Local Merchants and the Regional Economy of the Connecticut River

1989 Local Merchants and the Regional Economy of the Connecticut River Valley Gerald F.. "Local Merchants and the Regional Economy of the Connecticut River Valley." Historical Journal of

1989

Local Merchants and the Regional Economy of the Connecticut River Valley

Gerald F Reid

Sacred Heart University, reidg@sacredheart.edu

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Recommended Citation

Reid, Gerald F "Local Merchants and the Regional Economy of the Connecticut River Valley." Historical Journal of Massachusetts (1989) 17:1, pp 1-16.

L o c a l M e r c h a n t s a n d t h e R e g i o n a l E c o n o m y

o f t h e C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r V a l l e y

Gerald F Reid

This paper focuses on valley/hill town interactions and regional economic processes in the u p p e r C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley

of Massachusetts d u r i n g the late e i g h t e e n t h a n d early n i n e t e e n t h

c e n t u r i e s 1 M e r c h a n t s , those individuals involved in the t r a d i n g

a n d m o v e m e n t of commodities, are an especially useful p o i n t of

d e p a r t u r e for investigating such c o n c e r n s because they o p e r a t e d in

t h e e c o n o m i c space between c o m m u n i t i e s , towns, a n d regions

A t t e n t i o n to their activities is likely to tell us a good deal a b o u t

e c o n o m i c interaction across space and" over long distances in early

A m e r i c a a n d , specifically, about economic interactions b e t w e e n valley t o w n s a n d hill towns in t h e C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley

d u r i n g the e i g h t e e n t h and n i n e t e e n t h centuries T h e account and day books of m e r c h a n t s are especially useful in this regard

b e c a u s e t h e y r e c o r d , often in m i n u t e detail, t h e o w n e r ' s transactions with customers, business p a r t n e r s , employees, and

o t h e r m e r c h a n t s , the timing of such transactions, a n d the goods, cash, a n d labor involved In this p a p e r , t h e a c c o u n t a n d d a y books of four Greenfield area m e r c h a n t s are e x a m i n e d T h e

r e c o r d s of Caleb A l v o r d , Caleb Alvord Jr., Sylvester Allen, and

R o b e r t Williams cover t h e p e r i o d from 1795 to 1823.2 Valley

1 A version of this paper was delivered at the colloquium on "Hills and Valleys: Upland and Lowland Towns in Western Massachusetts, 1750-1860," held at Historic Deerfield, March 22, 1986

2 Caleb Alvord and Caleb Alvord Jr., Account Book, 1795-1813; Sylvester Allen, Account Book, 1815-1825; Robert Williams, Day Books, 1817-1823 The Alvord

t o w n / h i l l t o w n i n t e r a c t i o n s a n d regional e c o n o m i c processes in t h e Greenfield area are viewed from the p e r s p e c t i v e of these merchants

T h e e c o n o m y of the C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley d u r i n g the e i g h t e e n t h a n d early n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s was in part an agricultural e x p o r t e c o n o m y T h e a g r i c u l t u r a l e x p o r t e c o n o m y developed d u r i n g the s e v e n t e e n t h c e n t u r y as a p r o d u c t of the suitability of the valley lowlands for grain p r o d u c t i o n a n d the

a b u n d a n c e of forests in t h e u p l a n d s ; valley grains a n d forest products were in d e m a n d in E u r o p e a n d e l s e w h e r e in t h e n o r t h e r n colonies a n d , thus, b r o u g h t m u c h n e e d e d h a r d c u r r e n c y a n d

E u r o p e a n i m p o r t s 3 T h e a g r i c u l t u r a l e x p o r t e c o n o m y b e c a m e firmly established d u r i n g the last q u a r t e r of the s e v e n t e e n t h

c e n t u r y , with t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of p l a n t a t i o n a g r i c u l t u r e in the West Indies a n d t h e c o n s e q u e n t n e w a n d g r o w i n g d e m a n d s for agricultural staples and forest p r o d u c t i o n 4

