Account of Charles L. Fiester in the Tannery Ledger of Jacob Post, Sr.

Charles L. Fiester

Charles L. Fiester was the son of Godfrey Fiester and Mary Magdelena Kepner. He was born in Muncy Creek, Lycoming Co., Pennsylvania on 10 June 1799. How and when he came to the Town of Fleming (then part of the Town of Aurelius), Cayuga Co., New York is not known. Charles married Maria Peterson, a daughter of George Peterson and Mary Parcells, apparently ca. 1818, based on the birth of their first child, Isaac Corson Fiester, in 1820. Maria Peterson's parents and her grandparents, Cornelius Peterson and Hannah (Annatie) Parsell, were early settlers on the western shore of Owasco Lake in Lot 83 of the original Town of Aurelius.

Charles and Maria's location in 1820 is not certain. Charles does not appear in the 1820 census at Aurelius; however, a Charles "Fraster" and wife are censused at Fayette, Seneca Co., New York, the adjacent county to the west of Cayuga Co. The household next to Charles is John Gould, and Maria Peterson's aunt, Anna Peterson, is known to have married a John Gould. So, it is possible that Charles and Maria were in Seneca Co. for a time after their marriage before returning to Cayuga Co. Their first child, Isaac, who was born 11 December 1820, listed his birthplace as Cayuga Co.; therefore, his future parents' potential stay in Seneca Co. may have been brief. Charles made regular transactions in the Town of Fleming from 1824 until 1831 and was censused there in 1830.

Charles and Maria removed to Clarence, Erie Co., New York before 1840, then to Mount Morris, Livingston Co., New York ca. 1842. They remained at Mount Morris through 1865 but are buried at Maple Grove Cemetery in Gainesville, Wyoming Co., New York. Maria's death in 1868 presumably was at Gainesville, implying that they removed there from Mount Morris between 1865 and 1868.

Besides Isaac, Charles and Maria had six other known children: Adelia Sophia, Maryette, Oscar, George, William, and Harriet A. Fiester.

Images of Charles L. Fiester's Account in Jacob Post, Sr.'s Tannery Ledger

Partial Debit Page (65A Top) for Charles L. Fiester's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Partial Debit Page (65A Bottom) for Charles L. Fiester's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Partial Debit Page (65B Bottom) for Charles L. Fiester's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Partial Debit Page (1A Bottom) for Charles L. Fiester's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Credit Page (65B Top) for Charles L. Fiester's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Note that the first four images constitute the debit column for Charles L. Fiester's account, pieces of which appeared on three separate pages. The sole credit entries appear in the final image.

Transcription of Charles L. Fiester's Account

Charls [Charles] Fiester		Debit			Charls [Charles] Fiester		Credit
Date	Description	₤	S	d	Date	Description	₤	S	d
February 28, 1824	To two bushels of Buckweet [buckwheat]	0	8	0	1825	By Cash	0	12	0
January 24, 1825	To Cash	0	10	0		[Note: possibly days and months for employment]	dys		mo
	To one skin	1	0	0		[unknown units]		6
	To Cash paid at Auburn	0	1	6
	To one hog	0	8	0
March 1825	To ½ day drawing hay	0	4	0
	To 1 bar'l [barrel] of sider [cider]	0	8	0
April 24, 1825	To ½ bushel of flaksead [flaxseed]	0	3	0
April 30, 1825	To one bushel of Corn	0	3	3
May 1825	To one pare [pair] of Sues [shoes]	0	12	0
	To A peace [piece] of Leather	0	4	0
	To one bushel of tators [potatoes]	0	1	6
	To Cash at Talmans	0	0	6
June 1825	To 2 bushels of weet [wheat]	0	16	0
	To Veal wt 33 lb	0	8	0
September 1825	To two bushels of weet [wheat]	0	10	0
	To Cash	0	8	0
	To 6 bushels of taters [potatoes]	0	12	0
	Subtotal =	6	17	3
	Corrected Subtotal =	6	17	9
	[Note change to decimals]	$	c	--
April 1826	dwo [due?] on Settlement	3	44
April 25, 1826	To Cash lent	1	0
May 31, 1826	To ½ Side of uper [upper]	1	12
	To seven skins	12	0
June 12, 1826	By Cash lent	2	50	0
	By fower [flour?]	1	50	0
	three days Cr. the bus [business?]	2	25
September 9, 1826	To ½ bushel of inging [Indian? = cornmeal] meal	0	25
	To 1 pare [pair] of Sues [shoes]	1	37	0
	To tanning one skin	1	0	0
	To one pare [pair] of traps [?]	0	18
	To wf [?] Leather	3	0	0
			12
	To solt [salt?] Tan bark	0	25	0
	Subtotal =	29	88
	Corrected Subtotal =	29	98
	[Note change to ₤.s.d.]	₤	S	d
November 1827	To Cash	0	8	0
	To Leather	0	10	0
	To Cash	0	16	0
	To Leather	0	2	0
	To Cash paid to baker	0	1	3
November 7, 1827	To one side of soaleather [sole leather] wt 12#	1	4	0
December 14, 1827	To one Side of uper [upper]	1	4	0
September 29, 1831	To two skins	0	8	0
	To Cash	0	10	0
	To 10 bushels of taters [potatoes]	0	10	0
	To Cash	2	0	0
	Subtotal [not recorded in ledger] =	7	13	3
	Total ₤.s.d [not recorded in ledger] =	14	11	0
	Total $ c =	29	88

