Records of New York Country Store Owner 60 pp. Dutch

This archive includes accounts, receipts, and other documents related to the operation of a country store by Asa Wilcox, near Newville in Herkimer County, New York, approximately 60 miles west of Albany and a few miles south of the Mohawk River/Erie Canal.

[BUSINESS.] Asa Wilcox archive, Herkimer County, New York, ca. 1824-1885. 60 pp., various sizes.

The archive consists primarily of accounts, receipts, and other documents related to Asa Wilcox's merchant business from the 1820s to the 1840s, including many accounts and receipts for items purchased from wholesalers in Albany, New York, including Erastus Corning & Co., G. W. Stanton, and Webb & Douglas.

The archive also includes several items related to or written by Rev. John J. Spinner, a Dutch Reformed minister in Herkimer County. Documents written in his hand include a poem or prayer entitled "On the Death of a Parent," another untitled prayer, and two documents in German. His son served as Treasurer of the United States during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.

Finally, the archive includes items written to or by cousins George Pendleton Wilcox and William A. Wilcox, son and great nephew of Asa Wilcox respectively.

Excerpts:
G. W. Stanton to Asa Wilcox, August 18, 1827, Albany, NY:
"Your little order came safe to hand pr Mr Holmes – have sent as pr above bill what you ordered except one pound of Indigo. I had not so much as you & Mr Holmes wanted & have given each of you 1 lb. less than you ordered. butter at present is dull but I will do my best."

Fragment, April 4, 1831, Manheim, NY:
"We the Subscribers promise to pay to the revd J. P. Spinner as a compensation for his services by preaching the Gospel in the german language at the evangelical church in Manheim for the term of one year beginning the first of May 1831 – til first of May 1832 in half yearly payments the sum set opposite our respective names
Manheim April 4th 1831"

Jacob Brodhead to John P. Spinner, February 4, 1835, New York, NY:
"I take up my pen in the hurry of my official duties as corresponding Secty of the Board of Missions of the G. S. [General Synod] of the R D [Reformed Dutch] Church, to acknowledge your very interesting communication, and to answer it. The Bd heard with great interest your offer of devoting yourself to the cause of Reformation as opposed to the Roman Catholic superstition in the Valley of the Mississippi.... For one I do most sincerely wish that you could be employed in this great work. Your intimate knowledge of all subjects and things belonging to the Papal System – your learning – your acquaintance with many languages – and your skill in managing the controversy between us and the old mother, all qualify you eminently for such employment."

Philip F. Horner to George P. Wilcox, October 5, 1860, U.S. Patent Office, Washington, DC:
"In reply to your letter of the 1st inst. you are informed that the Application of William Butler for a patent for a 'self motor' was suspended for reasons on file, contained in a letter addressed to him on the 10th of August, in which the following language is used, 'As you claim a self moving power a working model should be furnished (the one sent being inoperative) to demonstrate what is considered by the Office as a fallacy.'"

William A. Wilcox to his "cousin" [George P. Wilcox?], October 29, 1885, Scranton, PA:
"I am still at work, as I find leisure, on the genealogical record. Have you anything new to communicate on these subjects? I have been following some of the other lines back. We have in our veins blood of the following families among others: Hazard, Randall, Lewis, Pendleton, Goodenow, Potts, Burroughs, Stevenson, Chesebrough, Palmer, and Denison. I wish you might come out here as I almost despair of getting to Little Falls, and I very much desire to talk with you. I think you will be able to help me much as you have known many of our relatives."

Asa Wilcox (1797-1863) was born in Herkimer County, New York, the son of a minister of Welsh and English descent who migrated from Rhode Island to central New York in 1791. Wilcox owned a country store near Newville. He served as a justice of the peace from 1845 and represented a district of the county in the New York General Assembly in 1849. The following year, he sold his farm and store and moved to Little Falls, where he served as a village trustee in 1852.

John P. Spinner (1768-1848) was born in Germany and was educated at the Gymnasium of Bishopheim and the University of Mentz. He was consecrated to the Roman Catholic Church in 1789. He renounced his priestly vows, married Mary Magdale Fedelis Brumante, and immigrated to the United States in 1801. He served as the first pastor of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of German Flatts in Mohawk, New York, from 1801 to his death in 1848. He also preached to people at Columbia, Warren, Indian Castle, Manheim, Schuyler, and Herkimer, as well as towns in adjoining counties. His nine children included Francis E. Spinner (1802-1890), who served as Treasurer of the United States from 1861 to 1875.

George Pendleton Wilcox (1821-1893) was born in New York, the son of Asa Wilcox. George Pendleton Wilcox and William Butler devised and patented in 1856 a device for teaching phrenology, the study of the size and shape of the cranium as an indication of character and mental abilities. In 1857, Wilcox married Marion T. Spinner, a daughter of Rev. John P. Spinner. In 1862, he published the pamphlet, An Essay Upon the Philosophy of the Mind. He was an author living in Manheim, New York, in 1865. Known for his eccentricities, he was a frequent contributor to newspapers. He achieved considerable notoriety by asserting that a horse could live on one oat and a dram of hay per day. In 1889, both he and his wife were committed to the Utica State Hospital for the Insane, where he died four years later.

William A. Wilcox (1857-1941) was born in New York, the son of Nathan P. Wilcox Jr. and grandson of Nathan P. Wilcox Sr., a younger brother of Asa Wilcox. Nathan P. Wilcox Jr. moved to Wyoming County, Pennsylvania, with his family in 1862. After working in his father's store and teaching school, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1880. He opened a practice in Scranton and served in a variety of local and county offices.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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