73. Watson, Annals 1:175. According to George Vaux IX, John was the grandson of John and Rebecca Head, son of their daughter Mary and Jeremiah Warder. He was born on February 24, 1751 and died on May 7, 1828. John went to England "because of his strong monarchist sympathies." George Vaux [IX] 9/30/1919 letter to Reuben Haines, Vaux Papers.
74. On 7/27/26, Edwd [Edward] Horn was credited £10-0-0, "To Cash paid to my Wife;" on, 8/15/46, Mickel Branin [Michael Brannon?] was debited £0-10-0, "To Cash by his order paid To my son John;" and, in 5 mo. 1752, "Thomas Pars plasterer," was debited £0-6-9, when "may [May] paid him in full." This put the Heads square with Pars, who had been issued credits, in 1749-1750, for hundreds of yards of "plastern Larthwork [lathwork]" and "Brikwork." Head Account Book, pp. 72 right [Horn]; 132 left and right [Pars], 136 left [Branin]. It is fortunate to have even these few references to the role of women in early Philadelphia shopkeeping, as it has been noted that: "[m]any shopkeepers who worked with their husbands...never appear in the historical record....Many [female] shopkeepers left a marker only in death, when notices for the settlement of their estates and sale of their shop wares appeared in newspapers." Patricia Cleary, "'She Will Be in the Shop:' Women's Sphere of Trade in Eighteenth-century Philadelphia and New York," Pennsylvania Magazine, 119:186.
75. Joseph Daves [Davis], who supplied the Head family with "shoues" and "Bootes," was debited £0-8-2, on 12/21/44, "To work don by my Daughter Sary and som stuff." Head Account Book, p. 136 left.
76. John Head, Jr. "dd [delivered] a hatt" to James Estugh [Estaugh] in 1746, at £0-15-0; Jeremiah Warder delivered another to Thomas Pars, on 9/14/46, at £1-10-0; and Benjamin Hooton delivered seven hats, one to Richard Blakham, on 2/19/44, at £1-10-0, and six more, in deliveries of two each, to Harman Yarks, on 3/17/28 at £2-0-0, 4/4/48, at £2-18-0, and on 5/21/48, at £2-0-0. Joseph Daves [Davis], who that same date had been credited, "By a payer shoues for Susanah and Clogs mending," was debited £0-9-6, on 12/20/41, "To a Bonit [bonnet] dd by Hannah." Head Account Book, pp. 35 [Blakham]; 51 left [Estugh], 125 left [Pars], 136 left [Daves], 137 left [Yarks]. James Estaugh was probably the same person who was listed with Head as one of the property owners living on "the North end" of Philadelphia opposing the location of the Powder House. Estugh may have been the James Estaugh who signed with John Head and others on the "Petition of a Number of Inhabt of Philad about the Powder House," January 18, 1745, Society Misc. Coll., Box 4a, f. 2, HSP. He may have been the son of the James Estaugh (1676-1742) and Elizabeth Haddon (1682-1762), who built a large brick house in what is now Haddonfield, New Jersey, in 1713. Thomas Smith Hopkins and Walter Scott Cox, Colonial Furniture of West New Jersey (Haddonfield, NJ: The Historical Society of Haddonfield, 1936), p. 7; Albert Cook Myers, Hannah Logan's Courtship (Philadelphia: Ferris and Leach, 1904), p. 118 n. 1.
77. John Head, Jr. became one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia. Much of his fortune appears to have been earned prior to the Revolution, as a transporter of dry goods between Philadelphia and England. His vessel sailed twice a year to London. Doerflinger, Vigorous Spirit, pp. 85, 88. The "Account Book [of] The Estate of John Head Jr. with the Executors Henry Drinker: Jeremi[ah] Warden and Wm. Sansom beginning 2 mo: 11th: 1792," shows the merchant to have left an estate of over £53,000. His "Household Furniture: plate etc." was valued at £690.5.7. Inside the front cover of the estate account book, George Vaux X further burnished his forebear's image by noting: "Tradition relates that this amount was in specie -- probably silver. It is known that John Head always kept large amounts of specie on hand in his iron chest...[:] £25,937." Vaux converted this amount into dollars, at $2 2/3 per £, to equal $69,165 in specie. This estate account book was added, on April 7, 1992, by George Vaux X, to the Vaux Papers. The August 13, 1767, marriage certificate of John Scattergood and Elizabeth Head, daughter of John Head, Jr., survives in the Downs Collection, Winterthur. It lists names of many individuals or their relatives shown in John Head, Sr.'s account book. Another daughter of John Jr.'s, Susannah, married (1788) William Sansom (1763-1840), his former partner and one of his executors. William Sansom is best known as a Quaker real estate developer and investor. Elizabeth Forman Crane, ed., The Diary of Elizabeth Drinker: the Life Cycle of an Eighteenth-Century Woman (Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1994), p. 334.
78. Warder later founded Jeremiah Warder and Sons, a prominent firm of merchants engaged in the triangular trade among Philadelphia, the West Indies and England. Doerflinger, Vigorous Spirit, pp. 118-119. Beginning in 1759, Warder with John Head, Jr., and sometimes others, jointly advertised freight or passage on ships to London. E.g., Pennsylvania Gazette, August 23, 1759, June 26, 1760, September 18, 1760, March 10, 1763, June 16, 1763, November 24, 1763, September 27, 1764.
79. Samuel was identified as a son, and listed as an executor and beneficiary, in John Head's Will. In a 1755 document, still in private hands, Samuel Head, described therein as a "Carpenter" and a son of "John Head, Joiner," vouches for the disposition of his father's estate by the latter's 1754 will. Letter from Trina Vaux McCauley to Stiefel, February 18, 2000, p. 1. Stiefel Papers. Also in 1755, "Samuel Head of [Philadelphia]...Carpenter" entered into an agreement with Joshua Maddox to lease ground with a workshop on the East side of Third Street. Agreement, November 14, 1755, Wallace Papers, vol. 5, p. 15, HSP.
