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.