Surviving Pages of Worthy THRALL's Account Book (1840s), Wabash & Edwards County, Illinois This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Robin Henderson transcribed and annotated by great-great grandson Harold Henderson hs@niia.net 27 March 2002 Worthy Thrall was born 22 June 1809 in Underhill, Chittenden County, Vermont, the tenth and youngest child of Eliphas Thrall and Mary "Polly" Mead Thrall. The family moved to Granville, Licking County, Ohio, around 1815. There Worthy grew up and married Hannah James, daughter of Simon James and Elizabeth _______ James, 15 November 1832. They moved to southeastern Illinois in 1834. Worthy died 3 January 1852 in Bone Gap, Edwards County, Illinois. Four of their children (Mary Elizabeth, Laura Lucina, Hanna Caroline, Leonidas Worthy) lived to adulthood. Family tradition describes Worthy as a wheelwright, trained as a blacksmith but doing mostly carpentry. These fragments of his account book suggest that he did primarily metal work in the early 1840s. The work here described was probably done in both Wabash and Edwards counties, Illinois. In a deed dated 28 July 1838, Worthy bought from the government land office 80 acres of Wabash County land located near his brothers Oliver, Lyman, and Aaron. About four years later he made a similar purchase of 40 acres about four miles west, near Bone Gap in Wabash County, in a deed dated 23 August 1842. We don't yet know where he was living and working at any given time. Interestingly, most of the prices he charged are in quarters, halves, and multiples of 25 cents. This may not reflect the available currency. On the frontier it was customary for a workman like Worthy to keep account, and then settle up periodically when cash was at hand or a convenient trade of some kind could be arranged. Most of the work was done during farming season as plowshares and coulters broke or became dull. The jobs are listed by customer, and chronologically in each customer's account. It is evident that his customers had different needs, not all of them agricultural: Worthy made a set of "loom irons" for the Leach brothers 20 May 1843, and repaired George Lough's coffee mill on Christmas Day 1845. It appears that this account book originally had in excess of 67 pages. We have three tall narrow ledger-ruled pages and one fragment, all written on front and back. I have arbitrarily labeled them A, B, C, and D. Except when noting a settlement of accounts, Worthy carefully observed the columns, putting the month, the date, the description of the job, the dollars, cents, and fractions of cents each in a separate column. In this transcription I have not preserved the columnar format, which was important to Worthy's purpose of rendering up accurate accounts, but is less important to us. (Those who would like to check his accountancy should look to the scanned copies of his originals, which I will send to anyone on request.) Thus I have added decimal points to distinguish cents from dollars, and have added months to the dates when more than one job occurred in the same month. Words in brackets either describe the condition of the original [torn off] or suggest interpolations [1844?]