Thomas Harry receipt book

Collection

Identifier: MSS 0096-Item 0013

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This receipt book records payments for various goods and services by Thomas Harry of Chester County, Pennsylvania, between 1785 and 1824.

Many of entries in this receipt book record Harry’s payment of taxes, both for himself and on behalf of several of his relatives. His tax assessments included a county, town, poor, and quota tax, as well as a road tax that he paid partly through labor on the road. Town and county tax assessments suggest that Harry was living in Chester County, Pennsylvania, while he kept this account book. It appears that Harry occasionally traveled to Wilmington, Delaware, to sell goods. In an entry from February 13, 1787, John Minkin recorded that he received a note from Harry for “seven hundred and sixty one flower casks to be delivered at Wilmington,” an order that Harry fulfilled in 1789.

Harry transacted with many members of prominent families in the region, including Eli Mendenhall, William Ogle, and Caleb Foulke. While he usually paid his own debts, Samuel Temple received a payment from Harry “by the hand of his wife” on January 6, 1791. Harry also made payments related to the Kennett Township Quaker Meeting, of which he appears to have been a member. In 1807 and 1808, he paid schooling debts for his sons, Amos and Isaac, as well as for someone identified only as “black Jack.”

This small volume is bound with brown leather over boards. It contains 172 pages of laid paper, many of which have handwritten notations in black ink.

Dates

Creation: 1785 November 10-1824 March 10

Creator

Harry, Thomas, 1742-1824 (Person)

Language of Materials

Materials entirely in English.

Access Information

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Use of materials from this collection beyond the exceptions provided for in the Fair Use and Educational Use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Law may violate federal law. Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please contact Special Collections Department, University of Delaware Library, https://library.udel.edu/static/purl.php?askspec

Biographical Note

This receipt book was kept by Thomas Harry of Chester County, Pennsylvania, between 1785 and 1824. Harry was born in Pennsbury, Pennsylvania, on March 8, 1742, to Hugh Harry and Elizabeth Wickersham Harry. In 1769, he married Rachel Way at the Kennett Quaker Meeting in Kennett Township, Pennsylvania. In this receipt book, Harry occasionally made payments on behalf of his brothers Nathan and Evan, as well as on behalf of Jacob Way, likely a relative of his wife. There are several entries in the receipt book pertaining to schooling expenses for his sons Amos and Isaac. Thomas Harry died in Kennett Township on April 22, 1824.

Kennett Monthly Meeting, Births and Burials, 1706-1806, in U.S. Quaker Meeting Records, 1681-1935 (accessed via Ancestry.com on June 6, 2018)Information derived from the collection.