Manuscript Group 455, Perth Amboy Wharf, Perth Amboy, NJ, Records, 1821-1830

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Manuscript Group 455, Perth Amboy Wharf, Perth Amboy, NJ

Records, 1821-1830, 0.2 linear feet / 3 volumes

Call Number: MG 455(os) + volume title

Summary


Summary:

Includes a daybook and a daily work book.  The latter contains diary entries, 1825-1829, documenting the daily life of the writer, a worker at the Perth Amboy Wharf.

Purchase, 1961.

Administrative History:

This wharf company operated in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.  The primary function of the wharf was storage, baling, and sale of hay.

Provenance Note:

This collection was purchased in 1961.

Scope and Content Note:

This collection consists of three volumes: the first labeled “Wharf Book, Commencing 1st October 1821,” the second labeled “Blotter, Perth Amboy, 1st October 1829,” and the third labeled “Daily Work Book, 25th October 1825 – 3rd October 1829.”  The first volume contains a list of storage and handling fees, of ships using the wharf, for 1821-1828.  The second volume is an account book for 1829-1830 listing hay buyers, sellers, visiting ships, and contains no index.  The third volume is a day book that contains attendance of employees, their daily productivity, and their worksite location.  Accompanying these figures is a daily diary entry detailing the amount of hay received and bailed, notes on the travel of friends and family, funerals and social functions attended, and usually a note on the weather.   Some of the diary entries for each day include a historical note or commentary; for example, the listing for November 4, 1824 contains the phrase “This day is celebrated in New York for the finishing/compleat (sic) of Lake Erie’s Grand Canal.”

Container List:

Box Title Dates
OS “Wharf Book” 1821-1828
OS “Blotter” 1829-1830
OS “Daily Work Book” 1825-1829

Processed by Luis Delfino, November 2000 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

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