mums210 Ambrose Nichols Account Book, 1809-1830 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Ken Fones-Wolf. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Amherst, MA

2002

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Cartier. 2002-11-25 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mu92 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Special Collections and University ArchivesW.E.B. Du Bois LibraryUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst Ambrose Nichols Account Book, 1809-1830 Finding Aid Manuscript Number 210 Compiled by Ken Fones-Wolf September 1988 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Nichols, Ambrose, 1760-1833 Ambrose Nichols Account Book 1809-1830 MS 210 1 volume (0.25 linear ft.) Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst A cartwright from Cohasset, Massachusetts. Account book includes the types of activities and services Ambrose Nichols performed (working on wagons, wheels, sleds and carts, mending roofs, plowing, raking) and a few entries recording the means by which debts were paid. English. Biographical Note

Ambrose Nichols (1760-1833) was the seventh of thirteen children born to Noah and Elizabeth Nichols of Cohasset, Massachusetts. Ambrose, whose father was a farmer, learned the trade of cartwright, following in the footsteps of his older brother Noah, who was both a wheelwright and house carpenter. Ambrose married the former Sarah DeCarteret in 1790, and together they had eight children.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The account book, roughly 75 pages, details the prices paid Ambrose Nichols for various kinds of work. Although he principally worked on wagons, wheels, sleds and carts, he also mended roofs, worked on houses, plowed, raked, and did odd jobs for local farmers. The accounts begin when Nichols was 49 years old and run until he reached 70, just three years before his death. They are arranged in a haphazard manner in the book, with only a few entries giving the means by which the debts were paid.

Many of the names in the accounts overlap with the farmers and mariners for whom the Cohasset farmer Job Cushing (MS 207) also did work.

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Ambrose Nichols Account Book (MS 210). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Acquired from Charles Apfelbaum, 1987.

Processed by Ken Fones-Wolf, September 1988.

Search Terms Nichols, Ambrose, 1760-1833. Carriage and wagon making--Massachusetts--Cohasset--History--19th century--Sources. Carriage industry--Massachusetts--Cohasset--Employees--History--19th century--Sources. Wheelwrights--Massachusetts--Cohasset--History--19th century--Sources. Agricultural wages--Massachusetts--Cohasset--History--19thcentury--Sources. Cohasset (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Cohasset (Mass.)--History--19th century--Biography--Sources. Account books.