80. Frederick B. Tolles, Meeting House and Counting House: the Quaker Merchants of Colonial Philadelphia 1682-1763 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1948), p. 116.
81. Doerflinger, Vigorous Spirit, p. 61.
82. John L. Cotter, Daniel G. Roberts and Michael Parrington, The Buried Past: An Archaeological History of Philadelphia (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 40.
83. Gary B. Nash, The Urban Crucible: Social Change, Political Consciousness, and the Origins of the American Revolution (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1979), p. 121, cited by Beckerdite, "An Identity Crisis," p. 244.
84. Focusing on a period later in the century, Doerflinger commented: "Successful artisans also gained experience that was transferable into wholesaling. As independent businessmen they often kept a set of books and were continually making deals with suppliers and customers that took account of current supply and demand for their service." Doerflinger, Vigorous Spirit, p. 51.
85. Ironmaster William Branson, on 11/2/20, was debited £1-1-9, "To 3 Cord of Wood and Carten [carting, i.e., hauling];"cabinetmaker Thomas Maul [Maule], on 1/16/44, was debited, "To - 15 foot of mehoganey;" carpenter Joseph Thornhill, on 1/12/42, was debited £0-18-4, "To - 146 foot of pine Scantlen [scantling];" and, on 5/6/42, £0-18-4, to another "88 foot;" brickmaker John Coats, on 8/25/35, was debited £0-19-0, "To - 152 foot of oke scantlen;" Head Account Book, pp. 70 left [Coats],91 left [Maul], 120 left [Thornhill]. Hickory was deemed the best wood for fuel, with white and black oak second. Kalm, Travels, 1:92-93. Hickory, because of its strength and flexibility, was later to be used in spindles of Windsor chairs. A rare early use is in the slats of a slat-back armchair [figs. 21, 21a].
86. Head Account Book, passim. For a dictionary of these and other fabrics, see Florence M. Montgomery, Textiles in America 1650-1870 (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1984), pp. 141-377. Much of what was shipped from Scotland and Ireland to Philadelphia from 1723-1747 consisted of linen. Kalm, Travels, 1:52. At least two of Head's fabric suppliers, Ebeneser Larg [Ebenezer Large] and Charls [Charles] Read, were themselves supplied by James Logan. Head Account Book, pp. 38 [Read], 56 right [Larg]; Logan Account Book, p. 349 [Read, Large]. Garleck and osenbirk were particularly popular. In 1720 alone, Logan bought and sold £210-1-1 1/4 of "Garlix," and £66-0-2 of "Ozenbrigs." Logan Ledger, pp. 51, 52. Shopkeeper Charles Read was among those supplying Head with osenbirk. Head Account Book, p. 38; "Minutes of the Common Council," p. 124 [admitting Read, a "Shop keep," as a freeman on May 13, 1717]. Head also got fabric from Isaac Norris, Jr., who remained in the mercantile business until 1743. Head Account Book, p. 50 right; Myers, Hannah Logan's Courtship, p. 131 n. 2. The "Woosted Wool" and other fabric came from Nicholas Dowdnay [Doudney]. Head Account Book, p. 69 right; "Minutes of the Common Council," p. 123 [admitting Doudney, a "Wool Comber," as a freeman in May 1717]. Giving some indication as to how these fabrics might be used is the dress of Thomas Godfrey's "English Servant Maid, named Elizabeth Barber," who had run off in "a yellow and red striped worsted homespun Gown, ozenbrigs Apron, muslin Pinners, silk Handkerchief, blue quilted Petticoat, blue Stockings and black Shoes."Pennsylvania Gazette, May 19, 1737.
87. Cresson's memoranda of information from George Vaux [VIII], in Cresson/Stewardson, November 30, 1874 letter, p. 3, HSP, Cresson Collection.
88. Pennsylvania Gazette, November 19, 1747. The Church was probably Christ Church, on Second Street, between Market and Arch Streets. But John Head, Jr. also appears to have maintained a property on Arch Street, perhaps one of his father's, as house carpenter Thomas Savery charged him £7-13-8 for "Shingling a house in Arch Street repairing and Dormer Frames." Thomas Savery Account Book, 1781-1782, Winterthur, Downs Collection, p. 26.
89. Head Account Book, p. 77 left. Warder described himself as a "hatter" in his advertisement seeking a runaway servant. Pennsylvania Gazette, January 8, 1751.
90. Head Account Book, p. 48 left. Hooton was described as a "hatter" in his advertisement of 1760. Pennsylvania Gazette, February 14, 1760.
91. This John Warder, the namesake of Jeremiah's son, was a cousin to Jeremiah Warder's grandfather, Willoughby Warder, Sr. Dorothee Hughes Carousso, "Esther King of Philadelphia and Bucks Counties and her Bowyer, Lynn and Elfreth Children," Genealogies of Pennnsylvania Families, vol. 2, Hi-So, Pennsylvania Genealogies # 1, p. 143 n. 90, citing Will of Willoughby Warder, Sr., Philadelphia Wills 1725-340.
92. Miller, Warder Family, p. 2.
93. Doerflinger, Vigorous Spirit, p. 148. In this respect, Jeremiah may have gone a step further up the supply chain than his mentor, John Warder, who appears to have acquired his beaver pelts from James Logan. Logan debited John Warder £5-5-0, on 6/26/1717, "to Acco[un]t of Beaver for 30 at 3/6." James Logan Account Book, 1712-1720, p. 227, HSP. Logan did a considerable business in "Peltry and Furs," many of which were "Indian dredt [dressed]." E.g., Logan Account Book, pp. 301, 311, 313; Logan Ledger, pp. 135 left and right, 176 left and right. Huge quantities of furs came to Logan via "Jame Le Tort Indian Trader," whose account Logan credited a total of £754-17-3 1/2 by 10/3/26. Logan Ledger, p. 167 right. Logan also supplied "Beaver skins" and other fur to Warder, debiting him £8-4-6, on 4/14/20. In return, Logan received cash, other goods, and "hatts," including a "felt hatt." Logan Ledger, pp. 95 left and right, 151 left and right. Logan also sold beaver to John Warder's competitors, "Hatter[s]" Daniel Durborough, Samuel Hisner, and Nicholas Roach. Logan Ledger, pp. 30 left, 150 left.
