mums092 Brown and Brothers Account Book, 1862-1873 Finding Aid Finding aid prepared by Ruth Owen Jones. Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst 2002

Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Eric Cartier. 2002-07-29 Finding aid written in English. 2005-09-23 mu88 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02-5c.xsl (sy2003-10-15). Special Collections and University Archives W.E.B. Du Bois Library University of Massachusetts Amherst Brown and Brothers Account Book, 1862-1873 Finding Aid Manuscript Number 92 Compiled by Ruth Owen Jones October 1985 Encoding funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Collection Overview Brown, Harry Brown and Brothers Account Book1862-1873 MS 92 1 folder (1.5 linear ft.) Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst Freight haulers from Dana, Massachusetts. Includes information about products that were hauled (such as palm leaf hats, mats, lumber, railroad ties, and waste) and the companies for which they were carried. Also contains information about how Brown was paid (cash, barter, manure, chopped wood, stone) and the names of many people and places with whom Brown and Brothers conducted business. English. Biographical Note

Dana was among the Western Massachusetts towns abolished in 1938 to allow the Swift River Valley to be flooded, thereby creating the Quabbin Reservoir to provide Boston with water.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

Brown and Brothers, Dana, Massachusetts, (probably the Harry Brown, livery stable owner, mentioned on page 414 of Donald Howe's Quabbin, The Lost Valley), hauled freight among the Swift River valley towns. Due to the patterns and detail revealed, this account book is most useful despite missing pages and the short time span covered, 1862-1873.

Brown and his hired drivers hauled raw and finished freight for palm leaf hat and mat manufacturers, especially N.L. Johnson of Dana, but for several smaller companies as well. They hauled lumber for furniture companies, railroad ties, waste, spokes, and stone, among other things. Brown was usually paid in cash, but also by bartering, manure, chopped wood, stone, and even a set of hinges. This livery stable hauled freight with oxen, and one- to four-horse drawn wagons.

The palm leaf business is especially clear in this book. Shaker hoods were manufactured in great numbers. The "binds" of palm leaf were apparently shipped by rail to Belchertown or Dana, then delivered by Brown from there.

The crisscrossing of the Swift River valley from central Dana and the growth of small furniture and palm leaf businesses in the 1860s is clearly seen in this book. Railroad growth, interest rates, freight rates, and prices for goods are also evident.

Some of the places and people mentioned are: Nathaniel Johnson, Dana; Jesse Fuller, contractor, Greenwich; Brown and Balcom, Dana; Brown and Conant, Dana; Hicks Gristmill, Dana; George H. Gilbert Manufacturing, Gilbertsville (Ware); William Balcom; Baldwinville, Massachusetts; West Gardner, Massachusetts; Henry Brown; Brown Livery Stable, Dana; Minor and Orcutt, Hardwick; Edwin Brown, Dana; E.R. Mitchell, Orange, Massachusetts; C.N. Johnson, E. Templeton, Massachusetts; James S. Brown; Charles Hadskin, Prescott; Hale and Co., Dana; David C. Page, sawmill; George E. Gleason, palm leaf mfgr.; Conant Brothers, Gardner, chair mfgrs.; Knowlton and Bros., Gardner, chair mfgrs.; Athol and Enfield R.R.; W.W. Phelps, Supt., R.R.; Goldingville; and John Morgan, palm leaf mfgr.

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Cite as: Brown and Brothers Account Book (MS 92). Special Collections and University Archives, W.E.B. Du Bois Library, University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Additions to the Collection

Acquired from Donald W. Howe, 1960.

Processed by Ruth Owen Jones, October 1985.

Search Terms Brown, Harry. Brown and Brothers. Freight and freightage--Massachusetts--History--Sources. Panama hat industry--Massachusetts--History--Sources. Furniture industry and trade--Massachusetts--History--Sources. Barter--Massachusetts--History--Sources. Dana (Mass. : Town)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Swift River Valley (Mass.)--Economic conditions--19th century--Sources. Quabbin Reservoir Region (Mass.)--History. Account books.