Information Sheet

 

 

R         Perry, John, 1787-1850.

197                  Daybook, 1839-1840.

                                    One volume.

 

MICROFILM

 

 

 

This is a daybook of a mercantile operation in Washington County, Missouri, attributed to John Perry, Jr.  The trade included dry goods, groceries, hardware, lumber, and blacksmithing ser­v­ices.  The Springfield Iron Furnace, the Cedar Creek Forge, Samuel T. Dunklin & Co., and Roz­ier & Desloge were among the customers.

 

John Perry, Jr., was a member of a prominent family in Washington County.  His fa­ther, John Perry, Sr., moved into the area around 1806, buying the Basil Valle property on the north side of Jefferson Street in Mine à Breton (later Potosi).  He entered the mercantile business, as his sons, John Jr. and Samuel, and a nephew, James Franklin Perry, did later.  The elder Perry en­gaged in mining to some extent, as did many of his contemporary entrepreneurs in that early mining cen­ter.  Perry mined his own lands and traded in minerals at his store in Potosi.  He used receipts from the mineral trade to buy goods, which he then sold, investing the profits in addi­tional goods and real property.  John Perry, Jr., assumed this successful business upon the death of his father in 1825.  The younger Perry likewise prospered, remain­ing in Potosi until his death.

 

This daybook has been attributed to John Perry, Jr., but it cannot be identified with him for certain.  There are no marks on the volume to indicate ownership or the place of busi­ness.  The main entry in the name of the younger John Perry has been based upon the vol­ume’s provenance through a descendant of the Perry family, the time period covered by the volume, and the names of the establishment’s patrons.

 

Entries in the volume begin on 11 February 1839 and continue through 11 June 1840.  The transactions involved domestic goods, groceries, and a wide range of building supplies and hard­ware.  Connections with Washington County’s mining industry are evident in numerous entries in­volving bar-iron and castings from the “C. C. Forge” on Cedar Creek near Caledonia, Mis­souri, and pig metal from the “Furnace,” probably the Springfield Iron Furnace south of Potosi.  Other cus­tomers included Rozier & Desloge and Samuel T. Dunklin & Company in Potosi.

 

There are many similarities between this daybook and one for 1834-1835 in the Springfield Furnace collections at the Western Historical Manuscript Collection-Columbia (#C1263).  The method of entry, handwriting, and types of business noted are very similar.  Some of the same customers are noted in both volumes.  However, the size of the daybook at­tributed to Perry is smaller than that of the books attributed to the Springfield Iron Furnace.

 

 

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