Samuel Sewall journal

Journal kept by Samuel Sewall, who assumed his deceased father-in-law John Hull's retail and commission business in Boston, dated from 1685 to 1689. The volume contains general store accounts; invoices of goods sent and return cargo on voyages to Newfoundland, the West Indies, England, Europe, Virginia, and Connecticut; and expenses related to shipping such as outfitting vessels, cooperage, and maritime labor. Sewall traded lumber, oil, fish, iron, wheat, rum, fishing hooks and lines, dry goods, molasses, tobacco, salt, sugar, indigo, shoes, and occasionally Quaker texts. There are several “Bermuda cedar” accounts showing proceeds from cedar sold in Boston and London. Among the names in the volume are Sewall’s cousin Stephen Sewall of Salem, minister John Cotton (1640-1699), John Usher (1642-1722), treasurer of the Dominion of New England, shop keepers Thomas Savage and Christian Herridge, Edward Doty & Company, and John Morton of Plymouth. Sewall often accepted payment in barter: Captain Penn Townsend (1651-1727) was credited by French salt in July 1686; Bryant (or Brian) Maduket traded mackerel and labor for cash and cod hooks in September 1687; and in April 1688, sail maker John Painter bought a musket, for which he was to pay in “work or canvas.” The following month, he was credited for rigging and cod lines, and Sewall noted that the gun was returned to balance Painter’s account, “he being but a kind of a knave.” Mary Avery frequently bartered fabric she produced, such as 20 yards of black serge and a few yards of bunting in May 1687. In June 1687 there is an account for “the French contribution” involving transport of Indian corn; and in October 1688, an account with Massachusetts Bay Province related to storage and transport of shoes from Salem. In November 1688, several entries concern work at River House, formerly owned by Captain Daniel Henchman (1623-1685), such as carpentry, masonry, and hire of an enslaved man to clear the cellar. There are also several entries in late 1688 for a salary paid to Elizabeth Lane for unspecified services. Additionally included are accounts with John Fairweather (or Fayerweather) concerning fulling mill disbursements in March 1688/9.