byJennifer Hogan / The Citizen
The commercial says that whatever it is, you can find it on eBay.com. For a small group of residents from Sherwood, it happened to be a collection of personal letters and business receipts pertaining to Slocum Howland and his family.
“The collection had been stored in a four-story building in California,” said Bradley Mitchell, co-purchaser of the rare collection, during a showing of the materials at the Howland Stone Store Museum Sunday evening. “We don't know how the collection ended up in California and we weren't sure of what we would get, but we knew that we had to get it.”
¯¯Mitchell declined to say how much the collection was purchased for but said that there was much competition for the materials during the ebay auction.
¯¯Receipts for tobacco, a silver watch and other goods sold at the store were among the collection of nearly 5,500 papers.
¯¯“There are so many things that it may take a long time to sort through it all,” Mitchell said.
¯¯According to many of the papers found, Howland was the unofficial bank of many Sherwood residents at the time, including his own nieces and nephews.
¯¯“Many of his own family relied on him for their support,” Mitchell said. “It is documented here with many thank-you letters.”
¯¯The collection even held a letter to the Howlands from the United States Internal Revenue collector#,s office of Auburn dated 1879, inquiring as to the purchase and distribution of 47-gallons of whiskey in which the Howlands did not have permission to sell.
¯¯In addition to the many receipts, letters and mortgage leases the collection held a road work order for the road by the Friends Meeting House.
¯¯The road work order was to be completed by men of the area with the head of it being Herman Philips. Philips was the escaped slave who settled in Sherwood under the help of Howland.
¯¯“There are many records of wool trade, railroads and shipping,” Mitchell said. “We hope that it will become valuable to those researching those industries.”
¯¯The collection was donated to the Howland Stone Store Museum by the private purchasers.
¯¯“The records found, show that this was a busy and significant little community,” Mitchell said. “Even though there weren't really any more houses here than what is here today.” ¯
“The collection had been stored in a four-story building in California,” said Bradley Mitchell, co-purchaser of the rare collection, during a showing of the materials at the Howland Stone Store Museum Sunday evening. “We don't know how the collection ended up in California and we weren't sure of what we would get, but we knew that we had to get it.”
¯¯Mitchell declined to say how much the collection was purchased for but said that there was much competition for the materials during the ebay auction.
¯¯Receipts for tobacco, a silver watch and other goods sold at the store were among the collection of nearly 5,500 papers.
¯¯“There are so many things that it may take a long time to sort through it all,” Mitchell said.
¯¯According to many of the papers found, Howland was the unofficial bank of many Sherwood residents at the time, including his own nieces and nephews.
¯¯“Many of his own family relied on him for their support,” Mitchell said. “It is documented here with many thank-you letters.”
¯¯The collection even held a letter to the Howlands from the United States Internal Revenue collector#,s office of Auburn dated 1879, inquiring as to the purchase and distribution of 47-gallons of whiskey in which the Howlands did not have permission to sell.
¯¯In addition to the many receipts, letters and mortgage leases the collection held a road work order for the road by the Friends Meeting House.
¯¯The road work order was to be completed by men of the area with the head of it being Herman Philips. Philips was the escaped slave who settled in Sherwood under the help of Howland.
¯¯“There are many records of wool trade, railroads and shipping,” Mitchell said. “We hope that it will become valuable to those researching those industries.”
¯¯The collection was donated to the Howland Stone Store Museum by the private purchasers.
¯¯“The records found, show that this was a busy and significant little community,” Mitchell said. “Even though there weren't really any more houses here than what is here today.” ¯
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Sherwood Rd Resident wrote on Jul 17, 2006 12:16 PM: