Maine Historical Society Coll. 2649 Thomas Family Collection 1799 - 1957

Maine Historical Society Coll. 2649 Thomas family Collection 1799 - 1957 Accession number: 2012.006 Processed: Fall 2012 – Spring 2013, Emily Gendrolis, Volunteer Access: Unrestricted Copyright: Requests for permission to publish material from this collection should be discussed with the MHS Image Services Coordinator. Size: 115 volumes Biographical note: The Thomas Family Collection charts the business pursuits and personal bank interests of a family whose history has been rooted in Maine, exercising considerable influence in the Portland area, beginning in the 18th century. Beginning with Elias Thomas, who married Elizabeth Widgery, the daughter of a prominent justice of the peace, the Thomas clan expanded their mercantile enterprises from controlling wharf activities, renting properties, and selling goods to involvement in and establishing of such business entities as the Portland Pier, Chapman Electric Neutralizer Company, and the Portland Company, in which members of the Thomas family served on the board of directors or in some capacity as officers of the company with controlling interests. The Thomas family includes William Widgery Thomas (b. 1803), a businessman, banker, state legislator, and mayor of Portland, Me., as well as his son, William Widgery Thomas, Jr. (1839-1927), who was a lawyer before entering foreign politics, most notable being his effort to bring Swedish colonists to northern Maine and later founding the community of New Sweden (he is also noted for being the last US ambassador to the united kingdoms of Sweden and Norway). It is of note that the collection contains items belonging – or relating to – the Payson family, which was linked with the Thomas family via the marriage of Helen B. Thomas, the daughter of Elias Thomas (son of WW Thomas), to Richard Conant Payson. Their names are found in various ledgers and books abbreviated to their initials, H.T.P. (Helen Thomas Payson) and R.C.P. (Richard Conant Payson). Scope and content note: The collection contains volumes in the form of account books, printed books (including law books and children's books), correspondence, and sheet music, all of which belonged to various members of the Thomas family. Series: The contents of the collection have been arranged by date in each of the following series: 1. Account Books/Ledgers, including Portland Pier, Elias Thomas Company, Portland Company, Chapman Electric Neutralizer Company, Chandler Will Case (v. 1-45) 2. Books – Business, including law books (v. 46-82) 3. Books – Personal, including children’s books (v. 83-98) 4. Correspondence (v. 99-102) 5. Sheet Music (v. 103-113) Note: some of the volumes are oversized so may have been shelved at the end of the collection, on their sides, as well as on the row below where there is more height to the shelves. Provenance: Gift of Laura F. and Seth Sprague Inventory: Series 1: Account Books / Ledgers Volume 1 – Day Book (1799 – 1843) – Day book belonging to Wm. Widgery, as noted in pencil on the second page, accompanied by the date 1799, calculations, and a portrait sketch. Includes payments received and made to others for work and services rendered, as well as rents received for rooms let. Goods sold include tea, fabric, candles, buttons, and tobacco. Volume 1.2 – Ledger: Portland Custom House (1806 – 1813) – Ledger lists sales of sundries as well as general accounts of bonds. OVERSIZED Volume 2 – Ledger (August 15, 1822 – June 16, 1826) – Ledger, belonged to William Widgery Thomas as noted with date January 1, 1823, organized by name with three columns under two categories. Includes payments made to and received, columns dedicated to date, “to merchandise” or “by cash/by bill note/by bill,” and sum. Volume 3 – WW Thomas Day Book for 1823 (January 4, 1823 – September 3, 1824) – Day book notes sales and purchases, with individuals noted by letter/number codes. Volume 4 – Account Book (1823 – 1824) – Payments received for the sale of fabrics, including silk, calico, and crape; buttons; and gloves. A copy of a chart of the House of Representatives for the state of Maine dated 1858 was folded in the inside cover. Volume 5 – Invoice 1824 (September 23, 1824 – March 5, 1834) – Invoice of the sale of cloth (satinette and sail cloth), home goods (including a writing desk), and clothing, such as pantaloons. Entries begin “Bot of” followed by whom, item, quantity, price, and date. Volume 6 – Day Book (1824 – 1830) – Account book that notes the sale of items such as buttons, ribbon, tobacco, yarn, cotton, silk, lace, gloves, umbrellas, and flannel. A seal on the second page bears the number 4421, six Greek letters, and WWT. Volume 7 – Blotter (1825 – 1830) – Account book belonging to William Widgery Thomas, as inscribed with “Portland, Maine.” Volume 8 – Stock (1825 – 1835) – Stock inventory; notation reads “Account of stock taken Feb. 14 1825.” Items include buttons, calico, cambrice, gingham, silk, claret, combs, cloth, hose, satinette, blankets, jean, cassinette, yarn, linen, carpeting, tapes, velvet, furniture, cravats, pens, mittens, suspenders, thread, and