D u r i n g t h e s e v e n t e e n t h a n d e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s f a r m

p r o d u c t i o n in the C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley was g e n e r a l i z e d , oriented in part to household needs a n d local d e m a n d s , but also to generating some m a r k e t a b l e surpluses that p r o v i d e d h o u s e h o l d s with the ability to p u r c h a s e the p r o d u c e and finished a n d unfinished goods w h i c h t h e y could n o t o r did not p r o d u c e themselves K e y p a r t i c i p a n t s in this e c o n o m y w e r e the m e r c h a n t s

in river towns a n d their agents or s m a l l - s c a l e t r a d e r s in c o u n t r y stores, w h o g a t h e r e d t o g e t h e r t h e small surpluses of i n d i v i d u a l farms, processed a n d p r e p a r e d t h e m for s h i p m e n t , a n d m o v e d them to the m a j o r "bulking" points at N o r t h a m p t o n or S p r i n g f i e l d , Massachusetts, a n d H a r t f o r d or M i d d l e t o w n , C o n n e c t i c u t 5 T h e r e the surpluses were assembled w i t h the goods a n d p r o d u c e of o t h e r

and Allen account books and the WilHamB day books are filed at the Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Memorial Library, Deerfield

3 Howard S Russell, A Long Deep Furrow: Three Centuries of Farming in New England (Hanover, New Hampshire, 1982), pp 22-23, 37; William B Weeden, Economic and Social History of New England, 1620-1789 (Boston, 1963), pp 833-834

4 Russell, A Long Deep Furrow, p 35

5 Margaret E Martin, "Merchants and Trade in the Connecticut River Valley, 1750-1820," Smith College Studies in History 24 (1839); Robert Paynter, Models of Spatial Inequality (New York, 1982)

Local M e r c h a n t s a n d t h e R e g i o n a l E c o n o m y

m e r c h a n t s , loaded o n t o sloops a n d s c h o o n e r s , a n d s h i p p e d to

m a j o r ports such as Boston a n d N e w Y o r k , a n d from t h e r e on to

t h e s o u t h e r n colonies, the West Indies, a n d E u r o p e 6 Some valley

m e r c h a n t s o p e r a t e d on a larger scale a n d m a n a g e d considerable

t r a d e w i t h the s o u t h e r n colonies a n d t h e West Indies H a r t f o r d

m e r c h a n t s , in p a r t i c u l a r , w e r e c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e West Indies

t r a d e T h e y e x p o r t e d cattle, horses, f o o d s t u f f , l u m b e r , a n d home

m a n u f a c t u r e s , and in r e t u r n o b t a i n e d s u g a r , molasses, r u m , salt,

a n d o t h e r tropical p r o d u c e , w h i c h they sold to t h e i r clients in the

C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley or to m e r c h a n t s in Boston and o t h e r

m a j o r ports.7

F e w C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley m e r c h a n t s had direct access to E u r o p e a n trade goods; r a t h e r , b y m e a n s of t h e profits

a n d credits e a r n e d in the West Indies a n d coastal t r a d e , they

p u r c h a s e d stocks of E u r o p e a n goods f r o m t h e larger m e r c a n t i l e firms in the major p o r t cities V e r y often it was the case that the larger a n d m o r e successful valley m e r c h a n t s sold their stock of

i m p o r t e d goods on a wholesale basis to smaller m e r c h a n t s and

t r a d e r s , w h o then sold d i r e c t l y to c o n s u m e r s 8 By the second half

of the e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , this e x p o r t - i m p o r t trade was active

e n o u g h a n d e x p a n d i n g sufficiently to s u p p o r t a g r o w i n g n u m b e r

of m e r c h a n t s 9

T h e high p o i n t of the a g r i c u l t u r a l e x p o r t e c o n o m y in the