. I have not changed Worthy's sometimes impromptu spelling or phrasing. Spacing between items is mine. I think "Cr" means credit and "Dr" means debit -- not that all his neighbors were medical doctors! Surnames mentioned: CROOKS, CROWDER, GOULD, HENDRICKS, KITCHEN, LEACH, LEE, LOUGH/LOW, ROOT, RUDE PAGE A, FRONT SIDE [torn off] .50 [torn off] 1.37 1/2 [torn off] .50 [torn off] oeing .62 1/2 [torn off] to 35 lbs of plow irons 7.00 [torn off] 8 to splice coulter .12 1/2 March 30 1841 due Worthy Thrall [in] settlement four dollars and [torn off] fty one cents. Robert V. [?] Lee June 3 1841 to sharp share .12 1/2 April 21 1843 to sharp harrow teeth .12 1/2 May 16 to neckyoke ring & 4 nails .12 1/2 May 29 to iron singletree .25 May 30 to sharp share & fix coulter .25 June 2 to sharp share & coulter .18 3/4 June 7 to sharp share .12 1/2 June 27 to sharp share .12 1/2 June 30 to hoop pail .20 July 10 to fix sythe mak wedges & c .12 1/2 July 25 to mend clevice make pin heel wedge & c .18 3/4 Sept 30 to one clevice pin staple & c .12 1/2 Nov 17 to repair waggon .50 Dec 28 to make froe .37 1/2 March 23 [1844?] to put ring in plough .10 April 8 to pay landside & sharp share .50 April 16 to one notch clevice .62 1/2 May 13 to fix share & coulter .12 1/2 [crossed out: May 23 to sharp share & coulter .31 1/4] May 23 to sharp share & coulter .18 3/4 June 12 to sharp share .12 1/2 June 15 to mend clip & ring .10 June 15 to put ring to neck yoke .12 1/2 July 2 to put hoop on wash tub .25 Sept 12 to shoeing & hoop cag [??] .37 1/2 Oct 15 to one yoke key .06 1/4 PAGE A, BACK SIDE Mar 2 by slea [torn off] boxes & c. [blank space] G. Low Cr July 18 1844 by part of days work .25 Aug 21 by 2 1/2 bushels wheat 1.25 Settled all accounts with George Lough and found due him fifty cents Jan 24, 1845 Worthy Thrall May 19 1845 Geo. Lough Dr. to sharp share .12 1/2 June 23 to one hook & mend sickle .18 3/4 Sept 2 to sharp share .12 1/2 Dec 25 to shoeing and repair coffee mill .56 1/4 March 21 [1846?] to repair ploughs chains drawing knife & c 1.12 1/2 [crossed out: July 25 to rivets] PAGE B, FRONT SIDE 67 May 19 1840 to make staple [?] for beam two links for plough & c .25 July 10 to make teakettle bail .18 3/4 Aug 1 to sharp share .12 1/2 The above settled and received payment in full up to this date .56 1/4 [+] 3.80 [=] 4.36 1/4 Mar 2 1841 George Low Dr June 8 1843 to mend hoes drawing knife & bell .25 May 13 1844 to sharp share & coulter mend share & chain &c .31 1/4 July 8 to repair share .50 July 10 to sythe hangings .37 1/2 Feb 8 1845 to [blotted] Feb 8 to laying axe 1.00 [blank space] 1844 S. [?] H. Crowder Dr April 11 to sharp coulter & make bolt .12 1/2 June 8 to sharp share .10 A Rude Dr. May 30 1843 to mend haim [horn?] hook .10 June 4 to sharp share .10 June 11 to sharp share [blotted] July 1 Cr by cash 1.87 1/2 Due W. Thrall on settlement one dollar & forty four cents July 20 1849 1.44 Alpheus Rude The above paid July 25 [?] 1849 Feb 1 1850 to make wedge & mend chain .50 PAGE B, BACK SIDE April 1 1840 by cutting 40 rods of 3 feet astok [??] 2.50 May 19 1843 by one half days work .25 John Kitchen Dr May 18 1848 to sharp share & make hook .18 3/4 June 5 to sharp share .12 1/2 June 6 to 22 lbs of plough irons 3.66 July 6 to iron doubletree & c .37 1/2 Due W Thrall on settlement of all accounts seven dollars & twenty nine cents Sept 13, 1848 J S Kitchen to shoeing .50 Sept 29 to sharp share .12 1/2 Dec 30 to shoeing .25 Feb. 16 184[9?] to shoeing .50 April 19 to sharp share & make spikes .18 Daniel Leach Dr May 30, 1843 to one drawing knife .75 June 10 to make knife .12 1/2 June 17 to one chisel sharp share & c .75 June 27 to one iron pitch fork .37 1/2 July 8 to one nail hammer .62 1/2 July 10 to one scratch awl .06 1/4 July 13 [?] to sharp share .12 1/2 July 15 [?] to