MarlowHistoricalSociety.org

[Loisanne Foster]

From Marlow Town Records, 1762 - 1848

Nicodemus Miller: Account Book, 1762 - 1765, Marlow

with Some Early Marlow Property Records

Nicodemus Miller, one of Marlow's earliest settlers, chaired the first town meetings held in Marlow. (Previous Marlow meetings had been held in Lyme, CT.) He was evidently a businessman. Marlow's earliest records at the Town Offices show his accounts. Since they give a (rum-flavored) taste of what Marlow must have been like in the 1760's, we will share typical entries. One can only imagine the difficulty with which these items were transported to Marlow, as surely the rum, molasses, sugar, and salt must have been. There were no roads, only bridle paths widened to allow the passage of an ox cart. There were no bridges at this time. These accounts may be useful in determining who was actually in Marlow in those early days. From these accounts owed, it is clear that tiny Marlow, remote from the sea, had connections to the trade routes of sea-farers. These records dispel the notion that in the old days everyone knew how to spell correctly. We will retain the original spellings. We hope that those of you who have ancestors among the Marlow colonists will enjoy reading their grocery lists.

Below the business accounts, we have some early property records. Apparently Nichodemus Miller was charged with keeping those records. Either he kept them in his account book or pages of the two books were put together in one town record.

Nichodemus Miller's Business Accounts

Lemuel Lampher [Lamphir]
. galon of molases
. galon of rumbe
. bushel of salt
. quarter [bushel?] of sugar

Elezer [Eleazer?] Beckwith
. shiling worth of rumbe
.10 pence in molases
. 5 pound sugar

Joseph Smith
. 2 quarts of rumbe
. galon of rumbe
. 5 quarts of rumbe
. a quarter of sugar

Others with similar accounts follow:
James Munsel
Nathan Huntley
Ebenezer Mack
Stephen Smith
Silas Smith
Tubbs [possibly Seth or Joseph]

Over-extension of credit is apparently nothing new. Either the creditor, Nichodemus Miller, was skating on thin ice, or Sarah Tubbs had substantial collateral. There must be a story here. Was Sarah a wealthy widow? Was her husband away during the time she ran up this account? Research will tell. Here is Sarah Tubbs' account with Nichodemus as of December, 1762. These accounts seem to be in shillings owed, or, in some cases, in pounds, shillings and pence:

3 and -?- of muslin............78
1 bushel Indian corn...........30
1 bushel of wheat..............60
1 pound of cafe.................10
B [bolt?] of plain cloth........99
1 lb. of sugar....................08
galon of molases...............30
peck of salt......................13
1 3/4 of wool....................24
pork ................................1.63 [Is that one pound, sixty-three shillings or i shilling, sixty three pence?]
galon lye..........................08
pound of cafe....................10
bushel of corn...................30
pound of sugar..................20
[repeated x 3]
pound of fat.......................04
barrel of -?-.......................08
galon of sidor.....................10
pound of shrug..................10.6 [different from "sugar," brown sugar, perhaps?]
shilings of money................30
pound of sope.....................09
pound of flower...................09
pare of shuse.......................6.6 [Is that 6 shillings, sixpence or six pounds, six shillings??]
3 pounds of shrug..............19
pound of candles.................01 [Tallow must have been cheap in Marlow early on.]

We have a long list of men who owe varying amounts for amounts of rum and molasses, mostly.
They inlcude:

Ebenezer Beeby..............3 galons rumbe.....................40 ea.
Seth Tubbs......................sugar and rumbe
........................................delivered to your mother
........................................also 2 oz. indigo and lye

Apparently Nichodemus worked as well as sold goods. We also find that people owe him for his labor, unless these should be interpreted as credit. They are, however, listed in the same column as accounts owed.

In 1763, William Beckar [Becker or possibly Beckwith?] owed him for:

.a day's work.............................20
.half a day's work......................10
.a day's work mowing...............30 [Did this include the labor of oxen or horses?]
.a day of cutting wood.............. 25

Elisher Miller
.2 galons of rumbe
Daniel Clark
.rumbe and molasses
July 1763:
Simeon Wood
.rumbe and sugar
.case of bootels.......................1.
.spice and pins........................2.
.pound of sugar
.2 unses of indigo
.5 sheets of paper
Beby
. quarter hundred of shrug [What was he planning to do with all that "shrug"?]
Nemiah Smith
. galon rumbe
John Lad
. rumbe
. one pase [?] of wool combs
. a cow hide that wade -?-........9
Asa Beckwith
. 3 quarts of rumbe
. 2 quarts of rumbe
Milse More
. rume
. molases
. bushel of salt
Stephen Smith
. rumbe
. molases
Elizer Smith
.rumbe
Stephen Gee
.rumbe
.molases
. "reckoned with me and there was due me -?- "

The following have a substantial bill for various amounts of mostly molasses and rum in 1764:
Nathan Miller
Nathan Huntley
Stephen Smith
Ebenezer Mack
Ebenezer Beckwith
Peter Huntley
. Peter also has in his account 3 pecks of salt, a case of bottles, a quarter of tea [1/4 pound?], and canmum [cinnamon?] with a note: "First pade at New London, [CT}."
Silas Smith (Zadock)
Solomon Gee
. also a bar of Sl-al -?- [or fl-al It's impossible to read.]
Richard Beckwith
..............................................................

Early Property Rights

Then in the records, there seems to be a lapse in time and the date. We seem to have records of a new order, and we are not sure how to interpret them, but they seem to be property transfers.

"Layed to Samuel Canfiled on Joseph Canfiled...."
"To John Giffin on John Beckwith - 22.88"
"To Bethuel Miller on Phineas Beckwith - 50. 82"

Does anyone have an idea about how to interpret these?
................................................................

We have a few confusing notes on property rights such as:

"Bull, John...of the rights of one hundred
Bull, John ...50 a cord
Brockway, Woolton
Brown, Edward..."
.............................

Then we seem to have a page of credit, which makes us wonder whether the recorded work above might also have been credit rather than debt.

John Tubes [Tubbs]
. cutten lougs....................3.8 [three shilling, eight pence?]
Lemuel Miller....................8
Jeams Munsel [james Muncil]
. oxen, 2 days...................5
. 3/4 of a day.....................2.7
Joseph Tubbs
. one day's work, you and 4 oxen

.......................................................................

Around page 39 of this early town record, we have again large numbers whose interpretation is still unclear. They seem to be transfers of parcels or shares of land, especially records of land transfers from the original proprietors (many of whom never came to Marlow, as far as we know) to the settlers of 1761 and later. How many acres in each share is unclear from these records. The town history speaks of a share as 50 acres, but we are not sure that this applies.

To Samuel Campel on Joseph Campel...............15.37
To Solomon Gee on Jesper [Jasper?] Peck..........8.89
To Curtis Munsel on Ebenezer Snow.................23.90
and others including:
"Huntleys on S. Ely, Jabez DeWolf, John Kirtland equal numbers on acc. on ea. 265 - 95." This seems to be the largest deal. It is surrounded by others with numbers of 8 to 65 so this stands out.

Page 136 of this first town record book helps to clarify the situation:
"Marlow, May the 3rd 1794
Shear and layout to Rufus Huntley, Isaiah Huntley, Nathan Huntley, Jr., Rusil Huntley [sic], Elisha Huntley, and Luman Huntley on the rite [right] of Samuel Ely, Jabez Dewolf, and John Kirtland, original proprietors of said Marlow, two hundred and 265 shears equal number of acars on each right with allowance for highway...beginning at the birch tree (!) near the road that leads from Stoddard to Washington near large rock by a small brook not a great way from the Jacob Rites clearing then northwest to a hemlock tree on a rock near the Ashuelot then west 30 degrees south 72 rods to a hemlock tree marked by stones by it then w a hundred rods to a stake with stones by it...." etc. (We are not making this up!)

Other large numbers are as follows:

David Howe on Joseph White..........................100.77
Nathan Huntley on Jonathan Killany [?]...........100.80
Jonathan Royce on three writes [rights?].........125.81
Samuel Giffin on 2 shears [shares?]................170.83
Whitman Jacobson on _____ Gospelman.......200.85

Surely fortunes are changing hands here.

The records go on to show land rights, but, except for a few natural markers, such as the Ashuelot River, it is impossible to translate them into boundaries in today's world. For instance, here is a partial description of Azariah Mather's lot: "...runs north to Capt. Miller's meadow called Lord's meadow then - sixty rods to a rock with a stone on it the thirty rods north to the white pine tree marked then west 20 degrees north to a hemlock, it being in the northwest corner of the meadow." It seems futile to try to interpret these lots or shares today, but, if anyone wishes to know the description of an ancestral land-holding in Marlow, we can try to accommodate the desire. (It might take a long time to get to it, but it should be doable.)

One of the surprises of the early land records (page 104) is that Marlow, although it was settled by Baptists from Lyme, CT, had glebe land. Marlow's charter of 1761 granted 80 acres to the Church of England, "a lot layed out for the Gospel Minister" and "a lot to the support of the Gospel in foreign parts." We wonder what happened to that lot.

In 1775, a lot was laid out for a school.

Stay tuned for further early town records.