Last week I posted the index of the 1913-14 Chatt General Store Ledger. The general store was run by Leo Merkle & Semon Egger at that time.
Thanks to Jerry Miller, I have a total of seven books from Chatt’s general stores–three ledgers and four day books. This week I transcribed the indexes from the remaining two ledger books, for the years 1917-19 and 1921-23. The ledger books are of interest to family historians because they contain the names of the people, usually locals, that did business and had an account at the store. Each ledger has an index with the customers’ names in the front.
1921-23 Vining & Dull General Store Ledger, Chattanooga, Ohio.
The 1917-19 and 1921-23 ledger books are likely from the store run by Clarence Vining and Vernon Dull. Clarence Vining took over the store from Merkle & Egger in about 1917. He was running the store with Vernon Dull in the early 1920s and may have worked with Semon Egger at one time or another.
1922 Vining & Dull receipt.
There was likely more than one general store in Chatt at this time. In 1920 three men were listed as general store merchants in Chatt. There was Clarence Vining, age 32, Semon Egger, 29, and Vernon Dull, 31. Roman Heffner, 20, worked as a laborer in a store and Cornelius Egger, Semon’s 20 year-old brother, was a clerk in a store. Elmer Baker worked on the road as a huckster. [1] Egger and Merkle were listed as merchants in the 1916 Mercer County Directory. [2]
“B” index, 1917-19 Vining Store Ledger, Chattanooga, Ohio.
Click on the following link to view a PDF of ledger index:
1917-19 Chattanooga General Store Ledger Index
Again, it is interesting to see how they differentiated between people of the same name in the ledgers. There are two Andy Bollenbachers. One is the uncle, the other is Jr. There is the Ohio George Huffman and the Indiana George Huffman. In 1921 George Huffman was “little.”
I recognize more names in these two later ledgers. The 1917-19 ledger contains the names of several Brewsters, all relatives of mine who lived in Adams County, Indiana, not all that far from Chatt. Daniel Brewster was my great-great-grandfather, who died in 1917. Philip Brewster was my great-grandfather, son of Daniel. Charles Brewster was Daniel’s nephew, son of Winfield Scott Brewster. Also from Indiana was Ralph Derickson, husband of my grandma Miller’s sister Alpha.
Dan Bruster, 1917-19 Vining Store ledger.
Other names were interesting, “Hard” Caffee was probably Howard Caffee. And Mother Caffee was likely Howard’s mother Flora (Michael) Caffee, who had been a widow since 1913. Some of my Miller relatives appear in this ledger, too. John, my grandpa Carl’s brother, who married Frona Dull in 1912. And Peter Miller, who married Della Kühm in about 1914. Peter was Carl’s half brother.
Hard Caffee & Mother Caffee in 1917-19 Vining Ledger.
Hard Caffee, 1917-19 Vining Store ledger.
A few years later some families had moved and new families formed as couples married. My grandpa Carl Miller was in the 1921-23 ledger. He married Gertrude Brewster in 1919.
Click on the following link to view a PDF of ledger index:
1921-23 Chattanooga General Store Ledger Index
Carl Miller, 1921-23 Vining & Dull Store ledger.
I remember some of people named in the 1921-23 ledger–William “Bill” Oakley, Forrest Ripley, Ralph Derickson, and Jess Brewster. I know of others—Howard Caffee, Mrs. Caffee [probably Flora], and Philip Brewster. Philip Brewster was my grandma Miller’s father and Jess was her brother.
Philip Brewster, 1921-23 Vining & Dull Store ledger.
These stores also had a huckster wagon and these ledgers may have been used in conjunction with the huckster wagon. Just what was a huckster? Find out next week. Plus we’ll look inside those old Day Books, which just might be the old huckster books.
[1] 1920 U.S. Census, Liberty Township, Mercer, Ohio, ED 140, digital image by subscription, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 21 August 2014); from NARA microfilm T625, roll 1418.
[2] The Farm Journal Illustrated Directory of Mercer County Ohio (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Wilmer Atkinson Company, 1916), 69, 113, 173.
