Barcode number 1178215: Mayburry and Weaver Cashbook, 1818-1826

Scope and content:

Mayburry and Weaver Cashbook, 1818-1826, tracks the cash received and disbursed for the partnership and its iron interests, Etna Furnace and Union Forge (which Weaver would later rename Buffalo Forge). In each pair of facing book pages, the left page is used to record cash received, while the right page documents cash disbursed. Each entry includes the date, type of transaction, and the amount of money debited or credited.

The cashbook contains entries for Etna Furnace, Union Forge, and what is referred to as House. For both Etna Furnace and Union Forge, expenses are listed for purchases for items such as bacon, sugar, coffee; payments made for having enslaved laborers' clothes made; and paying enslaved laborers "for overwork." Many times expenses were listed for Etna Furnace and Union Forge with no reference to what was paid for, but at times more information is provided such as an entry for the forge which describes expenses paid "for hunting horse that ran away." The House transactions document such purchases as butter, eggs, vinegar, turkey, and cotton for the children.

Many entries scattered throughout the cashbook refer to the enslaved laboroers living and working at both Etna Furnace and Union Forge. One such entry for 10 January 1824 details the expenses paid for hiring enslaved workers; listed are their bond prices and the expenses they incurred on the road traveling to the furnace. The names of the enslavers are listed along with the amount paid for a year's hire. There are also several entries documenting when enslaved laborers were paid for overwork through either cash or goods [details for some of these transactions can be found in the corresponding Etna Furnace Negro Book].

In addition, located throughout the cashbook are notations for various business activities. At the back of the cashbook is an account of grain (rye, corn, wheat, and oats) stored at Jenkins's Mill for 1825 to 1826, with an account of the amounts stored at the mill and a record of the grain used at the furnaces. At the front of the cashbook is a record of shoes mended and made by I. Harris for 1824. Entries are listed chronologically as they occurred and include the number of shoes either made or mended. Also included in the front of the cashbook are detailed directions for bottling liquor... "should porter or ale be managed according to these directions it will seldom or never fail to give satisfaction." Following these instructions are a record of porter, corks, and bottles purchased."

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