Special Collections Department
William Clapp Papers
Manuscript Collection Number: 389
Accessioned: 1983
Extent: 1.5 linear feet
Content: Diaries, account books, ledgers
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: May 1999 by Anne E. Krulikowski.
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Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Introductory Note
The entire collection appears to have been the personal property of William Clapp, although a few account books record information about the finances of other family members. William Clapp lived either with or near his parents and brothers, who are mentioned almost every day in the diaries and farm registers; other relatives are also regularly mentioned in the diaries and ledgers. Some family names that appear in these volumes include Willie Clapp, George Clapp, Jason Clapp, Catharine Clapp, Rebecca Clapp, Lemuel Clapp, and Frederick Clapp. William's father died in 1860 (the funeral expenses are recorded in the ledger for family expenses) and William seems to have been completely in charge of the orchard after that time. The focus of all three types of record books--diaries, farm registers, and ledgers--is the nursery business. William's diaries and farm registers indicate that he supervised the activity of the family orchard, hired necessary workers (most of whom appear to have been hired by the job or crop), and made arrangements for paying workers, purchasing supplies, and selling the produce. The account books provide detailed information about the number of laborers necessary for various jobs in the orchard and around the property, laborer wages, and the prices for which the Clapps sold their produce. William also recorded the specific varieties of each fruit grown in the orchard; the family also purchased and maintained ornamental trees and shrubs, which were listed with their price at the time of purchase.
While William's focus was the work of the family orchard, his daily notations also included the family, social, intellectual, and cultural scope of his life. William noted in his diaries and farm journals that he was an avid reader of agricultural papers and subscribed to the New England Farmer and The Horticulturist, both of which he had bound each year and kept for reference. He kept up with current titles in horticulture. For instance, in 1848, William noted that he was reading Andrew Jackson Downing's Treastise on The Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening.
William was a young man with a wide variety of interests and activities. He often attended cultural events such as concerts, exhibits, and lectures in Boston. After attending a lecture or sermon, William usually noted the topic in his diary. In the early 1850s, William was attending French classes; periodically, his daily entry notes that he has devoted a day to his French exercises. William had great interest in the scholarly and academic world, and he and his father attended both the general and the divinity school commencements of Harvard University. Judging by the book titles William noted, he was particularly interested in history, philosophy, and theology. Unfortunately, William never wrote down his thoughts about the books he read or the lectures and concerts he attended, activities that clearly occupied an important place in his life. He, like his father, was also a great reader of contemporary newspapers and sometimes commented on national events.
William was very involved in local civic affairs. He regularly attended the town meeting, for which he usually noted the purpose in the diaries and farm registers. An 1864 announcement for an annual town meeting is tipped into one of the farm registers (F15). William was also active in overseeing public school affairs and providing for the care of the poor in the local parish.
The significance of this collection lays in the complete record of one mid-nineteenth century New England family's management of an orchard business. Together, the diaries, farm registers, and ledgers provide detailed lists of the fruit varieties grown along with the quantities raised and prices for which the produce sold. Lists of laborers and their wages provide some insight about the number of workers necessary to such a large operation. Workers represented both sexes: most of the currant pickers were women. Day-to-day recounting of the numerous tasks undertaken by the family and hired laborers to successfully maintain the orchard and farm property is quite detailed. Just how much their success depended on the uncontrollable vagaries of the weather can be found in William's careful noting of weather conditions as part of every single entry in the diaries and farm registers.
Another significant aspect of this collection lays in the interests and activities of William Clapp himself. Though William did not use his diaries to express feelings, emotions, and opinions, and though he noted his activities and current events with only brief factual statements, the record he left of his interests and activities depicts a man who combined practical business activity with intellectual and cultural interests. In many ways, William was an example of the American yeoman farmer as idealized by Thomas Jefferson: independent, enterprising, well-informed, and civic-minded. William's regular attendence at the town meeting and his conscientious notations of the topics of discussion at those meetings provide some insight into the role of the New England town meeting in the mid-nineteenth century. The participation of William and his friends in the cultural activities of nineteenth-century Boston depict a less well- known side of that cultural life. The diaries and farm registers also provide a look at the way in which an ordinary citizen busy with his own life noted and responded to national events such as elections and the battles of the Civil War.
Arrangement Note
Series Outline
I. Diaries
II. Farm Registers
III. Orchard Books (Account Books and Financial Ledgers)
Contents List
1 Series I. Diaries, 1848-1854
William Clapp's daily entries record weather conditions and focus
primarily on the many activities of the orchard and farm. He also noted
his own cultural, social, and civic activities. Most of the books in this and
the other two series have tipped in pages; almost all the loose papers are
calculations of prices or wages.
F1 May 19, 1848 - December 31, 1848
F2 January 1, 1849 - March 31, 1850
F3 April 1, 1850 - August 16, 1850
F4 August 16, 1850 - January 23, 1851
F5 January 24, 1851 - August 5, 1851
F6 August 6, 1851 - December 31, 1851
F7 January 1, 1852 - December 31, 1852
F8 January 1, 1853 - January 15, 1854
Series II. Farm Registers, 1851-1863
Generally, William used the farm registers to record the same information
that he recorded in the diaries. As the dates indicate, William appears to
have intended to keep two separate series of records. During the time the
diaries and farm registers overlapped, the diaries continued to focus on
orchard concerns, with the addition of other activities; the farm registers
contain very detailed daily information about the activities around the
nursery. Since both contained much of the same information, recording in
both books must have been burdensome, and William soon discarded the
diaries and kept on with the books he labelled "farm registers." The farm
registers were used exactly as the diaries had been earlier. The focus
remained on the business, but William's other interests and activities are
also duly noted. Possibly he decided to use the designation "farm register"
because most entries focused on the orchard; except for the brief period
from 1851-1854, there was no reason to designate the books by different
names.
F9 January 15, 1851 - October 22, 1852
F10 October 23, 1852 - April 5, 1854
F11 April 6, 1854 - July 13, 1855
F12 July 14, 1855 - August 16, 1856
F13 January 3, 1858 - March 11, 1859
F14 March 12, 1859 - January 27, 1860
F15 September 17, 1860 - December 31, 1863
Series III. Orchard Books, 1851-1884
F16 Account Book, 1843-1859
(Sales; Worker Wages)
F17 Fruit Book, 1846-1854
(Sales; Itemized Expenses; Peach Orchard; Trees Purchased)
F18 Account Book, 1846-1864
(Wages for Currant Pickers)
F19 Fruit Book, 1847-1849
(Record of Currant Sales)
2 F20 Account Book, 1849-1864
(Wages; Sales)
F21 Fruit Book, 1850-1852
(Currant Picking; Fruit Sales)
F22 Account Book, 1851-1884
(Wages)
F23 Currant Book, 1856
(Work and Wages of Currant Pickers)
F24 Account Book, 1857-1865
(Family Expenses; Orchard Receipts)
3 F25 Common Fruit Book, 1858
F26 Account Book, 1860-1868
Personal Expenses; Currant and Gooseberry Picking Records
(calling card of George S. Farwell tipped in)
F27 Account Book, 1860-1869
(Family Expenses; Sales Records)
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