Charles L. Fiester's Purchases and Credits

The account of Charles L. Fiester at the tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. is somewhat puzzling. Essentially no repayment of Charles's debts appear in the Tannery Ledger over the 7-year period between 1824 and 1831, with the exception of 12 shillings cash paid to Jacob in 1825. However, all the debits except those of 1831 are are struck through in the ledger, indicating that settlement had been made in some fashion. The total debits amounted to ₤14.11s.0d plus $29.88 in decimal currency.

One possible method for Charles to settle his debt would have been to work for Jacob Post, Sr. A notation in the credit column of Charles's account ("dys  mo") possibly indicates such employment, but no actual tally of work is entered therein. There is a cryptic number "6" - whose meaning is not clear - entered between the potential days and months columns. One piece of evidence that supports Charles working for Jacob is the fact that Charles is listed at Mount Morris in the 1850 federal census and 1855 state census as a Tanner and Currier. A "currier" is a specialist in finishing tanned leather. It may be that Charles learned this trade with Jacob.

Another bit of evidence that Charles may have worked for Jacob is the fact that many of his debits were for commodities such as potatoes, grain, and veal, as well as cash, not just products of the tannery. Advancing cash in the absence of the prospect of repayment would not have been a good business practice for Jacob. Charles's potential labor would provide the assurance of the debt being settled. As for products of the tannery, Charles procured several pairs of shoes and purchased skins and leather. He also had a skin tanned.

Account of Johannes De Groff (aka John DeGroff) in the Tannery Ledger of Jacob Post, Sr.

Johannes De Groff (aka John DeGroff)

Willem Swart De Groff (aka William Swart DeGroff), husband of Willemptje Nevius (aka Willemphe Nevius), was an early settler of the Town of Aurelius, Cayuga Co., New York, appearing there in the 1800 federal census after coming in from the Conewago Colony of York Co. (now Adams Co.), Pennsylvania. His exact location in 1800 is not known because the towns of Owasco and Fleming, both Cayuga Co., New York, were taken off Aurelius in 1802 and 1823, respectively. Willem had owned land in Aurelius, Owasco, and the Town of Sempronius, Cayuga Co., New York at or before his death in 1824 but was censused in Owasco in 1810 and 1820 and died there as well.

Among Willem and Willemptje's sons was Johannes (aka John) De Groff. He was born 10 July 1776 in the Conewago Colony and baptized there on 28 July 1776. Johannes married Maria (aka Mariah) Burnet, perhaps ca. 1805, because their first known child was born in 1807. At the time of the 1800 federal census, Johannes is not listed so probably was still in his father's household at Aurelius. The 1810 census shows Johannes at Sempronius, possibly occupying the 50 acres in Lot No. 35 that his father owned there. By 1820 Johannes is censused at Aurelius and thereafter at Fleming, that part of Aurelius having been taken off to form the new Town.

Johannes and Maria had nine known children. Johannes lived until 1848 and Maria until 1855. Both died in Fleming but were buried in the Parsell Cemetery #156 in Owasco where Willem (aka William) Swart De Groff was buried.

The De Groff property in Fleming occupied by Johannes and Willemptje presumably was located in Lot 90 or Lot 91 on present-day Silver Street Road where several J. DeGroffs (various spellings) are shown on the 1853 and 1859 maps, an area where members of the family yet reside. This area is within about 2.5 miles by road of the tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. on present-day Stone School Road in Lot 91; thus, the distance was not prohibitive for Johannes to trade with Jacob at his tannery. Nevertheless, Jacob's Tannery Ledger shows only a few transactions by Johannes. We should note that Johannes was a 1st cousin of Jacob's wife, Jannetje (Jane) Nevius Post, her father, Martynes Nevius, being a brother of Willemptje Nevius De Groff. The families presumably would have been well known to each other.

