Volume 21 Issue 1, Spring 2014

The Alice Goodrich Eno Letters

More than a hundred year ago, before the map of the world was changed by two world wars, twenty-seven-year-old Alice Goodrich Eno of Simsbury accompanied her aunt and uncle on a trip abroad. On February 4, 1911, the New York Times published an article.

The article went on to list fourteen of the dignitaries who were making the trip with their spouses or whole families, including Rev. Dr. A. Dunter Dunn, Lord Bishop of Quebec; Major General Marshall Ludington; and Senator E. O. Miller of Los Angeles.

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Volume 20 Issues 3-4, Fall-Winter 2013

Part 3: Farming for Self-Sufficiency and Profit

John Case’s first account book, in which he recorded transactions from 1739 into the 1760s, reveals the bounty of his fields, garden, orchard, pasture lands and woodlots. His farm produced most of the food that his family and their animals needed, fuel to heat their home, and lumber for building. Since grains often served as a medium of financial exchange, they figure prominently in his business record. Indian corn got the most mention, followed by rye, wheat, oats, barley and buckwheat.

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Volume 20 Issue 2, Summer 2013

Part 2: With Shoemaking Underway, His Tannery Opens

The first installment of this article dealt with John Case’s shoemaking business, as reflected by entries in his first account book. He began his book in 1739 at the age of twenty and continued using it into the 1760s. His entries disclose his multiple business and side ventures. Like all his contemporaries, professionals and ministers included, he farmed. After farming and shoemaking, he gave much of the rest of his time and energy to the tanning of animal hides and skins.

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Volume 20 Issue 1, Spring 2013

Part 1: In the Mid-1700s, a Young Man Begins an Account Book

When he started making entries in his first ledger in 1739, John Case was a twenty year old bachelor. Beginning his own account book signaled that he was striking out on his own and that his earnings would no longer be recorded as part of the accounts of his father, John Case Sr. Whether or not he was also establishing a separate domicile is a matter for conjecture. The law at that time frowned upon single men living alone and specified a fine of twenty shillings a week for living outside his parental home unless, of course, he was someone’s apprentice or servant. The law did allow a single man to set up his own household if he was a public official and/or had a servant, and if he had the permission of the admitted inhabitants of his town.

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