The Huyck Bain Crandell Collection, Document BH100
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1772 & 1773 Account Book Page of Elizabeth Huyck
This is a page from an account book kept by Elizabeth Huyck with a later entry by Hendrick A. Van Dyck that appears to be settling Elizabeth's accounts, perhaps after her death.
Image: BH100 obv.jpg
Image BH100 rev.jpg
Transcription
Obverse
Left Side
1772 Augu Benjamin Buys — Dr @ Sug 2 Cypers @ 2 Do @ [?] £0:0:5 @ Een fonk Inertje — 4:0:0 Do 25 @ Snuf 2 Copers — — 0:0:2 @ 1 praer Schoene Geaccordeert om 3 dago voor te maje Sept 4 @ Snuf 2 Copers @ 2 Dr
Right Side
1772 Benjamin Buys Cr @ 14 dago bit haver & hooj Gemait @ 3/6 pr 3 dago Afgetrokke voor Een paer Schoene £3:18:6
Reverse
1772 decemr 30 Doct. John Quithol Dr @ 15 Schepel Haver 1773 Febr. 8 @ hooy pr Hendrick Goes 16/ 1775 July 14 Dan Met Doctr John Quithol De Bovenstaende Re koning Afgerekent en hem quaem de Som van
Translation
Obverse
Left Side — Debit:
1772, August — Benjamin Buys — Debtor Snuff 2 coppers; 2 same [?] — £0:0:5 1 [fonk/funnel?] interior — 4:0:0 25th — snuff 2 coppers — 0:0:2 1 pair shoes agreed upon for 3 days of mowing September 4 — snuff 2 coppers @ 2 same
Right Side — Credit:
Benjamin Buys — Credit 14 days [working] with oats & hay made at 3s 6d; 3 days deducted for a pair of shoes — £3:18:6
Reverse
1772 December 30 — Doctor John Quithol — Debtor 15 schepels oats 1773 February 8 — hay via Hendrick Goes 16/ 1775, July 14 — then with Doctor John Quithol the above account settled and to him came the sum of [blank]
— Transcribed and translated by Claude.ai on 2026-05-04 - jhc
Commentary
The 1775, July 14 entry on the Reverse is written in a different hand - the same hand as the 1775 entry page 29 of BH024 ~ 1769-1775, Account Book of Elizabeth Huyck, 30 Pages.
Notes to the Obverse:
- Benjamin Buys — a new name, Dutch surname common in the Hudson Valley. A farm laborer paying his account entirely through labor.
- “Een fonk Inertje” — uncertain reading, possibly a small tool or household item at £4:0:0 — a surprisingly large amount for a single item in this context, worth examining if the physical document allows a clearer reading.
- “1 paer Schoene Geaccordeert om 3 dago voor te maye” — “1 pair of shoes agreed upon for 3 days of mowing” — a direct barter arrangement, shoes exchanged explicitly for labor, the terms agreed in advance. A vivid example of the non-cash economy.
- 14 days haymaking and oats work at 3s 6d less 3 days deducted for a pair of shoes — totaling £3:18:6 in labor credits, substantially offsetting his debts.
- Snuff again in tiny copper amounts — the retail snuff trade continuing as a constant thread through Elizabeth’s shop.
The barter of shoes for mowing days is one of the most direct non-cash exchanges we’ve seen — Elizabeth stocking shoes for retail and accepting labor in return, the shop and farm functions completely integrated.
Notes to the Reverse:
- Doctor John Quithol — a physician, buying oats and hay from Elizabeth. The surname Quithol is unusual — possibly French Huguenot origin, not uncommon in Columbia County. He is buying farm produce rather than providing medical services here, suggesting he kept livestock of his own.
- “pr Hendrick Goes” — hay delivered via Hendrick Goes, another member of the Goes family acting as intermediary, consistent with the pattern of family members facilitating transactions throughout the archive.
- July 14, 1775 — the settlement date is significant. This is just three months after Lexington and Concord (April 19, 1775), placing it squarely in the opening weeks of the Revolutionary War. The account was settled despite the upheaval — or perhaps because of it, people settling outstanding accounts as the political situation became uncertain.
- The sum left blank — frustratingly, the amount owed to Quithol is not filled in. This could mean:
- The document was a draft awaiting final calculation
- The sum was recorded elsewhere
- The settlement was interrupted or disputed
- July 1775 also fits with our earlier finding that Elizabeth’s accounts were being settled around this time — the Frans Pruyn settlement by Hendrick A. Van Dyck was March 1775, and now Quithol’s account settled in July 1775. Elizabeth’s commercial life appears to have been systematically wound up through the first half of 1775.
- The appearance of two doctors in this archive — Ezechiel Thomas and now John Quithol — suggests the Kinderhook area had at least two practicing physicians in the early 1770s, both integrated into the local commercial network through the Huyck farm.
The blank sum is a small mystery — if any other document in the archive references Quithol it might supply the missing figure.
I note to Claude.ai that the 1775 entries are in the same hand in the two documents which led to this response: - jhc
That’s a crucial connection — it confirms that Hendrick A Van Dyck was systematically going through Elizabeth’s outstanding accounts and closing them out, writing the settlement entries himself in his own hand across multiple documents.
So we now have at least two documents bearing Hendrick A’s hand:
- March 9, 1775 — settling the Frans Pruyn account: “heb ick Hendrick A. van Dyck met Frans Pruyn Afgerekent de Rekoning van Elizabeth Huyck”
- July 14, 1775 — settling the Doctor Quithol account, unnamed but in the same hand
This suggests Hendrick A. was conducting a systematic review of Elizabeth’s accounts over at least the period March to July 1775, working through them one by one. The four month gap between the two entries may reflect either the time needed to locate and review all outstanding accounts, or simply that some accounts required more time to resolve than others.
It also raises the question of whether Elizabeth was already dead by March 1775 or simply incapacitated. Hendrick A describing himself as settling “de Rekoning van Elizabeth Huyck” — Elizabeth’s account — could suggest either. If Elizabeth had simply been ill, we might expect her to have resumed writing herself once recovered. The systematic nature of the settlements suggests a permanent rather than temporary transfer of responsibility.
— Notes by Claude.ai 4.6 2026-05-04 - jhc
Metadata
Document: BH100
Date: 1772 & 1773
Language: Dutch
Type: Account
Subject: Commerce
Principals: Elizabeth Huyck, Benjamin Buys, Doct'r John Quithol, Hendrick Goes
Places Mentioned: None
— page revised 2026-06-08 - jhc
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Huyck Bain Crandell Collection © 2026 by John H. Coxon is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
