This excerpt from the daybook of John Morgan shows the accounts of a custom shoemaker. It is included as a contrast to the accounts mentioned above. Morgan makes and mends shoes and boots for specific customers and charges accordingly. The two types of shoe makers co-existed in communities in the early 19th century.
“
Beverly, January 1, 1824
John Morgan’s Day Book1
First
| X | Cr. Josiah Lovett to soling2 Augustus boots | 0.44 |
| X | Cr. Eben Smith to Balance due on settlement3 | 3.34 |
| X | Cr. Daniel Cross tot soling pair of boos | 0.28 |
| X | Cr. Benj. Pierce to Balance due on a settlement | 1.25 |
| X | Cr. Henry Sewards to soling & welting4 your boots | 1.37 |
| X | Cr. Abraham Coldwell to soling & welting4 your boots | 0.42 |
| X | Cr. Abraham Lord to Balance due on settlement | 0.80 |
| X | Cr. Abraham Coldwell to soling 2 prs. shoes at 50 & 30 ct. | 1.12 |
| X | Cr. Elliot Hoodberry to pair bootees | 4.75 |
| X | Cr. Samuel Ives to making your boots | 2.00 |
| X | Cr. Joanna Stove to your son’s calfskin shoes | 0.20 |
| X | Cr. Jesse Sheldon to mending your boots | 0.20 |
| X | Cr. Ezra Foster to mending your boots | 0.13 |
| X | Cr. Benjamin Bunker to soling your boots | 0.75 |
| X | 0.62 | |
| X | 2.33 | |
| X | 0.50 | |
| X | 0.58 | |
| X | 0.37 | |
| X | 0.10 | |
| X | 0.87 |
1 Day book = book of dealings with money
2 “soling” = “soling” putting on a sole or bottom of a shoe, could be finishing a shoe where someone else has sewn the upper part, or could be re-soling an old shoe
3 “Balance due on settlement” = settling up the money owed to Mr. Morgan
4 “Welting” – a narrow strip of leather put between the sole and the upper part of the shoe to reinforce the seam
5 “Bootees” – short boots
Citation
John Morgan’s Day Book (1824), pg. 1. Beverly Historical Society, Beverly, MA. *
*now Historic Beverly