C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley was reached d u r i n g the late e i g h t e e n t h

a n d early n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s , w h e n t h e West Indies t r a d e b o o m e d

a n d d e m a n d for t h e region's a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d forest p r o d u c t s

p e a k e d A c c o m p a n y i n g this e c o n o m i c e x p a n s i o n was a

g e o g r a p h i c a l expansion of the a g r i c u l t u r a l e x p o r t e c o n o m y As

t h e edge of the e x p o r t e c o n o m y was p u s h e d f u r t h e r into w e s t e r n

a n d n o r t h e r n N e w E n g l a n d , the G r e e n f i e l d area e m e r g e d as an

i m p o r t a n t p o i n t of e x c h a n g e in t h e u p p e r C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley for the b u l k i n g of a g r i c u l t u r a l a n d forest p r o d u c t s a n d the

d i s t r i b u t i o n of i m p o r t e d t r a d e goods a n d p r o d u c e When canal

6 Martin, "Merchants and Trade."

7 Ibid., p 14

8 Ibid., pp 15-16

9 Ibid., p 12

systems w e r e c o m p l e t e d on t h e C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r a r o u n d t h e falls

at Hadley and M o n t a g u e in the early n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , it became possible for river traffic to r e a c h t h e G r e e n f i e l d a r e a w i t h heavy trade goods T h a t increased the i m p o r t a n c e of G r e e n f i e l d ' s role as a b u l k i n g and d i s t r i b u t i o n point f o r the u p p e r C o n n e c t i c u t

R i v e r Valley.1 0

D u r i n g the second a n d third decades of the n i n e t e e n t h

c e n t u r y , t h e valley e c o n o m y shifted a w a y from a g r i c u l t u r a l exports a n d gradually reorganized a r o u n d m a n u f a c t u r i n g ,

c o m m e r c e , a n d a g r i c u l t u r e geared to t h e d e m a n d s of d o m e s t i c

u r b a n and industrial markets This transition was b r o u g h t a b o u t

by a n u m b e r of factors, b u t p r i n c i p a l a m o n g these w e r e t h e interruptions in foreign trade in the period p r e c e d i n g and d u r i n g the War of 1812 and the decline after 1815 in E u r o p e a n a n d West Indian d e m a n d for A m e r i c a n a g r i c u l t u r a l staples In effect, these developments served to deflect capital i n v e s t m e n t from foreign trade a n d into d o m e s t i c c o m m e r c e a n d m a n u f a c t u r i n g ,1 1 Initially, valley m e r c h a n t s and m e r c h a n t capital played a key role in this transition, t h r o u g h i n v e s t m e n t s in t h e region's t r a n s p o r t a t i o n , financial, and industrial i n f r a s t r u c t u r e By the 1840s, h o w e v e r , external, especially B o s t o n - b a s e d , capital interests were a t t r a c t e d

to t h e r e g i o n a n d p r o v i d e d t h e d r i v i n g force b e h i n d t h e regional economic d e v e l o p m e n t 1 2

T h e m e r c a n t i l e operations of Caleb A l v o r d a n d C a l e b Alvord Jr in m a n y ways reflected the organization of m e r c h a n t activities in the C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley d u r i n g t h e late eighteenth and early n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r i e s Caleb A l v o r d was a resident of B e r n a r d s t o n , whose t r a d i n g activities d u r i n g the 1790s were based in G r e e n f i e l d a n d at C h e a p s i d e L a n d i n g o n t h e

10 Francis M Thompson, History of Greenfield, 1682-1800 (Greenfield, 1904), pp 506-507; Paul Jenkins, The Conservative Rebel (Greenfield, 1982), pp 50-51

11 Martin, "Merchants and Trade"; James A Henretta, "Families and Farms: Mentalite in Pre-Industrial America", William and Mary Quarterly 35 (1978): 193; Douglas C North, The Economic Growth of the United States (New York, 1966), pp 67-68, 71-73, 182-187

12 Martin, "Merchants and Trade"; Vera Shlakman, Economic History of j» Factory Town: A Study of Chicopee, Massachusetts (New York, 1969), pp 24-47; Gerald

F Reid, "Dependence to Development: A World Systems Analysis of Elite Formation in Greenfield, Massachusetts, 1770s-1840s," Ph.D dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, 1987

