John Mills - Index of Account Holders & Shoppers

Unlike the Glassford & Henderson ledgers, the John Mills ledger does not retain its internal index created when the original document was written.  Similar to the Glassford Index of Account Holders, the index presented here contains a page by page review confirming all account holders found in the ledger, as well as shoppers identified to date through the transcripts. 
 

At present, the index of account holders includes 496 accounts.  Twenty-four accounts belong to women, of which only 3 (Sarah Barnes, Agatha Fallen, and Elizabeth Fallen) also shopped at Glassford stores with the possibility of two more (Mary Rogers and Margaret Wagener) with additional research.  Twenty-six accounts described specific goods and services handled by Mills, e.g. corn, tobacco, wheat, iron, traveling expenses, etc.  Twenty-one accounts were for ships.  Only 2 accounts were notated as for someone deceased, William Bayly and James Mills, Esquire, both of whom had accounts with Mills during their lives. 

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This ledger's transcription phase is nearing completion.  Working with From the Page, History Revealed launched its Shopping Stories transcription effort in August 2021 including this ledger.  Due to its size, the ledger can be found in three Works on our Shopping Stories Transcription Project: Account Book of John Mills, 1775-1785 (Folios 001-126); Account Book of John Mills, 1775-1785 (Folios 127-201); and Account Book of John Mills, 1775-1785 (Folios 202-273+).  Based on the pagination, folios 6 (credit page) to 32 (debit page) are missing; evidence found throughout the ledger itself supports those pages as missing.

 

In the hopes of helping researchers quickly find the people and places of interest to them, included in the index is the folio (page) connected to each account.  As of October 2025, we are excited to include a list of both account holders and all individuals found with purchases made by and on behalf of them as described in the entries (note that information about the shoppers will be updated at the completion of the transcribing phase).  The "Account" column tells you whether there is an account holder (yes) or just a shopper (no).

 

With the inclusion of the shoppers, an additional 81 names have been added to the list.  The number of women jumps to 30.  In addition, around 11 enslaved, or with an unknown status of enslavement, individuals have been identified, all men. 

 

Should you be interested, you can also find the original images through the New York Public Library's Digital Collections (NYPL accessioned this manuscript as Jenifer & Hooe journal, 1775-1785).  Stay tuned as we continue to learn more about John Mills and his social network and interests!