Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Wheat
On this final day of the week, and the final shopping day of January, 250 years ago, purchases were made on sixteen different accounts. There may have been only twelve persons in the store as one of them, Hermanus Ostrander, picked up items charged to the accounts of his brother (John), Peter Terwilliger Sr, and John McClean [McClane, McKlean, McKlain]. Alexander Sloot [Slott, Slutt] purchased items on his own account as well as on his father, John's, account.
[You can search on '1768-01-30' in the on-line database.]
This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Be sure you read the first installment for more of an introduction to the store. You should also read this article which appeared in the Journal of the Orange County Historical Society.
On this day, 250 years ago, four of the visitors had transactions involving wheat.
Mattyce Cullup (182-05) sold 8 1/2 bushels of wheat to the store which was entered as a credit in the DayBook. Hermanus Welder (183-04) sold 60 bushels of wheat to the store, also entered as a credit. Lewis Bodine's (184-01) transaction, however, was only a side note... "he sold his Wheat @6/4". No debit or credit was added to the DayBook. Mathyce Kembergh (184-02) was paid cash "on Wheat" and a 24 shilling debit was entered in the DayBook.
In the case of Bodine, we have no idea of the quantity of Wheat that was sold. Perhaps this was a pure 'produce for cash' transaction and so had no debit or credit that would be carried to his account. For accounting purposes no record was necessary. I wonder how much of the economic activity in this community was not recorded because it did not involve a "credit or debit"? His transaction is a rare one in the DayBook. In the 51 transactions involving 'Wheat' in the prior five months, only one other transaction does not have a debit or credit recorded.
The case of Kembergh is a bit more common. Of the 51 transactions involving wheat in the prior five months, eight were recorded as debits in payment for wheat yet to be delivered. Apparently the harvesting of wheat was still ongoing in the middle of the winter.
In the prior five months, the DayBook records about 410 bushels of wheat purchased by the store. As mentioned above, the DayBook does not record the quantities of wheat yet to be delivered. If the £168 paid for wheat is divided by the going rate of 6 shillings per bushel, the estimated wheat flowing through the store was 560 bushels in the prior five months.
At this time of year, and with the harshness of the winter of 1768, it is doubtful that the wheat flour mills were operating at this time. The freezing conditions would have made operation of the water wheels impossible. It is likely that the wheat grown in this area was ground close by. The DayBook records that Peter DuBois had a 'miller' and evidence exists of a mill on his property where the Tin Brook enters the Wallkill.
In November of 1767 (152-04), Colden recorded a transaction as "Wheat - ground for him." It is likely that Colden had a mill himself. Several other mills in the area are known to historians.
New York and Pennsylvania were becoming the 'bread basket' of the colonies with their large wheat production. A New York City newspaper in February 1768 reported that exports of wheat flour to the West Indies were so large that the warehouses were overflowing and the prices dropping.
The January 25, 1768 issue of the New-York Mercury listed the price of wheat at 6s 9d, just a tad more than the 6s 4d [6/4] Colden was paying. (See red circle below.)
This seems to indicate that New York City was not a market for the wheat purchased by Colden at the store. He would have been losing money unless someone shipped the wheat to New York for free. It is more likely that he milled the wheat locally and sold the flour at the 20 shilling per bushel price printed in N-Y Mercury.
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