Genealogy: Beyond the BMD: Ledgers & Account Books

Many businesses these days use computers and maybe a program like QuickBooks to record their daily transactions and keep track of inventory.

When my parents started their antique business in the 60's they had my Mom's Aunt, an accountant, do the books. I could not believe the size of those ledgers! When open it took up almost the whole width of the table. Each item bought and sold was painstakingly recorded by hand into the ledger. Ledgers come in all shapes and sizes.

Mercantile Ledger at Missisquoi Museum

Your ancestors dealt with their local businesses from day to day and possibly had their names written in ledgers. Merchants, funeral homes, apothecaries, doctors, etc all may have kept ledgers that survived. Perhaps your ancestor did work for a company or the town?

Libraries or university and museum archives sometimes have local business account ledgers. My husband's great grandfather owned a General Store in Central, Minnesota, near the Rainy River. He probably kept a ledger like one of those listed at World Cat Library. Some accounting books may also be found on websites like eBay.

Relevant Links

City of Kingston receipts and expenditures 1849 (Ontario)

Receipts and disbursements for the county of Frontenac for the year 1900

Store Ledger - possible Hillsborough NC

Journal of a general store, in or near Merrimack, NH 1851

Donald S Erdman, Persian Gulf Finance Account Book 1948

Account book of a country storekeeper in the 18th century at Poughkeepsie 1911

Detailed accounts and general abstract of the affairs of the Desjardins Canal Co, Dundas Ontario 1831-1848

Portland Ferry Company Ledger Book 1870

The New England Company of 1649 and John Eliot: 1650-1686

Ledger of Amos Pratt, cotton mill in Easton, Mass 1852-1859

Ledger or account book kept by Elijah Paine: early Williamsburg, Mass physician, tavern-keeper and farmer 1785-1798