Manuscript Group 941, John Cruger (fl. 1713 – 1715) & Elias Neau (fl. 1713 – 1715) / William A. Whitehead (1810 – 1884) Account Book, 1713 – 1715 / Scrapbook, 1821 – 1826
Manuscript Group 941, John Cruger (fl. 1713-1715) & Elias Neau (fl. 1713-1715) / William A. Whitehead (1810-1884)
Account Book, 1713-1715 / Scrapbook, 1821-1826, 0.5 linear feet / 1 volume
Call Number: MG 941 + Folder number
Kept by two New York City merchants. Partially obscured by a scrapbook of William A. Whitehead (1810-1884).
Gift of Mrs. A. Kearny.
John Cruger and Elias Neau were cloth merchants in New York City in the early 1700s.
William Adee Whitehead, the son of Abby Coe (1776-1853) and William Whitehead was born on February 10, 1810 in Newark, New Jersey. He married Margaret Elizabeth Parker (1809-1886), the daughter of Penolope Butler (1788-1823) and the Honorable James Parker (1776-1868), in Perth Amboy, New Jersey on July 11, 1834 and with her had 5 children. Whitehead held many interests throughout his lifetime and was a sketcher, surveyor, draftsman, merchant, banker, historian and writer. He was a collector of the Port of Key West, from 1831 to 1838; president of the Newark Library Association, 1847-1884; and president of the Newark Board of Education in 1871. He also wrote over 600 newspaper articles between 1837 and 1882 and was the corresponding secretary of Archives Documents, Manuscripts, Maps, & Photographs from its inception in 1845 until 1884. William A. Whitehead died on August 8, 1884 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey.
Sources:
Jones, Rev. W. Northey. The History of St. Peter’s Church in Perth Amboy New Jersey (Perth Amboy, NJ: W. Northey Jones, 1924).
Pierson, David Lawrence. Narratives of Newark (Newark: Pierson, 1917).
William A. Whitehead received the account book from Mrs. A. Kearny and he in turn probably donated the scrapbook to The New Jersey Historical Society.
The collection consists of a volume originally used as an account book by John Cruger and Elias Neau from 1713-1715. Each customer’s account includes entries for the date, goods sold (which include broad cloth, silk, “calaminco,” indigo, clamp brushes, scissors, a “maple knife,” scales, weights, fish hooks, “Pocket knifes,” ivory combs, thimbles and knitting needles), and a column for the price paid. There are also a few pages entitled “Cash Debtor Page” and other pages with the heading “Creditor Pages.”
From 1821-1826, however, William A. Whitehead used the majority of the account book as a scrapbook into which he glued newspaper clippings. The clippings are from Essex, County, New Jersey newspapers and contain patriotic stories, jokes, Marine lists, poetry, obituaries, wedding notices and other stories.
Some account book pages were removed from the scrapbook and can be found in the first two folders of the collection. Newspaper clipping from these pages were then removed and are also foldered separately.
For more information on and by William A. Whitehead see:
Manuscript Group 12, Congar Family (Newark, NJ) Papers
Manuscript Group 25, Miscellaneous Manuscript Collection
Manuscript Group 28, Marcus L. Ward (1812-1884) Papers
Manuscript Group 177, William A. Whitehead (1810-1884) Papers
Manuscript Group 734, John Whitehead (fl. 1837-1840) and William A. Whitehead (1810-1884) Papers
Manuscript Group 747, James Parker (1776-1868) and Cortlandt Parker (1808-1907) Daybook
| Folder | Title | Dates |
| 1 | Account book fragments | 1713-1715 |
| 2 | Account book fragments | 1713-1715 |
| 3 | Newspaper clippings | 1822-1825 |
| 4 | Newspaper clippings | 1821-1826 |
| 5 | Newspaper clippings | 1821-1826 |
| 6 | Newspaper clippings | 1821-1826 |
| 7 | Account book – “Rare Scrapbook No.6” of William Whitehead | 1821-1826 |
Processed by James Lewis, January 2001 as part of the “Farm to City” project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
