Account Books, Journals and Diaries 1772 ~ 1925

Did you know that AncestorsAtRest.com has online Account Books, Journals and Diaries 1772 ~ 1925

Over the years Brian has rescued original Ledger Books, Journals and Diaries from stores, schools, and individuals. These old books are a wealth of great genealogy data. The ledgers can act as a census substitute, letting you know if your ancestors were there in the years between census. They also contain the kind of personal Genealogy data that often can not be found any other way by giving you a window into the daily lives of your ancestors. It is often quite amazing what one can find in some of the books. Store owners might record the death of a customer who owes money to the store. A farmer may note the birth of a neighbor's child. You just never know what you will find.

These wonderful Ledger Books are being scanned and published on AncestorsAtRest.com. Each book will be published as a downloadable PDF file on AncestorsAtRest website so that genealogists and historians can access them freely.

Go to the Index to List of available Ledger Books

Genealogy Tip: Search Account Books, Journals & Diaries

Account Books, Journals and Diaries 1772 ~ 1925

Shoemaker's Ledger Boook

AncestorsAtRest.com has compiled a unique collection of original Ledger Books, Journals and Diaries from stores, schools, and individuals. These old books are a wealth of great genealogy data.
Over the years Brian of

The ledgers can act as a census substitute, letting you know if your ancestors were there in the years between census. They also contain the kind of personal Genealogy data that often can not be found any other way by giving you a window into the daily lives of your ancestors. It is often quite amazing what one can find in some of the books. Store owners might record the death of a customer who owes money to the store. A farmer may note the birth of a neighbor's child. You just never know what you will find.

Brian has begun a project to scan all of these wonderful Ledger Books. Each book will be published as a downloadable PDF file on AncestorsAtRest website so that genealogists and historians can access them freely.

Go to the Links to available Ledger Books listed below

• Staunton, Macoupin County Illinois 1930 ~ 1957 Court Records.
• Orono, Lagrange, Howland, Penobscot County, Maine 1923 to 1925 Store Ledger.
• Maine Store Ledger 1922-1927 PDF files available for download Index, P. 1, P. 23, P. 43, P. 63, P. 85, P. 105, P. 123, P. 215, P. 241, P. 273
• Lubec, Washington County, Maine 1894 to 1995 Store Ledger. Over 4000 entries.
• Lincoln County, Maine 1832 Samuel Hinds Ledger.
• Clear Spring, Washington County Maryland 1861 to 1874 Store Ledger. Hundreds of names from North West Maryland and West Virgina
• Salem and area Essex County, Massachusetts 1772 to 1780 Student Work Book And Store Ledger. MANY LOCAL NAMES
• Townsend Middlesex County Massachusetts 1868 General Store Ledger. OVER 3850 NAMES
• Massachusetts Boston Environs Ledger 1892-1894. PDF Files available for download Start p. 2, Start p. 20, Start p. 39, Start p. 63, Start p. 89, Start p. 109, Start p. 129, Start p. 151, Start p. 177, Start p. 200
• Wheeling, Livingston County, Missouri 1879 to 1889 Ledger Book Of Edward Moore. OVER 300 LOCAL NAMES PDF file available for download
• Fillmore Village, Andrews County, Missouri. Town Council Minutes 1900-1913 PDF file available for download
• Grafton County, New Hampshire 1841 ~ 1877 Account Book Of William Thissel.
• Rushford and area, Allegany County, New York 1868 ~ 1872 Stacy And Kyes Ledger Book. FULL INDEX ONLINE.
• Oswego, Oswego County, New York 1858 ~ 1859 Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book. PDF file available for download
• Oswego, Oswego County, New York 1875 Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book Money Owed . PDF file available for download
• Oswego, Oswego County, New York Samuel Stevenson Saw Mill Ledger Book List of Electors . PDF file available for download
• West Winfield, Herkimer County, New York 1865 ~ 1866 West Winfield Academy Cash Book. OVER 400 NAMES
• Richfield, Otsego County, New York Auction sale 1880 ~ 1890. Found in the West Winfield Academy Cash Book. OVER 200 NAMES
• Lubec, Washington County, Maine 1894 to 1995 Store Ledger. Over 4000 entries, many from New Brunswick, Canada
• Rose Bay and River Port, Lunenburg County Shoemakers Ledger Book 1897 ~ 1918
• Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio 1889 Store Ledger.
• Marietta, Washington County, Ohio 1837~1838 Store Ledger.
• Frederick, Miami County, Ohio 1869~1877 Blacksmith Ledger, Over 4500 names. Online For FREE.
• 1858 Bucks County Ledger PDF files available for download
• Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1867 to 1877 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger. Over 1000 names.
• Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania 1863 to 1870 Haag, Kline & Co Ledger. Over 300 names. PDF file available for download
• Mill Creek Township, Lebanon County, Pennsylvania 1885 to 1890 Mountain Spring Mills Ledger. Over 800 entries with names. PDF file available for download
• Elk Creek Township, Erie County 1876 to 1878 General Store Ledger. Over 4000 entries with names.
• Lower Heidelberg Township, Berks County 1874 to 1903 Farm Ledger of John W Gaul. Many Local Names.
• New Hanover Township, Montgomery County 1858 to 1904 Farm Ledger. Also includes some names from Berks County and Bucks County.
• Muncy, Lycoming County, PA 1831 to 1865 Docket Ledger of General William A Petrikin. OVER 250 NAMES.
• Lebanon County, PA 1887 Heilman Dale Creamery Milk Book.
• Hopewell Township, York County, PA 1890 Tax Collectors Book. (OVER 500 NAMES)
• Schuykill, Pennsylvania Tax Collection Ledger 1913-1922 PDF files available for download Part 1, Part 2, Miscellaneous Papers
• Ladonia, Fannin County, Texas 1908 to 1915 Jackson McFarland Store Ledger . PDF file available for download
• S. R. Turley Ledger Book, Culpeper Virginia. 1896 PDF files available for download Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5
• Wytheville, Wythe County, Virginia Court Records Ledger. ALL PAGES ONLINE
• History Of Tazewell County Virginia Book Sales Ledger. ALL PAGES ONLINE
• Clear Spring, Washington County Maryland 1861 to 1874 Store Ledger. Hundreds of names from North West Maryland and West Virgina

