Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794 [Account of payments made by Henry Knox]

Order a pdf of this item here.

Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC02437.08541 Author/Creator: Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794 Place Written: s.l. Type: Autograph document Date: 24 May 1780-5 June 1781 Pagination: 18 p. : Height: 16.7 cm, Width: 11.5 cm Order a Copy

First 4 pages summarizes money received and expended from 10 January 1778 to 20 March 1780. The detailed account begins on 24 May 1780. The accounts from 1778-1780 mostly includes items used in daily life: various types of cloth, sugar, oil, ribbons, olives, etc. The total came to $20,348. Rest of the account gives expenses from May 1780 to June 1781. Includes payments for various goods and services: having a wagon painted, purchase of milk, sugar, coffee, and tea, money given to his wife, expenses for various journeys, etc. Includes a notation of $3,000 borrowed from General Greene on 21 August 1780 -- the money was paid back on 1 September. On 8 October 1780 Knox paid Cato [likely Cato Freeman] $40 in wages. Cato was often sent to buy many of the items mentioned in this account. Notes that Knox paid back Lord Stirling $2,440 of old emission money on 5 June 1781. At end of account book, Shaw notes that almost all the entries were in new emission dollars. He mentions that $40 in new emission is equal to $1 in old emission. Is bound with black thread, although some of the pages have become separated. The thread is starting to fray.

Shaw, Samuel, 1754-1794
Knox, Henry, 1750-1806

Citation Guidelines for Online Resources