A Big Sale of Cheese
by George Holcomb • Transcribed by Betty McClave • Edited by Alex Brooks
Wednesday, August 27, 1845: A man from Canaan called by the name of Blynn. He bargained for my cheese at five dol and 25 cts and agreed to come to my house and weigh it in a week from today and take it away and pay me for it and also take all I make hereafter this fall. Today a hard shower.
Friday: Today I am quite unwell with a coramorbos (dysentery) and I called up and paid Mrs. Johnson six cts for some pills for my wife and self and I borrowed Mr. Maxon’s wrench and Mr. Russel’s wrench and put an ox tongue into my wagon.
Saturday: I took the oxen and wagon and went to the west part of Pittsfield to Mr. Francis and got five hundred brick and got trusted for them, price two dollars, and I agreed to pay in cider and I delivered the brick to our new school house to Zebulon Simmons and he agreed to pay me four dollars for the same.
Monday we dug and drew stone in our young orchard on the hill and gathered apples for market,
Tuesday: I went to Pittsfield with my one horse wagon and carried ten bushel of apples and sold them for fifty and forty cts per. Today my two sons harrowed on the fallow.
Wednesday: Today I partly cleared out the cider mill house for making cider and helped James M. Glass raise a wagon house. Today Blynn and Lockwood came and I weighed to them 12 hundred and 26 pounds of cheese at five dollars and 25 cts per hundred and I sold them 13 cheese boxes at 14 cts each and they paid me for the whole, which was sixty six dol 18 cts and do agree to take what cheese I have to spare at the same price.
Thursday: Today I went up onto Hancock Mountain and sowed two half bushels of rye on Geo Kirk land, that my son Geo P bargained on shares. This afternoon I went to raising a barn to Philander Carpenters. It rained and we could not finish raising.
Sunday: Today I paid Randal A Brown one dollar for painting Chapel.
Monday: We gathered apples and made cider and on this evening I rode over to Henry Platt’s and paid him two dollars and sixty cents which is in full of demands.
Tuesday: I went to Pittsfield and carried Mr. Francis one barrel of cider towards paying him for the five hundred brick I got on the thirtieth day of August.