Where to Find Obscure Genealogy Records

How many of us search the more obvious sources, don't find what we are looking for, then are stuck not knowing where else to look for that elusive ancestor? 

Obvious sources are census records, birth records, marriage records, land records, death records, passenger lists, and newspapers. Many of these basic records are found on Ancestry.com But are there other sources we can use?

There are also naturalization records, passport records, military records, cemetery records, almshouse and poorhouse records and more. Many are found online for free, others are pay-to-view.

What Other Genealogy Records Are Out There? 

It may surprise you to know that there are many valuable genealogy records that are less well known. I'm talking about education records, medical records, institution records, tax lists and so on. But there's even another layer of overlooked records that many people miss completely. 

Here are three that I find incredibly valuable but often overlooked.


Coffin plates Find ancestors in this wonderful genealogy resource at  Ancestors at Rest in  hundreds of coffin plates listed (with photographs) 

Coffin Plate of Peter Banta died 1889

Memorial Cards & Funeral Cards Find ancestors in this wonderful genealogy resource at  Ancestors at Rest

Edith Markham Memorial Card

Ledger books, Account books, Admission Registers Ancestors at Rest has dozens of free ledger books online from N. America (mostly USA)

Ledger Book dated 1856

Don't Overlook Alternate Genealogy Records

How many of us search the more obvious sources, then are stuck not knowing where else to look for that elusive ancestor? Obvious sources are census records, birth records, marriage records, land records, death records, passenger lists, and newspapers. 

Of course there are also  naturalization records, passport records, military records, cemetery records, etc.

It may surprise you to know that there are also many valuable genealogy records that are less well known. I'm talking about education records, medical records, institution records, tax lists and so on. But there's another layer of overlooked records that many people miss completely. 

Here are three that I find incredibly valuable but often overlooked.

• Coffin plates Find ancestors in this wonderful genealogy resource at  Ancestors at Rest in  hundreds of coffin plates listed (with photographs)
• Memorial Cards & Funeral Cards Find ancestors in this wonderful genealogy resource at  Ancestors at Rest
• Ledger books, Account books, Admission Registers Ancestors at Rest has dozens of free ledger books online from N. America (mostly USA)

Store Ledger from Maine 1922-1927 ONLINE

Ancestors At Rest has added another Ledger Book online. A  Store Ledger from Maine 1922-1927 is freely available as 11 pdf files. The best news is that the first file contains an index of names.

Here's a clip from the C and D indexes. The numbers beside each name refer to the page(s) in the ledger book where the entries for that individual are found.

The next helpful item is that each of the pdf files uses a consistent naming convention - that is with the number of the page in the ledger that is the start of the pdf file.  So if we want to find Decker, Chas 6-7 (from the image at the left) we have to look for the pdf file that contains pages 6 and 7.