Local M e r c h a n t s and the Regional E c o n o m y

C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r in Deerfield A c c o r d i n g to the accounts of his business dealings, A l v o r d ' s trade consisted of b u y i n g u p

a g r i c u l t u r a l p r o d u c e from local f a r m e r s a n d selling t h e m i m p o r t e d and d o m e s t i c goods It is not clear w h e n A l v o r d began this t r a d e , but it certainly began by 1795 By 1796, he had j o i n e d in business with two associates a n d o p e r a t e d u n d e r the n a m e of

"Caleb A l v o r d and C o m p a n y "1 3 A t that time, t h e c o m p a n y was advertising the sale of E u r o p e a n a n d West I n d i a n goods and was taking in e x c h a n g e a variety of agricultural p r o d u c t s , including

w h e a t , r y e , flax seed, beans, a n d cattle.1 4 In 1797, this

p a r t n e r s h i p was dissolved, but A l v o r d r e m a i n e d in business on his

o w n 1 5 By the early 1800s, A l v o r d ' s a d v e r t i s e m e n t s no longer

a p p e a r e d in the local n e w s p a p e r , w h i c h m a y indicate t h a t he had left the m e r c h a n t trade or retired from active business life

Caleb A l v o r d Jr a p p e a r s to have b e g u n his own

m e r c a n t i l e v e n t u r e s at about this same time, p e r h a p s succeeding his f a t h e r in business By 1805 he was w o r k i n g in p a r t n e r s h i p with Pliny A l v o r d of M o n t a g u e at C h e a p s i d e L a n d i n g , w h e r e they were engaged in the i m p o r t - e x p o r t trade and also in r u n n i n g cargoes o n the Connecticut R i v e r b e t w e e n H a r t f o r d a n d C h e a p s i d e

L a n d i n g a n d north a short distance to N o r t h f i e l d 1 6 In 1808, t h e y dissolved their p a r t n e r s h i p , but r e s u m e d it again in 1810.1 In

1811, Caleb A l v o r d J r was j o i n e d in business by Alfred A l v o r d ,

w h o p r i o r to this t i m e had c o n d u c t e d t r a d e in E r v i n g ' s G r a n t

U n d e r the n a m e of "C and A Alvord," the p a r t n e r s h i p o p e r a t e d

at C h e a p s i d e L a n d i n g , selling salt, r u m , sugar, molasses, coffee, rice, spices, and other goods, and a c c e p t i n g in trade a n d e x p o r t i n g forest p r o d u c t s and agricultural p r o d u c t s such as p o r k , flax seed, and c h e e s e 1 8 In addition, "C and A Alvord" c o n t i n u e d to

13 The existence of Alvord's partnership at this time is indicated in his accounts of business dealings with Hartford, New York, and other merchants in 1796 These accounts are initially entered under the name of "Alvord, Smith and Wells."

14 Greenfield Gatette, June 23 to September 22, 1796

15 Ibid., June 15, 1797

16 Ibid., August 12, 1805

17 Ibid., May 30, 1808 and June 26, 1810

18 The Traveller, May 28, 1811

operate the freighting business between C h e a p s i d e a n d H a r t f o r d

As with Caleb A l v o r d , it is difficult to d e t e r m i n e how long C a l e b Alvord Jr r e m a i n e d in the mercantile business, b u t j u d g i n g from his s u r v i v i n g accounts it was at least until 1813

T h e extant records of the A l v o r d s ' mercantile o p e r a t i o n s consist of Caleb A l v o r d ' s c r e d i t a n d d e b i t a c c o u n t s b e t w e e n

N o v e m b e r of 1795 a n d April of 1796 and the details of his accounts with wholesale m e r c h a n t s for a two and a half year period b e g i n n i n g in J a n u a r y of 1796 T h e r e c o r d s also detail Caleb A l v o r d Jr.'s accounts with wholesalers in 1809 and 1810 a n d his transactions for t h e sale a n d p u r c h a s e of local goods a n d l a b o r from A u g u s t of 1812 t h r o u g h M a r c h of 1813

