Matthew Frame and Frame & Lock account book, 1815-1818

Archive

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Jefferson County Museum

Name/Title

Matthew Frame and Frame & Lock account book, 1815-1818

Entry/Object ID

ARC868

Scope and Content

This bound account book has worn leather covers and LEGER stamped on the upper spine. It contains accounts of two Charles Town mercantile businesses: one operated by Matthew Frame and the other, Frame & Lock, by Matthew Frame and William French Lock. (See Background below for more information on Matthew Frame and Frame & Lock.) The first 24 pages are an alphabetical index to names of customers and the pages containing their accounts. On the AB page the index is identified as Frame & Locks alphabet. The Frame & Lock accounts for these customers are in the Frame & Locks Petty Ledger, described below. The next section contains folio pages numbered 1 to 101 with accounts related to Matthew Frame's mercantile business in 1815 and 1816. On the left folio page the customer's name, followed by Dr, is written at the top and debits are entered underneath. Credits are entered on the right folio page under the heading Contra. On the first page of the final section is written Frame & Locks Petty Ledger. The following folio pages are numbered 1 to 157 and contain debit (Dr) and credit (Contra) entries for 1815 to 1818 for customers of the Frame & Lock mercantile business. The alphabetical index above refers to folio pages in this section. Other details: On the inside front cover are written the names John James Frame and Wm. Cleveland. On the inside of the back cover are written Frame & Lock Petty Ledger, Wm F Locke, and an illegible name. A few individual pages in the book contain miscellaneous entries. Background: This ledger, along with eight others and loose papers in the J.P. Burns Family Matthew Frame Ledgers Collection, relates to mercantile businesses operated by Matthew Frame (died 1848, age 81) in Charles Town from the late 18th century to the 1830s. Matthew Frame immigrated to Charles Town from Ireland in the late 18th century, married Massa (Massey) Gibbs (died 1854, age 78), established a mercantile business, and was appointed Charles Town's first postmaster in 1799. Although it's not clear when he opened his business, entries in ARC179 date from 1791. According to the dated entries in the nine Burns Family ledgers and ARC866, Matthew Frame appears to have been the sole operator of his business until about 1815 to 1816 when he appears to have joined with William French Lock (1788-1850) to form Frame & Lock, also a mercantile business in Charles Town.Then about 1820, Frame & Lock split into two mercantile businesses: Matthew Frame & Co and W. F. Lock & Co. Around 1822 to 1824, Frame joined with his son John James Frame (died 1834, age 30) to form Matthew Frame & Son mercantile business, which appears to have operated until 1834 when John James Frame died. See Media in ARC866 for location of M. Frame's store in Charles Town.

Acquisition

Accession

486

Source or Donor

Burns, John P., Jr.

Acquisition Method

Gift

Archive Details

Date(s) of Creation

1815 - 1818

Archive Size/Extent

One bound record book: 12 7/8" x 8" x 2"

Archive Notes

Date(s) Created: 1815-1818