Two Brothers' Account Books from 18th-Century New York: The Roseboom Ledgers

A New York provincial military payroll written into an officer's personal account book is the kind of oddity that fills the Roseboom ledgers, two volumes donated to Fort Stanwix National Monument in 2009. Myndert and Barent Roseboom, brothers, kept them between 1757 and 1775, recording their military, trade and personal experiences.

Front cover of Myndert Roseboom's ledger. NPS image.

The park received the books in December 2009 as a donation in memory of Donald G. Hinman, a descendant of the brothers. A park volunteer has since led a project to transcribe them word for word, to understand what the entries meant, to explain the money used and to define the period terms. The online exhibit shows selected pages, a transcription and notes on the bookkeeping, and is still growing as more pages are done. A glossary and an explanation of the British monetary system accompany it.

A regiment's strength, Camp Oswego, 1759

In 1759 the British and French were fighting the French and Indian War, and the New York Provincials were at Camp Oswego, a port on Lake Ontario used for trade and troop movement. A page in Myndert's ledger, dated July 15, 1759, counts the men in each captain's company of the regiment's first and second battalions, noting who was "fit for duty" and who was "sick and lame". The two battalions were soon to separate, one going to Fort Niagara and the other staying to rebuild Fort Ontario. The page lists specialist jobs too: waiters, who moved supplies with horses or oxen, cattle guards, blacksmiths, bakers and carpenters.

Myndert Roseboom's entry returning the New York Regiment. NPS.

The page names Captain Herkimer, likely the Herkimer who became a brigadier general of the Tryon County militia and fought at Oriskany in 1777. Major Myndert Roseboom signed it, and by 1760 he was a lieutenant colonel of the 3rd New York Regiment.

The page has crossed-out numbers where the writer corrected himself, and one slip: Captain Rea's company shows two lieutenants as fit for duty but one in the total column.

A payroll at Fort Edward, August 1757

Another page lists the men of Captain Robert McGinnis's company at Fort Edward:

Next to each name is a signature or an X. The marks show how many soldiers could write, and some men gave their X a style of their own. Lieutenant Myndert Roseboom paid the men.

Close-up of the payroll entry. NPS.

Debts, loans and "triangular payments"

Much of the books records credit given to soldiers and traders. Many entries show a triangular payment, in which a debt moves among three people instead of two:

• In October 1764, Barent lent James Melton cash that was paid straight to four other people on his behalf, so Melton's many debts became one debt to Barent.
• John Dillebaugh received cash in 1764 that came to him through Roseboom from John Tingue, who may have owed Roseboom money; Dillebaugh now owed Roseboom what Tingue had.
• In February 1766 Hendrick Roseboom was lent cash, which went to a corporal for two barrels of cider that Myndert received as repayment.

Goods and currency were varied. John Fluno bought shirts, stockings, chocolate, britches and sugar at Fort Stanwix in 1764. John H. Roseboom paid his last debt of 33 pounds, 7 shillings, 4 pence with a pack of beaver pelts weighing 88 pounds. Another entry mentions a half gallon of "Messina", probably lemon juice from Italy, at a time when evidence was growing that citrus juice protected against scurvy. Spanish silver dollars, cut into "pieces of eight", served as the unofficial currency of the colonies, and the ledgers convert dollars to pounds, shillings and pence.

A piece of eight found during excavations at Fort Stanwix. NPS.

When a debt was paid, the entry was crossed out, or a "contra" account was opened to record a part or full payment.

Questions the books leave open

• Why is military business in a private book? Myndert called his a waste book, a bookkeeping type, yet it holds a regimental return and a payroll that would normally go in a formal military ledger or orderly book.
• What did "stopped" mean? A November 1762 entry, recorded in October 1763, shows Major William W. Hogan "stopping" the accounts of several men owing Barent. Was it his own money, or their army pay, closer to modern wage garnishment? The debts ran from 3 pounds, 16 shillings down to 2 shillings.
• Who were the people? Muster rolls for the New York Provincial Troops give details on some: a shoemaker born in Germany, a baker born in Ireland, and several men named David Carter who were probably different people.
• Did John Fluno return? In the Revolution a John Fluno served in the 5th New York Regiment, one battalion of which was at Fort Stanwix. Was it the same man?

Sources

• National Park Service, Fort Stanwix National Monument, "Roseboom Ledgers" (https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/roseboom-ledgers.htm); rewritten in hubnx's own words.