SLEIGH! January 20, 1768 at the Colden Store, Coldengham, New York

Wednesday January 20, 1768
Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.

Colden buys a Sleigh

250 years ago today was relatively quiet at the store. One of the six customers, Ambross Jones, had many transactions. Among other things he sold the store a sleigh, settled his old account, and opened a new account.

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.

The list below shows the store visitors. Holtzlander, Felter, and Crist were all from the German settlement and may have come together.

The list below shows the 17 items transacted by Ambross Jones.

The most interesting items is the sleigh he sold to Colden. Sleighs were not recreational. They were essential to work and trade during winter months. As I describe in my book, Yeoman of the Revolution p. 170...

"Winter was actually a good time of year to convey wood, salt, grain, hay, and other supplies. This was because pulling a sleigh on snow required less effort than pulling a wagon through mud. This may not make sense to people of the twenty-first century, who are accustomed to smooth roads, but in 1778 the roads were not much more than cleared pathways through the woods. In the winter, the normally bumpy and muddy roads became smooth sheets of packed snow. Even the frozen rivers became alternate routes if they were more direct."

In the winter of 1778 (ten years after this date) the sleigh of Jonathan Campbell (see prior blog) along with a team of horses was "drafted" into the service of Washington's army. The sleigh carried ammunition, clothing, and salt from the storehouses in Newburgh to Valley Forge.

Sleigh accidents were also common. The week prior, a sleigh had fallen through the ice on the Hudson River as it attempted to cross at Wappingers Falls not too far from the Colden Store. Several men drowned.

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