Sale and account book, 1862-1863

Containers:

Box 1

Scope and content:

Sale and account book of E.D. Scott for goods sold to various sutlers of the Union Army in Washington, D.C., during 1863. One volume (31x19cm), in limp and worn marble boards and party damaged backstrip.

This volume contains 110 pages of text in ink and pencil which list the very extensive inventory of merchandise sold at wholesale in Washington, D.C., by Scott between January and September 1863. The accounts commence on January 5, 1863, with a "Bill of Goods Consigned to Wm. H. Ward (of 534 7th St.) by E.D. Scott," almost five hundred dollars worth of items. Sales were much more common than consignments, however, and included a terrific variety of goods needed by soldiers in the field - suspenders, razors, soap, "3 Gross pens," pocketbooks, envelopes, scissors, socks, "4 doz. filled ink stands," currency holders, briarwood pipes, and "2 doz. diaries," among other things.

One of the valuable features of Scott's record book is the comprehensive list of goods he furnished for resale to army units, together with the quantity of goods moved, prices charged, and methods of payment or credit extended. No less interesting are the sutlers identified by name as Scott customers. Twenty-one individual sutlers are so named, and the regiments to which they sold goods are specifically identified. Another nine sutlers may be identified in the accounts by reference to Francis A. Lord's Civil War Sutlers and Their Wares (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1969). Together, these thirty sutlers served twelve regiments from Philadelphia, six each from Massachusetts and New York, and one each from Ohio, Maryland, Maine, and Vermont, plus one U.S. Colored Troop regiment and two unidentified federal regiments - in all, a wide variety of infantry, cavalry, and artillery units. A highly useful six-page index of both sets of sutlers and their regiments, checked against the Lord entries and with reference to the dates of their accounts with Scott, accompanies the volume.

Additional references are made in the volume to incidental expenses, like a few "cash sales" in Washington or Georgetown and notes on express charges (for shipment of goods from Philadelphia). There are also 29 pages of entries in late 1862 for sales of dry goods and fabrics, perhaps in Philadelphia. These do not appear directly related to the 1863 sales to sutlers.

In summary, this is an unusual business record from the nation's capital during the Civil War, documenting the activities of one enterprising businessman from elsewhere who appears to have found abundant opportunities to make money in war-time Washington.

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