The Elisha Burton ledger (444 pages) records financial transactions for liquor, wood, labor, and other goods and services in and around Norwich, Vermont, and Upper Alton, Illinois, throughout the early 19th century. The volume, entitled "Elisha Burton Ledger No. 2nd," begins on November 21, 1811, and contains entries for a number of Burton family members and for prominent residents in Norwich and in nearby Hanover. On the first page is a list of subscribers for a new meetinghouse on "Norwich plan," and this is followed by early accounts of figures carried over from the previous ledger. Commodities include whiskey, gin, cider, foodstuffs, bricks, and wood, though many of the later entries pertain to labor, renting carts and draft animals, and room and board. More specific mentions of labor often refer to chopping wood and other work with lumber; on one occasion, a grave was dug for Mary Burton, a widow (p. 134). After the first 337 pages of accounts, a few entries at the back of the volume relate to property held by the Burton family, including an inventory of Julia Ann Burton's possessions (p. 434), and deposits made by John B. C. Burton's siblings Edward and Eliza toward their respective shares of his estate. A late account records Joseph Burton's finances before he left for Illinois on September 24, 1834 (p. 440). Several additional items, primarily recording financial records, are laid into the volume, along with a set of directions for making shoe soles.
Elisha Burton was born on November 7, 1743, and was one of the earliest settlers of Norwich, Vermont, where he owned a grist mill. He married a woman named Susanna in 1767; their children included Levi, Elisha, and Stephen. Following Susanna's death, he married Sarah Cogswell, with whom he had 7 surviving children: Sarah, Jacob, Joseph, Polly, John Bennie Clark, Harvey, and Fanny. He married Mercy Bigelow Loveland after the death of his second wife. He died on May 3, 1819.
John Bennie Clark Burton was born in Norwich, Vermont, on April 10, 1789. He worked as a farmer until his death on May 9, 1862. He and his wife, Susan Loveland (1792-1864), had five children: Joseph, Edward, Eliza, Julia Ann, Susan Lovina, and John Perkins. Joseph was born on November 25, 1814. In September 1834, he moved to Upper Alton, Illinois, where he married Elizabeth Elwell (1818-1888). Joseph's brother Edward joined the couple in Illinois in 1838.