Images of Johannes De Groff's (aka John DeGroff's) Account in Jacob Post, Sr.'s Tannery Ledger

Debit Page for John DeGroff's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Credit Page for John DeGroff's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Debit Page Two for John DeGroff's Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Johannes, here entered as John D'Grof, only made several transactions at the tannery. These were entered on two different pages of the Tannery Ledger where the first two images are on pages 1A (debit) and 1B (credit) and the third image on page 4A (debit). No credit column was made on page 4B.

Transcription of Johannes De Groff's (aka John DeGroff's) Account

John D'Groff [DeGroff]		Debit			John D'Groff [DeGroff]		Credit
Date	Description	₤	S	d	Date	Description	₤	S	d
May 7, 1827	To tanning one skin	0	6	0	May 7, 1827	Credit by one -	0	16	0
	To tanning 2 skins	1	10	0		Credit - -	0	7	0
	Subtotal=	2	6	0		Total=	1	3	0
December 1828	To Leather	0	6	0
July 1, 1829	To tanning one skin	0	10	0
	Total [not recorded in ledger]=	3	2	0
Note: 1827 entries on pages 1A (debit) and 1B (credit), 1828 and 1829 entries (debit only) on page 4A - Account descriptions struck through on both the debit and credit sides despite not showing equal balances

Johannes De Groff's (aka John DeGroff's) Purchases and Credits

Jacob Post, Sr. kept most of his Tannery Ledger using the system of pounds, shillings and pence. This was true for the account of Johannes De Groff (noted as John D'Grof therein). We see that Johannes had four skins tanned over an approximately 2-year period from 1827 to 1829. He also purchased a piece of leather during that time. In 1827, Johannes had three skins tanned by Jacob. His debit subtotal for 1827 was ₤2.6s.0d.

On the credit side of the ledger, Johannes received 16 shillings "credit by one" for an unspecified object and another credit of 7 shillings entered on the same date in 1827. Most likely the "credit by one" was for a green skin or hide. The other credit might have been another skin or cash paid to Jacob. Johannes thus had a credit subtotal of ₤1.3s.0d. in 1827, partially offsetting his purchases.

Johannes purchased leather in December 1828 and had another skin tanned in 1829, which was debited on 1 July, but Jacob recorded no further credits to offset the two purchases in these years. Thus, as of 1 July 1829, Johannes had debits totaling  ₤3.2s.0d. Thus, given his previous credit subtotal, Johannes would have owed ₤1.19s.0d, as far the ledger entries show.

We can't know how Johannes settled his small debt to Jacob because Jacob at some point struck through the entire account of Johannes De Groff, indicating that it had been settled despite not showing zero balance. It is possible that an unrecorded settlement transaction occurred or that Jacob simply forgave the amount owed.

Account of Caleb Wadams, Sr. in the Tannery Ledger of Jacob Post, Sr.

Who Was Caleb Wadams, Sr.?

Caleb Wadams, Sr. was an early settler of the Town of Scipio, Cayuga Co., New York. His parentage is uncertain. He seems to have been born in Connecticut. A number of persons surnamed "Wadhams" were found at Goshen, Litchfield Co., Connecticut, and Caleb was recorded on at least one occasion under this spelling of his surname. A complete discussion of Caleb can be found on pages 537-539 of Wadhams Genealogy:  Preceded by a Sketch of the Wadham Family in England. This account includes Caleb's Revolutionary War service as an Artificer, in his case Carpenter, with an artillery regiment for 4 years. After his discharge, he married Eunice Farr in Dutchess Co., New York, the same county from which he enlisted in 1777.

Caleb and Eunice were censused at Freehold (then part of Albany Co.), Greene Co., New York in 1790. The Wadhams Genealogy states that Caleb purchased 200 acres of land in Scipio from Jonathan Fitch in 1795, at which time Caleb was living in Unadilla, Otsego Co., New York. Caleb and Eunice must have made their way to Scipio with their family sometime between 1795 and 1800. The 1800 federal census for Scipio lists a Caleb "Watham" as Head of Household, but no entry appears for his age. It is possible that the absence of his age entry is due to a hole or tear in the original records for Cayuga County, which are rife with such defects.

The location of Caleb's property appears to have been in the general vicinity of the present-day Scipio Town Offices north of Scipio Center. Caleb's close neighbors included Peter and Frederick Van Liew and Joel Coe who are known to have settled in that area. Caleb was censused at Scipio through 1830. Caleb's 1st wife, Eunice (aka Ruth), died in 1813. He married 2nd Mary Rude (aka Rood) Hammond, widow of Luthan Hammond. Mary died in 1832. Caleb died on 18 May 1835 and was buried in Cornwell Cemetery. One possible error in the Wadhams Genealogy may concern Caleb's date of birth. Given his known date of death and age at death, his calculated birth date would have been 14 January 1752, rather than 14 January 1754 as listed in the genealogy.

