mums284 M.B. Callaghan Daybook, 1844-1860 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Ken Fones-Wolf. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA
2002

University of Massachusetts Amherst. All rights reserved.

 Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Cartier. 2002-07-29 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mu53 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Special Collections and University Archives W.E.B. Du Bois Library University of Massachusetts Amherst M.B. Callaghan Daybook, 1844-1860 Finding Aid Manuscript Number 284 Compiled by Ken Fones-Wolf 1989 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

2002 University of Massachusetts Amherst. All rights reserved.

 Collection Overview Callaghan, M.B. M.B. Callaghan Daybook 1844-1860 MS 284 1 volume Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Operator of a general store in Charlton, New York. Daybook includes lists of purchases (1844-1857), some arranged by wholesaler, and an inventory of goods on hand between 1859 and 1860. English. Scope and Contents of the Collection

M.B. Callaghan operated a general store in Charlton, New York in the decades before the Civil War. This daybook chronicles Callaghan's purchases from various wholesale merchants in stocking his store, and documents the range of merchandise available in towns like Charlton.

The daybook is divided into several sections. The first fifty pages provide an itemized list of purchases between 1844 and 1846. The next ninety-two pages cover store purchases from 1846-1854; they list only the merchant and the dollar amount on one page followed by the notation paid or the arrangement for paying on the opposite page. On several pages, there are accumulations of notes due. The next twenty-five pages document purchases in 1854-1855, arranged by the wholesaler, rather than chronologically. Callaghan then returned to the chronological accounting of purchases for 1856-1857. Finally, the book concludes with two thirty-page inventories of the goods on hand on April 12, 1859 and April 14, 1860.

Among the wholesalers with whom Callaghan dealt were Van Heusen and Charles (Albany), Asher Cook, H.C. Foster, Craig and Co. (Schenectady), and the Schenectady & Mohawk Sheeting Co. Callaghan also dealt with various unnamed peddlers.

The collection is open for research.

 Preferred Citation

Cite as: M.B. Callaghan Daybook (MS 284). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987.

Processed by Ken Fones-Wolf, 1989.

 Search Terms Callaghan, M. B. Cook, Asher. Foster, H. C. Van Heusen and Charles. Craig & Co. Schenectady & Mohawk Sheeting Co. General stores--New York--Charlton (Town)--History--Sources. General stores--New York--Charlton (Town)--Inventories. Purchasing--New York--Charlton (Town)--History--Sources. Inventories, Retail--New York (State)--New York--History--Sources. Charlton (New York : Town)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Account books.