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UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE REVEALING ACCOUNTS: GENERAL STORES ON THE SOUTH CENTRAL PLAINS, 1870-1890 A Dissertation SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By LINDA ENGLISH Norman, Oklahoma 2005 UMI Number: 3162837 UMI Microform 3162837 Copyright 2005 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 REVEALING ACCOUNTS: GENERAL STORES ON THE SOUTH CENTRAL PLAINS, 1870-1890 A dissertation APPROVED FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY BY ____________________________ (Albert L. Hurtado) ____________________________ (David W. Levy) ____________________________ (Catherine E. Kelly) ____________________________ (Linda W. Reese) ____________________________ (Robert A. Rundstrom) © Copyright by LINDA ENGLISH 2005 All Rights Reserved. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Perhaps I’m not supposed to say this (at least, publicly), but I’ve had a wonderful and enriching graduate school experience. Sure, it was challenging, indeed grueling, at times; however, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by supportive and patient friends, family, colleagues, and mentors who helped guide me through my graduate program, parti cularly the “dissertating” experience. Without such support, the task of writing my dissertation would have been far more daunting. The completion of my degree would not have been possible without the assistantships and fellowships offered to me by the Department of History at the University of Oklahoma. I would like to thank Professor Morgan for supporting graduate research through the generous Anne Hodges Morgan and H. Wayne Morgan Dissertation Fellowship. I also received research and conference support from the Graduate College, the Graduate Senate, the Clements Center at Southern Methodist University, and the Bea Mantooth Estep Travel Fellowship offered through the Department of History at OU. During my travels, I received courteous and professional assistance from the staffs of the following archives: the DeGolyer Library, the Southwest Collection, the East Texas Research Center, the Sam Houston Regional Library & Research Center, the Austin History Center, the Center for American History, Baylor University, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library, and the Oklahoma Historical Society. I would like to extend a special thanks to the staff at the Western History Collection where I spent numerous afternoons pouring over ledger books. In academ ia, everyone is short on time. Thus, I would like to thank those who served on my dissertation committee for giving me some of their precious time as well as their suggestions and comments – thank you, David Levy, Catherine Kelly, Linda Reese, iv Robert Rundstrom, and Albert Hurtado. I am neither the first nor the last to single out the contributions of Professor David Levy for his humor, wisdom and kindness over the years. My advisor, Professor Albert Hurtado, has been an invaluable source of knowledge and guidance (and a much -needed rock when my confidence wavered). Where would we be without our friends? For their personal and professional support, I would like to thank “the Sisterhood” – Sarah Eppler Janda, Robyn McMillin, Jana Vogt, Heather Clemmer, an d Holly Berkley Fletcher. In addition, I would also like to thank Kristin Shamas and Lance Janda. Finally, I would also like to acknowledge the love and support of the significant men in my life: Joseph English, Alexander Gall, and Chris Davis. My father, Joseph English, not only encouraged my scholarship from a young age, but also proved steadfast and unconditional in his support. Throughout my dissertation process, my son, Alexander Gall, provided both joy and patience (well beyond his nine years). F inally, I could not imagine successfully completing my dissertation without the love and support of my partner, Chris Davis. Thank you all for believing in me. v TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter One: Who’s Minding the Store?..…………………………………………………….30 Chapter Two: Cultural Regions and Economics……………………………………………….67 Chapter Three: In the Presence of Ladies………………………………………………………101 Chapter Four: Recording Race………………………………………………………………..137 Chapter Five: The German Imprint…………………………………………………………...177 Chapter Six: Commodities from a Local, Regional, and National Perspective……………………………………………205 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………..234 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………...241 vi Introduction On Christmas Eve 1875, in a small outpost located in the heart of the Choctaw Nation, Indian Territory, Mrs. Annie Bowers began working as a cook for James Jackson McAlester. A week later, on 31 December, she purchase d from her new employer’s general store eighteen yards of fabric, thread, braid, lining and a bottle of tonic for $8.90. This costly purchase would take Annie roughly three weeks to make up in salary, since she earned only $3.00 a week working for McAlest er. Her first lump payment came after 7½ weeks of service; she received $22.50 from her employer, which was subsequently applied to the debts she had run up at his store. 1 This tantalizing glimpse into Mrs. Bowers’ prosaic affairs derives not from her personal correspondence or journals –the usual sources mined by historians for such insights –but rather from one detailed entry carefully recorded in McAlester’s 1875-1878 sales ledger. As the above example indicates, even a single entry from McAlester’s led gers can yield telling historical information. What types of employment did women find in “frontier” Oklahoma? How much did they earn? What did they spend their money on? How typical was Annie’s experience? And further, did her work outside of the home reflect or diverge from the experiences of her contemporaries as well as idealized notions of women’s social and economic roles? Indeed, from one single entry a number of historical questions arise. Sales ledgers and daybooks from general stores in Tex as and pre -statehood Oklahoma provide fascinating insights into the lived experiences of those residing in 11875-1878 Sales Ledger, #153, M2046, J. J. McAlester Collections, Western History Collections (WHC), University of Oklahoma, 124. 1 these burgeoning regions during the 1870s and 1880s. 2 “Burgeoning” seems like a particularly appropriate term to describe these regions in the late nineteenth century. For while it is true that by the 1870s east Texas had enjoyed decades of demographic growth and prosperity because of the westward expansion of King Cotton, both west Texas and Indian Territory, were relatively less settled and economi cally developed than their eastern counterparts. By the late 1880s and early 1890s, shifts in population significantly altered these regions–demographically, socially, and economically. These shifts were due, in no small part, to the great land runs that opened Indian Territory to a flood of predominantly white settlers and to incursions by both farmers and cattle ranchers into central Texas as they competed for increasingly scarce agricultural lands. This dissertation is based primarily on general st ore ledgers which are used to examine the larger cultural issues of the last decades of the nineteenth century. As a record of consumption, such ledgers shed light on the material possessions, dispositions, assumptions, values, and experiences –in essence, the culture –of the thousands of persons recorded on pages now yellowing with age. Cultural historian Ann Martin Smart provides the following useful definition of both consumption and consumption studies: “Consumption implies a process or means by which consumer goods and services move through the general economy. Thus, the study of consumption ranges widely to include the institutions that produce, market, and retail those goods and services.”3 In focusing 2Given that the time period of this study is the 1870s and 1880s, the proper designation of the region examined is not Oklahoma, but Indian Territory. In 1890, Indian Territory and the Unassigned Lands (sometimes referr ed to as the Oklahoma District) were divided into two separate and distinct districts, Indian and Oklahoma Territories. Ultimately, Oklahoma achieved statehood in 1907. 3Ann Smart Martin, “Makers, Buyers, and Users: Consumerism as a Material Culture Frame work,” Winterthur Portfolio 28 (No.2-3, 1993),143. 2 on transactions carried out at general stores by both individuals and representative groups, consumption “matters” necessarily constitute a significant portion of the present study. Store records provide critical information on commercial relationships beyond purchases however, including inscribed dis tinctions of race, gender, and class made by store owners as they recorded sales/account information in their ledgers. Indeed, such records demonstrate that race, gender, class and ethnic distinctions were determined and reinforced during commercial transactions carried out at general stores. This study is both a social and cultural history of a particular time and place, specifically Texas and Indian Territory during the 1870s and 1880s. Both methodologically and epistemologically, my approach draws heav ily on the “New Social History” as well as the “New Western History.” Of particular importance to this study, for example, is the everyday life of ordinary people living in the West, including women, immigrants