94. Head Account Book, p. 98 left. Lest the erroneous impression be left that Head's shop was not into selling fancy goods before Warder's arrival, reference is made to the "11 Silk Handikers [handkerchiefs]" which Head debited to Thomas Gilpin, on 10/7/22, at £1-16-4. Head Account Book, p. 19.
95. Head Account Book, p. 37 [Loyd], 66 left [Spafard].
96. Head Account Book, pp. 77 left, 137 left. Ruffled shirts were by no means a new style. A servant of New Castle, Delaware shopkeeper Thomas Smith was wearing an "old ruffel'd Shirt" when he ran off. Pennsylvania Gazette, September 26, 1732.
97. Miller, Warder Family, p. 2.
98. Head, who kept his large family well-shod, paid for shoes for Samuel from cordwainer John Richarson [Richardson], on 6/19/27; and from Joseph Daves on 2/16/41 and 7/19/41, each priced at £0-7-0. Samuel also got "a payer Bootes" from Daves, on 9/23/41, priced at £1-6-0. In 9 mo. 1743, John Green was credited "By a Coat for John maken - £0-10-0/ and a Jacot [jacket] for Samuel - £0-6-0." Head Account Book, pp. 72 right [Green], 87 right [Richarson], 136 right [Daves]; "Minutes of the Common Council, p. 129 ["John Richardson, Cordwainer" was admitted as a freeman on May 27, 1717].
99. Kalm, Travels, 1:34-35, 114. Many credit entries were made to Coates family members for brick supplied to Head. Head Account Book, pp. 48 right [Daniel Cotes], 70 right [William Coats], 76 right [John Cotes, Thomas Cotes Junor], 111 right [John Coats]; "Minutes of the Common Council," pp. 131, 133 ["Wm Coates, Brickmaker" and "John Coates, Brickmaker," admitted freemen on May 27, 1717]. Numerous credit entries also appear in the accounts of other Head customers for brick delivered by the Coateses, Cox and others. Head Account Book, passim. One is noteworthy. Some 12,000 bricks were delivered by James Stoops [Stoopes], during 1747, and credited to Benjamin Hooton, Head's son-in-law. Head Account Book, p. 48 right. Stoopes made bricks for the construction of the State House, according to Hamilton's original bills, reviewed by Watson but now lost. Watson, Annals 1:396; Edward M. Riley, "The Independence Hall Group," Historic Philadelphia From the Founding Until the Early Nineteenth Century, issued as Volume 43, part 1 of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society (1953), p. 16, n. 64. Head debited only a few bricks to other accounts: 100 bricks to Owan [Owen] Carpenter, on 8/10/37; and 15,750 to Benjamin Hooton, between 4/18/48-5/18/48. Head Account Book, pp. 123 left [Carpenter], 138 left [Hooton].
100. Head Account Book, p. 70 left. John Coats and Edmund Woolley were two of five individuals designated to take in contributions of money, goods or labor, "towards finishing the Charity School and House of publick Worship begun" in 1740. Pennsylvania Gazette, June 11, 1741.
101. Head Account Book, p. 13; Hornor, Blue Book, p. 5; Building, p. 300. Woolley was an early, but not a charter member of the Carpenter's Company. The Carpenters' Company (Philadelphia: The Carpenters' Company, 1925), p. 5. The names of some of Head's other clients for building materials, including Thomas Shomaker [Shoemaker] and Joseph Thornhill, appear as charter members. Head Account Book, pp. 120 [Thornhill], 123 [Shomaker]. Although a joiner himself, Woolley bought furniture from Head. These included cheaper items, a "pin[e] oval Table" and a "pine Chest," both of which Woolley may have used in his business. They also included Head's most expensive: a £10-0-0 "Chest of drawers and Table Charytrewood," on 5/23/23; and, on 6/23/23, a £5-0-0 "Clockcas of Char Tree wood," together with a £15-0-0 "Clock dd [delivered] by Peeter Streetch [Peter Stretch]. Head Account Book, p. 13; Hornor, Blue Book, p. 5 [Woolley was a joiner in 1716].
102. Head recorded that the 28 bushels he had sold Thomas Canan [Cannon], on 3/11/26, at £1-13-0, "was deliverd out of ye Siler at Sundre Times and ye Siler cleared of it The 21st 8 mo 1726." Head Account Book, p. 65 left.
103. Kalm, Travels, 1:35. The lime pits created a problem, however. Around 1739 or thereabouts, "[s]anitary measures occupied the immediate public attention...an unsuccessful attempt was made to compel the removal of the slaughter-houses, tan-yards, lime-pits, and skinner's [sic] yards, the offal of which polluted the dock, on the margin of which they were placed." Franklin was to satirize the situation, "defending" the "sweetness and cleanliness" of the tanner's trade and the "stink from the pits" as a "sweet smell." Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1:208-209, 209 n. 1.