Between N o v e m b e r of 1795 a n d A p r i l of 1796, C a l e b Alvord's t r a d e in agricultural p r o d u c e a n d i m p o r t e d and d o m e s t i c goods involved transactions with 108 d i f f e r e n t clients A n examination of t h e d i s t r i b u t i o n of A l v o r d ' s clients by t h e i r t o w n

of residence shows that all of his t r a d e was restricted to the region west of the C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Some clients were located as far as forty miles away in Westminster, V e r m o n t , but for the most part they w e r e c o n c e n t r a t e d in G r e e n f i e l d a n d t h e a d j a c e n t towns of Bernardston, Colrain, Gill, L e y d e n , a n d Shelburne

A l v o r d ' s accounts of his dealings with wholesale

m e r c h a n t s show that w h i l e he occasionally dealt w i t h local merchants, he o b t a i n e d by far the bulk of his supplies from

m e r c h a n t s i n H a r t f o r d a n d N e w Y o r k City Specifically, his dealing with H a r t f o r d and N e w Y o r k - b a s e d m e r c h a n t s a c c o u n t e d for f i f t y - t w o p e r c e n t a n d f o r t y - f i v e p e r c e n t , respectively, of t h e total value of the goods he p u r c h a s e d from n o n - l o c a l m e r c h a n t s between 1796 and late 1798 (3,371 p o u n d s ) J u d g i n g from t h e entries in his a c c o u n t b o o k , A l v o r d ' s p a t t e r n of m o v e m e n t in purchasing goods from his suppliers was to travel to N e w Y o r k to

c o n d u c t business in early w i n t e r ( D e c e m b e r a n d J a n u a r y ) a n d late spring (May), then to stop over a n d c o n d u c t business with his

H a r t f o r d - b a s e d suppliers on his r e t u r n t r i p u p the C o n n e c t i c u t

R i v e r In between the s e m i - a n n u a l trips to N e w York, he m a d e

n u m e r o u s o t h e r visits to H a r t f o r d m e r c h a n t s a n d , on a f e w occasions, to m e r c h a n t s in Boston a n d Springfield, as well as in Suffield, C o n n e c t i c u t In general terms, the items A l v o r d

p u r c h a s e d from N e w York m e r c h a n t s consisted of m a n u f a c t u r e d goods, including textiles of a c o n s i d e r a b l e v a r i e t y , tools, f u r n i t u r e and craft h a r d w a r e , d i n n e r w a r e , c o o k w a r e , b l a n k e t s , and clothing

Local M e r c h a n t s a n d the R e g i o n a l E c o n o m y

P r e s u m a b l y the majority of these goods were of E u r o p e a n origin

F r o m his H a r t f o r d - b a s e d suppliers, A l v o r d p u r c h a s e d tropical a n d

o t h e r i m p o r t e d p r o d u c e such as r u m , l u m p sugar, b r o w n s u g a r , molasses, coffee, tea, spices, tobacco, a n d snuff

Caleb Alvord Jr., too, a p p e a r s to have relied heavily o n

H a r t f o r d - b a s e d m e r c h a n t s for his t r a d e , b u t not at all on N e w York C i t y m e r c h a n t s His accounts of dealing with C o n n e c t i c u t

R i v e r Valley m e r c h a n t s in 1809 a n d 1810 show t h a t , e x c e p t for a

m i n i m a l n u m b e r of small purchases from suppliers in M i d d l e t o w n ,

R o c k y Hill, a n d Wethersfield, C o n n e c t i c u t , he dealt almost exclusively w i t h H a r t f o r d - b a s e d m e r c h a n t s In fact, m o r e than

n i n e t y p e r c e n t of the $4,137 he paid out to C o n n e c t i c u t m e r c h a n t s

b e t w e e n M a y of 1809 and S e p t e m b e r of 1810 was used to buy goods from H a r t f o r d merchants T h e goods he p u r c h a s e d from his

