Ledger Books – a Little Known Genealogy Resource

Ledger books are hand-written books kept by storekeepers, schools and business men in the days before typewriters or computers. Finding 19^th century or early 20^th century ledger books can lead to wonderful genealogical discoveries.

Several years ago we purchased two ledger books from Winfield, Herkimer County, New York. One is a West Winfield Academy Cash Book and Store Ledger kept by John G. Robinson from 1865-1866.

It is a thin ledger, 12×8 inches in size and laid out inside in an odd format. There are several pages of entries for expenses for what appears to be a store and also for items used in the Academy. The Academy was an early school established in 1850 in the town of West Winfield.

There are two pages from July 1865 with student or parents' names and monies spent or received, followed by pages for January and February 1866, then October 1865. Following the October 1865 entries are several pages of names and items they purchased at what might have been an auction.

Here are a few of the July 1865 names:

July 1. Amount invested by S S Paerd 4000.00
July 1. Amount invested by John B. Penn 500.00
July 2 Rec'd of Henry Fish in full of acct 500.00
July 6 Rec'd of David Colman 500.00
July 6 Rec'd of Robert Williams 87.50

Wouldn’t it be exciting to find your ancestor’s name in one of these books?

Another fascinating ledger book is an account book kept by a local shoemaker living in or near the communities of Cross Creek and Ritsey's Cove, Lunenburg Nova Scotia. There are no identifying notations to tell me who the shoemaker was, so I researched the names of his customers found in the book. I found them all living in Cross Creek and Ritsey's Cove so we might assume the shoemaker lived nearby.

The entries I read date from 1897 to 1919. There may be some earlier or later – they are not in date order. Whoever kept the account book decided to keep track of money owed and paid by family. Each family has its own page (or pages) and shoe repairs and purchases are noted throughout the years the family used the service.

This shoemaker's ledger book contains 212 pages covering 22 years. It's a fascinating book as it names children and sometimes wives. The shoemaker noted who he made the shoes for, and their cost, putting everyone under the father's name. Sometimes he added a note as to who the father was – if it was a name shared by more than one man, he would put "xx son of yy" as the head of the house. So he might put James Jones son of Levi and then list all of the work he did for James Jones and family.

This shoemaker also sold prescription glasses and other items. He describes shoes and boots being made, being repaired and so on. As an example, under the name Daniel Himmelman he has the date 10 February 1897 and the notation "pair boots Albert" and the cost $1.75. So we know that Daniel's son Albert had boots made in the winter of 1897.

It seems many of the villagers kept running accounts with the shoemaker, some for over a year before paying. When the items are paid for, he wrote a large PAID in script over the entire set of transactions.

His spellng is bad but it's not hard to figure what the names really are. Some villagers have many pages devoted to them. Leonard Oxner for example has a page starting in 1911 and ending 1914 with a final notation "Paid Jan 17, 1916"

In 1914 he repaired Leonard' s harness for 30 cents. In December 1911 he charged Alex Smith 10 cents for "putting on skates" for Arthur (the day after Christmas, I think we all know what Arthur got for Christmas that year!). Arthur must have been quite an active young lad, because he is listed several times between July 3, 1911 and Dec. 26 as having shoes patched, shoes repaired, shoes soled and heeled, shoes patched and the skates put on.

Ledger Books Currently Available

1.  Staunton, Macoupin County Illinois 1930 ~ 1957 Court Records.
2.  Orono, Lagrange, Howland, Penobscot County, Maine 1923 to 1925 Store Ledger.
3.  Maine Store Ledger 1922-1927
4.  Lubec, Washington County, Maine 1894 to 1995 Store Ledger.
5.  Lincoln County, Maine 1832 Samuel Hinds Ledger.
6.  Clear Spring, Washington County Maryland 1861 to 1874 Store Ledger.
7.  Salem and area Essex County, Massachusetts 1772 to 1780 Student Work Book And Store Ledger.
8.  Townsend Middlesex County Massachusetts 1868 General Store Ledger.
9.  Massachusetts Boston Environs Ledger 1892-1894.
10.  Wheeling, Livingston County, Missouri 1879 to 1889 Ledger Book Of Edward Moore.
11.  Fillmore Village, Andrews County, Missouri. Town Council Minutes 1900-1913
12.  Grafton County, New Hampshire 1841 ~ 1877 Account Book Of William Thissel.
13.  Rushford and area, Allegany County, New York 1868 ~ 1872 Stacy And Kyes Ledger Book.
14.  Oswego, Oswego County, New York 1858 ~ 1859 Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book.
15.  Oswego, Oswego County, New York 1875 Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book Money Owed .
16.  Oswego, Oswego County, New York Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book List of Electors .
17.  West Winfield, Herkimer County, New York 1865 ~ 1866 West Winfield Academy Cash Book.
18.  Richfield, Otsego County, New York Auction sale 1880 ~ 1890. Found in the West Winfield Academy Cash Book.
19.  Lubec, Washington County, Maine 1894 to 1995 Store Ledger.
20.  Rose Bay and River Port, Lunenburg County Shoemakers Ledger Book 1897 ~ 1918
21.  Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio 1889 Store Ledger.
22.  Marietta, Washington County, Ohio 1837~1838 Store Ledger.
23.  Frederick, Miami County, Ohio 1869~1877 Blacksmith Ledger,
24.  1858 Bucks County Ledger
25.  Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1867 to 1877 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger.
26.  Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger.
27.  Mill Creek Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania 1885 to 1890 Mountain Spring Mills Ledger. O
28.  Elk Creek Township, Erie County 1876 to 1878 General Store Ledger.
29.  Lower Heidelberg Township, Berks County 1874 to 1903 Farm Ledger of John W Gaul.
30.  New Hanover Township, Montgomery County 1858 to 1904 Farm Ledger.
31.  Muncy, Lycoming County, PA 1831 to 1865 Docket Ledger of General William A Petrikin.
32.  Lebanon County, PA 1887 Heilman Dale Creamery Milk Book.
33.  Hopewell Township, York County, PA 1890 Tax Collectors Book.
34.  Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922
35.  Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas 1908 to 1915 Jackson McFarland Store Ledger .
36.  S. R. Turley Ledger Book, Culpeper Virginia. 1896
37.  Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia Court Records Ledger.
38.  History Of Tazewell County Virginia Book Sales Ledger.
39.  Clear Spring, Washington County Maryland 1861 to 1874 Store Ledger

Links to the ledger books listed above will be found at http://ancestorsatrest.com/Ledger_Books/

Ledger book images copyright Brian L. Massey published with permission

Lorine McGinnis Schulze is a Canadian genealogist who has been involved with genealogy and history for more than thirty years. In 1996 Lorine created the Olive Tree Genealogy website and its companion blog. Lorine is the author of many published genealogical and historical articles and books.