November 7, 1768 near Coldengham, New York

Monday, November 7, 1768 [250 years-ago from today]
Coldengham, New York
Store of Cadwallader Colden, Jr.

Colden Store Totals - Top Sales (by farmers to the store)

New York City had two newspapers that published every Monday... James Parker's The New-York Post Boy and Hugh Gaines' The New-York Weekly Mercury. Copies of these papers found their way up the Hudson River to New Windsor and within a week were likely read at local taverns in the area of the Colden Store.

Although no record is preserved of the daily happenings at the store after November 3, 1768, other records, including the New York City newspapers, give an indication of events that shaped the lives of the residents of the Coldengham area.

For example, on this day 250 years-ago, the Post Boy reported that the students of Harvard had united in boycotting tea. Just a month ago, a substantial British force had landed in Boston and had turned the city into a virtual 'garrison.' Their occupation of the town would lead to such unfortunate events as the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, and eventually the events at Lexington and Concord.

It was also on this day that the newly elected Provincial Assembly met in New York City for the first time. George Clinton made the trip to the city as the representative of the community near the Colden Store.  He had defeated Cadwallader Colden Jr. (owner of the store) in the recent election.

The speaker of the Assembly referred to the New York Colony in his address as being 'impoverished.' Whether the shoppers at the Colden Store felt the economic difficulties, resulting from the latest disagreements with the mother country, is unknown.

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This article is one in a series of a daily accountings of Colden Store transactions. Index to Colden Store Blogs. 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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In a prior blog the top purchases of customers of the Colden store were listed. Over the period from August 11, 1767 to November 3, 1768, Colden filled 450 pages of his Day Book with the details of over 250 clients who visited the store almost 4000 times.

Some the transactions were sales of items to the store. These 'purchases' by Colden were entered in the Day Book as credits to the sellers accounts. The top items sold to the store are listed below:

Item	Amount	Unit	# of Entries	Total £
Wheat	2957	bushel	115	876
Cash	409	pounds	135	409
Flour	257	barrel	20	393
Butter	1654	#	75	108
Flaxseed	436	bushel	114	96
Hogs	64	per	34	87
Shoes	24	pair	13	45
Corn	90	bushel	9	13

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