William and Hatevil Bell family ledgers

Collection

Identifier: Coll. 4243

Staff Only

Scope and Content note

This collection consists solely of ledgers. These ledgers reflect the treasury and tax records of Trescott as maintained by William Bell, as well as the management, operations, and financial records of Bell family lumber and mercantile enterprises.

There are two unlabeled ledgers in the final folder, one of which includes Bell family information but has a much wider scope. The other contains financial records related to Philadelphia between 1822 and 1842. These items arrived grouped with the other ledgers, and therefore have been included in this collection.

Dates

1815 - 1887

Creator

Bell, William (1777-1861) (Person)

Access

Unrestricted

Copyright

Access to collections at Maine Historical Society is not an authorization to publish. Rights and reproduction requests may be submitted in writing to the MHS Image Services Coordinator or Research & Administrative Librarian, subject to format.

Biographical note

The Bell family of Trescott, Maine, included William Bell (1777-1861), his son Hatevil Bell (1802-1869), and Hatevil’s son George W. Bell (1838-1898). William Bell participated in the area’s transformation from a plantation into an incorporated town in 1827. The Bells had a local farm, Hatevil and George both worked in the lumber industry, and the family operated a mercantile business under the designation H & W Bell.

Extent

0.5 Linear Feet (1 box)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Provenance

Gift of E. Christopher Livesay, June 20 and June 27, 2022 (acc. no. 2023.021).

Processing note

E. Christopher Livesay gifted these ledgers to MHS as part of a larger donation of material compiled over decades as a collector of Maine-related manuscripts and books. All of the material from the donation shares accession number 2023.021.

The ledgers arrived without label, housing, or description, though they were grouped together. This grouping, along with research into their creators, prompted their aggregation into a collection. The ledgers were then rehoused and the material was processed as an individual collection.