Caleb Wadams' Tannery Account

Ledgers in Early 19th-Century Accounting

Individual accounts for persons dealing with the tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. occupy facing pages, with the debits appearing on the left page and the credits on the right page. When a customer required leather or other goods of Jacob, the transaction was called a debit to the customer's account and entered on the left page. Conversely, when a customer reimbursed Jacob for all or part of their past purchases the amount was entered as a credit to the customer's account on the right page. Debits and credits ideally balanced out at some point, in which case the totals might be struck through to indicate cancellation.

Images of Caleb Wadams, Sr.'s Account in Jacob Post, Sr.'s Tannery Ledger

Debit Page for Caleb Wadams, Sr.'s Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Credit Page for Caleb Wadams, Sr.'s Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Note that Jacob Post, Sr. kept his accounts in pounds, shillings, and pence. This system was used in private trade into the 1840s, long after the adoption of the dollar. In brief, 12 pence (d) equalled a shilling (S) and 20 shillings equalled a pound (₤).

Transcription of Caleb Wadams, Sr.'s Account

Caleb Wadams		Debit			Caleb Wadams		Credit
Date	Description	₤	S	d	Date	Description	₤	S	d
March 21, 1811	To sundries from Day Book	13	5	0	May 11, 1810	By sundries	4	17	0
November 19, 1811	To one side of up[p]er	1	10	0	June 4, 1813	By one hide wt 58 lb	1	3	3
April 15, 1812	To ½ side of up[p]er leather And ½ sid[e] of soal [sole] leather	1	10	6		By one skin	0	10	0
September 21, 1812	To one side of up[p]er leather	1	8	0		By one skin	0	8	0
	And ½ side of soal [sole] leather 6¼ lb	0	12	6		By one skin ½	0	8	0
November 20, 1812	To ½ side of soal [sole] leather And one pair of boot legs	1	10	0		Subtotal=	7	6	3
December 10, 1812	To one horse hide	0	14	0	February 16, 1814	By Cash	3	12	0
October 13, 1813	To one side of soal [sole] leather	1	6	0	27 September, 1814	By Cash	4	0	0
November 9, 1813	To one side of up[p]er leather	1	6	0	January 16, 1815	By Cash	8	0	0
	Subtotal=	23	2	0		Subtotal=	22	18	3
May 12, 1814	To tanning one skin	0	10	0	December 11, 1816	By one hide wt 68 lb	1	12	8
June 1, 1814	To one skin tan[ne]d	0	9	0		By Cash	6	1	10
July 5, [1814]	To ½ side of soal [sole] leather	0	11	6		Total=	30	12	9
September 24, 1814	To one side of soal [sole] leather And one kipskin [kipskin is leather between cowhide and calfskin in grade]	1	5	0	February 24, 1819	By Cash [underscored amount struck through]	0	8	0
		0	15	0	February 9, 1820	By one [hide] wt 75 lb [underscored amount struck through]	1	16	0
December 26, 1814	To tan and cur[e] 1 kipskin	0	7	0
	To 1 kipskin by John	1	4	0
	Subtotal=	28	3	6
May 15, 1815	To one side of soal [sole] leather wt 10¾ And ½ side of up[p]er	1	4	3
		0	13	0
June 1, 1816	To tanning one skin	0	12	0
	Total=	30	12	9
February 24, 1819	To ½ side of soal [sole] leather wt 9¾ lb [underscored amount struck through]	1	4	3

Caleb Wadams, Sr.'s Purchases and Credits

Caleb Wadams, Sr. purchased leather from Jacob Post, Sr. one or more times per year from before 1811, as indicated by a substantial debit amount brought forward to 21 March 1811, presumably from an older ledger, and continued on a regular basis until 1816. Then a gap occurs until a final purchase in 1819. Caleb frequently purchased sole leather and upper leather. He was known as a carpenter, not a shoemaker, but as a craftsman, Caleb may have made the occasional boot. Alternatively, the leather might have gone to items required for farming, such as harnesses, bellows for forging, or leatherwork for carts or wagons.

Caleb used both cash and green hides on the credit side of his account. Reference to "sundries" in both the debit and credit columns was simply a way to group items that would have been chronologically detailed elsewhere in a "day book" before being entered in the ledger. It appears that green hides were valued by the pound, all else being equal. Presumably these hides came from butchered cattle and seem to have been fairly valuable.

The final debit and credit entries of 24 February 1819 and credit entry of  9 February 1820 do not balance. Nevertheless, the original image shows that they were struck through and thus cancelled. An unrecorded transaction or payment might explain this discrepancy.