104. Head's first debit for such sale was to Martha Truman, on 11/11/30, at £1-2-9, "To 39 sash Lights made by Banjamin Clark." Head Account Book, p. 112 left. These were probably part of the miscellaneous aggregate credit of £8-12-8, entered in Clark's account that same date, "By his account Brought In." Head Account Book, p. 112 right. Other sashlight sales were to Joseph Thornhill, on 12/10/42, at £1-13-0, "To - 57 sash Glas - 8 by 10 att d/7 pr;" to John Thornhill, on 1/15/43, at £2-2-0, "To - 6 dosen of Sash Glas Lighs 8 by 10 at s/7 pr, and on 3/13/43, at £2-9-0, "To - 7 dosen dito at s/7 pr dosen;" and to Thomas Maul [Maule], on 2/18/45, at £0-9-4, "To - 16 sashlights." Head Account Book, pp. 91 left, [Maul], 120 left [Joseph Thornhill], 135 left [John Thornhill]. Cf. Thomas Chalkley's advertisement for "Sash Windows of the best Crown Glass, ready Painted Glaz'd and Hung, with the choicest Lines and Pully's just fitt to put into Buildings," American Weekly Mercury (Philadelphia), February 23-March 4, 1725, cited in Prime, Arts and Crafts, p. 292.
105. See the discussion of tools bought and sold by Head in the section describing the workings of his shop.
106. Samuel Head advertisement, Pennsylvania Gazette, August 7, 1760.
107. Warder was also charged £0-5-0, "To - 30 foot of Scantlen - 6 by 4," on the same date, which may afford some idea of how the stable was constructed." Head Account Book, p. 77 left.
108. According to the combination account book and daybook for carpenter Joseph Webb, which survives at Winterthur, Webb charged out Samuel Head by the day. On 5/0/45, Webb debited Aquillah Jones £20-0-0, "To building a two Story fram:d house;" and £2-5-0, "To 10 Days work pr [by] Samuel head." On 5/22/45, Webb charged himself out at £0-5-0 to Thomas James, "To 1 Days Work pr myself on ye hill covering ye kitchen." But, Webb charged James only £0-4-6, "To 1 Days work per Samuel head," indicating that Samuel was working for Webb as an experienced workman, but in a subsidiary role. Ledger of Joseph Webb, Downs Collection, Index no. 2158, pp. 4 left [James], 12 left [Jones]. The Webb Ledger contains entries by account name for 1744-1755 and, starting at p. 35, daybook entries for 1751-54. Webb's name may have also survived on his work. "Webb" is inscribed on the back of paneling which Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. McFalls saved from a house being demolished in what is now Upper Darby, which bore a "1732" date stone, now unaccounted for. Although Joseph McFalls could not recall the name of the family, for whom the house was built, he advised that it was occupied by a Colonel Benjamin Brannan (sometimes spelled "Brannon") later in the century, and was known as the "Colonel Brannan House." The "Webb" paneling is well-designed and executed, not surprising for a house with a date stone. Thère Fiechter has observed that "date stones are artifacts of the wealthy." Thère Fiechter, "Date Stones as an Indicator of Building Periods in Chester County, Pennsylvania" (MA Thesis, University of Delaware, 1999).
109. Head Account Book, p. 136 right.
110. Head Account Book, p. 90 left.
111. Thomas Brown, on 7/14/43, at £3-0-0, and clockmaker John Hood, on 7/29/43, at £4-0-0, bought Head's last two recorded clockcases. Head Account Book, pp. 74 left [Hood], 92 left [Brown].
112. "[C]lock-case freezes" were among the goods advertised by him in 1755. Pennsylvania Gazette, August 14, 1755.
113. Maule married Susanna Hogg, on December 18, 1744, in Philadelphia. FamilySearch.com, International Genealogical Index-North America.
114. Pennsylvania Gazette, April 17, 1746 (advertisement dated April 17, 1745); March 22, 1748, May 11, 1749, July 27, 1749, November 9, 1749 [foregoing all by Maule], September 2, 1756 [Head, Jr.]. "Joiners brass furniture" was also an expression used to mean the hardware for mounting on joiners' work. Execution advertisement by Nicholas Scull, Sheriff, Pennsylvania Gazette, July 16, 1747. The "Parcel of Joiners furniture" listed in the inventory of joiner Joseph Hall, above his tools and parcels of mahogany, walnut and poplar boards, probably referred to the hardware for use on furniture. Philadelphia Wills, 1761-3.
115. Head Account Book, p. 106 left.
116. See Head's earlier and firmer handwriting to that in a cash debit to George Rill. Head Account Book, p. 54 left. Head's final illness was alluded to in the opening lines of his will, where he was described as "being indisposed as to Health but of Sound Mind and memory." Philadelphia Wills 1754-136.
117. Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1:211.
118. Cf., the 1743 Claypoole ball and claw foot, Philadelphia high chest of drawers, Worldly Goods, checklist #39; a "Pillar and Claw Table" and "an old Pillar and Claw Mahogy. Table, " mentioned by Philadelphia cabinetmakers Joseph Hall and Henry Rigby, on January 17, 1746, Hornor, Blue Book, p. 95; and a "Pillar and Claw Tea Table" made by joiner Thomas Gant in 1748, Hornor, Blue Book, p. 143.
119. Head Account Book, p. 90 left. These entries will be discussed with greater specificity in the section on hardware.
120. Head Account Book, p. 138 left. Some of the material sold to Hooton may have been utilized in work done for him by Webb. Webb built and then altered Hooton's stable in 1749, and did alterations to Hooton's shop, in 1751. Webb Ledger, p. 6 left.
121. Another explanation for the sale of the drawer hardware may be that it was out of style and Head was disposing of it through Maule. Maule was later to advertise the sale of such goods. Maule advertisement, Pennsylvania Gazette, August 14, 1755.
122. That same day, Sewer also charged £0-14-6, for "Layen 1100 of Brik;" and £0-4-0, for "paven ye alle[y] - 8 yards." Head Account Book, p. 118a right. Others were also credited for doing brickwork for Head. Head Account Book, pp. 55 right [Charls Hansly], 57 right [John Karr], 98 right [Joseph Townsend], 105 right [Cristhofer Thompson], 118 a right [William Vallecot], 119 right [Thomas Carrall], 132 right [Thomas Pars], 135 right [Joseph Marshall].
