REUBEN BROWN ACCOUNT BOOKS, 1794-[1816]
Reuben Brown House, Lexington Road
VAULT A25, BROWN, UNIT 1
EXTENT: 4 volumes, 1.2 linear feet.
ORGANIZATION: 4 volumes: 1794-1798; 1794-1802[3]; 1798-1803; [1802]-[1816].
BIOGRAPHY: Reuben Brown was born in Sudbury, Massachusetts in 1748 to Jotham and Hepzibah Brown and died in Concord in 1832. Having learned the saddler’s trade from his father, he came to Concord in 1770 and established a saddling business. He married Mary How of Sudbury in 1773 and they made their home in the house presently at 77 Lexington Road. Among their children were two sons named Reuben, one born and died in February 1781, the second born in December 1781 and died in 1854. Brown served as a lieutenant during the Revolution and was contracted to outfit several companies (an undertaking that cost him $1,000 out of pocket). On April 19th, 1775, he was sent to obtain information about British activity and then to circulate news of the gunfire at Lexington. A member of the Social Circle of Concord, Reuben Brown was a successful businessman and left a sizable estate to his heirs.
SCOPE AND CONTENT:Collection consists of four volumes of business accounts, covering the years 1794 to [1816]: 1794-1798 (cover title: Day book); 1794-1802 (cover title: Day book); 1798-1803; [1802]-[1816] (leaves at the beginning and end of the volume torn out, the date span consequently tentative).
SOURCE OF ACQUISITION: 1794-1798 and 1794-1802, Concord Antiquarian Society deposit, 1971; 1794-1798 and 1794-1802 volumes, Concord Antiquarian Society, gift, 1974.
ASSOCIATED MATERIALS: Reuben Brown estate papers (1717-1858) in the Nathan Brooks Papers, Concord Free Public Library.
NOTES / COMMENTS:1794-1798 and 1798-1803 volumes available on microfilm for use in the Library; these volumes were cleaned, deacidfied, mended, and housed in phase boxes by NEDCC, November 1986; 1794-1802 volume: CAS B-1842.2; 1794-1798 volume: CAS B-1843.2.
PROCESSING NOTE: Finding aid completed, C. Manoli-Skocay, February 2006.
Item Listing
Volume I: 1794-1798 (cover title: Day book) contains accounts, including products and services provided, names and towns of customers.
Volume II: 1794-1802 (cover title: Day book) contains accounts, including products and services provided, names and towns of customers; manuscript notes on front endpapers.
Volume III: 1798-1803 contains accounts, including products and services provided, names and towns of customers.
Volume IV: [1802]-[1816] (leaves at the beginning and end of the volume torn out, the date span consequently tentative), contains accounts, including products and services provided, names and towns of customers.
c2006 Concord Free Public Library, Concord, Mass.
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Mounted 3rd February 2006. rcwh.