Our knowledge of William Chandler (3512) is based largely on the papers he left us and on records found in Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio. Many of the papers are in his own hand. His personal ledger contains an earliest dated entry of April 7, 1789. That and other entries suggest he worked as a carpenter, a furniture maker, and a fabricator of spinning wheel parts. The ledger also suggests he may have been involved in trade as a buyer and seller of goods. It appears he is resident in eastern Pennsylvania at the time, although no specific mentions of his residence are contained in early ledger entries. We do know from a 1791 letter addressed to him that he either traveled to or moved to Washington County in western Pennsylvania by that date. He was not yet married.
His ledger also contains a collection of “recipes” for curing common medical conditions of the time. It anticipates a concern for health that continues through family letters for the next 80 years. Communications often begin by addressing the current health of the writer and relatives, and are spiced with reports of deaths, accidents, and illnesses.
Because of its length, the ledger will be published as several entries over the next several days.
No comments:
Post a Comment