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The collection consists of one expense account book kept by a shopkeeper in or near Port Deposit, Cecil County, Maryland. Chronological entries from March 1850 to February 1863 record the date, description, and amount for each personal and business expenditure of the shopkeeper, who appears to have sold medicine and paint. Business related entries include freight bills, license fees, corporation taxes, payments for services performed at the shop, expenses in Baltimore and Philadelphia, regular purchases from wholesale druggists such as Canby & Hatch and Wilson & Merritt, and frequent checks drawn on Cecil Bank. Other firms frequently mentioned include Hugh Bolton & Co., Geo. D. Wetherill & Co., and Clark & Jones. Also listed are purchases of food including flour, butter, potatoes, apples, peaches, chicken, beef, mackerel, and brandy; purchases of non-food items including wood, seeds, matches, candles, books, and journals; expenses for his wife and children; payments for services performed at the house; and contributions to the Colonization Society, missionary organizations, the local Methodist church, and Reverend Henry Colelazer. In addition to the itemized entries, the account book contains two tabular sections that together record the daily total for nearly every week from March 18, 1850, to August 10, 1863. Overall, 122 filled and 5 partially used manuscript pages reflect the life of an educated and civic-minded rural shopkeeper in Maryland during the mid-1800s.