Guide to the Easton family accounts and business records, 1835-1860, 1871-1883

Redwood Library and Athenaeum
50 Bellevue Avenue
Newport, RI 02840
Tel: (401) 847-0292
Fax: (401) 841-5680
email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org

Published in 2015

Collection Overview

Title:	Easton family accounts and business records
Date range:	1835-1860, 1871-1883
Creator:	Easton family
Extent:	0.2 linear feet (1 loose volume, 2 folders)
Abstract:	Account books and receipts compiled by various members of the Easton family of Newport, Rhode Island, including James C. Easton (1803-1861), William H. Easton (1834-1910) and George W. T. Tilley (1838-1898) of William H. Easton & Co.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Redwood Library and Athenaeum
Collection number:	RLC.Ms.031

Scope & content

This collection consists of business records compiled by various members of the Easton family of Newport, Rhode Island. The first item is an account book that belonged to James C. Easton, which detail his daily transactions as a busy Newport merchant and shows the demand for his goods. There is also a list of “new books,” with prices, towards the end of the account book. It is unclear whether they were for sale or part of a lending library. The second item (in folder 1) includes a small account book and receipts from the pork packing firm of William H. Easton & Co. The account book was maintained by George W. T. Tilley and contains recipes for curing hams and making bologna. Lastly, receipts made out to Easton & Tilley from 1871-1872 are also found within this collection. It is not apparent which Easton or Tilley family member these receipts concern.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Easton, James C. (James Coggeshall), 1803-1861
• Easton, William H. (William Henry), 1934-1910
• Tilley, George W. T. (George Washington Tew), 1838-1898

Subject Organizations

• Easton and Tilley.
• William H. Easton & Co.

Subject Topics

• Building trades--Rhode Island--Newport--19th century
• Commerce--Rhode Island--Newport--19th century
• Grocery trade--Rhode Island--Newport--19th century
• Meat industry--Rhode Island--Newport--19th century
• Pork industry and trade--Rhode Island--Newport--19th century
• Shoemakers--Rhode Island--Newport--19th century
• Smoked meat--Formulas, receipts, etc.--19th century

Geographical Names

• Newport (R.I.)--Commerce

Document Types

• Account books
• Receipts (financial records)

Subject Topics

• Business
• Rhode Island/Local Interest

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in chronological order.

Biographical note

James Coggeshall Easton (1803-1861) was the son of Mary Ann “Nancy” Spooner and Captain James Coggeshall Easton (1772-1851) of Newport, Rhode Island. James C. Easton worked in Newport as a merchant and craftsmen. The core of his business was making and mending shoes and boots, but that was supplemented with a range of goods for sale including various vegetables, butter, oil, leather, seaweed, and sand. He also provided services such as plowing, carting, mending clothes, and the leasing of horses and carts for day labor. He married Eliza Franklin (1804-1871) and had the following children: William Henry (1834-1910), Ann Frances (1835-1928), Elizabeth C. (1838-1919) and Albert I. (1851-1893). James C. Easton died on February 18, 1861, and is buried at Island Cemetery in Newport. William H. Easton (1834-1910) was the son of James C. and Eliza Easton and also worked in Newport. He worked as a pork packer and sausage manufacturer. He opened a firm with George W. T. Tilley (1838-1898), named William H. Easton & Company, which was located on West Broadway in Newport. Tilley married Elizabeth C. Easton (1838-1919), the brother of William H., and was a member of the firm until his sudden death in 1898.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	Access is open to members and researchers at the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Use of the materials:	This collection is owned by the Redwood Library and Athenaeum. Permission to publish materials must be obtained in writing from the Special Collections Librarian of the Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Alternate form:	James C. Easton account book of Newport, R.I. also available digitally at Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/accountbookofnew01east).
Preferred citation:	Easton family accounts and business records, RLC.Ms.031, Redwood Library and Athenaeum.
Contact information:	Redwood Library and Athenaeum 50 Bellevue Avenue Newport, RI 02840 Tel: (401) 847-0292 Fax: (401) 841-5680 email: redwood@redwoodlibrary.org

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Chase Kimball, 1989 Oct 27 B.
Processing information:	Prior to processing in 2013, this collection was classified as mCL65N/Ea79 with the title, “[Ledger] James C. Easton – June 1, 1835-Nov 9, 1860.” Also, the ledger was conserved at an unknown date and digitized in 2013 by the John Carter Brown Library as part of the Rhode Island History Project.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Phoebe Bean and Elizabeth Delmage.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2015-04-23
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Location/Existence of copies:	James C. Easton account book of Newport, R.I. also available digitally at Internet Archive (https://archive.org/details/accountbookofnew01east).
Bibliography:	Shumacher, Alan T. Representative men and old families of Rhode Island; genealogical records and historical sketches of prominent and representative citizens and of many of the old families. Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1908.

Inventory

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Volume 1

James C. Easton account book

1835 Jan 1-1860 Nov 19

Vault Manuscripts Box 1, Folder 1

William H. Easton & Co. account book and receipts

1871-1883

Vault Manuscripts Box 1, Folder 2

Easton & Tilley receipts

1871-1872