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1843 Antique Receipt Rhoda Gould P.S. Harrington Sheeting Soap Shoes Paper Bill
Approximately 4.75\" by 7.75\" see pics for condition
Early 19th-Century Handwritten Town Meeting Request: Selling the Town\'s Cranberries on the Great Pond
This is an original handwritten request asking that a town appoint a committee to sell the cranberries growing on town-owned land around the \"great Pond,\" with the money going to the town treasury. It is an early record of New England\'s cranberry trade from before commercial bog cultivation took hold, when wild berries on common land were treated as a town resource and harvesting rights were sold for public revenue.
Transcription (front):
Request
That the town will Chose a Committee to Sell the Cranberrys [on the Town Land] on the borders of the great Pond [the Current year] (in behalf of the Town) and remit the proceeds to the town Treasurer
W S
The bracketed phrases are insertions above the line. \"On the Town Land\" is in ink, and \"the Current year\" is a later amendment in pencil, along with a pencil check mark. These edits suggest the article was reviewed and revised before it went on the town warrant.
Reverse: The back has a docketed name in a decorative hand that appears to read \"Warren Shaw,\" which matches the \"W S\" initials on the front. A shorter docket notation also appears at the top.
Details:
- Era: Early 1800s, judging by the handwriting and paper
- Region: New England, most likely southeastern Massachusetts or Cape Cod cranberry country
- Medium: Iron-gall ink, with pencil additions, on period paper
