Rare Manuscript General Store Ledger, kept by William and Thomas Coale at Elkridge Landing, with entries from April 29, 1766 to 1797, with the bulk of entries ending about 1782. Folio, full vellum, marbled endpapers; with label of Robert Wilsonn & Son, stationers, London. This is evidently the second ledger kept at the store. In the early years, the store sold household goods, clothing and rum, payments coming in cash; tobacco, wheat, or other agricultural products; or in exchange for labor, slave and free. Store also appears to have done some business loaning money and providing medical services in the community. About 1770, the business shifted more towards selling cloth, much of which appears to have been produced locally and referred to simply as "weaving." Customers included many members of the local Dorsey, Ridgely, and Howard families, and there are numerous references to African Americans in the accounts. Especially noteworthy is the last page, "Memo.of the Ages of Sundery Negroes," giving birthdays and family relationships from 1747 - 1805