1824-1836 Pittsburgh Account, Receipt & Memorandum book for John Jackson and his son George W. Jackson
8vo (8 inches tall), leather backed boards, well worn, but sturdily bound and intact, over 250 pp. of accounts: receipts, expenses, amounts due, orders, shipments, with dozens of attached receipts, promisory notes, bills, etc. The book documents the last years of mercantile and manufacturing concerns of John Jackson (1766-1826; born in Roscrea Ireland, moved to Pittsburgh in 1806, established himself as a manufacturer of soap, purveyor and shipper of bulk products (10 barrels of flour, for example); he died in December 1826 and his son, George Whitten Jackson (ca. 1800-1862), immediately took over. All accounts say that the business was not to George's liking and he soon sold the concern and went from there, very successfully, into the pork business, using Pittsburgh's new railways and its river system to transport large quantities of hog to the west and the south. There are a few pages from 1824-1826 that date from John Jackson's business, but the bulk of this book is the accounts and early business life of George W. Jackson as he expands his business prospects. In 1836, George married Mary Beard, and they and their children were central fixtures in Pittsburgh's early mercantile and social life. By 1837 George was on the board of directors of a mercantile bank and by 1845 he had a majority share in the first cotton mill in the Pittsburgh area. He expanded his pork business to have packing plants in Columbus and Cincinnati, etc. A terrific account book, documenting the business interests of an important early Pittsburgh business family. Item #H9974
Price: $450.00