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Originally published in the Smoky Mountain Historical Society Journal, Vol. XII, No. 3 (1986). No copyright infringement is intended by posting the information here for the benefit of researchers.
Transcribed by the late Pollyanna Creekmore.
The following names were taken from a daily ledger kept by George McCown for his store in Sevierville, Tennessee, for the years 1837 - 1838. This book was copied in 1950 and at that time was in the possession of Mr. R.M. Runyan, Sevierville, Tennessee.
SMHS Journal Editor's note: Beulah D. Linn, Sevier County Historian, recently [about 1986] "rediscovered" this book and made the following comments:
- It is a brown, leather-covered ledger, 122" x 72" [sic], and originally had at least 537 pages.
- Some pages have been cut out, probably with scissors. The cover page, which no doubt recorded the name of the store, is missing.
- Practically all of the notations are in black ink and appear to have been written in beautiful penmanship by the same person.
- The general store sold a wide variety of merchandise, including dry goods, hardware, seeds, farming implements, dishes and cookware, leather goods, coffee, tea, salt and spices.
- The most frequent item sold was coffee for $.25 a pound. The items most frequently used for exchange of goods were feathers, deer skins, and cowhide.