damask. Volume 9 – Day Book and Journal. WW Thomas (1826 – 1831) – Payments made and payments received for goods and personal effects. Volume 10 – Day Book (1830 – 1831) – Written inscription reads “William W. Thomas. No. 4 Mitchells Building, Middle Street, Portland.” Volume 11 – Day Book (1831 – 1833) – Account book managing sales and payments received, mostly for textiles including cloth and sewing accessories. Inscription reads “William W. Thomas. No. 4 Mitchells Building, Middle Street, Portland, Maine.” Accumulated interest noted at the back of the book. Volume 12 – Journal – WW Thomas (1831 – 1834) – Account book of sales made to various customers, who are assigned a number; items purchased, quantity, price paid, and manner of payment recorded with each entry. Items include textiles like cotton, linen cloth, lace, flannel; patterns; carpeting; sundries; cravats; hooks and eyes; batting; yarn; and buttons. Additional materials, as found in the pages of volume 12: 12.1 - Letter to “Bro. Thomas” dated August 21, 1858 from ___ B. Clark asking for his autograph. 12.2 – Mini booklet of accounts 1850, for various individuals. 12.3 – Handwritten prayer: “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of the sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful…” 12.4 – Second blue booklet with accounts dated 1850. 12.5 – Piece of newspaper _______ Companion, vol. xxxii, N. Willis – senior editor. Story – “Jack and His Mealbag.” Volume 13 – Day Book (1832 – 1836) – Payments for sundries and goods, including glass knobs, fish hooks, flatware, buttons, fabric, tools (hoes) and hatchets, scythes, kettles, locks, pliers, buffalo robe, thread, and brushes. Volume 14 – Day Book (May 28, 1833 – May 23, 1837) – Accounts settled by notes and cash; items sold include fabrics (cotton, gingham, linen, calico, silk, French fine cotton, plaid, pink silk, netting, muslin, merino, velvet, cambric, and flannel), padding, spools of cotton, ribbon, carpeting, yarn, buttons, quilts, patterns, wadding, hooks and eyes, gloves, suspenders, umbrellas, lace, and broad cloth. Volume 15 – Day Book (1834 – 1836) – Account book, in a burlap wrapping. Documents sale of goods including carpet cloth, burlap, calico, silk, blotters, combs, wicking, pink ribbons, quills, linen, suspenders, gloves, gingham, yarn, diaper, sundries, and cotton. Volume 16 – Account Book (1844 – 1866) – Payments received for wharfage by footage of boards – mostly wharfage, some dockage – including renting out wharf space, a horse shed, and lad adjoining the store. At the back of the book is an account of plank and timber, as well as the purchase of the Portland Pier in 1863. Volume 17 – Day Book (August 16, 1845 – April 21, 1850) – Record of payments, mostly rents paid. Individuals are assigned numbers in the left-hand column; transactions are noted if paid by cash. Volume 18 – Account Book (May 28, 1851 – June 1, 1874) – Payments received and monies paid to others for on the Portland Pier. Volume 19 – Private Cash Book (March 1, 1855 – June 7, 1858) – Personal accounts of Dr. Elias Thomas; monies spent and amounts paid for rents, loans, food stuffs, and personal affects. Volume 20 – Day Book (1858 – 1877) – Day book details payments mostly for rents, wages, and payments for work performed. Volume 21 – Day Book – Corporation Portland Pier (November 20, 1866 – May 16, 1873) – Day book documents activities of wharf, including bills paid for landing at wharf and unloading cargo, fees for labor on the wharf, freight taken aboard ship, and leasing out land and shed for freight storage. Volume 22 – Account Book (January 30, 1897 – 1904) – Inscription at corner of left side on the second page: “WW Thomas Sr. died Nov. 21 1896;” “Genl. Henry G. Thomas died Jany 26 1897 at Oklahoma City, OK;” “Edward H. Thomas Febry 1896.” Index of page numbers with specific accounts listed at beginning of book; amounts paid, to whom/by whom, dates, balances, bills, and interest recorded. Additional materials: 22.1 – 2-cent embossed postage 22.2. – Calculations on back of advertisement of the Thomas Shredder for grooming horses and cows “recommended for the U.S. cavalry.” 22.3 – Calculations on scratch paper 22.4 – Calculations on the back of a receipt from Cook, Everett & Pennell “Wholesale Druggists and Manufacturing Chemists, Druggists’ Sundries, Paints Oils & Varnishes” dated January 18, 1898 to Elias Thomas. 22.5 – Calculations on scratch paper 22.6 – Grocery bills dated (stamped) March 10, 1903, January 2, 1903, and November 13, 1902 from Wilbur & Co of Phillips, Maine. 22.7 – Scratch paper for calculations 22.8 – Blank memo to the Adjutant General, U.S. Army to report a post-office address change. 22.9 – Calculations on scratch paper 22.10 – Calculations on scratch paper 22.11 – Market letter from Curtis & Sederquist Bankers & Brokers at 19 Congress Street dated November 7, 1903 for stock in Union Pacific, Missouri Pacific, and Norfolk & Western railroads.

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