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
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.
This wharf company operated in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The primary function of the wharf was storage, baling, and sale of hay.
This collection was purchased in 1961.
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.”
| 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.
