Samuel Stearns resided in or near Cambridge, Massachusetts, during the years of 1760-1785. He sold a variety of agricultural products as well as timber and cider to residents in Boston, Waltham, Roxbury, Lexington, Concord, Cambridge and Watertown. Students at Harvard College frequently purchased cider from Samuel Stearns' mill as did General George Washington when he resided in Cambridge during the Revolutionary War. Collection consists of a 112 page farmer's day book detailing financial transactions from 1760 through 1785.
Entries contain name of customer and place of residence, item purchased and amount charged.
Majority of sales are for cider, but Stearns also sells timber, hay, calf skins, lamb and pork. Further entries in the day book give the wages paid to female household help during the 1760s and 1770s. Volume also contains dates of Samuel Stearns' marriage and the dates of the births of his children.