George C. Veazey ledger, circa 1840-1845

The George Clinton Veazey papers consist of six folders. The first three folders contain letters to and from Veazey, primarily related to the business of the Susquehanna Canal, circa 1833 through 1838. The letters to Veazey were postmarked from Baltimore, which was where the main office was located. The main correspondent was Mr. R. M. Gibbs, who frequently sent Veazey instructions to carry out, such as inspecting saw mills and collecting revenue from mills, tolls and quarries.

On October 23, 1836, Mr. Gibbs writes to Veazey to inform him that a suit (claim for damage) against the Canal Company in Cecil County Court has been referred to arbitration in Baltimore City, and that the arbitrators and the canal's counsel, including John H. B. Latrobe, contemplate visiting Veazey's office. The following letter from Gibbs is dated November 14, 1836, and includes a postscript by Latrobe regarding the visit. Veazey's presence was later requested in Baltimore to present at the examination of witnesses, and correspondence on the matter continued through the February 1837.

The final letters to Veazey reflect an urgency on the part of the canal's Board of Directors to receive funds due to them, and a letter by the Board's Secretary, H. Hardesty, Jr., expresses discontent with Veazey's performance. On June 4, 1837, he writes that "Mr. Gibbs was much disappointed that the affairs under your control had not been brought to a close..." and goes on to list open accounts that all require attention. A letter dated February 28th, 1838, confirms receipt of Veazey's resignation, which was scheduled to take effect in April.

The next folder in the collection contains a ledger owned by George Veazey. On the first page, he inscribed his name, followed by the date, "December 1840." The volume contains lists of cargo carried by ships into an unknown port. He titles the page with the name of the ship and the port they sailed from, and lists the cargo carried by named individuals or companies. For example, "Cargo of the Ship Seaman from Valparaíso" in February 1845 continues over three pages, and entries within the same ship are separated by a bold line. On the same page are "Thomas Ferguson, two 74/100 lbs bar copper"; "William Chesnut, Nine 93/100 lbs bar copper"; "C.C. O'Donnell, Forty nine 83/100 lbs bar copper"; and "Kirkland Chase and Co., seventy eight 13/100 lbs bar copper." Other vessels carried vast quantities of other valuable materials--an entry dated April 2, 1845 for the schooner Maltia under the name Elizabeth Cromwell from Turks Island reads, "Four thousand five hundred bushels salt." The cargo ledger is only half filled, with many blank pages after April 1845. There are some doodles on the inside and back covers, including a loose sheet with the recipe for cough syrup.

Folder five contains two notebooks, dated circa 1847-1865. Page one of the earlier dated notebook has a grading table, listing categories for: Exposition, Geography, Spelling, Philosophy, History, and Scripture. Page two contains an inscription in Veazey's hand that reads, "My Dear Little Daughter Mary Virginia Veazey died 29th April 1847, about half past 12 o'clock." He then lists incidental expenses, including a "daguerreotype likeness", which cost $5. The remainder of the notebook is blank.

The second notebook in the folder is a Bank of Delaware account book belonging to Ann F. Hirons, Veazey's mother-in-law. Expenses listed include letters sent to "LG Veazey", George Veazey's wife and Ann Hirons' daughter. This notebook also contains a loose recipe for hair oil, and a poem dated "Homeward Bound" by W. Stong, 1865.

The final folder in the collection contains miscellaneous papers, including receipts, newspaper clippings, a wedding invitation, and the words to a song titled, "Folks that put on airs."