123. Memoranda of information from George Vaux VIII, in letter of Charles C. Cresson to Thomas Stewardson, November 30, 1874, p. 3, Cresson Collection, HSP.
124. John Head's Will. See also the advertisement of Mary Pound's executor, describing her "old Building" and lot being "situate on the North Side of Mulberry-street, called Arch-street..., bounded North by a Lot of Ground late of John Head deceased, East by Ground late of John Head aforesaid, South by Mulberry-street, and West by a Shop and Ground of David Chambers, Stone-cutter...." Pennsylvania Gazette, Philadelphia, July 8, 1762. The need to have the contiguous Third Street property may have been the result of either Head's expanding business or family. Neighbor Hugh Hughes was admitted a freeman, styled as a "carpenter," on May 6, 1717. "Minutes of the Common Council," p. 123.
125. John Head's Will. In 1728, Head had acquired a lot in Third Street. Presumably, it was the one given to Martha or sold to the Thornhills. Edward Peters Release to John Head, March 26, 1728, Gratz Collection, HSP, Case 14, Box 37.
126. By the will, Samuel was to get the 90-foot wide lot next to Jeremiah Warder. Adjacent lots of 100 feet and 110 feet in width were to go, respectively, to daughters Martha Lawrence and Hannah Hooton. Only the remainder of the Frankford Road property, including "all the buildings and Improvements," was to go to Mary Warder. By a codicil, signed September 19, 1754, all of the Frankford Road property went to Mary. John Head's Will.
127. The earliest record of Head paying ground rent to Steel on his Mulberry Street property is a £42-0-0 credit to James Steel, on 1/1/27, "Cr By SIX years Ground Rent Du ye 1/st of ye 1/st month one Thousand seven hundard and Twenty six seven." Thereafter, on 7/29/42, Head credited Steel £112-8-8, after deducting for some stone and paving work, "To a years Ground rent which is seven pound that he promisd to aLou me Towards payen for the Ston in the front of the Lot In Mulbary Street that I rented of him and regulaten the Street Before The Said Lot." The offset probably related, in part, to the £0-17-0, charged Head by Thomas Radman "To paveing ye guter and Regulation of it." Head Account Book, p. 29 [undated]. (The streets in Head's neighborhood had been undergoing transformation, which may have led to his own paving work. In April, 1719, an ordinance had been passed by the Common Council, for the paving of streets. In April, 1721, the arch at Mulberry and Front Streets was torn down and the rubble removed. Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1:200-201.) On 1/1/42, Head also credited Steel a further £105-0-0, "the first mo - the first day By fifteen years Ground rent due this day att £7 - pr year."Head Account Book, pp. 10, 103 right. James Steel was agent for the Proprietor, John Penn. Beatrice Garvan, "30. The State House," Philadelphia: Three Centuries, p. 42. While not so stated in Head's book, Steel may have been collecting Head's ground rent on behalf of Penn, rather than for himself. Head also credited ground rent to two others: James Cooper, on 8/7/23, at £5-0-0; and Ralf [Ralph] Hoy, on 6/10/28, at £7-5-0, "By Ground rent paid by James Cooper." Head Account Book, pp. 36 [Cooper], 89 right [Hoy].
128. Head collected ground rent from John Roberds, unspecified rent from John Campbell, and rent for houses from John Tannant, John Redman, John Green, and the Estate of John Lamb. Head Account Book, pp. 67 left left [Redman], 72 left [Green], 73 left and 113 left [Roberds], 82 left [Esteat of John Lamb], 99 left [Campbell], 116 left [Tannant]. But something came up which required Head, on 8/20/27, to credit Roberds £0-6-0, "By ye use of his house one month." Perhaps work at Head's own house required that he and his family temporarily vacate. Charl Hansly had been doing some priming a few months earlier, and may still have been painting. Head Account Book , p. 55 right.
129. Head Account Book, p. 46. Another Irishman, "a plaisterer by trade" was advertised for sale as a servant some years later. Pennsylvania Gazette, May 24, 1750. The only other persons which Head described by national origin are "Ladwik Sipel the Dutch Loksmith," and "a duchman from Iermantown [Germantown]" who delivered "gallons of linsit [linseed] Ioyl [oil]," credited to Jeremiah Warder. Head Account Book, pp. 77 right [Warder], 82 left [Sipel]. Also, perhaps to distinguish his own perceived urbanity, Head credited Sary [Sarah] Griskam £0-4-0, on 4/5/22, "By Sundres dd to a Co[u]ntry Woman." Head Account Book, p. 130 right.
130. He bought, on 6/19/21, "300 2 foots" from Nathanal [Nathaniel] Zane, and "1000 Shingles 3 foots" from William Hains [Haines?]; and, on 10/13/21, another "800 Shingles" from Hains Head Account Book, p. 26. Other Zanes, Isaac and William, were to be among the charter members of the Carpenter's Company in 1724. Carpenter's Company, p. 5-6.
131. Kalm, Travels, 1:35-36.
132. Head Account Book., p. 32.
133. John Head Will; Hornor, Blue Book, p. 192.
134. Head Account Book, p. 28. Another plasterer hired was Barnibas Talbot, who charged £3-8-8, on 9/10/23, "for plasting Work and Larth [lath] and Divers others Things." Head Account Book, p. 12 [Talbert]. Talbot was admitted a freeman on April 20, 1717, on payment of £0-15-6. "Minutes of the Common Council," p. 118.
135. Rakestraw charged £0-3-0, on 3/24/23. Head Account Book, p. 45. Watson notes that "as late as 1754, it may be seen in the Gazette, that William Rakestraw then advertises himself as living 'in the uppermost house in Water Street, near Vine Street,' and there keeping his board yard." Watson, Annals 1:154. Rakestraw was described as a "Carter" when admitted a freeman on May 20, 1717. "Minutes of the Common Council," p. 126.
