Elk Creek Township, Erie County Pennsylvania, 1876 to 1878 Store Ledger Book.

Elk Creek Township, Erie County Pennsylvania, 1876 to 1878 Store Ledger Book. This ledger book is from a general store in Elk Creek Township, Erie County Pennsylvania. The store belonged to a Welsh immigrant named Daniel Roberts. Daniel was married to Sarah Pomeroy. The Pomeroy has a long history in this part of Pennsylvania. The book covers the years 1876 to 1878 and contains the records of over 4300 transactions that took place in his store. Each entry contains the name of the person who bought goods in the store, what they bought and how much they paid.

This book is a fascinating look into the daily lives of our ancestors in the 1870s. Many people are listed quite a number of times allowing us to form a detailed picture of what they were doing over several years. Many times our ancestors are just names and dates but a book like this one helps to bring their lives into focus. When you see them buying new boots for their children or a new Sunday hat it gives a feeling of connection that you can't get from many other sources. When I read the entries I can see the men coming in and buying that pound of nails to fix the barn or the woman in her old dress picking out the fabric she wants so she can make a new one.

You can also learn interesting little facts about your ancestors if you use a little deductive reasoning. For example if a man keeps buying smoking tobacco you can probably assume he was a smoker. It should also be mentioned that in addition to the names of who bought the goods in question sometimes the book also names for whom the goods were intended. I have seen several entries with the names of children included. There are lots more.

The original scanned ledger pages are also on file; a full page-by-page transcription has not yet been done.