Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Tow Cloth
John Waugh sold 17 yards of tow cloth to the Colden Store on this day, 250 years-ago. James Bayard purchased four and one-half yards of tow cloth on the same day, presumably from the yardage just sold to the store by Waugh. 'Tow' was the short fibers left over from the 'hackling' process which yielded the long fine flax fibers used in linen manufacture. The yarn made from tow was woven into a coarse cloth used for tents, coats, gun rags, and many other items.
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| 18th Century Tow Cloth. Image Courtesy of CarolesCountry.com |
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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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There are eight mentions of 'Tow Cloth' in the DayBook transcriptions (with about 80% transcribed so far). Five were purchases by the store ('Cr?'=Yes) and three were sales to store customers. Store purchases totalled 68 yards while sales were only 10 1/2 yards. Colden must have had another outlet for the cloth, perhaps in Newburgh or New York City. Colden's offer for tow cloth was consistently two shillings per yard and he resold it with a nine pence per yard mark-up or 37.5%.
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| Tow Cloth transactions from Colden Store DayBook. |
My hunch is that there were many more tow cloth transactions occurring in the community not captured in the DayBook. Most farmers grew flax and looms were not uncommon. The majority of yeomen probably made enough cloth for their own use and to sell or trade to a few neighbors. They did not need a middleman.
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