136. Head credited "600 Shingles" more from Hains, on 6/22/23. Head Account Book, p. 26. More were bought from Charls [Charles] Read. Head Account Book, p. 38. Read advertisment, American Weekly Mercury, 4/28/20, reproduced in facsimile in Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art, Colonial Craftsmen, p. 5, no. 22 [italics in original]. What was left over may have been sold to Susanah Prest [Susannah Priest?], who was debited a shilling, "To : 20 : 3 foot Shingles," on 8/26/23. Head Account Book, p. 27.
137. "To : a Louance for halpen To Shingelen ye Bak part of ye house when we agreed To Do ye Work for ye house Edmond Woolley was to allow for ye work yt was Done when He Came." Head Account Book, p. 13.
138. "Joseph Cros And Edward Warner mesured ye Carpenters Work of on[e] Tennement of our Hous And The aCount [account] They Brought In Was: Thirty five Squar And : Twenty five foot at Eightteen Shillenes a sqaur." Head Account Book, p. 14. The "Tennement" may have been an addition to Head's house. In today's terminology, Woolley was the general contractor, whereas Warner and Cross appear to have functioned as supervising architects.
139. Head charged him £0-8-3, on 1/26/24, "To ye parrtti fance Be Twin [party fence between] His Lot and my [mine];" and £0-14-0, on 1/28/24, "To ye fance Betwin Chansler [Chancellor] and him." Brown also rented "Warter for : 8 months" from Head, at £0-4-0. Head Account Book, p. 57 left. "Chansler" may have been the William Chanceler [Chancellor] who bought and sold "Sacken Bottoms [sacking bottoms]" with Head. Head Account Book, pp. 57 left and right. William Chancellor was a sailmaker and an important member of Governor Sir William Keith's inner circle. Horle, Lawmaking, pp. 581, 588 n. 130. He also made the new £13-10-0 flag, which the Governor presented to the Common Council in the Spring of 1727, to be flown on the flagstaff above Society Hill. Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1:204. His daughter Elizabeth advertised for sale "THREE Negro Men Sail Makers" after his death. Pennsylvania Gazette, May 5, 1743.
140. On 2/22/24, Charls [Charles] Hansly was credited by Head £2-14-3, for 217 yards of "Brik Work" at a cost of three pence per yard; and £4-9-4, for 178 yards and 7 feet of "plasteren Larth Work." Head Account Book, p. 55 right. On 11/2/24, 142 "Sash Lights" were billed from Edward Bradle [Bradley], at £5-18-4, based on a rate of ten pence "pr. Light." Head Account Book, p. 78 right. On 3/21/25, John Nicholas was credited £5-10-0, "To: - 166: Sash Lits maken." Head Account Book, p. 59 right.
141. Head credited John Nicholas £1-4-0 for that job, on 4/19/25. Nicholas was to be credited the same amount, on 8/27/29, apparently for another pair, "By ye Work of - 2 payer Banches done by Baker." On 4/7/31, Nicholas also got £0-3-6 credit, "By 3/4 days work by his man." This was an unusual entry, as the charge was for so large a fraction of a day, but not for the whole day. Head Account Book, p. 59 right.
142. Watson, Annals, p. 211.
143. Head Account Book, pp. 11 [Talbert], 15 [Boolen], 49 right [Poultis], 56 right [Cordry], 62 right [Powel], 104 right [Rhoads]. Powell advertised "chambers for pumps." Leibundguth, "Furniture-making," p. 72, citing Pennsylvania Gazette, August 7, 1755. Talbot was probably using the water in connection with bricklaying, as that same date Head debited him to a "Br[ic]k Layers Troval [trowel], at £0-2-6. Head Account Book, p. 11. Samuel Rhoads was a "Carpenter." Pennsylvania Gazette, September 6, 1750. So was John Nicholas. Pennsylvania Gazette, November 29, 1750. However, as previously mentioned, such professional labels can prove misleading. Quaker merchant Thomas Wharton preferred to style himself a "cooper" long after he had achieved prosperity by other means. Doerflinger, Vigorous Spirit, p. 61.
144. Head Account Book, p. 88 right; Whitfield J. Bell, Jr., Patriot Improvers: Biographical Sketches of the American Philosophical Society (Philadelphia: APS, 1997), pp. 62-67. Godfrey otherwise charged by the square. Thus, on 3/12/26, Godfrey was credited £3-0-6, "By sixty-six squares done for James Steel of glase - 8 by 10." Confirming that Godfrey did the work himself is the corresponding debit, in double-entry symmetry, to Steel's account, "To Work done by Thomas Godfrey Sixty-six Squeares of Glas," at the same amount and on the same date. Head Account Book, pp. 10 [Steel debit], 88 right [Gotfrey]. Thus, Head made no profit. It was simply a way of effectuating a barter transaction. In finding an outlet for Godfrey's glazing, Head could help work off his huge ground rent credit with Steel, and simultaneously sell Godfrey "a Chari Tree Chest of Drawers and a Table," on 6/27/26, at £9-10-0, at little current cash outlay to himself. While it appears that Godfrey had recorded in his own account book various additional charges to Head over time, he and Head didn't settle their accounts until some ten years later. On 12/17/36, Head credited Godfrey £5-11-6, "By Sundres omited as By his account Brought in," and only £0-1-6, "To Cash paid him In full." Head Account Book, pp. 88 left and right.
145. Leonard W. Labaree, ed., The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1967), p. 127.
146. Pennsylvania Gazette, October 30, 1740. In 1744, Godfrey became an original member of APS. Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1:233-234.
147. Pennsylvania Gazette, December 19, 1749.
148. Head considered disposing of the shed later that year, but appears to have changed his mind. He recorded, on 12/25/26, in John Roberds's account "Sold him ye shad in ye yard," but put down no price and then struck through the entry. Head Account Book, p. 65 left [Canan], 73 left [Roberds].