A quick look shows that the PDF files available for download are:  Index, P. 1, P. 23, P. 43, P. 63, P. 85, P. 105, P. 123, P. 215, P. 241, P. 273

So we can see that we want to download the file called P.1. And sure enough as we scroll to pages 6 and 7 we spot the correct name. 

It looks like the Decker family needed coffee, raisins, and other assorted household items in 1923. Butter cost the household 30 cents! 

Because there is no identifying information in this ledger as to what store it was or the precise location, I searched for several of the individuals found in the index.

Of the 6 people I searched for in the 1920 census on Ancestry.com, I found 4 of them living in Penobscot Maine.

S. R. Turley 1896 Ledger Book, Culpeper Virginia ONLINE

Great news. The S. R. Turley Ledger Book from Culpeper Virginia for the year 1896 is now online and available for download as a PDF file. There are 5 files total on the Ancestors At Rest website.

There are many names of customers in this one-of-a-kind ledger book. Each page has a customer name and the list of items purchased that year plus the cost. Some customers have more than one page of items. It's very interesting to see what food cost in 1896 and what an ancestor was buying!

S. T. Cornwell in the image on the left, bought eggs, candy, oil, flour, socks, shoes and more. One pair of shoes cost $1.15 that year.

In some cases, one page has several customer names on it, such as the page on the right. If your ancestor lived in Culpeper Virginia in 1896 there's a good chance you will find his or her name in this gem.

I had a quick look for some of these names and found several of them living in Prince William County, Virginia. It seems Mr. Turley was a very bad speller as many seem to be phonetic representations of the person's name.

For example there is a "Page Bumery" buying laundry and gloves on one page. However his real name  is Page Bumbery. We also see "Tasker Fisher" and "Georgiana Fisher" A search of the 1900 census shows a black man Tasker Fisher and his wife Georgia in Prince William County, Virginia. 

All pdf file downloads are freely available. Brian is scanning adding the ledger books he owns as quickly as he can, so be sure to keep checking on Ancestors At Rest for updates

Haag Kline Company Ledger Book, Bernville Berks County Pennsylvania

Ancestors At Rest and Olive Tree Genealogy have begun a new project to digitize unique one-of-a-kind ledger books which we own. As we digitize them we will bring them online as PDF files which can be downloaded. Each set of books will be published on the Ancestors At Rest website and announced here on the Olive Tree Genealogy blog. 

The ledger books encompass many locations with North America so you should watch this space to see if one of your ancestral places appears. We have court record books, meeting minutes, store ledgers, school roster books and much much more. The years range from the late 1790s to the mid 1900s.

Below is the first set of ledger books and an example of the type of detail you might find within. The ledger starts in November 1867 and ends in March 1877 and has over 1000 names.

1870 page from the Haag Kline Company Ledger book in Bernville, Berks County, Pennsylvania. Lists account balances due from individuals

• Haag Kline Company Bernville Berks County Pennsylvania 1863-1870 part 1.pdf
• Haag Kline Company Bernville Berks County Pennsylvania 1863-1870 part 2.pdf
• Haag Kline Company Bernville Berks County Pennsylvania 1863-1870 part 3.pdf

Brian has a write up about the Company at http://www.ancestorsatrest.com/genealogy_lookups/bernville_berks_county_pennsylvania_haag_ledger.shtml but to download the full book you must use the pdf file links above.  I will eventually put the pdf files on his site.

West Winfield Academy Cash Book 1865-1866

Five years ago my husband purchased two ledger books from Winfield, Herkimer County New York. One is a West Winfield Academy Cash Book and Store Ledger kept by John G. Robinson from 1865-1866.

It is a thin ledger, 12x8 inches in size and laid out inside in an odd format. There are several pages of entries for expenses for what appears to be a store and also for items used in the Academy.

The Academy was an early school established in 1850 in the town of West Winfield.

Then there are two pages from July 1865 with student or parents' names and monies spent or received, followed by pages for January and February 1866, then October 1865

Following the October 1865 entries are several pages of names and items they purchased at what might have been an auction.

Because of the time period (Civil War era) and the student (or parent) names I thought it might be of interest to readers of Olive Tree Genealogy blog. So I am going to transcribe the names and amounts of money noted with each.

Here is the start of the July 1865 names:

July 1. Amount invested by S S Paerd 4000.00
July 1. Amount invested by John B. Penn 500.00
July 2 Rec'd of Henry Fish in full of acct 500.00
July 6 Rec'd of David Colman 500.00
July 6 Rec'd of Robert Williams 87.50

I do not know if these are amounts paid by parents for a son's stay at the Academy or something else. If any readers are familiar with this Academy or the names mentioned, please do get in touch with me or leave a comment on this blog.