one 2 inch chisel & 4 feet of hoop iron .87 1/2 July 31 [?] to one set of sythe hangings .56 1/4 Aug 24 to mend bolt .12 1/2 Aug 25 to make nails .12 1/2 Aug 26 to set tire .50 Aug 28 to sharp share .12 1/2 Sept 22 to mend chain & iron temples .37 1/2 Sept 25 to mend chain & c .18 3/4 Sept 29 to mend chain .18 3/4 Oct 6 to one staple for gait .12 1/2 Oct 11 to one plain [filain?] bit [crossed out .25] Oct 17 to door hinges nail [?] .25 PAGE C, FRONT SIDE Daniel Leach & co. April 28, 1840 to sharp share and coulter .18 3/4 May 29 to sharp share & repair coulter .25 July 30 to sharp share .12 1/2 Aug 23 to 2 kettle bails and sharp coulter .50 Oct 5 to mend chain .31 1/4 Dec 24 to mend chains & bolt .25 Jan 2 1841 to repair waggon .50 Jan 7 to shoeing .87 1/2 Feb 13 to mend chains .25 March 8 to sharp share & coulter .18 3/4 March 31 to one bucket scoop & mend clevice .18 3/4 May 5 to lay coulter & make staple for plough beam .87 1/2 May 20 to sharp share and mend coulter .37 1/2 May 28 to sharp share .12 1/2 June 4 to sharp share & coulter & put bands on waggon .37 1/2 June 21 to sharp share .12 1/2 July 31 to set tire & mend fire shovel .87 1/2 [Aug.?] 17 to set tire mak linchpin &c .75 7.12 1/2 Settled all accounts with Wm. & Daniel Leach up to this date and found due Worthy Thrall fifft cents Dec 1st [31st??] 1841 Daniel Leach William S. Leach April 12 1843 to sharp share & coulter .18 3/4 April 19 to put wing to plough 1.75 April 25 to mend bolt .12 1/2 May 20 to one hoe one set of loom irons bough pin & c 1.62 1/2 May 25 to put eye to hoe .25 PAGE C, BACK SIDE Contra Cr by 10 bushels oats 2.00 by pills .37 2.37 19.50 17.12 [blank space] Charles Root Dr Aug 26 1841, to sharp 2 shares .25 Sept 1 to mend brush cythe make grass nail & put hinge to stove door .37 1/2 March 7 1842 to 1079 rails [crossed out 8.09 1/4] June 19 to mend cythe 2 bands stay chain hook & make 6 cythe [?] wedges .75 April 10 1843 to sharp share & point coulter .25 April 12 to one chain hook .18 3/4 April 17 to sharp share .12 1/2 April 22 to one ploug coulter weighing 8 lbs 1.00 April 22 to staple for beam .43 [3/4?] May 8 to sharp share & coulter .18 3/4 May 10 to haying mattock .37 1/2 May 27 to band waggon tongue mend chains & c .37 1/2 May 27 to sharp share & coulter .18 3/4 May 27 to one open ring .12 1/2 June 5 to sharp share & coulter .18 3/4 June 10 to put rings in bits .10 June 20 to paid at Gould .50 June 24 to sharp share fix bot & c .25 June 27 to 31 lbs of plough laid with steel 5.66 PAGE D, FRONT SIDE poin [torn out] stove [torn out] 27 to m [torn out] chip & [torn out] in and shovel .87 1/2 May 15 to sharp two shares & one coulter .31 1/4 May 17 to mend bolt .12 1/2 9.50 balance due from 49 10.00 Settled all accounts with Charles Root up to this date and received payment in full June 1, 1841 Worthy Thrall Charles Root June 1 1841 to sharp share & coulter & make open ring .31 1/4 June 29 to sharp share .12 1/2 PAGE D, BACK SIDE [torn out] .50 [torn out] .50 [torn out] .75 [torn out] .25 Sept 21 C T Hendricks Dr to shoeing .50 Oct 18 to shoeing .93 3/4 Oct 18 to shoeing 1.87 1/2 1.50 4.80 .90 1.05 6.76 1/4 Due C T Hendricks on settlement of all accounts one dollar and thirty seven and a half cents W. Thrall Oct 27 1847 to paid Guy Crooks 1.31 3/4 *************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. *************************************************************************** This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: Robin Henderson