149. Head Account Book, pp. 105 right [Thompson], 112 right [Rakstraw].
150. Head Account Book, p. 55 right.
151. Kalm, Travels, 1:84-85.
152. Head Account Book, p. 97 right.
153. Coats charged £1-2-6, on 6/1/27, "By five days work and four his man at s/2 d/6 pr." Head Account Book, p. 102 right.
154. "By Thirty four Squar of carpenters work mesuerd and SIX foot By Joseh Cros and Edward Worner att Eighteen Shillings a Squar." Head Account Book, pp. 14 [Wooley], 32 [Worner].
155. Head Account Book, p. 113 right.
156. Kalm considered "labour...so dear," in 1748, at "eighteen pence to three shillings and upwards" for a day's work by a man. Kalm, Travels, 1:124. Unlike carpenter Joseph Webb with respect to Samuel Head's rate, Thompson's daily charge for his son was the same as for himself, attesting to his son's experience -- or to his father's shrewdness. On 1/23/28, Thompson charged £0-15-0, "By - 2 days work himself and nagro;" £0-7-6, for "one [day's work by] his son and nagro;" and £0-16-0 for the hearth and chimney work. Head Account Book, pp. 105 right. Benjamin Clark charged himself out for unspecified work, on 1/11/28 and 1/23/28, at £0-5-0 per day. Head Account Book, p. 112 right. Head doesn't indicate whether Thompson's "nagro" was a slave or freeman. Several years later, "A Likely young Negro Fellow, by Trade a Bricklayer and Plaisterer," was advertised for sale. Pennsylvania Gazette, January 29, 1740. Black slaves had first been brought to the Delaware Valley in the first half of the 17th century by the Dutch. By 1750, their number has been estimated at a thousand. Cotter, The Buried Past, p. 40.
157. On 1/28/28, Hansly was credited £4-12-0, "By one Hundard and Eightty five yards and seven foot of Larth Work at d/6 pr yar;" and £2-14-3, for "217 yards of Brik Work at d/3 pr." Head Account Book, p. 55 right.
158. On 5/19/28, Sewer charged £1-5-4, "By SIX parch and a d/3 of one parch of Stone att four shillings pr parch;" £2-0-0, "By paven the front of our four houses agreed for;" £0-4-0, for "paven ye alle - 8 yards;" and £0-14-6, for "Layen 1100 of Brik." Head Account Book, p. 118a right.
159. Kalm, Travels, 1: 301.
160. "By floreen [flooring] - Eight Squar and a 1/2 att s/6 pr squar," cost Head £2-11-0, on 7/20/28. Rakestraw may have also supplied "Three Sash Windows" for that project, his last specifically recorded by Head until 1739. They were eventually credited to Rakestraw's account, on 1/2/38, at £0-18-0, with the notation "omited 1738 1 mo. - 2 By Three Sash Window frames." Head Account Book, p. 112 right.
161. Kalm, Travels, 1:47. Thompson charged £4-5-0, on 10/28/28, and Radman £2-10-0. Head Account Book, pp. 105 right [Thompson], 134 right [Radman]. "Thomas Redman, bricklayer" was deceased by April 21, 1748, when Penelope Redman, his Administratrix, advertised his property for sale. Pennsylvania Gazette, April 21, 1748. Redman was to dig another, shallower well later on at Head's Frankford Road property.
162. Head Account Book, pp. 88 right [Bates], 105 right [Thompson], 116 right [Kellay].
163. "1300 of Larth as By his account" cost £0-19-6. Head Account Book, p. 125 right. What appears to be Pearse's bill, or "account," survives as a loose paper in the front of Head's account book. "Thomas Pearse, Plaisterer" was admitted a freeman on May 20, 1717. "Minutes of the Common Council," p. 126.
164. Harman charged £4-12-3, on 6/2/29, "by Twenty Dayes Work and a 1/2 att s/4 d/6 pr day as appear by day Book." Head Account Book, pp. 89 right [Arman], 98 right [Townsend]; "Minutes of the Common Council," p. 126 ["Jos: Townsend, Carpenter" was admitted as a freeman on May 20, 1717].
165. Head Account Book, pp. 55 right [Hansly], 89 right [Walten], 105 right [Thompson].
166. Thompson was credited £0-6-0, "By 480 Brik Laid by Thomas Redman." Head Account Book, p. 105 right. On 10/6/32, Pearse was credited £3-2-1 1/2, By - 106 yards plasteren Larth work and 5 foot;" and £4-9-7, for "268 yards and 8 foot of Brik work." Head Account Book, p. 125 right [Pars].
167. A July, 1730, carving bill of Anthony Wilkinson survives. He charged £4-4-0 to Captain Bignell [Bicknell] for a "6 fut long" lion figurehead, at fourteen shillings a foot, for the ship Tryall. The Tryall was jointly owned by Samuel Powel, Jr. and Clement Plumstead. Powel Family Business Papers, 54.83.10, Winterthur, Downs Collection. "Anthony and Brian Wilkinson and the like were indicated as carvers, but their handiwork so far as is known was confined to architectural details, ships, barges, and tombstones; yet these men conceivably could have turned their attention to furniture." Hornor, Blue Book, p. 48. "MASON Work done by Anthony Wilkinson, Ship Carver, in Water Street" was advertised as "to be done of the best marble." Pennsylvania Gazette, May 21, 1741. "Brian Wilkinson and Son" advertised their "Marble Stone cutting business, in all its branches, " as including "chimney pieces of all kinds." Pennsylvania Packet, December 19, 1774, cited in Prime, Arts and Crafts, p. 311. The Head entry also predates by more than a decade a 1746 advertisement for "Slabs for Hearths" by George Harrison," at the new Marble shop." Pennsylvania Gazette, July 14, 1746, cited in Prime, Arts and Crafts, p. 295.
