Wednesday, June 6, 2018

VEAL! June 6, 1768 at the Colden Store, Coldengham, New York

Monday, June 6, 1768
Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.

Veavell?

The handwriting and spelling in the Colden DayBook can be a challenge. The styles and spellings are relative consistent for a given scribe, but there were at least three scribes.

Today, 250 years-ago, the store purchased '3/4 Veavell from Mickell Johnston for £0:6:8.' See first item below.

Colden DayBook entry of June 6, 1768 for Mickell Johnston.


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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.

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I am not a handwriting analyst, but I believe it was Colden himself who made this entry. His script is quite legible, but the item name (Veavell) is not a word recognizable to me (or to Webster or google).

One hint is the rate of '@2 1/2d.' The 'd' is the superscript above 2 1/2 that looks like an 'l' and stands for 'pence.' If that rate is applied to the total price, the number of units is calculated to be 32.  That is 32 x 2 1/2 = £0:6:8.  But the number of units is given as '3/4'?

The rate and the number of units is similar to what Colden paid for 'Veal' on other occasions.  On one occasion he bought 57# of veal @2 1/2d. On another he bought 31# of veal.

My interpretation of this entry is that Colden bought 32# of veal which was 3/4 of the calf. Other ideas are welcome.

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