
- Barter--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th century--Sources.
- Consumers--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th century--Sources.
- Enfield (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources.
- Enfield (Mass.)--Ethnic relations--19th century--Sources.
- General stores--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th century--Sources.
- Irish American Catholics--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th century--Sources.
- J.M. Crosby (Firm)--History--Sources.
- Leland and Smith Co.--History--Sources.
- Leland, James.
- Leonard Woods (Firm)--History--Sources.
- Minot Manufacturing Company--History--Sources.
- Nativism--History--19th century--Sources.
- Quabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--History.
- Shopping--Massachusetts--Enfield--History--19th century--Sources.
- Swift River Company--History--Sources.
Contributors
- Leland, James [main entry]
Genres and formats
- Account books.
