Eills John (3 results)

Paperback. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: no dj. From Ming to Ch'ing. Book.

original Leinenband, kl.-8°, 313 Seiten; Bibliothekstempel / bibliotheekstempel / cachet de bibliothèque / librarystamp, bookplate on frontendpaper Text:English an 315 Buch.

Folio, approx. 100 pages, and many blank leaves at the back; contemporary and likely original full reversed calf; moderate waterstaining throughout, especially in the fore-margins, but the text still mostly legible (but with occasional loss of either date or price of service); the binding is sound. John Eills was an American Revolutionary soldier, born Boxford, MA in 1746 and died in 1803 in Rindge, NH. In 1773 he married Rebecca Page, then of Groton, and subsequently of Rindge. During the Revolution he was a signatory of the "Association Test" (essentially a pledge of allegiance against the British), in Rindge. He served in Capt. William Tucker's company, Col. Jacob Gerrish's regiment in 1778, and later was Ensign of the Militia in Ridnge. For several years he was the tax collector and constable, and during the Revolution the town's portion of the state tax was frequently paid by him. There does not seem to be much information available about Eills' life after the Revolution, but this ledger sheds considerable light on his last 10 years in Rundge. In short, he was a cobbler, but he also performed various day jobs. The ledger lists approximately 45 separate accounts, some of them carried over "from the old book," with a name generally at the top of each page, with the services provided together with the date and price underneath. In all, there are nearly three thousand separate entries for goods and services provided. For example, Joseph Smith . Octo 23, 1793, for mending your boots, .8." Or, "Capt. Salmon Stone . For half a day hoing, 1.8." The work billed out is predominately for making and repairing shoes and boots, but he also does plowing, mends plows, hauls dung, carts bricks, sells pigins [sic], quarters lamb, chops wood, does reaping, digs potatoes, hires three boys for picking rocks, does spinning, weaving and carding, and sells honey. Sometimes redundant, his cobbler work, such as "making your wife's shoes heel raised," or "for making three pair of women's shoes," or, "mending shoes for your girls," or "making W.C. shoes for dancing" apparently gave him his greatest pleasure if not his income. What we have here is the story of a war vet coming home after the hostilities to make his way in the new country he helped to create. An Everyman, of sorts, who has to scramble to make a living. I love the redundancy of the shoe entries - hundreds of them - but each one ever so slightly different. But being a cobbler wasn't enough. He still has to chop wood and haul dung to get by. Not much different than today when the Iraq vet comes home, takes a job as a mechanic, and has to drive for Uber at night. After John Eills' death, many accounts are closed and settled by his wife in 1804 and 1805. Laid in are approx. a dozen small slips of paper comprising promissory notes, receipts, slips with mathematical calculations, and a 1-page A.L.s. from Eills' family member Benjamin Maynard to his brother regarding the death of their father. Much doodling on the endpapers and random scraps of the man's life: "My mare will be eight years old 1802 / the colt foaled 1801 in May," as well as numerous ownership inscriptions (all by Eills), the earliest of which: "John Eills book 1792 in Rindge in the county of Cheshire, in the state of New Hampshire.".