168. Kalm, Travels, 1:83-84. A rare surviving example of a slab-top table is a walnut one with a rectangular, thumb-moulded King of Prussia marble top. Circa 1740, the table has shelled-knees, trifid feet, chamfered fluted corners, and a sinuous skirt. Christie's, Important American Furniture, Folk Art and Decorative Arts, sale catalogue 7526, lot 138 (New York: October 24, 1992). It is now in a Pennsylvania private collection.
169. Austin was credited £0-8-0, on 3/16/34, "By 2 window frames;" £0-16-0, on 1/29/35 and again on 2/3/35, for making 48 sashlights each. Head Account Book, p. 46 right.
170. Head Account Book, pp. 49 right [Coster], 134 right [Radman].
171. Redman was credited £8-6-3 altogether on that date, £0-13-9, "By Work don In raisen my Kitchen In the house Joyning to Thomas Knights as pr day Book; £4-0-0, "By - Twenty parch of Ston work - don In my Siller Joyning to Sutens [cellar adjoining Sutton's];" and £3-12-6, "By Diging a Wall [probably a well] to my new house - Twenty and 9 foot deep att s/2 - d/6 pr." Head Account Book, p. 134 right.
172. Clark was credited £1-12-0, "By - 4 dore Cases;" and £0-10-0, "By - 3 Window frames maken." Head Account Book, p. 86 right.
173. Head Account Book, p. 58 right. "Stores" may refer to storage areas or "stories."
174. On 3/30/37, Carrall was credited £1-8-3, "By plasteren - 113 yards of Brik work at d/3 pr;" on 5/20/37, £4-16-0, "By - 192 yards plasteren Larth work att d/6," and £3-18-2, "By plastern - 268 yards of Brik work att 3 1/2 pr yard;" and, on 6/5/37, £2-4-2, "By - 88 yard plastern Larth work and 3 foot att d/6 pr," £0-15-3 1/2, "By - 53 yards of Brik work at d/3 1/2 pr;" on 4/16/38, £3-1-3, "By - 122 1/2 yards of Larth work att d/6 pr," and £0-9-0 1/2, "By - 31 1/2 yards of plasteren Brik work a greed for d/3 1/2 pr." Head Account Book, p. 119 right.
175. Stoops was credited with £1-1-0, 0n 4/24/38, "By - 3 - Lode of Bats and Clnkers;" and £1-0-0, on 6/10/38, "By - 4 Lode of Bats at his Ciln [kiln]." Head Account Book, p. 113 right. This is consistent with entries for other brickmakers among Head's accounts, who charged less for pick-up at their kilns. Head Account Book, pp. 28 [Susanah Prest re brick from Abram Cox], 70 right [John Coats's kiln]. Twin surviving houses in the old Southwark section of Philadelphia (now Queen Village), at Workman Place (now 116 Pemberton Street), a few blocks south of Head's immediate neighborhood, incorporate glazed bricks to form the date "1748" on one house and the initials "G.M." on the other. The former resident of the "1748" house advises that the initials and date commemorate a Colonial commander whose troops were quartered there and drilled in the courtyard. Personal conversation with Bernard M. Stiefel, January 9, 2001.
176. Pennsylvania Gazette, July 9, 1747.
177. Head Account Book, pp. 112 right [Rakestraw], 118a right [Vallecot], 120 right [Thornhill].
178. Head Account Book, pp. 86 left and right. Part of this was Badson's £0-2-0 charge, on 6/3/39, "By horlen - 2 Lode of mould[ing?] we Loded." With respect to "750 Brik sent by Georg[e] Rial from Thomas Greens by dan Bresters Cart," for which Head was charged £0-18-0 by Badson, on 5/27/39, Head is specific as to the type of conveyance used. Head Account Book, p. 86 right. While "horlen" by cart may have been one means of delivery cited in the account book, other methods included the "3 flats" by which Thomas Pagler sent stone, credited to Charles Jenkins account; and the "Truk - at Sundre Times" credited to Nathanal [Nathaniel] Zane. Head Account Book, pp. 79 right [Zane], 121 right [Jenkins]. The term "Truk" appears frequently in connection with lighter purchases from the market and may refer to a hand truck, rather than something horsedrawn.
179. Head Account Book, p. 135 right.
180. Thompson, Rum Punch and Revolution, p. 2.
181. Head Account Book, pp. 118a right [Vallecot], 120 right [Thornhill], 125 right [Pars].
182. Pennsylvania Gazette, February 5, 1736.
183. "Petition of a Number of Inhabt of Philad about the Powder House," January 18, 1745, Society Misc. Coll., Box 4a, f. 2, HSP; Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1:212. The petition is a useful reference for determining which of Head's clients, many of whose names appear, owned property in his immediate neighborhood.
184. Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia, 1:207.
185. Head Account Book, p. 134 right.
186. Head Account Book, p. 57 right.
187. On 8/21/40, Thornhill was credited £1-17-0, By 6 sqaur [yards] and 18 foot of floeren att s/6 pr;" £1-0-0, By - 2 days work don By him and his Brother;" £1-4-0, By - duing the stayers of frankford rod house." It is uncertain whether entries on the same date to 76 sashlights and another day's work related to the Frankford Road property, because they were listed after and in the same ink as work at Head's house adjoining Sutton's. That ink differs from that used for the Frankford Road entries. Thornhill was given a £4-0-0 credit, 'By finishen one stury In the house Joynen to Sutens;" £0-5-0, "By one days work omited as by his account;" and £1-18-0, "By - 76 Sash Lights omited as by his account." Head Account Book, p. 120 right.
188. Head Account Book, pp. 38 [Wilkinson], 71 right [Smith], 112 right [Rakstraw], 125 right [Pars]. The "fire shovel and tongues [tongs]" bought from Richard Blakham, on 2/19/44, at £0-12-0, may have been for use with this "marvel harth" or the earlier one. Head Account Book, p. 36.
