What can an old store ledger tell us about the history of Chatham County? Plenty, if we pay attention. Back in 1974, local historian Wade Hadley obtained a copy of a ledger covering part of 1851 and 1852 for the general store located at Saint Lawrence Post Office in Chatham. The day book is believed to have belonged to Henry C. Luther, who was postmaster at Saint Lawrence. The book is in the collection of the Southern Historical Collection at UNC-CH. The image of Hickory Mountain Township from the 1870 Ramsey map, shows the location.
Hadley wrote a sixteen-page paper that gives a glimpse into western Chatham in 1851-1852. Saint Lawrence was an important crossroads community before the Civil War --located approximately four miles east of what is now Siler City--between the old and present routes of highway 64. Earlier it was called McCarroll, for Dr. James McCarroll, who operated an ordinary (tavern/inn) there. McCarroll died in 1777 and was buried near his home. His widow, Elizabeth, later married Patrick St. Lawrence--for whom the area was likely renamed.
By 1851-52, settlers had been in the area for around ninety years and some farms were in the hands of second or third generation Chathamites. Hadley notes that the items they were buying at the general store "give an indication of how far they had advanced from the state of near self sufficiency characteristic of the earliest settlers in the backcountry of Chatham County."
Hadley's paper lists all of the items purchased at the store during the period covered by the ledger, along with the unit price, total amount sold, and number of sales. He notes that tallow candles were the main source of household illumination; firearms were muzzle loading; looms and spinning wheels were used in many homes. Calico, homespun, indigo, coffee, molasses, rice, sugar, and chewing tobacco were staples.
Fashions of the date "penetrated the backwoods of Chatham as evidenced by the purchase of a 'California hat' on April 10, 1851 for $2.50 by Mr. Samuel B. Perry." Artificial flowers, ribbons, lace, and neck ribbons were purchased. Luxuries such as broadcloth, silk bonnets, silk handkerchiefs, and French brandy were purchased by a few families. On rare occasions, fresh lemons and coconuts were available.
The list includes several items that we were unfamiliar with and had to look up: asafetida, coperas, saleratus. See the comments below for what we found.
The day book records the names of 159 customers. Hadley lists the thirty-five regular customers who made purchases on ten or more occasions during the period covered by the ledger. Surnames include Alston, Brooks, Caviness, Cotten, Crutchfield, Dorsett, Dowdy, Evans, Hackney, Hall, Headen, Hutton, Johnson, Kirkman, Lineberry, Marsh, Perry, Rogers, Self, Teague, Temples, and Webster.
Wade Hadley's paper is now available on the Chatham County Historical Association website: https://chathamhistory.org/resources/Documents/PDFs/ResearchArticles/GeneralStoreatSaintLawrencePostOffice.pdf
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