Port Colborne Historical & Marine Museum Digital Collections

James Macklem Ledger- 1809 to 1816

Pages

Description

Sponsors

This item is a part of the 1812 History digitization project. This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy.

Creator

James Macklem

Media Type

Text

Item Type

Books

Description

Kept from 1809 to 1816, this brown suede-covered journal with gold lettering on the spine, provides insight into the daily lives of early Upper Canadian settlers. James Macklem (1759-1838), a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1789. By 1795, he arrived at Chippawa, on the banks of the Niagara River, and, in time, established himself as a merchant. He ran a trading business that encompassed much of the settled part of Upper Canada at the time. Macklem also had sailing vessels that often shipped cargo to the Long Point Settlement and even as far west as Fort Detroit. Macklem was known to have owned the schooner “Chippawa” that fought in the Battle of Lake Erie. The ship was eventually bought by the British government for £900 and was taken over by General Brock who used it to transport men to the Amhertsburg and Fort Detroit battles.

This particular trader’s ledger includes mainly the years 1809 to 1813 but there are additional entries as late as 1816. Many early Humberstone Township settlers have an account in this Ledger with James Macklem’s company. With much analysis into their accounts the ledger provides valuable information into their daily life. As many settlers had limited access to currency, debts were often paid by providing the goods produced on their farm. Furthermore, Macklem’s ledger reveals the price inflation that occurred during the War of 1812. From page 8 onwards the ledger also mentions approximately 30 to 40 British officers as well as goods being purchased for the Fort Erie garrison.

For more information, read “‘Scruples of Conscience’: The War of 1812 in the Sugarloaf Settlement” by Donald G. Anger, the Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum.

Notes

The word ‘To’ in the Ledger refers to the goods which are purchased by the settlers and the word ‘By’ refers to the method of payment by the settler. The numbers in the right-hand columns refer to the number of ‘pounds’, ‘shillings’, and ‘pence’ involved in each transaction with the first set of numbers referring to the amount paid by the settler and the numbers in the column on the extreme right referring to the charges for the purchases made.

The ledger Index includes many accounts of settlers and others who did not reside in Humberstone Township or the nearby areas. Photocopies have been made only for those accounts known to be in Humberstone Township or in nearby Wainfleet or Bertie Townships and these individuals are underlined in the index. These copies can be accessed upon request in the Research Room at the Port Colborne Historical and Marine Museum.

Subject(s)

Military exchanges
Military - 1812
War of 1812
Chippawa
Fort Erie
War of 1812- Domestic Life
Ledger Book

Local identifier

985.61.1

Language of Item

English

Geographic Coverage

Port Colborne

Ontario, Canada

Latitude: 42.90012 Longitude: -79.23288

Copyright Statement

Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

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