Miscellaneous: Adam Riser, Merchant, 1852 Ledger Sheet, Winn Parish, LA. Submitted by Greggory E. Davies, 120 Ted Price Lane, Winnfield, LA 71483 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** From: September 29, 1932 Winn Parish Enterprise One Gallon Whiskey Cost 75 Cents Back In 1852 Old Ledger Sheet Shows Records of bookkeeping before the Civil War, now in the possession of Senaca Pace, of near Sikes, show that very little improvement has been made on the method of bookkeeping during the past seventy-five or eighty years. The prices on commodities vary. A common entry in the old book is "one gallon of whiskey, 75 cents". Prices on other things are higher than at present. Following are some entries in the book: Sold to J. L. Meredith, 6 yards Hickory Stripes, 20 cents yard, $ 1.25; 12 pounds tobacco, 30 cents per pound, $ 3.60; 1 yard calico, 20 cents; 8 pounds sugar, $ 1.00; 1 pair linen pants, $ 3.50; 6 pounds Rio Coffee, $ 1.00. Sold to Daniel W. Webb, 1 pair Red Russets, $ 1.75; 1 smoothing iron, 55 cents; 4 plugs tobacco 80 cents; 1 set knitting pins, 12 cents; 1 fine comb, 25 cents; 1/4 oz. quinine, $ 1.00. Sold to William M. Grice, one pair slippers, $ 1.00; 7® yards flannel $ 3.75; 4 yards prints 80 cents. Sold to John Oglesby, 1 barrell flour $ 7.25; 27 yards bleaching $ 3.37; 5 yards black Cambric and 5 yards lace $ 1.00; 1 pair white hose and ® yard Robinet 57 cents; 2 ® yards white ribbon and 1 paper tacks 60 cents; ® dozen coffin screws 18 cents. These records are on a store ledger which was the property of Adam Riser, merchant at that time. The sheets show that a large volume of business was done. Among the old papers with the ledger are hundreds of notes, which show that thousands of dollars were lost by the merchant. This ledger and other papers, which contain much history, are now the property of Mrs. Senaca Pace, descendant of the merchant.