Lessons > Buying and Borrowing at the Colonial Store

Objectives

Using primary source material documenting purchases at a general store in Addison, Vermont, students will organize data in order to draw conclusions about Addison County's colonial economy.

Vermont State Standards

1.20 Communication of Data; 4.6 Understanding Place; 5.6 Changes in Language; 6.4 Historical Connections; 6.5 Traditional and Social Histories; 6.6 Being a Historian; 7.6 Arithmetic, Number and Operation Concepts

Materials

Instructional Plan I. Collecting Data

Divide the class into groups to study the Murray Store/Tavern ledger from Addison, Vermont 1807 – 1808. Instruct each group to study the reproductions in order to fill in the three missing words in the transcription. As a class, discuss the items listed on the ledger, such as 'flower,' which is spelled differently today, and 'to cash,' which means the customer was borrowing money.

Using the Customer Chart, groups can make a table for each customer showing the customer's name, his dates of purchase, items purchased, money borrowed, and the dollar amount. After completing a chart for each customer, add the total amount charged or borrowed by each customer.

As a class, make a graph showing customer names and the total each charged during this period. Who charged the most? Who charged the least? Make a list of possible uses for each of the products purchased at the store. For example, wheat would be milled to make flour, and ashes could be mixed with animal fat and water to make soap.

Study the names on the list. Count how many men and how many women shopped at the Murray Store. What can these totals tell you about family life in Addison, Vermont in 1807 – 1808?

II. Drawing Connections

Divide the class into two groups, giving one group the detail of Addison, Vermont from the 1857 Map of Addison County by H.F. Walling and other the detail of Addison from the 1871 Beers Atlas of Addison County. Have the groups find and list family names that appear on both the Murray Store ledger and on the assigned map. Switch maps so that each group creates two lists, one for each map. How many of the families are listed on both the ledger and the 1857 map of Addison? How many on the 1871 map?

Have each student choose one of the names from the ledger and write a short journal entry from his or her point of view, describing the trip to the store or how they used what they purchased. Students can share their journal entries in pairs.

Assessment

Check customer charts and lists of family names to check for completion and accuracy. Assess group participation and participation in class discussions. Check journal entries for completion.

Extensions

Make a list of the items purchased at the Murray Store and the price of each. Now find the cost of the same items today. What do the kinds of items purchased at the Murray store/tavern tell you about life in Addison, Vermont in 1807 – 1808?

Items denoted by a check mark are included in the Resource Kit.