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A. Bedford, L. Batchelor & Co. Inventory of Goods, Waverly, Pa. May 6, 1850

 Collection
Identifier: SC MS0393

Scope and Contents

Of the 146 pages in the ledger, eleven are devoted to listing pharmaceutical products, two pages of Liabilities, one page of Assets as of May 4, 1850, 49 pages of Goods, a page of Fixtures, Groceries, ten pages of Notes, 22 pages of Accounts and a number of blank pages.

Dates

  • Creation: 1850

Conditions Governing Access

Collection housed remotely. Users need to contact 24 hours in advance.

Conditions Governing Use

Collection is open for research. Please inquire about copyright information.

Biographical / Historical

Bedford, Batchelor & Co. was founded by Dr. Andrew Bedford, a pioneer settler in Lackawanna County and Leonard Batchelor. The original business burned in 1849 but was quickly rebuilt. This ledger suggests that this 1850 account book documents the state of the business at its re-opening. The owners were not only businessmen but also involved themselves in the temperance and Underground Railroad movement with other citizens of the Abington area (later to become Waverly in mid 1850’s). The company’s inventory of goods and pharmaceutical products --- chemicals, solutions, oils, tinctures, pills, patent medicines, nursing bottles, etc. suggests that these medical goods were an important part of the company’s business. Bedford was the pharmaceutical person and Batchelor was the merchant.

Andrew Bedford was a native of Wyoming, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Yale’s medical school and began his practice in 1825 and in 1826 settled in Abington Center (in 1853 name officially changed to Waverly) where he built a house in 1826 that stands today across from the Waverly Community House. Bedford was one of the first directors of the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, a delegate to the Pennsylvania constitutional convention of 1837 and 1838 and a member of the Abington area Underground Railroad.

Leonard Batchelor attended Franklin Academy but graduated in 1840 from the University of the City of New York. He married Hannah, a daughter of Lemuel Stone. Although a merchant, Batchelor was one of the main organizers of the Underground Railroad movement in the Abington area aiding fugitive slaves on their way to Canada. He built his house in 1850 and it stands today on Beech Street in Waverly.

Lemuel Stone, Andrew Bedford, Leonard Batchelor, John Fell and John Stone formed a temperance company in mid 1800’s and briefly organized a temperance hotel but sold it by 1856 due to low profits. Collectively these men were all involved in the Underground Railroad movement. John Stone owned a large tract of undeveloped land that he offered to fugitives to lease at reasonable rates. Several fugitives settled there. John Fell was an abolitionist and with the others supported the Underground Railroad movement in the Abington area (later Waverly). Currently, Waverly, Pennsylvania has an Underground Railroad history trail organization.

Extent

1 book : One ledger measuring 19 x 16 x 1 cm, marbled boards with brown leather spine. The binding is rubbed and worn with possibly water- stained page edges but the 146 pages are securely bound.

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

Most of the entries are tied to the May 6, 1850 date but among subsequent pages the dates of 1873 abd 1875 are noted on page 113.

Physical Location

Lehigh University, Linderman Library, Special Collections

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The ledger was purchased by Special Collections Curator Lois F. Black from Ian Brabner Rare Americana, November 2021.

Related Materials

Lehigh’s Special Collections has several mercantile ledgers of this time period.

Related Materials

1905. “Transactions of the Luzerne County, Pa. Medical Society.” Wilkes-Barre, Pa. 1914. Hitchcock and Downs. “History of Scranton and of the Boroughs of Lackawanna County.” New York

Title
A. Bedford, L. Batchelor & Co. Inventory of Goods, Waverly, Pa. May 6, 1850
Author
Ilhan Citak and Eleanor Nothelfer
Date
November 10, 2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Lehigh University Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Lehigh University
Linderman Library
30 Library Drive
Bethlehem PA 18045 USA
610-758-4506
610-758-6091 (Fax)