H a r t f o r d connections consisted mainly of tropical, p r i m a r i l y West

I n d i a n p r o d u c t s These i n c l u d e d St Croix and A n t i g u a r u m ,

s u g a r , molasses, and salt Also included were goods such as N e w

E n g l a n d r u m , codfish, nails, a n d i r o n , which were e v i d e n t l y of

d o m e s t i c origin or i m p o r t e d from locations o t h e r t h a n t h e West Indies A l v o r d ' s strong ties to H a r t f o r d - b a s e d suppliers no d o u b t reflected t h e i m p o r t a n c e of his freighting business on t h e

C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r , b u t p e r h a p s also reflected the i m p a c t of foreign t r a d e restrictions d u r i n g this period on ports like N e w

Y o r k City, w h i c h were the major e n t r y points for E u r o p e a n imports

A c c o r d i n g to his a c c o u n t s , some of the local c o m m o d i t i e s

w h i c h A l v o r d a n d his business p a r t n e r s m a n a g e d for export

i n c l u d e d forest p r o d u c t s such as l u m b e r , tierces, barrels, a n d shingles It is evident from the accounts of his transactions w i t h local clients, h o w e v e r , that A l v o r d did not simply b u y u p forest

p r o d u c t s , but also actively engaged w o r k e r s to c u t , mill, a n d

t r a n s p o r t such p r o d u c t s His accounts from 1812 a n d 1813, along with e v i d e n c e provided by vital statistics a n d federal census

r e c o r d s , show that these w o r k e r s c a m e from the u p l a n d a n d

b a c k c o u n t r y areas east of the C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r , in p a r t i c u l a r t h e towns of N e w Salem, S h u t e s b u r y , a n d Wendell.1 9 M o r e o v e r , these

19 The lumbering, milling, and transporting operations with which Alvord's workers were associated were moBt likely located in the upland areas east of the Connecticut River as well During the early nineteenth century, these areas were the location of numerous lumber and milling operations

m e n were not only his employees, b u t also his c u s t o m e r s In effect, it a p p e a r s t h a t A l v o r d p u r c h a s e d t h e surplus l a b o r of these men on a credit a n d d e b i t basis, used the p r o d u c t s of their labor

as a m e a n s to o b t a i n i m p o r t e d t r a d e goods, a n d t h e n "sold" a

p o r t i o n of these goods back to t h e m in lieu of their wages

T a k e n t o g e t h e r , the a c c o u n t s of C a l e b A l v o r d a n d C a l e b

A l v o r d Jr reveal several i m p o r t a n t features about t h e i r m e r c h a n t activities in the G r e e n f i e l d area First, t h r o u g h t h e i r m e r c a n t i l e

o p e r a t i o n s , u p l a n d a n d lowland towns in the G r e e n f i e l d area were tied together in a n e t w o r k of t r a d e involving a g r i c u l t u r a l exports

a n d i m p o r t e d E u r o p e a n a n d West Indian goods T h i s n e t w o r k was

c e n t e r e d in G r e e n f i e l d and n e a r b y C h e a p s i d e L a n d i n g Second, this local n e t w o r k of m e r c h a n t activity a n d c o m m o d i t y m o v e m e n t was tied to a regional e c o n o m y organized ^around c o m m e r c i a l

c e n t e r s in the lower C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r Valley, H a r t f o r d in

p a r t i c u l a r , and t h r o u g h these centers to still wider e c o n o m i c processes w h i c h encompassed m a j o r A m e r i c a n p o r t s , t h e West Indies, and E u r o p e Finally, the economic c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n

u p l a n d a n d lowland towns in t h e G r e e n f i e l d area, e v i d e n t i n the

A l v o r d s ' accounts, a n d the connection of these to w i d e r economic processes, involved not only the flow of c o m m o d i t i e s , b u t l a b o r as well As the accounts of Caleb Alvord Jr suggest, the mobilization of labor in u p l a n d a n d back c o u n t r y areas may have been an i m p o r t a n t e l e m e n t in his local n e t w o r k of trade and in the articulation of this with regional and international e c o n o m i c processes

T h e m e r c h a n t activities of Sylvester Allen s h o w a p a t t e r n

of e c o n o m i c organization a n d i n t e r a c t i o n similar i n m a n y ways to

t h a t of t h e A l v o r d s ' , but also reveal some i m p o r t a n t differences

