Account of Jesse Squires in the Tannery Ledger of Jacob Post, Sr.

Jesse Squires

I find little information on Jesse Squires; however, he was an early settler in the Town of Aurelius, Cayuga Co., New York in the portion of the town that would be taken off as the Town of Fleming, Cayuga Co. in March 1823. Tax records from 1799 show that Jesse had a house and farm close to the location of Josiah Chatfield. According to Sheila Saft Tucker in The Township of Fleming Cayuga County New York 1824-1973 (1973: p. 10) Josiah "erected the first home on the site of Fleming hamlet (N.W. corner of Dublin and Route #34)." This places Jesse Squires somewhere near what would become Fleming hamlet. His real estate was valued at $150 and his personal estate at $10 on which he was taxed $0.15. By 1803 Jesse's personal estate had increased to $54 and his tax to $0.48.

Jesse appears in the 1800 federal census for Aurelius with a wife and a son. An unsourced family tree identifies Jesse's wife as Wealthy Goodrich and his son as William Harder Squires, but I have not independently verified this information. The 1810 census shows an additional young male in the household as well as a young female. Jesse turned 45 between the 1800 and 1810 censuses. Wealthy was still younger than 45 in the 1810 census.

Wealthy Squires (recorded as Squier) appears as Head of Household living alone in the federal census of Aurelius in 1820. She died in November of that year and was buried in Galpin Hill Cemetery in the present-day Town of Fleming. It would appear that Jesse Squires had either died before 1820 or removed from Fleming leaving Wealthy behind. The previously mentioned unsourced family tree has Jesse living until 1845 and dying in Aurelius; however this does not comport with his absence in census data after 1810 and his apparent wife living alone in 1820. No record of Jesse's death or burial has been found.

Images of Jesse Squires' Account in Jacob Post, Sr.'s Tannery Ledger

Debit Page (3A) for Jesse Squires' Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Credit Page (3B) for Jesse Squires' Account at the Tannery of Jacob Post, Sr. - Fleming, Cayuga Co., New York

Transcription of Jesse Squires' Account

Jesse Squires		Debit			Jesse Squires		Credit
Date	Description	₤	S	d	Date	Description	₤	S	d
February 11, 1811	To Sundries	8	12	0	1809*
May 26, 1812	To ½ Side of Soalleather [sole leather] And ½ Side of uper [upper] got by your boy	1	3	6	November 18, 1811	By Sundries	2	2	8
						By Sundries	1	11	8
						By 1 horse hide	0	12	0
						By 1 Sheep Skin	0	1	0
July 27, 1812	To one pare [pair] of bootlegs Got by your Boy	0	12	0	June 11, 1812	By one hide wt 47 lb	0	18	10
						By one Skin	0	10	0
October 20, 1812	½ Side of Soalleather [sole leather] Got By your boy	0	17	0	April 20, 1814	By Settlet [settled] by Noat [note]
					July 18, 1814	By Cash By Jeams [James?]	0	16	0
						By Noat [note]
	Debit Total =	11	4	6		Credit Total =	6	12	2
						Balance Due =	4	12	4
						Debit Total =	11	4	6
NOTE: Underlines indicate items struck through in ledger after calculation by Jacob Post, Sr.; calculations in pounds, shillings, and pence: 12 pence (d) = 1 shilling (s), 20 shillings (s) = 1 pound (₤)
*1809 date with no description or amount may indicate the year of Jesse's first transactions with Jacob Post, Sr. These amounts probably are shown as the “sundries” in the credit entry of 18 November 1811 when the Tannery Ledger went into service.

Jesse Squires' Purchases and Credits

Jesse may have established his account with Jacob Post, Sr. by 1809 because that year was inscribed at the head of Jesse's credit page in Jacob's Tannery Ledger. Jacob placed his ledger in use in November 1811; therefore, the debit for sundries (i.e., various unspecified purchases) of 8 pounds 12 shillings on 11 February 1811 most likely was brought forward from earlier account records. We can assume the same for the sundries appearing as credits (summing to 3 pounds 14 shillings 4 pence) in Jesse's account on 18 November 1811. Jesse brought in one horse hide and one sheep skin on the same day for another 13 shillings credit.

Jesse sent his "boy" (presumably his son) to the tannery three times in 1812 to fetch sole leather, upper leather, and a pair of bootlegs on Jesse's account. These purchases, when added to Jesse's earlier debits, totaled 11 pounds 4 shillings 6 pence. Jesse's only credits in 1812 were for one hide valued at 18 shillings 10 pence and one skin at 10 shillings.  Thus, Jesse's credit total (5 pounds 16 shillings 2 pence) left him owing more than 5 pounds to Jacob at the end of the year.

What happened next is somewhat unclear. A credit entry dated 20 April 1814 indicates that the debt was settled by a Note (i.e., a Promissory Note) although no amount was specified. Presumably this meant that Jesse promised to pay Jacob Post, Sr. a specified amount at a future date, probably with interest, in return for Jacob clearing Jesse's tannery account. Subsequently, on 18 July 1814, someone identified as "Jeams," (possibly meaning James) paid Jacob 16 shillings in cash to Jesse's credit. This brought Jesse's credit total to 6 pounds 12 shillings 2 pence leaving a balance due of 4 pounds 12 shillings 4 pence. All the entries and calculations of 18 July 1814 were later struck through, including another reference to settlement by note.

It may be that Jesse had made a Note to Jacob in April, and the payment by "Jeams" in July necessitated modifying the Note to reflect Jesse's reduced debt. Or, the Note may have been made in July and backdated to April to capture interest from that date. In any event, Jesse does not appear again in the Tannery Ledger.