Account books of a family general store at Blue Ball, East Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pa., 1762-1894.

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Wallace family. Account books of a family general store at Blue Ball, East Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pa., 1762-1894.

Account books of a family general store at Blue Ball, East Earl Township, Lancaster County, Pa., 1762-1894.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/297598992

The records of the Blue Ball store are somewhat unusual because they cover a single rural enterprise over a long period that coincides with the change from near-frontier conditions to intensive agricultural development. All of the records are typical storekeeper's account books: day books, ledgers and cash books. There is also an arithmetic copy book, ca. 1790, that belonged to Thomas Wallace, the youngest son of Robert Wallace. The books were in the custody of the Wallace family as late as 1924, when they were the subject of a paper by A. G. Seyfert at the Lancaster County Historical Society. The first volume, originally covering the years 1761 to 1775, was reported as having its first pages badly damaged by mice. The Blue Ball store was typical of country general stores in that it sold a wide range of merchandise: tropical products like sugar and tea, spirits, tobacco and snuff, dry goods, hardware, groceries, hides and skins, clothing and accessories, and books. Many of the exchanges were by credit or barter in the early years. Among the names recorded in the books are local artisans who may be buying, selling or trading goods. A number are listed as workers at nearby Pool Forge, and there are entries relating to the Downingtown, Ephrata & Harrisburg Turnpike Road, aka the Horseshoe Pike, that was built through Blue Ball in the early 1800s. Of particular note are a number of African Americans, identified as "Black Dublin," "Black Tom Moore," "Black Jake," and so on, some of whom worked at Pool Forge and may or may not have been enslaved.

59 v.

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