A n a t i v e of P r o v i d e n c e , R h o d e Island, in 1811 Sylvester Allen

c a m e to G r e e n f i e l d from Brookfield, and set u p in business as a tailor By 1815, h o w e v e r , h e was engaged in the m e r c a n t i l e trade,

i m p o r t i n g a variety of goods, such as broadcloth, flannel, calico, and o t h e r textiles, c r o c k e r y , h a n d k e r c h i e f s , gloves, gilt vest

b u t t o n s , tea trays, salt, s u g a r , molasses, coffee, tea, a n d spices.2 0

In 1823, Allen e x p a n d e d his mercantile operation by p u r c h a s i n g

p a r t interest in a store in G i l l , a n d in 1827 e n t e r e d into

p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h an associate u n d e r the name of "Allen and

20 Franklin Herald, July 11 and December 5, 1815, and April 20, 1816

Local M e r c h a n t s a n d the R e g i o n a l E c o n o m y 9

Root."2 1 By this time, Allen was one of the most w e a l t h y and

i m p o r t a n t m e n in G r e e n f i e l d In a d d i t i o n to his t w o stores a n d a

sizeable stock in t r a d e , he o w n e d o n e of the most valuable

personal estates in the t o w n , was a major holder of local b a n k

stocks, a stockholder in a local bridge c o m p a n y , an i n c o r p o r a t o r of

a fire insurance c o m p a n y a n d t h e t o w n ' s first b a n k , a n d a c h u r c h

l e a d e r 2 2 Allen c o n t i n u e d in t h e m e r c a n t i l e t r a d e until 1846, w h e n

he t u r n e d over his business to his sons

As was the case with both Alvords, Allen's enterprises

w e r e closely tied to the C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r traffic a n d trade

D u r i n g the 1820s and 1830s he o w n e d and o p e r a t e d a w h a r f and

w a r e h o u s e at Cheapside L a n d i n g , a n d c o n d u c t e d the m a j o r i t y of

his business there until he o p e n e d a store in the center of

G r e e n f i e l d in 1827 In a d d i t i o n , b e t w e e n 1835 a n d 1840, he and

his business p a r t n e r operated a b a r g e - p u l l i n g s t e a m b o a t on the

C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r b e t w e e n C h e a p s i d e a n d H a r t f o r d 2 3 T h e

i m p o r t a n c e of Allen's connections to the C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r trade

b e c a m e e v i d e n t d u r i n g the 1830s a n d 1840s, w h e n the first

r a i l r o a d schemes were being p r o m o t e d in the area a n d he

s u p p o r t e d a n o r t h - s o u t h rail line b e t w e e n G r e e n f i e l d and

N o r t h a m p t o n a n d , t h r o u g h it, to points s o u t h along the

C o n n e c t i c u t R i v e r 4

T h e extant records of Allen's mercantile operations

consist of his accounts of local credit a n d d e b i t transactions in

t r a d e goods, agricultural p r o d u c t s , a n d labor for the years from

1815 t h r o u g h 1823 These accounts record his t r a d e with 322

d i f f e r e n t clients Like Caleb A l v o r d ' s clients t w e n t y years earlier,

most of Allen's clients w e r e c o n c e n t r a t e d in G r e e n f i e l d a n d the

adjacent towns to the west a n d n o r t h Allen's t r a d i n g n e t w o r k ,

21 Ralph M, Stoughton, History of the Town of Gill, Massachusetts, 1793-1843

{Greenfield, 1978), p 154; Greenfield Gazette and Franklin Herald, December 18,

1827 The Gill store in which Allen acquired part interest was prior to this time

managed by Alfred Alvord of Erving, the sometime business partner of Caleb

Alvord Jr

22 This assessment of Allen's real and personal estate is based on the Greenfield tax

valuation lists for 1820 and 1830 The tax valuation lists are filed in Town of

Greenfield Archives, Town Office, Greenfield

23 Jenkins, Conservative Rebel, p 62

24 Ibid., p 96