Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.
Flour
Hons Yurry Smith paid Colden for the grinding and packing of his wheat and corn flour on this day, 250 years-ago.
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| July 20, 1768 Entry for Hons Yurry Smith in the Colden DayBook. New-York Historical Society. |
The entries of this day were perhaps a record for the store...111! They included many for grinding, packing, carting, and freight of flour. Colden had a separate Mill Book, but for some reason, these transactions were recorded in the Day Book.
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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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The flour transactions reveal a recent trip to New York City by Colden. I had speculated on this in a prior blog, and it appears to be the case. Colden made a note in Smith's entry that Smith had carted his flour to 'York' and sold it himself. (see image above.) Smith had also paid Colden Cash 'at York.' It appears that Colden had made a trip to New York City in early July 1768 to sell corn and wheat flour.
The entries give us an indication of the weights and pricing of flour. Colden paid his local farmers eighteen and one-half shillings for a bushel. In New York [July 4, 1768 edition of the New-York Weekly Mercury] the 'price-current' was nineteen shillings per bushel. Colden's profit was small, but he charged for other services such as 'freight and cartage' at one and three-quarters shilling per barrel.
Colden also charged for grinding and packing which he charged by the barrel. However, he credited their accounts not by the barrel, but by different units which appeared to be 'bushels.' For example, the three barrels of Corn Flour (Cor^l) converted to 6:1:7 (bushels?). I could not find a dry measure that lined up with the system used by Colden, but it can be approximated by bushels:pecks:cups. In Colden's system there were 28 cups in a peck, and four pecks in a bushel.
The harvests in 1768 must have been good as the increased optimism was born out by large purchases at the store in the coming days.
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