William Thissel Account Book, Grafton County, New Hampshire 1841 ~ 1877

This is a great early account book, the first entry dated December 6, 1841 and the latest entry dated 1877. The ledger belonged to William Thissel of Beverly, Massachusetts. William was born about 1819 in Massachusetts, and the inside front cover has the date 1829.

From Gazetteer of Grafton County, NH 1709-1886 -Alexandria Compiled & published by Hamilton Child 1886: Samuel Thissell, a native of Beverly, Mass., lived in that place until his death, aged seventy-nine years. He married Polly Wyatt and reared five children, viz.: Samuel, Eben, Andrew, Mary and William. The last mentioned married twice, first Sarah A. Davis, of Orford, and second Sarah T. True, of Wentworth, and has two children, Charles C. and Martha. He resides on road 31.

William was a farmer, and the first entries are about farming. Then he begins making boots and shoes, wood working and working for others. He keeps track of his accounts with others, the debits and credits and who owed for work done. When accounts were settled, that is also noted. The book contains the actual signatures of many residents of the area because when they settled their accounts both persons would sign the book. He also uses the book as a diary, "Nov. 27, 1849 Mr. Ezra Libby came into my house of one dollar per month" and talks about people who he worked for.

This interesting account book shows the reader glimpses of what life was like in the 19th Century. William covers each page with his cramped hand-writing, often writing sideways or even upside down, and enclosing little observations which he circles. These little notes include remarks like "1856 July 19th finished haying" and "Feb. 24, 1862 terrible cold below in the morning a nmuber of people froze to death" The book has 125 pages full of his ledger accounts and observations. As you go through it you will find a total of 4 empty pages but this book is full as he even writes on the inside of the covers. It appears he left four pages blank for some future use.

Interspersed with his accounts, William notes throughout the book that he has moved. He gives the following dates and locations: 1829 Beverly Mass., 1841 Wentworth, Grafton Co. NH, December 1850 Warren, April 1864 Alexandria.

William is found in the census records for the following years and locations: 1850 Census Wentworth, Grafton New Hampshire, age 31 married to Sarah. 1860 Census Warren, Grafton New Hampshire age 41 married with two children Martha A born circa 1852 in NH and Charles C. born circa 1854 in NH. 1880 Census Alexandria, Grafton New Hampshire, age 61 with wife Sarah and son Charles.

A partial list of surnames (with years) found in William Thissel's ledger book appears in the table below.

The book's pages survive only as photographed scans (not yet transcribed) — see the gallery below.